http://ruin-takada.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] ruin-takada.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] zelda_queen 2013-08-19 12:59 pm (UTC)

I'm sorry, would you like to yell a little louder? The lady down at number 5 didn't hear you quite yet.

Well, fair enough, but I may have over-reacted to you calling Kristin 'a little more exotic', rather than say what you really meant, that Kristin's appearance matches Zoey's description. When you use the word exotic, you imply a sense of 'other' - one says 'she's exotic', one means 'she's too much NOT like me'; here's 'us', there's 'them'.

Considering Zoey's of Cherokee descent, and her and Kristin's appearances seem to match, we're suggesting Kristin may be part Cherokee, too. Now, when you call her exotic, you bring in all the Native American stereotypes of them being mystical, magickal people who listen to the spirits and 'paint with all the colours of the wind'. It's the spiritual Na'avi and their Mother All Goddess Eywa all over again, it's the Quileutes of Meyer's series and their mystical, magickal wolfing.

But, y'know, if what you meant to say was 'Boy, do Zoey and Kristin seem alike!', that would've been fine, and if by exotic you didn't mean what I read into it, then fine. I read into everything like it's my job.


I'm sure you know the books suck, but hey, I was just applying my own logic, which goes 'Unless the author's race or ethnicity directly influenced the work in a significant way, it doesn't actually matter'. Then again, I don't know what others know all the time; sometimes you need to play it safe and assume they don't.

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