Tauriel Hate & You: Why You’re Not Looking At The Whole Picture & Also Plz Stop Tagging Your Hate.
They say don’t feed the trolls. I agree (though neutering them with hyperbole and sarcasm can be fun). However, folks seem to be having an immediate negative response regarding this fine Lady, and I thought I’d gather all I’ve said/responded to in the past in one nice neat post.
“She’s not even canon!”
Actually not true. Peter Jackson has based her off a canon character, who was originally male, and expanded the role. As EVERY DWARF EXCEPT LIKE THORIN has had their role in things expanded. Honestly, in the books, there are basically 4 personalities to a sea of dwarves: Old, Young, Fighter, & Fat. The end.
“They only made her female to be an object of romance.”
Aidan Turner himself has said it’ll only be a one-sided bit of a crush, so, also wrong. I actually like the idea of instead of being impressed by a floaty, ethereal and feminine elf Lady (not that there’s ANYTHING wrong with that, it just plays to expected cliches), he gets a little grinny over a chick with a bow who can kick his ass. COME ON, TUMBLR, YOU LOVE MERIDA.
And yes, I just wrote a big long fic that included romance. But that’s MY escapism and happy place. In the films? I really don’t want there to be romance, and I really don’t think that there will be.
”DWARVES HATE ELVES AMGGGG That’s why Gimli and Legolas being bros is so meaningfuuuuul.”
Overall, true. However, take into consideration Galadriel and Gimli, which was far more than a wee crush for him. Take also into consideration Fili and Kili being 50 years younger, canonically, than anyone else in the Company. They canonically don’t mind the elves as much as their elders. How many of your parents’ prejudices, however “justified”, do you share in wholeheartedly? And again, this isn’t being mentioned as a major, earth-shattering plot point here. At most, I expect to see the equivalent of
Kili: *side-grin*
Tauriel: *eyeroll*
Also, Gimli and Legolas live together for like, 120 years after LOTR. Given events in the Hobbit….um, yeah, still more meaningful.
“BUT THIS RUINS MY SHIPPING.”
…How? Look, I was a fan when the movies were a whisper in the dark corners of the library XD Aragorn and Arwen being actual canon, life-long, destined lovers? Has NEVER stopped the slash. Never has, never will. Aragorn/Boromir, Aragorn/Legolas will never die, and I hope it never does! So how is a crushing ickle-dwarf going to stop you, hrmm?
Remember who’s at the wheel.
Peter Jackson loves Tolkien. Evangeline Lilly loves Tolkien! She expressed her doubts WHEN SHE WAS ASKED TO PLAY THE ROLE, until she saw the script (come on, honestly now, how many of us gals would even hesitate, when asked to be in this world?). She’s a nerd. She dated/worked with a fucking Hobbit. She LOVES this world, and she wouldn’t let herself be cast as crap, and she KNOWS the backlash she’s getting before the film is released, and is assured it’ll stop once it is.
I adore her.
Check Your Own Misogyny:
I know, plenty of you probably think that’s a bit harsh of me. But seriously, even if Tauriel were romantically involved with someone….so what? Why is it always the female character who becomes reduced to a pair of tits in your mind as soon as romance is mentioned? Seriously, what we DO know for sure about this character is that she’s a fierce fighter, a big-shot in the army, straight from the horses mouth. But what are people fixated on and reducing her because of? A side-comment about a one-sided crush.
Arwen got this too, and she’s freakin’ canon. People moaned about her being more present, over her pining for her love, but in Aragorn’s case, the fact that he was fighting partly for her was swoon-worthy. It’s perfectly okay to have the man in your typical action movies fighting for/avenging a woman too, but as soon as an actual woman is IN those movies, she gets treated as nothing but the obligatory pair of tits. By men AND women in the audience. Disregarding all other aspects of her character, or even the simple, awesome fact that HEY they put a woman with a gun/sword/bow into this testosterone-fest, huzzah!
Nope, she’s just tits, while the man is fighting a noble fight for his vagina back home. And if you’re doing this same thing with a script and characters far better-written than those inPredators or Avatar, well…sorry, the issue isn’t Tauriel.
So let’s look at what we’ve got, given the evidence thus far:
A badass elf lady who’s beautiful, but isn’t defined by normal standards of ethereal Elven beauty or femininity. She’s a Captain, a big shot in the Greenwood army, and though this DOES make her attractive to a male character, she won’t be romantically involved with anyone as far as can be told, and is moreso defined by the fact that she’s a woman, and a badass.
Tumblr.
Stop hating on your potential QUEEN.
