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Mary Sue

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This article is about the character type. For the website, see The Mary Sue. For other uses, see Mary Sue (given name).

A Mary Sue is a type of fictional character, usually a young woman, who is portrayed as unrealistically free of weaknesses or character flaws.[1] The term "Mary Sue" is often applied pejoratively to strong female heroines considered to be unrealistically capable, both in fan fiction and in commercially published fiction.

The character Mary Sue initially appeared in Paula Smith's 1973 parody short story "A Trekkie's Tale". In that story, Mary Sue symbolizes the idealized characters widespread in Star Trek fan fiction. These were often depicted as beautiful young women possessing special abilities or physical traits, universally beloved by the more established characters, and playing a central role in the story despite not appearing in the source material.[2]

Mary Sue stories are often written by adolescent authors, primarily young women, and may represent the author's self-insertion into the story. Less commonly, a male character with similar traits may be labeled a "Gary Stu" or "Marty Stu". Fear of the label "Mary Sue" has been cited by several authors as stifling the creative development of female characters in fan fiction.

History

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'Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky,' thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise. 'Here I am, the youngest lieutenant in the fleet—only fifteen and a half years old.'

Paula Smith, "A Trekkie's Tale"[1]

The character Mary Sue initially appeared in Paula Smith's 1973 short story "A Trekkie's Tale", published in Smith's and Sharon Ferraro's Star Trek fanzine Menagerie.[3] The story parodied idealized female characters that were common in fan fiction.[2][4][5] Writer Joan Verba described these characters as having any or all of the following elements: being a young (or the youngest) Starfleet officer; being adored by the established characters such as Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy; possessing extraordinary abilities; winning extraordinary honors; and dying a heroic death, after which she is universally mourned.[2] In 1976, Menagerie's editors wrote:

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling. This character can also be found burrowing her way into the good graces/heart/mind of one of the Big Three [Kirk, Spock, and McCoy], if not all three at once. She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end, being grieved by the entire ship.[6]

Smith and Ferraro created the character to parody a recurring pattern found in author submissions to Menagerie, in which a young woman would arrive on the Starship Enterprise and quickly win over the established characters. While the Mary Sue character did not originally have a specific gender, these submitted stories tended to be written by women. According to Smith and Ferraro, women made up most of the Star Trek fan base, unlike the larger science fiction fandom.[3] Smith and Ferraro had initially considered other (male) names such as "Murray Sue" or "Marty Sue". Comparing the character to male proxies such as Superman, Smith later said, "It was OK for [men] to have placeholder characters that were incredibly able".[3]

While originally used to describe fan fiction characterizations,[7] the term "Mary Sue" has been applied to characters and stories in commercially published fiction as well.[8][9] According to folklorist Camille Bacon-Smith, the stories that represent the pure form of the Mary Sue character are "found in the Star Trek section of any bookstore",[10] for example, cadet Piper, the protagonist of the 1986 Star Trek novel Dreadnought! by Diane Carey.[11]

"Mary Sue" can also refer to the fan fiction genre featuring such characters. These stories feature young, attractive, and exceptionally gifted female heroines who serve as the author's self-insertion into the story.[12] They often resolve the conflict of the story, win the love of the other characters and die a heroic death at the end.[13] Mary Sue stories are often written by adolescent authors. An author may create a new character based on themselves, or they may alter an established character's personality and interests to be more like their own.[14]

Analysis

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The characteristics of idealization and self-insertion are usually cited by fans as hallmarks of a Mary Sue character.[4] Gender studies researcher Catherine Driscoll writes that "the Mary Sue is generally associated with girl writers who have trouble distancing themselves from the source text enough to write about it rather than write themselves into it".[15] Writing in feminist popular culture magazine Bitch, Keidra Chaney and Raizel Liebler describe Mary Sue characters as having "an uncanny resemblance to her creator—only stronger, wittier, sexier, friendlier, and without the glasses and bad skin".[16]

The suspicion that a Mary Sue character represents an author's self-insertion is often perceived by audiences as a sign of low artistic quality.[2] Author Ann C. Crispin described the term "Mary Sue" as "a put-down, implying that the character so summarily dismissed is not a true character, no matter how well drawn, what sex, species, or degree of individuality".[10] Writer Valerie E. Frankel describes the term "Mary Sue" as sexist because it assumes no female character should be as powerful as Superman.[17] Smith commented in 1980 that her intent was never "to put down all stories about inspiring females".[18]

