Sentry still controversial after death « BW Media Spotlight

Sentry still controversial after death « BW Media Spotlight

So this scene ends up making the hinted at “menage a trois” between Hal Jordan, Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk in DC’s Cry For Justice look tame in comparison.

Ragnell of the Written Word blog summed the problem up best.

The point is that since human contact was such a rare and idealized experience for Rogue, an event like the loss of her virginity is certifiably a Big $$%#%$# Deal. It is a monumental experience for this character. It is her story more than anything else, because it is a moment that she has been denied all her life. It is a Rite of Passage that long boarded off to Rogue (with little detour signs leading to “Experience Prejudice”, “Prove One’s Valor in Combat”, and “Absorb the Memories, Powers and Life Force of An Entire Other Person”), and she expresses the pain of that roadblock in every appearance. Breaking through that roadblock, whether it’s through a temporary depowerment, or a forcefield, or a character powerful enough that she doesn’t completely absorb him, is a major life experience for Rogue. It is something that should affect her for the rest of her appearances, making the event she can never experience now be something she misses and giving her a comforting memory when confronted by the cold reality that she can’t even shake hands.
It is noteworthy enough that it deserves a three-issue mini-series with romance-novel style covers, a lush exotic locale, a tender build-up of affections and at the very least a soft silhouetted kiss then a fade to black. Then, most importantly, the fallout. The incredibly important reason why she did not stay with the person that could actually touch her every day for the rest of her life. Was it his choice or her choice? If it was his choice, how did she take it? If it was her choice, why? Because the reason for giving up the thing you want more than anything else in your life says a hell of a lot about what kind of person you are.
Even now that she can control her powers (again, not sure how long this will last before someone wants tragic Rogue back), the loss of her virginity is still an important event for her because physical intimacy is something that was denied to her so long. It is at the very LEAST something that needs to be covered in her own book and not any other character’s. We’re talking about the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of Rogue’s here, something more special for her than the other character who might be involved for a laundry list of reasons.
But instead this event is implied not in any of Rogue’s wistful memories, not in the most private thoughts that comfort her in her darkest moments, but in a half-page tribute to the $#%$#%#$%# Sentry.

This scene, like when the Thing says he was consoled by the Sentry after witnessing a supervillain destroy a bus full of children (Chris Sims said it best: “Welcome the Heroic Age, everybody”) or Tony saying the Sentry helped him when he was dealing with alcoholism (I’m surprised he’s stayed sober for so long, considering how often it gets brought up) serves only to make Robert Reynolds look as super-awesome as possible. Heck, a simple line like “No, I don’t think it went that far” would have been a good idea. First, there is that one little nagging detail that…

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If Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had wanted to do a Superman character, they'd have done one. It would have been a terrible idea, so they didn't. Along comes zombie marvel aka Disney Comics and the Sentry slides out.

My last word on River Song

Writer On Board - Television Tropes & Idioms

Writer On Board

Animal Man discusses this trope with his writer.

"If you want to send a message, use Western Union."

— Samuel Goldwyn, renowned Hollywood producer

Obvious authorial intrusion. When the characters start behaving like idiots or against their previously established characterization because the writer damn well needs them to in order to tell their story. May also occur when a character is accused of being used just to show a particular point of view, and not because they actually have it. The high-falutin' literary term for a character designed to express the author's preferred opinions (often the Only Sane Man) is the raisonneur—here at TV Tropes the preferred term is Author Avatar. At best, the only difference is a rather heavy-handed Aesop. At worst, narrative is put aside so that an Author Filibuster can be conducted. When you agree with what the author has to say, but feel that their method of conveyance is detrimental to the work, it becomes a case of Don't Shoot the Message. Creator Breakdown occurs when personal issues within the writer's life drives the authorial intrusion. A play on "Baby on Board". Author Appeal is a specific form of this. See also Creator Breakdown, and Idiot Plot. Compare Out Of Character Moment. Contrast Bored On Board. Of course, interpretations will vary and may be wrong...

Melody Pond. River Song. MARY SUE.

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment. She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing.
She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her into their nakama, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. She has some sort of especially close relationship to the author's favorite canon character — their love interest, illegitimate child, never-before-mentioned sister, etc. Other than that, the canon characters are quickly reduced to awestruck cheerleaders, watching from the sidelines as Mary Sue outstrips them in their areas of expertise and solves problems that have stymied them for the entire series. (See Common Mary Sue Traits for more detail on any of these cliches.) In other words, the term "Mary Sue" is generally slapped on a character who is important in the story, possesses unusual physical traits, and has an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature.

Source: TV Tropes

The stupidity of trying to negate the unerring identification of River Song as a terrible, truly awful product of fanfiction level writing revolves around the argument that Moffat the showrunner of Doctor Who is not using River Song as his author insertion into Who.

Isn't he?

Just because a Mary Sue is more convoluted in its connection to the author makes no bones to me.

River Song is a painful, awful addition to Doctor Who, even topping Captain Jack the deviant for that honour. I'd put money on RTD using Rose as his Mary Sue, and River Song's gender is nothing more than a smokescreen for Moffat to tell truly uninspired hack level timespace opera with a pet character.

River Song is the Poochy of the Whoniverse.

It's also an entirely deliberate and apparently highly successful pandering to fans of a certain age (and gender), tending to be American by birth, who like having a shall we say less athletic and young character doing the impossible kewl stuff because it validates in some truly odd and sad way their own again shall we say... sedentary life choices.

I seriously couldn't like this character less if she was comprised of equal amounts of shit and maggots.