A Lonely Place of Lazing

I suspect in making Tim the target of Steph’s anger whenever he doesn’t help her in looking after her relatives a lot wouldn’t just imply how stressed out Steph is (obviously, it’s not easy looking after children and even some adults) but that Tim can be idle and unlikable. Not to mention I think it does turn their portrayals on their heads. When you think about it, imagine if Steph keeps on doing a lot of duties and gets angry whenever Tim never bothers to help her around.

She’s going to lash out at him. That would mean Tim would essentially and practically be a lazy, condescending know it all of a jerk. But nobody wants Tim or Steph to be this unlikable. Never mind that’s in some regards the most realistic situation if somebody’s unwilling to help somebody else around. Especially in interpersonal and domestic duties as I know from personal experience. And that Tim might not be that bright or at least wise.

The idle Boy Wonder

It’s not that Tim Drake lacks flaws or flaws with real consequences but that he’s so pedestalised as to make him likable. Consider what would happen if Steph nagged at him for not helping her around in caring for her family members. That would mean a never-ending cat and mouse situation between her anger and his laziness/neglect. The worst case scenario’s that they get into real fights with Tim constantly shirking at whatever duties she imposes on him (Aunt Dinah Lance would feel the same way too).

Heck, rather than pluckiness and wit Steph’s now got a massive temper from being tired of Tim’s constant laziness and stubbornness. Black Canary would feel the same way if she were his aunt. But that would necessitate storylines where Tim does suffer the consequences of his actions and actually grow in some ways. Or at least sometimes bother to correct himself as he’s only human. Not to mention having to tone down the prior Mary Sueish portrayal.

(Or even eliminating those altogether.)

It’s not that he lacks flaws but that he lacks any real accountability for what he does. But that would necessitate Steph losing her cool a lot whenever he avoids domestic duties she tells him to do. And she’d even beat him up if he doesn’t comply.

Stephanie the nag, Tim the bum

I suspect should Stephanie Brown develop a habit of nagging at Tim for not helping her around in raising/caring for her family, not only would the worst case scenario involve them getting into fights but also imply that Tim’s flawed. Albeit not in a way readers and writers expected to where by then, Tim’s real character flaw would be constantly neglecting interpersonal duties (i.e. helping Steph around in looking after her family) and being kind of lazy.

Or at least not always as brilliant as he was supposed to be by his original writers and readers. In that Tim could be in the wrong by lazing around and angering Steph a lot. If not her, then his other relatives (Black Canary would do the same if she were his aunt and same with Uncle Oliver Queen) and even his other friends (Bart Allen, if he ever became a salesman). Tim would be wronged every time he lazes around, screwing up and being at the receiving end of their anger.

If Tim spent his time lazing a lot, never bothering to help Steph in looking after her relatives Steph would really, really get mad at him often. So much so that instead of being the plucky sidekick and Tim being the most brilliant teenaged lad, Steph’s now the biggest battleaxe in all of Gotham whilst Tim’s the biggest bum and loser. Rao help if Tim gets nagged by Black Canary to do household chores.

Though to be fair, this is the only situation where Tim actually develops flaws with actual consequences (i.e. being idle and angering his closest friends and relatives).

Spoilt by nagging

I suspect should Steph nag Tim everytime she wants him to help her take care of her family and other people, that would mean Tim would end up looking bad. Not to mention it does turn some superhero conventions upside down. Rather than depicting mothers as aberrant or interfering with superhero work, it would be not only normalising it but also showing just how difficult it is to raise a child and moreso if the other partner in question doesn’t help.

(That’s part of what others call emotional labour, you know having to appear presentable to people whilst caring for them that’s going to tire them.)

As for Steph, her bothering to take care of her family in whatever form makes her much more independent than originally intended. But in that she has other people to deal with so she can’t always prioritise Tim or the entire Bat family, especially when her own family’s more important. Not to mention she’s going to nag at Tim for not helping her around whenever she takes care of her own family. Proving what I said before.

One could even imagine gags where Tim makes up excuses to avoid dealing with Steph and her family everytime she drags him into looking after them (whoever they are) but that would mean rather than being an idealised self-insert, Tim would actually have flaws. Or at least flaws with actual consequences with Steph repeatedly losing her cool everytime he screws up. The worst outcome would be that Tim and Steph would fight everytime she makes him do chores.

Steph’s angry from being stressed out a lot (as she deals with herself, her own family and others everyday and night). Tim’s angry because he can’t stand Steph for nagging at him. Maybe much too realistic in that women are still made to do a lot of housework and looking after people (both biological relatives and nonrelatives) whilst men are allowed to be lazier more. I suspect in this scenario, even being a superhero’s too much of a burden for Steph now that she gets mad at Tim for not helping around in looking after her family.

