Myth, the Universe, and Everything

We've been going through a lot of kids' movies from the library here at Casa Abbott, as Bug enjoys a little bit of screen-time to settle down when she's getting sleepy. It typically takes three or four days to make it through a regular cartoon movie (unless I finish it after she's gone to bed), since we watch it in spurts, which is not an optimal viewing experience for me -- but it does give me the excuse to catch up on the cartoon movies I've missed over the past few years. I'd missed Disney's Meet the Robinsons, for example, which I think was pretty poorly branded and misrepresented by the trailers. (I ended up thinking it was pretty cute.) We've seen Tangled (which I loved), Ratatouille, and we're in the middle of The Tigger Movie now. We also picked up Megamind, which I decided was not really a kids' movie after all, and so finished on my own.

If you're not familiar with the story (and it's a familiar one), Megamind is one of two aliens that get sent off in small space pods from their dying worlds to live on earth. Metro Man has all the super powers you'd expect, while Megamind has a big blue head, a minion that's a fish, and can make crazy mad science inventions (but otherwise doesn't seem too inherently bright). He also ends up being very good at escaping from jail. They go to the same school as children, where Metro Man is the popular one, and Megamind is always picked last for everything. Naturally, they become rivals, with Metro Man as the hero and Megamind as the villain. The story ends up having this great feel of the hero and the villain completing each other in a fluffy bunnies version of the Batman/Joker relationship, but it takes awhile to get to that realization.

In the mean time, I started wondering just what has happened to heroes lately.

I admit that I'm behind on some of the great super-stories that have come out lately, so I can't speak to the trend in its entirety. (I even own Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge and haven't read it yet; I'm super excited to get a hold of Carrie Vaughn's After the Golden Age as well.) But here's what I've noticed based on a few recent samplings of the spin-the-super-story genre. The hero? Not really the good guy. Megamind is a prime example of this: despite the fact that Megamind is all about being the villain, he ends up being the character the audience really identifies with -- and, no real spoiler here, he ends up turning a new leaf by the end of the story. (Thus, it may actually be a kids' movie after all.) Better still: Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Metro Man ends up having some redeeming qualities; Captain Hammer's only redeeming quality is that he's played my Nathan Fillion -- otherwise, he's a complete jerk. Even in Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible, the villain, who is a mastermind (also the common thread here), is extremely compelling as a sympathetic figure.

Now, take a look back at the uber-superhero: Superman. Apparently he can sort of be a jerk in some of the early comics, too -- but not at the expense of a nerdy rival. No, Supe's secret identity *is* the nerdy guy. Originally created by a couple of pretty nerdy guys, Supe was a fantasy that bought into the whole Charles Atlas mentality of self-improvement: even nerds could have awesome body-builder style strength. (Of course, Superman was even more awesome than just a strong man -- but still, he's a fantasy that nerds were supposed to identify with, rather than despise.)

And Clark Kent isn't the only super-nerd. Let's wander into the Marvel-verse. Take Spiderman. Peter Parker: total nerd to start with. Reed Richards? Actually makes a name for himself as a nerd -- who cares that he can go all bendy as Mr. Fantastic when we need his super brain? Even Tony Stark has some serious nerd cred (though, granted, he never really embraces the nerd lifestyle, and no one ever gives him crap for being smart, unlike the other heroes I've mentioned).

So, nerd has always equalled good in the comics world -- but strong has not always equalled jerk. I'm wondering if this trend of the super-strong hero-as-villain trend has to do with embracing geeks-as-overlords. (That's mostly tongue in cheek -- but, as Alec Hardison on Leverage says: "Age of the geek, baby. We rule the world.") The thing is -- I get the geek-as-hero trend (see: Chuck as an example). But this geek-as-villain thing? Is this a subversive, refusing to work for the man thing? Is it supporting the idea that we who were picked on for our nerdiness as kids are out for revenge (rather than being willing to save our tormentors)? Clearly, Doctor Horrible doesn't end up happy with his career choice, and Megamind converts to the side of good... but still. What is going on right now to make the supervillain nerd anti-hero a popular trope?

I would love to hear thoughts on this that don't come from inside my own head. :) In good news, the whole thought process inspired a quick short story, which I drafted in one day and Max Gladstone has already gotten me crits for. Hooray for creative contemplation resulting in actual word count!

Some of you may have caught the two columns I wrote for Flames Rising (with the intention of writing several more) about the differences in the types of paranormal romances and urban fantasies that make up the scale of books inside the boundaries of the genre (or expanding them). After a conversation with my library boss, I decided to start putting together a big ol' list and synopsis of sub groupings for her, since it's what I read, and I recommend a lot of titles to our patrons. Just because someone digs vampires in Sookie and Anita Blake doesn't necessarily mean it's the vampires they're after -- in fact, the last person I was giving recommendations to started out from those two series and ended with, "Actually I'd like to have something a little more light hearted and funny," and so I sent her in the direction of shanna_s's Enchanted Inc. So in my list, I'm trying to suss out the qualities that might attract someone to a novel -- maybe they are vampire crazy, but maybe they're looking for something snarky with a Sex and the City vibe (in which case they need Happy Hour of the Damned by mdhenry). Maybe what they loved about Jim Butcher's Dresden Files was actually the private investigator angle, in which case you could go with devonmonk's Allie Beckstrom books, the Connor Grey series by Marc del Franco, of blackaire's Nocturne City series. (There are actually scads of PIs in urban fantasy -- I've just named a few.) Do they want an urban fantasy series with a con artist? Try the WVMP novels by Jeri Smith-Ready. And from there, if they love the radio angle, try Carrie Vaughn's Kitty the Werewolf books or stacia_kane's Megan Chase series. Maybe they totally dug the government agency aspect of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. in the comics, in which case, they should be reading antonstrout's Simon Canderous series. I could keep on this thread for some time -- the point is, while some people are vampire nuts, a lot of UF and Paranormal Romance readers might get a kick out of different aspects of the novels than just vampires vs. werewolves -- which is sort of a non-UF reader way to boil it down.

