Three faces of bitch
Feb. 7th, 2011 04:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficI've noticed of late that there's been some devaluation of the term "HBIC." Just like how over on TV Tropes (I should warn you, don't go to that website, one of the tropes is named "m*nd r*pe," so you'll be browsing and see that term and then... I'm not sure what happens then, but I think it involves dread Cthulu and the sunken city of R'lyeh), the term Crowning Moment of Awesome has become so overused that the live-action Alice In Wonderland has one. Newsflash: If it's in the live-action Alice In Wonderland, it's not awesome.
I'm not laying blame for this. HBIC is a good and useful term, and in many cases its use is apt. Then you have people calling Adam Lambert a HBIC. Ahem. Adam Lambert was on American Idol and he lost. If he was in charge of not winning American Idol, then he'd have a shot, but that slot already belongs to William Hung.
Now, to fix the overuse of HBIC, we must first define it. To be a HBIC, you must be A. In charge. B. A bitch. C. Head. Which is really the same thing as in charge, so clearly this term was coined by someone who hated editors. So we must separate HBIC from two other, equally important categories of bitch.
1. The "basic bitch."
Note: This is also what the Winchesters mean when they call each other "a little bitch." They're saying, subtextually, "You are Emma Stone's character from Zombieland." A dire insult.
Okay, I had to scour a bit for a female character I actually loathe who isn't Lana Lang, because that is so played out, so I'll go with Emma Stone's character from Zombieland. Now, I like the actress, but good god, is her character a bitch. Okay, set-up: She's introduced asking for help from our good-natured heroes, needing their guns so she can put her zombie-infected sister out of her misery. But then it turns out to be a scam so they can get the guns off their prospective saviors, take their vehicle, and strand them in the middle of... well, Zombieland. Because they can't trust them. Need I point out the flaw in this plan?
Scenario 1--
Wichita: Mister, mister, help me, my sister's infected!
Trustworthy man: Don't worry, I'm sure I can take a moment from bringing kittens to the orphans I watch over to help you two in your hour of need.
Wichita: Ha ha! Sucker!
Scenario 2--
Wichita: Mister, mister, help--
Untrustworthy man: Suck the fuck up and get in the rape van!
And they've apparently done this multiple times, so there could be dozens of good Samaritans left defenseless in a zombie-infested wasteland because of our heroines. But hey, it's for a good cause... they want to go to an amusement park.
Everyone who doesn't look like Emma Stone, try committing a string of negligent homicides to get to Disneyland and tell me how that works out for you.
So, she and her sister as set up as being, you know, these badasses who can make fools out of the heroes, and yet every time we see them, they need to be rescued. First, the initial scam, then the perfectly functional vehicle they just stole breaks down and they need to hijack the heroes again. Finally, they split from the heroes and go to their beloved amusement park, where they attract a million zombies and have to be rescued yet again. So, really, they're pathetic, and them repeatedly outwitting the heroes doesn't make them comedically superior, it just makes the heroes look even more pathetic.
It seems I've somehow made a habit of hoping Emma Stone characters get thrown off bridges.
Tl;dr - A basic bitch is the commonly used derogatory meaning of bitch.
2. The "fierce bitch."
If you're co-starring with Lucy Lawless, it's a safe bet you're not the HBIC.
A while back, feminists started reclaiming the word, with the popular definition changing to "Bitches get stuff done," as said by Tina Fey. Now, several of those miscategorized as HBIC are really fierce bitches. There's no shame in this--every HBIC once started out as a fierce bitch. But you can only have one HBIC in acanon ensemble. (This isn't a democracy, it's a cheerocracy.) So, for instance, we might say Jubilee is a fierce bitch. She gets stuff done and doesn't care what people think about her, but she isn't really in charge of the X-Men. That brings us to...
3. The "head bitch in charge."
Emma Frost has a little captain in her. No, she has ALL the captain in her.
Obviously, this requires no explanation, but remember: a HBIC must be in charge. If she can be ordered around as a matter of course, she isn't one.