That’s still proving my point that if Steph were to continue looking after her family, she’s still going to nag at Tim for not helping her around sometimes resulting in a vicious cycle where either Tim uses escapism and jealousy or picks fights with her. (Right down to verbally abusing Steph with Steph bullying him back.) Doesn’t look good for both characters but it does make you wonder what you happen if Tim were actually flawed.

The oddest role reversal

Given there are fans who can’t stand how incompetent Stephanie’s often portrayed as, it does makes it harder to take her seriously almost as if writers, even those who like her, don’t really trust her much. Not to mention should Stephanie Brown ever attend more to her own biological family, her own hobbies and the sports teams she coaches she’d end up more independent than originally portrayed. But in that she wouldn’t have much time for the Batman family anymore.

In fact she’d even make Tim Drake lessen the load for her which necessitates Tim to become the less competent of the two. In the sense that Tim’s a lazy, condescending jerk of a man who talks down to Steph but can’t be bothered to help her around in looking after children in any way. She gets mad at him anyways. Her being a sports coach also makes you wonder if she might be far more competent than originally intended and portrayed.

That would mean writers practically squandered her potential to be more than a highly derivative character and the odd possibility of her being more willing to care for others even she still screws up. Coupled with her having a lot of hobbies involving soccer/football and weightlifting, she might even be more competent than Tim in some regards. Leading/mentoring people, being highly driven and ambitious.

On the other hand, Tim Drake’s the one who often gets nagged at for not helping Steph a lot. Whether if she’s managing a sports team, herself or her own family she’s going to scold Tim for screwing up a lot. Even if it were possible to retain Tim’s abilities, they’d still be marginalised but to the point where fans now can’t stand Steph for being too competent. If that were to happen, expect Steph to punch Tim for being lazy.

Dana as the bad stepmum

I suspect should anybody bother to make Dinah Lance into Tim’s biological aunt, I have a feeling that while she’d make both Dana Winters and Lady Shiva redundant one may wonder if Dana herself would have to end up becoming stereotypical in one manner or another. Bruno Bettelheim had a good idea about the role of evil stepmothers in some stories has to do with both readers and authors compartmentalising mother roles.

The evil stepmother’s the bad mother and the original mother’s the good mother. This is even nearly played out straight in the X-Men stories where if Rachel’s any indication, Jean Grey’s the original mother (and she’s undoubtedly both Rachel’s and Nate Grey’s biological mother). Whereas Cable’s born to her clone Madelyne. (As Mary Magdalene’s shown with red hair, this may explain her and France’s Madeleine.)

Now if Rachel’s any indication, Jean’s Scott’s true love and wife and also the original mother. This would make Madelyne the evil stepmother and it shouldn’t be that surprising. If that’s the case, that may unconsciously and accidentally explain things and I think a similar scenario may play out between Dinah and Dana. At any rate, Dinah’s going to be Jean Grey.

That’s this predictable. Logically Dana would be Madelyne Pryor. This makes perfect sense given Bettelheim’s reasoning behind evil stepmothers and why X-Men stories pretty much played this straight. Albeit with some plot holes but makes sense given the context behind Bettelheim’s understanding.

Not quite goodbye to Kori

It seems over at DC Comics proper, there’s a tendency to promote Dick Grayson’s ‘love’ for Barbara Gordon at the expense of Starfire (his original true love) never mind that cartoons and now live action often promote him Starfire. Though this isn’t always nor consistently the case, it’s as if DC would do anything to retcon it never mind that it shows up often outside of comics. Not that I like her but it seems to me the first thing that comes in mind is his romance to an alien woman.

That was even there to a significant extent in Marv Wolfman’s stories and the adaptations influenced by this (Judas Contract, Teen Titans twice, Young Justice and Titans) as well as in Kingdom Come’s sequel. It can be argued that the idea of Starfire as his girlfriend’s right there in the beginning of Marv Wolfman’s writings for Teen Titans and since that magazine influenced subsequent cartoons and now a live action production, this is enough to solidify Starfire as his true love.

It still does show up in the DC Canon comics but not as much these days. Either that Chuck Dixon’s rather intimidated by the fact that Dick Grayson’s in love with an alien woman who’s much stronger than him and perhaps arguably more socially awkward too (see also the original Teen Titans cartoon). Or that he and the Bat office editors seemed to prefer him with more mundane women. But that still goes back to my original point.

Kind of emasculating

I suspect it seems since Chuck Dixon and the like took over Dick Grayson’s life, his relationship with Starfire’s being downplayed never mind that this shows up fairly often in cartons and now live action. Maybe not always the case but it’s like Starfire gets marginalised to prop up Barbara. Partly I think because if these writers were sexist it’s not just that they’re intimidated by Starfire’s earthiness but that she’s practically stronger than Dick Grayson is.

