Subject: Okay... so who says you have to laugh?
Author:
Posted on: 2013-09-14 04:01:00 UTC
I'm sensing some hostility here. Is this thread actually about trying to understand the reasons other people laugh even though you don't, or are you looking for people to just agree that it's not funny? The one I can accommodate, but the other doesn't sound good to me at all.
~Neshomeh
Where the hey did those utterly annoying and unfunny jokes about Legolas Thranduilion being a girly Elf come from? I keep seeing stuff on the Internet about Legolas being vain, wondering where his shampoo is (when such things don't even EXIST in Middle-Earth), not to mention all the incredibly irritating jokes about him trying on women's dresses. Where the kriff do fans even GET these stupid ideas? I never once found them funny, not even back when I was a Legolas fangirl.
What's more is that there's nothing even the least bit girly about him. So he has long hair. So what? Long hair for men was fashionable in those days.
I'm sorry; I just really can;t stand those kinds of jokes, and I don't know why fans would make Legolas out to be effeminate.
Unfortunately, fans do very strange things to the things they like. Especially when they're waiting for more of the show/movie/whatever.
I first saw this when my first fandom, Reboot was waiting for Season 4, and we weren't entirely sure if we were going to get a new season. So, what he had was what we had. We had serious debates and not so serious debates, one being "What colour is sprite's blood?" and using arguments from the show for one of the two choices. Then someone suggested that it was neither, and that it was, in fact, the drink 'Orbitz' the most recent odd drink fad at that time. Huh?
Next, the giant Super Virus that was taking over the Super Computer and infecting all the Guardians, was in fact Daemon Square Pants. Again, wha?
But with the Lord of the Rings fandom, the notion that Legolas was always a little girly has always been there. Honest. Even in making the movie, the elf (Orlando) teased the men (Viggo, Sean) for being dirty, the men teased the elf for... not being dirty and kinda preening sometimes. It was a joke between the actors themselves.
As for the fan stories/art/whatever that put Legolas in dresses and make him prissy, you can always boil it down to immaturity. And you know what you can do with immaturity? You can ignore it. Nothing states that you have to look at that sort of fiction or conversations or artworks.
Honestly, don't waste your time with it if you don't like it. It's there. It's out there. So what?
Why do fans do what they do? Because they're a little nuts. I mean, Sherlock fans have now compared Martin Freeman/John to a hedgehog. Whut?
~AW~
On the other hand, I'm sure whole books could be (and probably have been) written about why we laugh when the high are brought low, when the noble are shown to be petty, when the masculine act feminine—not to mention the reverse of all of the above—considering we've been doing so as a species since approximately forever. I don't have time to write a book right now, though, so let's just say "different strokes for different folks" and leave it at that. {= )
~Neshomeh, who is aware that her response is somewhat contradictory, but feels this is appropriate for a topic about Elves.
I came across the Cassandra Claire "Very Secret Diaries" fan stories. I read the one about Legolas and I couldn't stand the portrayal of him as being very stuck up and into his looks. There is nothing in his character to even suggest that he is vain. He is aloof, but he is also loyal and willing to help others who need it. And then the fan authors have to go and make him into some sort of priss. It's not funny.
I'm sensing some hostility here. Is this thread actually about trying to understand the reasons other people laugh even though you don't, or are you looking for people to just agree that it's not funny? The one I can accommodate, but the other doesn't sound good to me at all.
~Neshomeh
I think what I'm really trying to say here is that not only is it a gratuitous character warping, but it is also so darn cliched. It's been done over and over again and the jokes were not only not all that funny, but whatever zing they did have has been lost as it's been done so many times. If the fans really want to make jokes about Legolas, they should start looking for a fresh theme. They can make jokes about his swashbuckling or the tension between the Elves and Dwarves.
Please let me know if that second sentence was a run-on. I can never tell these days and so a second pair of eyes would really help.
Quite honestly, male characters portrayed as being effeminate (please tell me I spelled that right) make me feel incredibly, incredibly awkward. If it's canon, then that makes it more bearable, but if it's someone like Legolas (traditionally not like that), I'm more inclined to shy away.
Okay, end of aside.
I can see them doing that with Legolas for humor purposes, or just really really bad writing, but I agree on the point of it being gratuitous (Then again, fangirls are not generally known for changing their stripes). However, if it is truly meant for humor and not otherwise, I see no point in bearing ill will.
This was on topic, right?
