Oh, I don’t write down her exploits. She’s existed in my head; faceless, nameless, shameless, beguiling all with her charm and good looks.
Originally--and I am deeply ashamed to admit this--she manifested in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and spent her days cozying up to Iolaus. But she soon expanded to other genres...X-Files, Star Wars, and whatever movie I had currently watched and was enamored of. She’s even inserted herself into 1930s romantic comedies and Regency England. She now alternates her time between Star Trek and Buffy, and I eventually gave her a name: Lenox Ruby, ostensibly an original role-playing character. But I know she is more, and less than that.
I expect that there are many, many more Mary Sues out there than we think; she’s far more prolific than we give her credit for. Just because she isn’t written down and hurled into the abyss of cyberspace doesn’t mean that she’s not there. Mary Sue is a primal outlet for fantasy. Every time a teenage girl dreams about meeting her favorite movie star--or better yet, a prettier, wittier version of herself doing the same--she’s creating her own Mary Sue, whether she knows it or not.
However, there’s a vast difference between private fantasies, and subjecting said fantasies onto an innocent public. I would never post any of Lenox’s hormone-driven adventures onto this site, and I certainly would not expect others to gather ‘round in adoration of my “original” character. So many Mary Sue creators become offended when others don’t immediately cling to their opus; they act like it’s a personal affront to themselves, when to be honest it’s because we’ve seen so much of the same damn thing that it’s become redundant and annoying.
I’m pointing this out, because otherwise I just KNOW I will have hordes of teenage fan fic writers breathing fire on my ass over my presumed hypocrisy: “You can’t criticize our characters, because you just admitted doing the same thing yourself!”
Sorry, wrong. I have a Mary Sue, but she will never see the light of day. I’m not subjecting her onto unwitting participants to my self-adoration. Heck, I’m never even writing out her adventures. They’re fleeting and generic, and deserve to stay right inside my brain.
The problem isn’t Mary Sue...if she was approached in a light-hearted self-affacing way, no doubt fellow fen would have no problem with her. But so many culprits take their darlings so very seriously, and are offended when others so much as mention her name in connection with their works. “Princess Jade PhoenixWind isn’t REALLY a Mary Sue...she has tons of faults!”
Reaaally, I respond. Like what?
“Well, she’s generous to a fault. And no one takes her seriously ‘cause she’s a girl. And her half-elven heritage makes her susceptible to iron. And...” etc etc etc.
People, these are not flaws! The first is flattering at best, the latter excuse was cliched right about when Wonder Woman was aired, and anything that qualifies as a unique trait is NOT a flaw for a Mary Sue. In her case, Tragic Pasts are a boon, because she is given an Air of Mystery and Immediate Sympathy right off the bat.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Mary Sue is a healthy creative release, but should not be taken seriously by the author, because no one ELSE will take her seriously.
Well, that’s all the time we have, folks. I’ll write more later, but right now Lenox is tugging at my sleeve...seems she has an urgent date with a certain young Jedi and a bowl of strawberry Jello. See y’all later, then!
12/30/02: I went shopping with DC recently, and we went to a Wizards of the Coast store at a mall, where I bought a little miniature of a female half-elven warrior. This miniature is now officially Lenox Ruby. She sits on top of my modem, all two inches of her fiercely poised for battle: sword permanently drawn in a warrior-like pose, hair streaming back, ever ready for action. I may even get her painted one of these days, if I can ever afford it. In the grand tradition of Mary Sues, she would have dark auburn hair and grey eyes. The miniature is a bit less clothed than I have pictured Lenox (in an oh-so-classy chainmail two-piece with knee-high fur-trimmed boots), but ah well...you can’t have everything. She is equipped with two weapons--a sword and a short knife--so no one can say she can’t kick some royal ass!