And this is a woman who even literally escaped from an abusive household of sorts. I may not like her much but it seems like she’s gets pooped on never mind that she’s one of the better Superman surrogates around and isn’t so blatantly that based on Superman either. (With Nightwing taking his name from Kryptonian lore and Starfire having similar sun-based powers, it does parallel the Batman-Superman tie in a way.)

Though I think it’s not so much that Starfire sucks (even if she’s not my favourite character) but that the idea of a woman who’s earthier and stronger than a man, not to mention socially awkward at times, and dealing with abuse seemed to make her much too human I guess.

Depictions of women

I don’t watch Arrow but I do get the impression of a study stating that Felicity’s role as Oliver’s hacker also reinforces her role in the domestic sphere. One may wonder if that’s the same for Barbara Gordon to an extent given their similarities. Though I wouldn’t doubt if Barbara Gordon did something to deal with her then terrible situation, it seems as if being a hacker also reinforces certain things.

(Admittedly Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures isn’t always any better with Polnareff ending up as yet another sedentary hacker though Johnny Joestar defies this somewhat by being a persistent horseback rider who’ll do anything to move despite or because of his shortcomings and likely the author my improve in time.)

Admittedly I haven’t read much of Chuck Dixon’s stories, let alone remember some of the details well enough other than Dinah bleaching her hair. But it seems in relation to Dick Grayson, Barbara being a hacker reinforced her domesticity. Maybe not necessarily always nor deliberately the case. Though in Dixon’s case, it’s more to do with being awkward with the much worldlier (or more socially awkward) Starfire.

Whatever the portrayal (comics or cartoons), Starfire seemed often too otherworldly for some writers who’d rather have Dick date Earth women instead. Never mind it does happen fairly often in cartoons (and now live action) to the point where Starfire seemed like the more interesting choice that despite her past of being abused and her bad temper she’s still a capable heroine and does dress modestly in her spare time (like any popstar).

Not that Dixon’s entirely that sexist but I guess when it comes to pairing Dick Grayson with Barbara, a relationship did exist before but not really that romantic. To the point where it seems Barbara’s just there to fill the traditional domestic role (in a way) whilst Starfire’s shown to be rather worldly and though she did have a male counterpart, he’s not so well-remembered today.

(Not that Starfire’s any less feminist or even more feminist but it seems whatever the portrayal, she tends to be out of her element at times.)

Though I think the domestic hacker theory makes sense in why Chuck Dixon had Dick hook up with Barbara rather than Cory.

Meeting Dick Grayson’s rich female cousin

Quite a few people regard Dick Grayson as a Gary Stu and it doesn’t help that at least one writer made him purposely (too) likable in comics. It seems in Teen Titans Go and perhaps Titans itself where at least at this point, they should Dick Grayson at his least Gary Stu. (In the sense where he’s either shown to be really bothered by everybody or is foolish himself at least in TTG.)

It’s not that Dick Grayson lacked flaws in comics but that it’s like everybody else almost always exist to ogle or praise him a lot. It’s like a Mary Sue story where the characters praise the MS’s beauty and respect them. (Not to mention nearly flawless at that.) To be fair, non-superhero stories aren’t any better either.

Though the ones I read, even with characters they like, they don’t go overboard on that. This might not even be unique to Dick Grayson and Tim Drake but it’s like they’d do anything to eliminate certain faults to make them more ‘appealing’. Though I think in their cases, giving them a stronger female relative might de-Mary Sue them a lot.

In the case with Tim Drake, it’d be having Black Canary be his strict overprotective biological aunt. Doesn’t matter what she wears, there are children whose mothers wear shorts in public (but that doesn’t make them any less maternal). Even Britney Spears makes her sons do their chores despite what she wears too. (Same with almost any popstar with children really.)

As for Dick’s hypothetical rich female cousin, you’d get stories where her father (his uncle) would have to adopt him himself which makes Batman look like Michael Jackson. (Same with making Dinah Tim’s biological aunt.) Not to mention it’s going to be emasculating in the sense that Dick ends up as somebody’s slacker uncle who relies on her handouts.

Especially if he himself’s either unemployed or stuck with poor jobs that he can’t commit himself to (that’s even true in canon). A rich female cousin who’s a businesswoman and engaged to a billionaire would emasculate him even further. To the point where you’d get stories of Dick struggling to make ends meet and falling back on her in hard times.

Not that he won’t stop superheroing but in here becoming a superhero’s his way to fight boredom (assuming if he’s sometimes unemployed). In other words, he tries out different things out of survival and boredom. That’s not to say he won’t be any less likable but much more grounded and fallible.

Especially in the sense that he’s still powerless and has to rely on somebody else’s help, especially if that’s his cousin, cousin-in-law and uncle.