Doesn't the Mary Sue name come specifically from the iconic Star Trek fic? Yes, the author (Paula Smith?) was playing on the existing female-OC tropes and so wrote a female character, but that's not the same thing to me.
Hmm - I know that "Mary Sue" came from ST fic, but was the original a deliberate parody? Obviously I must brush up on my fannish history!
I don't play the "Gary Stu/Marty Stu" game; I could insist that doing so is marginalizing the creativity and historicity of Smith, but that'd be trolling, really.
But then isn't the term "Mary Sue" marginalizing all those poor fangirls named Mary or Sue? We're damned if you do/don't either way! ;)
Ahh, the categories of Sue, I hadn't considered those. "Canon Sue" does have such a nice ring to it. and "Winking Sue," hee! (There was a char in the second season of Invisible Man who was some specific bizarre breed of 'Sue in that she was classic super-beautiful super-competent secret agent - except that on rewatching the series she amused me, because rather than loving her the other chars all openly resented her for being more perfect than them (even though they were not above using her talents and connections.) An "Apprehended Sue"?)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
winterfish
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 11:25 pm (UTC)Hmm - I know that "Mary Sue" came from ST fic, but was the original a deliberate parody? Obviously I must brush up on my fannish history!
I don't play the "Gary Stu/Marty Stu" game; I could insist that doing so is marginalizing the creativity and historicity of Smith, but that'd be trolling, really.
But then isn't the term "Mary Sue" marginalizing all those poor fangirls named Mary or Sue? We're damned if you do/don't either way! ;)
Ahh, the categories of Sue, I hadn't considered those. "Canon Sue" does have such a nice ring to it. and "Winking Sue," hee! (There was a char in the second season of Invisible Man who was some specific bizarre breed of 'Sue in that she was classic super-beautiful super-competent secret agent - except that on rewatching the series she amused me, because rather than loving her the other chars all openly resented her for being more perfect than them (even though they were not above using her talents and connections.) An "Apprehended Sue"?)