Feeling Small

It’s way to easy to feel insignificant next to other people.

And unaccomplished.

I feel as though I’ve done nothing.

Thoughts on People and Heroes

So I just read an article (while on a study break of course) and it really got my attention. The article was about strong female characters that made mistakes, learned from them, and became stronger. The article had some really good ideas and pointed out character developments that weren’t always obvious. 

What really struck me was  the comment section, of course. 

Several people started talking about how one writer/director/producer, who frequently has a woman as his main character, always makes them ‘broken’ first. And then they become strong. The arguments from the comment section were saying that women don’t need to be ‘damaged’ in order to become a hero. 

Well. Duh. 

As someone who is a HUGE fan of this particular writer/etc, I don’t see his writing that way at all. 

To me, the whole point is that no one is perfect. 

Everyone has a past. 

And everyone is driven by something in their lives. 

Guys and girls. 

Yes, you don’t need to be screwed up to find your way to being a hero. 

No, you don’t have to have a tragic past to be strong. 

But how do you get an audience to become invested in a character?

By making them emotionally available. Making them real. 

And reality is: life sucks and kicks you when you’re done sometimes. 

Shit happens.

And we learn and grow from it. 

Everybody.

The point of making someone with a tragic past become a strong hero isn’t to show what people can do because of their past. 

It’s to show how awesome people are despite their past. 

You can be broken and awesome. The two don’t have to be connected. 

Honestly.