Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Wednesday, and it’s time for another post in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews. If you would like to participate in the challenge, you can find the topics for 2024 here, and if you would like to see what others have said about this week’s topic, you can do so here.
Characters I See Differently Now than I Used To
Batman
I’ve always loved to read Batman comics and graphic novels. As a child, I would always wonder why he would leave the bad guys to be dealt with by the police instead of taking care of them himself. As an adult, however, I realise that Batman has morals, and he chooses to stick to those morals, which truly makes him a force for good.
Superman
I used to pretend I was Superman as a kid, and I would always think how great it must be to be him. Imagine being practically indestructible and being able to fight off the bad guys. However, reading Superman comics as an adult, I realised something: Superman has to live an entirely secret life.
Most superheroes have a secret identity, but that must be tough, mentally speaking. It must be psychologically draining having to suppress such a vital and prominent part of your identity, never being able to exist in the world as your ‘true self’ and having to watch over your shoulder at every turn.
Rose’s Mother from Titanic
I have loved this film since I first saw it in 1997. I remember sitting in the cinema and thinking about how obnoxious Ruth DeWitt Bukater was. She was rude, harsh and condescending and acted as if her daughter’s sole purpose was to be her cash cow.
It wasn’t until I watched the film as an adult that I understood Ruth more. I figured out that her main driving force was fear; fear that without money or status, their friends would disown them, and when I think about it now, they probably would have.
After all, 1912 was a different time; the most important thing in the world to people back then was to be considered upper class and/or rich (I mean, the world has changed, but clearly not all that much!) and since Rose marrying Cal was the only opportunity for their lives to continue in the way they were accustomed, Ruth felt she had no other option but to push Rose into the marriage. I have a lot of compassion for that character now (not that she was right). I think fear makes people act out of desperation.
Well, that’s it for post 24!
I’m looking forward to discovering which characters have changed in your estimations.
But for now, as always, thank you for stopping by and spending some time with me today.
Until next time,
George
© 2024 GLT
Categories: life, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge
GEORGE L THOMAS 
Ooh, Rose’s mother is a good pick! Yeah, her concerns made a lot of sense.
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I recently saw a similar defense of a similar period mother, Portia Featherington in the Bridgerton series. She’s not always likable, but a survivalist and protective in her own way of the women in her charge. Her recent quote “Women don’t have dreams, they have husbands” sort of sums up her practical approach to life as a woman of that social class at that time.
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It’s so easy to judge a character from our modern social viewpoint, but I think it’s a sign of great writing that we can see the differences between modern characters and those in stories set in more historical periods. Though we may not agree with how people may have behaved back then, we can learn to understand their reasons for behaving how they do – fictional or not. 🙂🙂
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Oh, Rose’s mother is an excellent example — though I’ve also enjoyed watching some of the newer comics try to come to grips with what having a secret identity would really mean. The idea that Clark Kent as an investigative journalist might actually be more of a threat to the bad guys than Superman himself, for example…
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Haha! Yes, especially these days when the ‘bad guys’ tend to just go about their business without trying to hide their nefarious plans. At least it seems that way.
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WordPress won’t record my “likes,” but I like what Michael Mock said.
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Thanks, Priscilla!
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