Writing instructor Tisha Turk of Grinnell College states that "ultimately the reader, not the author, defines a Mary Sue".[2] Angie Fazekas and Dan Vena write that such characters "provide an opportunity for teenage girls to write themselves into popular culture narratives as the heroines of their own stories".[14] According to Jackie Mansky in Smithsonian, some critics argue that "Mary Sues opened up a gateway for writers, particularly women and members of underrepresented communities, to see themselves in extraordinary characters".[3]

Bacon-Smith writes that Mary Sue stories are "central to the painful experience of a female fan's adolescence", especially for those who could not or would not remain intellectually or physically subservient to their male peers; they represent a combination of active protagonist with "the culturally approved traits of beauty, sacrifice, and self-effacement".[19] In fan fiction versions, the protagonist traditionally dies at the end of the story; Bacon-Smith says this expresses the "cultural truth" that to enter womanhood in a male-dominated American society, one must kill the "active agent within [herself]"; Mary Sue thus embodies a "fantasy of the perfect woman", who exists to serve the needs of men while minimizing her own abilities.[20]

Less commonly, male characters may be discussed in fan culture as personifying the same wish-fulfillment functions as the Mary Sue.[2] They are referred to by names such as "Larry Stu",[17] "Marty Stu", or "Gary Stu".[2] For example, fans have argued that in Star Trek, the character James T. Kirk is a "Marty Stu".[21][a] In a 2011 interview, Smith cited James Bond and Superman as examples of male Mary Sues, arguing that such characters benefit the male audience's coming of age.[5]

Cultural impact

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The Mary Sue figure has acquired a pejorative reputation in fan communities[22] as a character who is too perfect to be believable.[23] According to Bacon-Smith, the label is "the most universally denigrated genre in the entire canon of fan fiction"[24] and may represent "self-imposed sexism" by limiting the qualities allowed for female characters.[25] Many fans (usually male[3]) have applied the label "Mary Sue" to any fan fiction female character who is considered to be unrealistically capable or appealing.[2]

Bacon-Smith argues that fear of creating a "Mary Sue" may be restricting and even silencing to some writers.[26] The Star Trek fanzine Archives has described "Mary Sue" paranoia as partly responsible for a lack of "believable, competent, and identifiable-with female characters".[26] During a discussion between female authors at Star Trek fan convention ClipperCon in 1987, one author stated, "Every time I've tried to put a woman in any story I've ever written, everyone immediately says, this is a Mary Sue".[26] At a 1990 panel discussion, participants "noted with growing dismay that any female character created within the [fan] community is damned with the term Mary Sue".[27] Editor Edith Cantor describes a fan author who feared their character was a "Mary Sue", although the author admitted she did not know what a "Mary Sue" was; Cantor writes, "just as every dog is allowed one bite, so every Trekwriter should be allowed one Mary Sue", to be given "a sympathetic reading and critique, and perhaps returned to the author with the explanation that she is following a too-well-beaten path".[28]

Chaney and Liebler describe Star Trek: The Next Generation character Wesley Crusher as a "quasi–Gary Sue", who is "a brilliant teen who always seems to discover the answers to problems and who is promoted to the crew of the Enterprise with no formal training".[29]

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw of The Daily Dot describes the fan fiction My Immortal's main character, Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, as "a Mary Sue protagonist who was clearly a glorified version of the author".[30] The character Arya Stark from HBO's Game of Thrones series has been labeled a Mary Sue for her heroic role in the show's finale; frustration with this characterization inspired a response on the feminist website The Mary Sue, which took its name as an effort to "re-appropriate" the term.[3]

