"Sociopathy" & lazy characterization
Jan. 21st, 2016 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkI don't follow Arrow these days (except for when it crosses over with The Flash, and I'll grudgingly watch the episode in which they introduce Vixen, because Vixen), but I did see this latest interview with the EP about the stuff that's been going on lately (warning: spoilers for the latest episode(s) in the interview).
One thing that caught my eye was how the EP described Thea Queen as a "sociopath." Or, to be more precise:
"The interesting thing about Thea is that ultimately she's the by-product of Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn. For her not to be a bonafide sociopath would be a sheer miracle of genetics. There's something very dark in her and it does resonate with her. . . . I think, despite her best intentions, it is part of her."
There have been articles written about how using the word "sociopath" to describe characters (usually villains) is inherently harmful, from an ableism/mental illness stigma standpoint (which I'll put links to if I can dig them up). Aside from that, I hate seeing the word "sociopath" to describe characters, particularly villains, these days just because of the simple fact that it's lazy.
The popular culture view of "sociopathy" is the same flat "pure evil"/"pure crazy" characterization that has plagued unconvincing villain characterization forever, almost always with the implication that the villain is this way "because of their genes" or "because they inherited it from family." Calling a villain (or, in Thea's case, a hero/antihero) a "sociopath" is a convenient way to avoid having to explain the complex interplay of character motivations, background, and personality that determines how comfortable a character is with extreme measures.
Hell, I'd have much less of a problem if a story creator just said something along the lines of, "This villain is the villain because they're selfish and don't give a damn about screwing people over." Simple explanation? Yes, and yet it's still more thought-out than "This character is this way because they're a 'sociopath,' full stop, end of story." There were ways they could've explained Thea's comfort with violence that are more thoughtful than "she's the daughter of Malcolm Merlyn so it runs in her genes." But no, they decided to go the lazy and honestly somewhat insulting route.
(PS: I also laughed when the EP talked about Oliver dealing with PTSD after his return from the island. The show's depiction of Oliver's PTSD was so bad it wasn't even funny—to the point where I regularly got confused as to whether the show even knew whether Oliver had PTSD or not—and now they're claiming they've showed it all along? Yeah, sure.)
One thing that caught my eye was how the EP described Thea Queen as a "sociopath." Or, to be more precise:
"The interesting thing about Thea is that ultimately she's the by-product of Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn. For her not to be a bonafide sociopath would be a sheer miracle of genetics. There's something very dark in her and it does resonate with her. . . . I think, despite her best intentions, it is part of her."
There have been articles written about how using the word "sociopath" to describe characters (usually villains) is inherently harmful, from an ableism/mental illness stigma standpoint (which I'll put links to if I can dig them up). Aside from that, I hate seeing the word "sociopath" to describe characters, particularly villains, these days just because of the simple fact that it's lazy.
The popular culture view of "sociopathy" is the same flat "pure evil"/"pure crazy" characterization that has plagued unconvincing villain characterization forever, almost always with the implication that the villain is this way "because of their genes" or "because they inherited it from family." Calling a villain (or, in Thea's case, a hero/antihero) a "sociopath" is a convenient way to avoid having to explain the complex interplay of character motivations, background, and personality that determines how comfortable a character is with extreme measures.
Hell, I'd have much less of a problem if a story creator just said something along the lines of, "This villain is the villain because they're selfish and don't give a damn about screwing people over." Simple explanation? Yes, and yet it's still more thought-out than "This character is this way because they're a 'sociopath,' full stop, end of story." There were ways they could've explained Thea's comfort with violence that are more thoughtful than "she's the daughter of Malcolm Merlyn so it runs in her genes." But no, they decided to go the lazy and honestly somewhat insulting route.
(PS: I also laughed when the EP talked about Oliver dealing with PTSD after his return from the island. The show's depiction of Oliver's PTSD was so bad it wasn't even funny—to the point where I regularly got confused as to whether the show even knew whether Oliver had PTSD or not—and now they're claiming they've showed it all along? Yeah, sure.)
