Children's Lit as Power Fantasies
Apr. 3rd, 2023 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quillsshadowI want to rant about the semi-popular prompts of 'what if the adults around the child hero took charge'.
The consistent fantasy in stories for children which have child heroes is of having agency. They are strong enough to beat the giant! They are smart enough to outwit the kidnapper! They are kind enough to befriend the dragon!
So, what is the fantasy in 'adults decide they're not letting a kid fight' and who is it for?
The villain who goes, 'Hey, I have standards!' and refuses to fight a ten-year-old? Who goes, 'How dare the prophet send you as the Chosen One?' If they're that moral, why does there need to be a prophecy and a Chosen One to defeat them in the first place?
The side-characters who look at the thirteen-year-old Chosen One and band together to destroy the Evil? What was stopping them from doing that before the child was Chosen?
These prompts are about removing the agency from child heroes and having them be grateful for it, relieved by it. These prompts are saying 'Children can trust adults to protect them and care for them' and that's not a theme in child hero stories because the children who need those already know it's a lie. But it's a lie that adults like, because if all adults can be trusted then they don't need to take the children who say they don't/can't trust this adult (their friend, their sibling, their spouse) seriously.
Picture being the child hero in the side-characters prompt. There is a threat, a danger, which you can actually do something about, which you can solve - except, suddenly, you're being shoved into a room and told to ignore the danger, to play and be happy, and maybe if you're really lucky the people who took over will bother to tell you that the issue has been solved, but probably not because hey, you're just a kid. You don't matter.
As for the villain one? The villain who adopts the hero? If the writer is stupid enough to give the villain such a solid-gold opportunity to suborn the hero, "I'm not so bad! Look how much I care for you. Won't you side with the person who cares for you instead of the people who sent you to dieat my hands?" then they should accept that they've written the villain recruiting the next generation.
Who is this fantasy of removing the child's agency for? People who can't see themselves as children and who want to be important, who feel that the only way they can is by stealing another's role on the grounds of that other being too young? People who see themselves in the villains and want to see themselves as the heroes? People who are desperate to uphold the 'children shouldn't be allowed to do anything' mentality that's spreading online?
Some of these stories are cute (they're designed to be, after all) but they all leave a bad taste in my mouth.
The consistent fantasy in stories for children which have child heroes is of having agency. They are strong enough to beat the giant! They are smart enough to outwit the kidnapper! They are kind enough to befriend the dragon!
So, what is the fantasy in 'adults decide they're not letting a kid fight' and who is it for?
The villain who goes, 'Hey, I have standards!' and refuses to fight a ten-year-old? Who goes, 'How dare the prophet send you as the Chosen One?' If they're that moral, why does there need to be a prophecy and a Chosen One to defeat them in the first place?
The side-characters who look at the thirteen-year-old Chosen One and band together to destroy the Evil? What was stopping them from doing that before the child was Chosen?
These prompts are about removing the agency from child heroes and having them be grateful for it, relieved by it. These prompts are saying 'Children can trust adults to protect them and care for them' and that's not a theme in child hero stories because the children who need those already know it's a lie. But it's a lie that adults like, because if all adults can be trusted then they don't need to take the children who say they don't/can't trust this adult (their friend, their sibling, their spouse) seriously.
Picture being the child hero in the side-characters prompt. There is a threat, a danger, which you can actually do something about, which you can solve - except, suddenly, you're being shoved into a room and told to ignore the danger, to play and be happy, and maybe if you're really lucky the people who took over will bother to tell you that the issue has been solved, but probably not because hey, you're just a kid. You don't matter.
As for the villain one? The villain who adopts the hero? If the writer is stupid enough to give the villain such a solid-gold opportunity to suborn the hero, "I'm not so bad! Look how much I care for you. Won't you side with the person who cares for you instead of the people who sent you to die
Who is this fantasy of removing the child's agency for? People who can't see themselves as children and who want to be important, who feel that the only way they can is by stealing another's role on the grounds of that other being too young? People who see themselves in the villains and want to see themselves as the heroes? People who are desperate to uphold the 'children shouldn't be allowed to do anything' mentality that's spreading online?
Some of these stories are cute (they're designed to be, after all) but they all leave a bad taste in my mouth.
God forbid that awomanchild do anything.
