Effie has always been super fascinating to me and I'm glad SotR ended up expanding on her character a bit. In the Waterstones edition of the same book, there's a Q&A at the back, where Suzanne even notes the contrast between Drusilla and Effie and comments at the end of that section that while the latter is certainly ridiculous, she isn't malicious. And tbh, though I don't interact with the fandom often, I have noticed that there seems to be this kind of pretentiousness in certain parts of it, how some people will practically shame others for "missing the point" of what Suzanne is saying... while also missing the point of what Suzanne is saying.
And speaking as someone who loves this series, if they still don't like the direction Suzanne took Effie's story, fine, but even from that side, it seems like alot of people in this fandom like to act like Suzanne always gets it right 100% of the time, forgetting that she's still human. In the case of Effie, if I recall correctly, Suzanne is heavily involved with the films and approved of having Effie be at District 13 in the adaptation of Mockingjay, so if that's the case, then what does that say about the author's intentions, never mind the character's?
Thanks for the ask!
I absolutely agree! While I somehow understand the dislike of Effie in fandom spaces, I am rather frightened about the things it implies about fandom.
I 100% get being mad at her, she is, after all, a woman in a place of privilege and she is contrasted against marginalized, and oppressed. Many people in this fandom also are a part of marginalized communities and they're speaking from the place of rightful anger towards the system, I cannot speak over them, while I am marginalized in some ways, I am a white person living in Europe (Central-Eastern but still Europe), and I will never try to speak over their opinions.
The anger is valid and understandable, yet some people seem to fall into the mindset of Gale. They forget that the system is the enemy, not a random woman in place of privilege.
With the direction Suzanne took in both movies and sotr, you can see she regretted not elaborating more on Effie. I won't speak on movies since I still haven't watched Mockingjay, but in sotr she is laying it thick.
"This woman stays in the system because she is scared. She has no power in said system. She is kind. She doesn't enjoy violence. She doesn't know better because no one told her. She is a pawn."
We can't expect people to overcome indoctrination with no information provided to them.
I am not saying, that this reaction isn't valid. I am not saying Suzanne is 100% correct. I am saying that if we are discussing the themes of the book, and then go against the main one, while trying to say we are agreeing with it, the discussion loses its merit.