So, I thought it was hilarious today when Jackie Kessler posted a parody song about urban fantasy (using the tune for "Popular" from the musical Wicked). Did I make sure to include everyone on that list in my list? Who of those famed urban fantasists have I yet to read?

(Of course, I disagree with his looking down on Paranormal Romance, but that could be a whole other entry.)

I just have to say: you livejournal people are far too interesting and difficult to keep up with. I had far more concrete writing plans for today, but spent a good chunk of the day reading other people's ljs instead.

Note: I am still not entirely caught up. But I think I'm as close as I'm going to get.

Today is a link day, in part because there's contests that require linking (and I'm a sucker for that) and in part because there were some fun Joss Whedon articles that got tossed around on my mailing lists, and dutiful Browncoat that I am, I must share them.

So, first, the Whedon:

WGA magazine has an article about Joss as a writer (and mammoth-drawer, were he a Cro-magnon) and about the Dr. Horrible phenomenon.

caitrin posted news about Joss's movie, Cabin in the Woods, which will apparently star Bradley Whitford. I didn't know anything about this project, so it's a nice head's up. (It's not Goners, though, which is somewhat disappointing.)

For contest number one, the Urban Fantasy Land Readers Choice Awards need your votes! There are so many good books up for awards that it's tough to narrow it down: devonmonk, blue_succubus, antonstrout, mdhenry, rkvincent, frost_light, blackaire, melissa_writing, stacia_kane, katatomic, ilona_andrews, Jes Battis, and Carrie Vaughn are among the nominees. The polls close on the 30th, and if you also link to the blog, you're entered for a $25 amazon gift card. Who doesn't need one of those?

And finally, the Deadline Dames (including devonmonk and rkvincent) are hosting a number of contests on the new blog, which launched on the 19th. Devon's involves setting goals--and one of mine is to post on livejournal at least twice a week. (The unreasonable expectation? Every day.) So, we'll see how I do!

I wrote a blog entry back when I read Kitty Takes a Holiday about my fascination with how Carrie Vaughn used the "skinwalkers" mythology from Navajo culture in the novel. She's very kindly continued that dialogue here. Carrie is the author of four books in her Kitty series, featuring Kitty the werewolf and disc jockey, changing the world one call (and book) at a time. Along with the Kitty books, Carrie has written several short stories, many of which are available from her website. Her latest novel, Kitty and the Silver Bullet, is available at your local bookstore. Thanks, Carrie, for contributing to the blog!

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Folklore and Kitty
Carrie Vaughn

At some point, most speculative fiction writers come to the realization that nothing they can dredge from their imaginations will ever be as strange as what reality can produce. That's why, when you're trying to come up with some wild and bizarre idea, reality can be your best friend. A Filipina friend of mine passes along stories that her mother tells about manananggal, vampires who leave their legs behind to fly through the air and suck out fetuses through the navels of pregnant women. Children in the Philippines are told that if they come across legs lacking a body, they should sprinkle salt on them because that will prevent the body from returning, and destroy the vampire.

As soon as I figure out how to work it in, you can bet that's going in a story. The trouble is, no one will ever buy it. It's too weird.

On to skinwalkers. Hollywood has taken to using this as a shorthand term for "Native American werewolf." (When they don't use the term in a whacked out literal sense. I'm looking at you, Dresden Files.) This isn't technically correct, and only tangentially descriptive. The real, living folkloric source for the term skinwalker is so much more interesting. I made it my mission to not take the shortcut but to use the term the way it was meant to be used (in Kitty Takes a Holiday). First, because the shorthand pisses me off. (Why does a Native American werewolf need a special term other than werewolf?) And second because I think it makes a much more interesting, creepy story. As I said, I can't make up anything stranger than what's already out there.

The "real" skinwalker is a kind of witch, a magic user specific to Navajo culture. Very evil. These are not good people, because of what they do to get their power. Namely, they must sacrifice a family member. This is usually accomplished using a ground-up powder made from corpses that works like a poison. Once they have the power, skinwalkers can transform into any creature they wish by donning that creature's skin. This is serious death magic, and those with the slightest suspicion of being involved with it are shunned. There is still word of communities where a person could be forgiven for murder, if the murder victim is believed to be a skinwalker.

The interesting thing is trying to find anything about this firsthand. No one from this culture wants to talk about skinwalkers, because demonstrating the least bit of knowledge can bring suspicion onto you, which in turn can bring discrimination and violence. So the real interesting question becomes, what kind of person would risk it? What kind of person would want that power so much that all the sacrifice and death is worth it? It's the question that every culture asks in one form or another: what is evil?

These things--symbols, stories, magic--have meaning to their cultures. Our stories are richer if we let that meaning show through. Suddenly, they feel real, because they're taking place in a real world (someone's real world, at least) and not Hollywood. Something that happened while I was writing the second Kitty book (Kitty Goes to Washington), I realized there were no limits. Once you establish a world where vampires and werewolves are real, anything can be real. Any kind of magic, mythology, and supernatural belief is fair game. There are no limits. But to explain these things in the real world, they have to seem real, and I think that means staying true to the roots. Which is okay, because like I said--those "true" stories are pretty much creepier than anything I could come up with.