I just read this article on The Independant, where a woman was saying how it was sad that in a recent survey of the top 100 most inspirational women, several fictional characters rated quite high on the list.Â
Her point, in that cliche'd feminist style, where everything indicates the status of women, was that it was sad that there weren't enough real life inspirational women to fill the fictional characters places.
Yet, and I know the majority of Tumblr will agree, there is nothing wrong with finding inspiration in a fictional character. They can easily provide you with a set of morals, a life outlook, a dress code, a father/mother figure - and it doesn't matter that they aren't real, because they've inspired you and have helped you either way.Â
One of the most inspirational characters in my life is The Doctor - a man who helps, greets everyone with a smile, rejoices in knowledge, fights ignorance and injustice, doesn't ask to be thanked and is happy with who he is and happy to show off who he is, without violence, threats or overbearing superiority. I love it when people compare me to the character, I look up to him.
And if a woman finds Jane Eyre or Bridget Jones or Scarlett O'Hara inspiring, how does that indicate anything other than that people are inspired by characters in fiction and reality, by deitys and myths and history. A real person will always be flawed, will always be divided - whereas a character, and what they represent can be absolute. As long as there is something good to inspire them, who is there to argue?