Virgin light novel protagonist. (GATE © A-1 Pictures)
On a Google+ thread by Jeffro Johnson, he talks about the decline of sci-fi since 1940, but that wasn’t what generated the most discussion.
A discussion on heroism within the genre did, prompted by this Twitter thread.
Chad shonen hero. (My Hero Academia © Kohei Horikoshi)
The always awesome Misha Burnett commented:
And bing, it all comes together. SF/F, gaming, pro wrassling, metal music–these things attract losers.
But the fantasy used to be “a loser can change himself to become a winner” and a lot of us were inspired by geek pursuits to make positive changes. Guys were inspired by “A Princess Of Mars” to go into aerospace, or became gym rats to be like Conan, joined the military to follow Sergeant Rock and the Howling Commandos. Heck, I went into locksmithing because of Captain Nemo and James Bond.
But something changed and today’s losers want a message of “the world has to change to suit you, and then you’ll be a winner”. Harry Potter was pulled out of his abusive home and brought to the place where he was always the star of the show through no action of his own.
That’s the difference between Pulp genre fiction and SJW genre fiction in a nutshell. Does the slave become a king through his indomitable will and fierce refusal to give up? Or does the character wake up one day to be crowned as the “Chosen One” just because?
I respond as follows:
And here’s the thing — people STILL hunger for the sort of hero (or heroine) you describe. It is the core appeal of shows like Dragonball Z and My Hero Academia; many people are inspired to go into martial arts because of DBZ in particular. Both shows focus on becoming strong through effort and recognizing one’s limits.
By contrast, Japanese light novel protagonists (and the anime that are made from them) give you the Harry Potter-style special snowflake hero who wields all the power and gets all the hot babes because he’s Just That Awesome (as an aside, I saw a Youtube video pointing out how shows in the vein of DBZ and MHA do romance better than light novel anime do.)
It’s amazing how all these things are linked.
The pulp way is a very pro-social message. There’s something wrong with YOU, but through hard work and dedication you can better yourself to be among others to build better things. You won’t always be a loser, you just have to try.
The other way is self-destructive. There’s something wrong with everyone ELSE, and if only they’d wake up and see how great you are the world would be a better place. The world has to catch up to YOU.
And is it any wonder how narcissistic so many are today when they are constantly fed the latter story?
Well said. Self-improvement is never wrong — and most people know this. Hence the popularity of shonen heroes.