Media studies researcher Christine Scodari says there is a tendency within slash fandom to apply the label "Mary Sue" to major female characters such as Nyota Uhura, from the film Star Trek (2009), because of a perception that development of the female character takes away screen time from male characters.[31] Twitter users have debated whether the Star Wars sequel trilogy features a Mary Sue in its protagonist, Rey, on the basis of Rey's seemingly natural skills as a mechanic, a fighter, a pilot, and a user of "The Force", which draw admiration from the film's other main characters.[32]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Paula Smith has used the term "Wesley Sue" for such characters.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mary Sue, n.". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. March 2017. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Turk, Tisha (2011). "Metalepsis in Fan Vids and Fan Fiction" (PDF). In Kukkonen, Karin; Klimek, Sonja (eds.). Metalepsis in Popular Culture. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 96–97. doi:10.1515/9783110252804.83. ISBN 978-3-11-025278-1.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Mansky, Jackie (May 16, 2019). "The Women Who Coined the Term 'Mary Sue'". Smithsonian. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Barner, Ashley J. (2017). The Case for Fanfiction: Exploring the Pleasures and Practices of a Maligned Craft. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-1-4766-6877-2.
  5. ^ a b c Walker, Cynthia W. (2011). "A Conversation with Paula Smith". Transformative Works and Cultures. Special issue: Fan Works and Fan Communities in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Reagin, Nancy; Rubenstein, Anne (eds.). 6. doi:10.3983/twc.2011.0243.
  6. ^ Byrd, Patricia (Spring 1978). "Star Trek Lives: Trekker Slang". American Speech. 53 (1): 52–58. doi:10.2307/455340. ISSN 0003-1283. JSTOR 455340.
  7. ^ Lantagne, Stacy M. (2011). "Better Angels of Our Fanfiction: The Need for True and Logical Precedent". Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal. 33 (2): 171.
  8. ^ Bacon-Smith, Camille (1992). "Training New Members". Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-8122-1379-9. (Includes the full text of "A Trekkie's Tale" on pages 94–96.)
  9. ^ Cheeseman-Meyer, Ellen (April 26, 2012). "Mary Sue Fights Fascism: Diane Carey's Dreadnought! and Battlestations!". Tor.com.
  10. ^ a b Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 98.
  11. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), pp. 98–99.
  12. ^ Hellekson, Karen; Busse, Kristina, eds. (2014). The Fan Fiction Studies Reader. University of Iowa Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-60938-227-8.
  13. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 53.
  14. ^ a b Fazekas, Angie; Vena, Dan (2020). "'What Were We—Idiots?' Re-evaluating Female Spectatorship and the New Horror Heroine with Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight". In Paszkiewicz, Katarzyna; Rusnak, Stacy (eds.). Final Girls, Feminism and Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 240–241. ISBN 978-3-030-31523-8.
  15. ^ Driscoll, Catherine (2006). "One True Pairing: The Romance of Pornography and the Pornography of Romance" (PDF). In Hellekson, Karen; Busse, Kristina (eds.). Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-7864-2640-9 – via ResearchGate. Quoted in Turk (2011), p. 97.
  16. ^ Chaney, Keidra; Liebler, Raizel (2006). "Me, Myself, and I: Fan Fiction and the Art of Self-Insertion" (PDF). Bitch. No. 31. p. 52. ISSN 2162-5352. Anniversary issue. Quoted in Turk (2011), p. 97.
  17. ^ a b Frankel, Valerie Estelle (2020). "Rey, Maz, Rose, Leia, Holdo, and Phasma". Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism: Weighing All the Galaxy’s Women Great and Small. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. p. 179. ISBN 978-1-4985-8387-9.
  18. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 96.
  19. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), pp. 100–101.
  20. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 102.
  21. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 97.
  22. ^ Turk (2011), p. 96; Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 53
  23. ^ Milhorn, Thomas (2006). Writing Genre Fiction: A Guide to the Craft. Boca Raton, Fla.: Universal Publishers. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-1-58112-918-2.
  24. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 94.
  25. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992).
  26. ^ a b c Bacon-Smith (1992), pp. 110–111.
  27. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), p. 110.
  28. ^ Bacon-Smith (1992), pp. 96–97.
  29. ^ Chaney & Liebler (2006), p. 56.
  30. ^ Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia (July 29, 2013). "The worst 'Harry Potter' fanfic ever is now a hilarious webseries". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016.
  31. ^ Scodari, Christine (2012). "'Nyota Uhura is Not a White Girl': Gender, intersectionality, and Star Trek 2009's alternate romantic universes". Feminist Media Studies. 12 (3): 335–351. doi:10.1080/14680777.2011.615605. ISSN 1468-0777.
  32. ^ Framke, Caroline (December 28, 2015). "What is a Mary Sue, and does Star Wars: The Force Awakens have one?". Vox. New York.

Further reading

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  • The dictionary definition of mary sue at Wiktionary
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