The Portrayal of Women in the Media

[Tornado]

I didn't really have a problem with that scene in Twilight. After all, he was outraged when she was about to drive herself home after the blood type incident, and dragged her back to his car. It seems on par with that.

[Esme echo]

In my mind there is a difference between Edward feeling outraged that his expected time with Bella might be cut short and him criticizing Bella for her clumsiness -- which was beyond her control and which [in MS] amused him.

While trying to think of positive feminine role models in the movies I've seen in the last couple of years, I thought of I Am Number Four. Dianna Agron played the protagonist's girlfriend, Sarah. She was portrayed as pretty, smart, talented, sensitive, and modestly dressed. What's not to like? On the other hand, Number 6 (Teresa Palmer) was portrayed as striking in her looks, better at surviving and fighting than Number 4, slightly sarcastic, edgy, and definitely hardened in attitude. Which character would most young girls want to emulate?

I also thought of The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Teresa Palmer played the girlfriend, Becky, in this movie and she was portrayed much as Sarah in I Am Number Four: kind, talented, brave, there for her man. In this movie, no feminine teen or YA role overshadowed her.

So some Hollywood roles are positive, but they are few and far between and often overshadowed by edgier characters in the fillm. I like both those films, and in my mind Teresa Palmer did a great job portraying both Number 6 and Becky.

[Tornado]

Oh, please don't tell me that the female protagonist in I am Number Four was named Sarah??????

[Esme echo]

I guess it depends on which girl you call the protagonist! The girl-friend was Sarah, the alien was Number 6. Why?

[Tornado]

It's just that the protagonist in something I am writing is called Sarah, and I have found out that it has similarities to I am Number Four. And I'm not changing her name!

[Esme echo]

Well, you could spell the name more creatively . . . but what's a name in fiction? Why won't you change it? Better to suffer the grief now than to be accused of plagerism (or borrowing a story line) later, isn't it?

[Tornado]

I think it would have to have more similarities than just the name for a plagarism suit! No, it's not enough like it for that. It's just that I can imagine the comparisons drawn.

I don't want to change the name because I've already had to change a couple of the others and I'm so used to her being Sarah (what's more, the meaning of the name fits in the context of the book) that I don't want to change it. Heck, I've written three novels and a companion book. She's staying as Sarah!