mcity | In which someone misses the point of the Starfire complaints

Dear Tumblr; how about not making it so hard to find permalinks from the tags page. Specifically, make the little turned-down corner visible, not a rollover.

Ahem.

On Starfire: Red Hood and the Outlaws outroar
I’ve been reading a lot of reviews about Scott Lobdell’s run on the three misfits. Most of them were negative because of the concern for Starfire’s image in the new 52. I admit, I’m a bit sad that Lobdell made her memory warped if not dull on humans, as one of my Tumblr friends, sweet-tart said: “It’s the she can’t tell humans apart or doesn’t remember them and seems like she has NO emotional attachment to anyone. It’s definitely not the sex thing that bothers me. It’s that she doesn’t care about people like she used to. For me at least”

I was initially concerned with that, but after thinking about it again and again, in the history of DCU, Kori was defined by her relationships. THAT WAS HER WEAKNESS. I remember in an issue of Titans, Phobia said that her greatest fear was to be alone. She was a strong lady with a wreckage of relationships, the only relationship that seemed to work out was her friendship with Donna Troy, that got me infuriated a bit in the past.

Yep. Close personal relationships are a weakness now, and characters shouldn't have weaknesses.

Here was a beautiful, strong and regal alien princess written as a broken, and needy superhero in desperate need for “love” since all her friends were moving on, and since Dick was very fickle between her and Babs.

Valuing your relationships with people is not "needy".

I saw her internal conflicts and understood that it made her more human, but I do remember thinking to myself that maybe that’s her only identity in the old DCU. The over-emotional, relationship-wrecked, sexed up Tamaraean who was heartbroken over Dick Grayson.

So here comes Lobdell, making her the opposite of what she was. Completely independent, and maybe apathetic, but nonetheless stronger.I don’t know where he’s going with this view on Kori, it could be empowerment, it could be something else, but one thing is for sure though…

I trust him.

Why? As several irate fans have pointed out, the pragmatic thing to do would've been to bring Star more in line with the cartoon character.

An earlier post;

Starfire has been sexual ever since. Its part of her crazy and eccentric charm.

…and the only difference with her then and now was that her sexuality was only limited to what others would think and what Dick would prefer. Now, she’s acting like a big boss. She taking control of her sexuality and making it clear that no man owns her, that she, just as much as Jason, Dick and Roy, has the FREEDOM to pick whoever she pleases as a partner.

So whats up with all the hype? Kori is still the same for me. I love her still. :)

Starfire did have sex, yes, but she also fell in love, made friends, and is otherwise a well-rounded character. This version of her is essentially just boobs and Starbolts.

And yes, how horrible for her to actually consider the feelings of the people she has sex with.

The weird thing is that the tumblr-er actually has several posts that contradict these. For example, they reblogged something about how it's not hard to not actively offend women, yet they're still dismissing all the women (and men) who are offended about this version of Starfire. Talking out of both sides of their mouth. And then Srs' post on the matter--I'm proper confused, here.