Interesting article on Harley Quinn from Batman the Animated Series. I was addicted to the show back when it was being broadcast.
This article does a really nice character analysis around why Harley’s character is so compelling, and why it’s so fragile. I’d never quite thought of the Harley-Joker-Batman as a sort of love triangle, but it makes sense.
I never got into superheroes. I met Linda Carter at a signing in the 70s that, honestly, my mother was apparently more excited about than I was, based on the mutilations 5-yo me inflicted on the photo. I liked the 60s Catwoman a whole lot better, if only for that one episode where she had Robin tied down and licked his neck. (Yum. Ahem. Well, there’s one of the reasons I believe kink can be hardwired.)
An extra bonus is the writer’s bible linked to in the article. I’d guessed there was a style sheet to support a range of writers working on the series/franchise, so it’s nice to see behind the curtain. Fandom lacks that structure, which I’m sure we’re all grateful for. (At times. Other times, it would be nice to have a written collection of tropes so n00bs like me wouldn’t spend days scratching our collective heads over when Snape became Draco’s godfather. And subsequently rewriting and discarding swathes of words because it’s not book-canon. Whatever–it was cathartic wish-fulfillment anyway and needed killin’.)
The speaker at my writers’ group yesterday talked about “The Discipline of Creativity.” Largely nothing really new — be consistent, butt-in-chair, collect ideas in notebooks, &c.
Some of her stats were saddening. Apparently researchers have measured native creativity in kids for decades, and for decades kids have routinely been in the 98%. Similar studies put native creativity for adults at 2%. What the hell do we do to people? Lots of things, really–conformity for organization sake, awareness of need to conform as kids age, &c. Reasons.
What was sobering was that these same studies have had different findings in the last decade. Kids are dropping from the 98% mark. They’re becoming less creative. Why? I’m sure lots of reasons–that we don’t let kids have unstructured play, that we don’t let them wander and explore as freely, that every kid has a personal video game, &c.
And on that glum note, I’m going to shower (hair approaching Snapish qualities after only 26 hours!), eat some leftovers, and head out to Newk’s for some writing and strawberry cake.