I've been thinking about this article for some time, never quite committing to writing it, but as Pippa has been generous enough to give me blog space I decided to bite the bullet.
There have been rumblings of late in the romance genre of
late and I've been disturbed by what I've read. The novels in question haven't
been sci fi romance, but occasionally I have seen the problem surface here.
What problem? That of character power balance.
Now I love a redemptive hero. Seriously, the
bad-guy-turned-good is my favourite trope ever. He doesn't need to start out
badder than bad, or end up a goody two shoes, but seeing him go from
self-reliant loner to a guy who's willing to share his life and heart with
another makes mine grow three sizes. The problem starts when his power is
greater than that of the love interest.
There are pairings that can never, ever work. A WWII story
about a Nazi officer having a relationship with a Jew is so wrong that I
honestly don't know where to start dissecting it. But at the heart of it there
is a huge power imbalance that can't be readdressed. The woman, a Jew in a
concentration camp, cannot make a choice that is wholly her own. The officer
literally has her life in his hands, and she must watch every word, every look,
every reaction – or face the consequences.
It's the same problem faced by the millionaire and the
virgin. The kidnapper and the victim. The owner and the slave. Where all the
power is with one character over the other, you cannot have a true romance.
Of course sci fi romance has plenty of alien abductions that
turn into a love story. It's a trope as old as the genre. I've written a play
on it myself. However, that story, along with most of the SFRs I've read
touching on the trope have made sure that the heroine (because it usually is
the female character) either keeps or regains her own power. She has agency in
her own story, with her choices and actions not being dictated by the hero.
A character can believe there is a power imbalance. Taking
the most famous sci fi romance of Han Solo and Princess Leia, Han believes Leia
is a spoilt brat, while Leia thinks Han is a selfish good-for-nothing. They
both think they're better than the other, but yet also aren't convinced they're
good enough either. Those misconceptions don't exist outside of their heads,
and this is what makes the audience buy into the relationship.
When the power imbalance exists in actually is when the
problems begin. And it can be a tricky line to walk – some view Beauty and the
Beast as a love story, others as a case of Stockholm Syndrome. Both points are
valid. It comes down to the audience's interpretation.
Sci fi romance is a fabulous genre for independent heroines
who can be both tough and gentle, who can kick ass one minute and care for
someone the next, and who remain the mistresses of their fate even when that
throws them a curve ball. It's up to us authors to ensure they retain this
agency and that the balance of character power remains equal.
BIO
BIO
Misa Buckley grew up watching Doctor Who and Star Trek, so when she undertook NaNoWriMo in 2007, it seemed obvious to her to write science fiction. However, a teenage obsession with her sister’s Harlequin books meant she liked adding a little spice to her stories. This blend of genres continues to this day.
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