adventuresofcomicbookgirl:

ladyloveandjustice:

(FMA 2003)

Winry: Hey guys I have some input-

Ed: GO AWAY Winry, stop tagging along

Al: Yeah, you helped us and stuff now go away it’s dangerous I guess

Winry: Hey but I-

Ed: STOP TRYING TO IMPACT THE PLOT.

Al: Bye

(FMA Manga/Brotherhood:)

Winry: So, my input is THIS

Ed: rrrght as much as I worry about you being in danger I have learned to respect your input and personal autonomy

Al: Yes Ma’am!

Ed: but I can’t let you-

Winry: Ed stop it.

Ed: Okay.

you should run away

Winry: NO

Ed: Okay.

So this isn’t meant to start a “2003 vs original” fight or anything, but make a larger point about how lady characters can be handled in narratives, and I think the difference between how Winry’s handled in the manga and the first anime is just a pretty good illustration of that?

See, I flippantly said that the first anime made it so Winry did nothing during a certain scene that was adapted from the manga and someone was like, that’s not true, and gave me photographic evidence that Winry basically TRIED to say the same things in that scene but Al TALKED OVER HER so he could ANGST some more- and basically Winry continued trying really hard to help after that but kinda wasn’t acknowledged as doing so. And well, that’s true! But I don’t think the 2003 anime should get points for that? It’s like- there’s no such thing as a bad character. I truly believe that. It’s about whether the character is given room to develop and used to their fullest potential. 2003 anime Winry is basically the same character as Manga Winry, only a lot less developed and repeatedly sidelined by the other characters and the narrative itself.

Winry’s character is show TRYING to impact the plot in 2003, but it rebuffed by the other characters and the circumstances the narrative constructs. She saves Ed and Al on a tractor, they tell her to go home. She tries to talk to Al, he talks over her. She tries to talk to Roy about you know, killing her parents, he decides to ignore her and give a speech to Ed and Al instead. She goes on a secret investigation with Sheska and discovers Sloth…it’s completely useless because she can’t warn anyone and Ed and Al find it out on their own. She’s kidnapped the second she enters the narrative and not given the oppurtunity to save herself, she’s made to stand silently and watch the bros fight. She’s not allowed to put her foot down, say it’s my way or the highway and have others listen to her. It’s not that I’m shortchanging Winry’s character in either continuity. It’s that one continuity allows her actions to have impact and the other doesn’t. One narrative respects her and the other doesn’t. 

And that’s a larger problem in fiction. A female character can be presented a kickass, proactive lady who tries really hard, but it the narrative refuses to focus on her or let her accomplish things and if the narrative constantly suppresses her or even punishes her when she tries to have a voice- that’s just, really bad. It’s like saying “Girls, don’t try to accomplish anything, the world won’t let you.”

And no, I don’t care if it’s because 2003 focused more on Ed and Al. That’s not an excuse. You can focus on the protagonists without shortchanging other characters. In fact, if Ed and Al exist in a bubble and no one else can impact them or have a role, why the hell do other characters exist at all? And on a personal note, I think 2003 Ed and Al had really circular, self-centered, shaky development precisely because of the “all about them” attitude. How the hell am I supposed to sympathize with an Ed and Al who don’t listen to Winry when she has good advice and treat her like shit?

On a final note, Ed has an entire character arc in the Manga/Brotherhood where he learns not to keep the truth from Winry and to respect her decisions and not coddle her. He goes from keeping from her who killed her parents because he wants to protect her to after discovering this is a hurtful and disrespectful thing to do, telling her immediately when she’s in a hostage situation because he “doesn’t want to betray her by decieving her” and then following her plan to get them all out of the situation because even though he doesn’t like the risks she’s taking, he respects her right to take them and do what she wants with her own life. So basically, Ed has a whole arc where he learns it’s better to respect and listen to the woman you like rather than keep things from her and try to control her in the name of protecting her.

In an anime aimed towards boys, this is a really important lesson to have. The manga is specifically teaching young boys that girls have important input and you should respect and be honest with them and listen to them. It’s a really great and uncommon lesson in a shounen story. But the 2003 never shows anyone learning to listen to women or respect them. The protagonists ignore Winry’s input and keep things from her and sideline her till the end. So boys come away from that thinking what every other shounen manga teaches- “it’s okay to take girls for granted and ignore them and treat them as secondary.”

You get what I’m sayin?