05-30-2013, 11:35 PM
Though once on another messageboard I recall a woman who was describing the type of men she hated and loved, and the really interesting part to me was that when she described really horrid men she'd illustrate with a pic of a man not particularly good looking (famous but not known for their good looks, and no doubt wouldn't have appreciated being used for that) and also men she found attractive (kind, charitable, protective, etc) with the pic of a hottie. I REALLY wanted to quote her but switch the pix she'd chosen around to see if the horrid men were still so horrid and good men still so good once their looks were inversed. But I didn't as she was such a neurotic that freaked out over the slightest challenge (which she considered personal attacks) to her worldview (and yet despite this kept putting her views out there).
Even when I was a child I outgrew the good people look pretty fallacy...possibly because I read so much scifi with aliens in them, I don't know. Or maybe it was my mom who many obviously admired as beautiful and was a former model but I saw as a cruel, sadistic bitch. Whatever the case, when I was 10 I wrote a fic where I retold a fairytale of Baba Yaga in which the "most beautiful" woman who escaped Baba Yaga (and her aunt) to marry the czar was herself actually an evil sorceress while Baba Yaga (old, ugly crone) was the champion of the people (this might've been inspired somewhat by my wanting Granny to rescue me from Mom...). Thing was even the adults I showed it to said my version made a lot more sense out of the fairytale. (ETA: it was this one in case you're curious, and the traditional version I heard was that while the czar did like her sewing, he was made helpless by her beauty and had to instantly marry her, which comes off as magic to me.)
I'm hoping the Harry Potter movies might nudge kids that way, too (since villains could be really hot looking while heroes very plain looking, at least for movie stars).
I was unable to read Ayn Rand fiction, or even listen to it on tape while doing chores, and just one of the reasons why was how perfect the heroes were (physically as well as mentally) and how horrid the villains (as ugly on the outside as the inside) as it not only struck me as immature drivel but destroyed the believability for me (if the villains are that pathetic then they wouldn't be running the world, and who cares when the heroes overcome them, it's as admirable as ripping candy from the hands of a spoiled brat no one likes, no one is going to be impressed even if they approve, similar to if St. George was to defeat the iguana instead of the dragon).
Btw, you might like the book (not to be confused with the musical which doesn't include the same elements that I'm recommending the book for) Wicked.
Even when I was a child I outgrew the good people look pretty fallacy...possibly because I read so much scifi with aliens in them, I don't know. Or maybe it was my mom who many obviously admired as beautiful and was a former model but I saw as a cruel, sadistic bitch. Whatever the case, when I was 10 I wrote a fic where I retold a fairytale of Baba Yaga in which the "most beautiful" woman who escaped Baba Yaga (and her aunt) to marry the czar was herself actually an evil sorceress while Baba Yaga (old, ugly crone) was the champion of the people (this might've been inspired somewhat by my wanting Granny to rescue me from Mom...). Thing was even the adults I showed it to said my version made a lot more sense out of the fairytale. (ETA: it was this one in case you're curious, and the traditional version I heard was that while the czar did like her sewing, he was made helpless by her beauty and had to instantly marry her, which comes off as magic to me.)
I'm hoping the Harry Potter movies might nudge kids that way, too (since villains could be really hot looking while heroes very plain looking, at least for movie stars).
I was unable to read Ayn Rand fiction, or even listen to it on tape while doing chores, and just one of the reasons why was how perfect the heroes were (physically as well as mentally) and how horrid the villains (as ugly on the outside as the inside) as it not only struck me as immature drivel but destroyed the believability for me (if the villains are that pathetic then they wouldn't be running the world, and who cares when the heroes overcome them, it's as admirable as ripping candy from the hands of a spoiled brat no one likes, no one is going to be impressed even if they approve, similar to if St. George was to defeat the iguana instead of the dragon).
Btw, you might like the book (not to be confused with the musical which doesn't include the same elements that I'm recommending the book for) Wicked.