When I ask about fantasy worlds, what comes to mind about openings. Certainly in visual media movies and television, it's about a mysterious locations and the enigmatic character who may or may not be the main protagonist. The concept has been used so often that it's become something of a cliche in the genre, and spread across to other genres including science fiction, mystery/thriller. But can we trust it?
Here's my idea, or rather my vision.
You're in a woodland setting, divided between two parts of the same forest. The two leads of this particular scene are walking with their faces hidden. They look somewhat similar, except for their clothing. One is slightly broader, wears trousers and armour, has a sword at their belt, and close-cropped hair. One clearly as longish hair, is slimmer in build, and walks with a delicacy you don't expect from the average traveller. One is a knight, one is a mage, both are on the same mission.
The knight's name is Aileen, and the mage's is Franco. To use modern terms, she's butch, and he's girly. But we don't know that until the last second, when we first see them.
And in this one scene, a standard expectation is thrown out the window. Our expectations, as set up by countless movies and games that have used stereotypical physiques for male and female roles (even Cassandra from the Dragon Age universe is notably slim when compared to other female knights in that universe), are subverted.
Like the article's title suggests, this is just a crazy idea, and a fairly weak foundation for most stories without a lot more thought and fleshing out. How many times have you just flipped physique and gender roles out of frustration?
No comments:
Post a Comment