Thank you for your time, and remember: HBIC > Fierce bitch > Basic bitch. Because the last thing a real HBIC would want is for just anyone to get to share the spotlight.
ETA: I.e. "I'm so worried about the next Batman movie. Catwoman is such a fierce bitch, but I'm worried that Anne Hathaway playing her will come off as a basic bitch. I wish Eva Green had gotten the part. EvaGreen!Catwoman would've been such a HBIC."
I'm not laying blame for this. HBIC is a good and useful term, and in many cases its use is apt. Then you have people calling Adam Lambert a HBIC. Ahem. Adam Lambert was on American Idol and he lost. If he was in charge of not winning American Idol, then he'd have a shot, but that slot already belongs to William Hung.
Now, to fix the overuse of HBIC, we must first define it. To be a HBIC, you must be A. In charge. B. A bitch. C. Head. Which is really the same thing as in charge, so clearly this term was coined by someone who hated editors. So we must separate HBIC from two other, equally important categories of bitch.
1. The "basic bitch."
Note: This is also what the Winchesters mean when they call each other "a little bitch." They're saying, subtextually, "You are Emma Stone's character from Zombieland." A dire insult.
Okay, I had to scour a bit for a female character I actually loathe who isn't Lana Lang, because that is so played out, so I'll go with Emma Stone's character from Zombieland. Now, I like the actress, but good god, is her character a bitch. Okay, set-up: She's introduced asking for help from our good-natured heroes, needing their guns so she can put her zombie-infected sister out of her misery. But then it turns out to be a scam so they can get the guns off their prospective saviors, take their vehicle, and strand them in the middle of... well, Zombieland. Because they can't trust them. Need I point out the flaw in this plan?
Scenario 1--
Wichita: Mister, mister, help me, my sister's infected!
Trustworthy man: Don't worry, I'm sure I can take a moment from bringing kittens to the orphans I watch over to help you two in your hour of need.
Wichita: Ha ha! Sucker!
Scenario 2--
Wichita: Mister, mister, help--
Untrustworthy man: Suck the fuck up and get in the rape van!
And they've apparently done this multiple times, so there could be dozens of good Samaritans left defenseless in a zombie-infested wasteland because of our heroines. But hey, it's for a good cause... they want to go to an amusement park.
Everyone who doesn't look like Emma Stone, try committing a string of negligent homicides to get to Disneyland and tell me how that works out for you.
So, she and her sister as set up as being, you know, these badasses who can make fools out of the heroes, and yet every time we see them, they need to be rescued. First, the initial scam, then the perfectly functional vehicle they just stole breaks down and they need to hijack the heroes again. Finally, they split from the heroes and go to their beloved amusement park, where they attract a million zombies and have to be rescued yet again. So, really, they're pathetic, and them repeatedly outwitting the heroes doesn't make them comedically superior, it just makes the heroes look even more pathetic.
It seems I've somehow made a habit of hoping Emma Stone characters get thrown off bridges.
Tl;dr - A basic bitch is the commonly used derogatory meaning of bitch.
2. The "fierce bitch."
If you're co-starring with Lucy Lawless, it's a safe bet you're not the HBIC.
A while back, feminists started reclaiming the word, with the popular definition changing to "Bitches get stuff done," as said by Tina Fey. Now, several of those miscategorized as HBIC are really fierce bitches. There's no shame in this--every HBIC once started out as a fierce bitch. But you can only have one HBIC in a
3. The "head bitch in charge."
Emma Frost has a little captain in her. No, she has ALL the captain in her.
Obviously, this requires no explanation, but remember: a HBIC must be in charge. If she can be ordered around as a matter of course, she isn't one.
Thank you for your time, and remember: HBIC > Fierce bitch > Basic bitch. Because the last thing a real HBIC would want is for just anyone to get to share the spotlight.
ETA: I.e. "I'm so worried about the next Batman movie. Catwoman is such a fierce bitch, but I'm worried that Anne Hathaway playing her will come off as a basic bitch. I wish Eva Green had gotten the part. EvaGreen!Catwoman would've been such a HBIC."
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Date: 2011-02-07 11:04 pm (UTC)