!DISCUSSION #01 (2/28/2011): Don't Mind her, she's just the love interest

[weber_dubois22]

I'm sure everyone (or most of you) are aware of the Tron fansite, TRON SECTOR. I only just became aware of it by a uncanny turn of luck. Most of their discussions on the forums are interesting enough, there's certainly enough knowledge between one guy and the next to have kept me glued to their webpage.

However, my enjoyment of one thread was cut short when someone posed the question of "why everyone wanted Yori back" in Legacy or the next sequel (Tron 3). To paraphrase, the user said "She was just Tron's love interest. She was hot, she really didn't do anything and had no personality." I remember staring at the comment for a little while before scrolling down the page.



It was a genuine question I suppose, I certainly didn't sense the user was being flippant for flippancy's sake (or maybe they were), but still. When did Yori become just the "hot love interest" (or T&A)? Because she wasn't doing the same things Tron, Ram and Flynn were throughout the film? Because she was the girl and therefore can only be seen as that bit o' wallpaper for the male demographic? Between herself and her user, Lora, she's a important part of the film and a major reason the characters get from point B/C (The I/O Tower/ALAN-1 and the Solar Sailor) to point Z (the climax of the movie).

If being in charge of the digitalization and piloting of vehicles like the Solar Sailor itself (I've seen a few fanfic state she was responsible for things like the Recognizer and the Rectifier. AKA, Basically anything with an "engine" that could be piloted by a program or user) boils down to being wholly insignificant in the grand scheme of the movie, then I guess she was unimportant and just there for scenery.

As for her personality, that's debatable honestly. I say she has as much personality as Tron or Flynn, and someone could argue back that she doesn't and so forth. Methinks it was because she wasn't one the guys (and if you can't tell, I can't help but think the user's commentary was colored by the fact that she was a girl. I'm probably wrong about that, but my 'suspicion alarm' is ringing like a mofo).

What do you y'all think of this?

Originally posted @ #Tron-and-Yori-Lovers

Comments

[humansrsuperior.livejournal.com]

When I opened this comment I was going to start out with the problem being not much screen time for her character to be expanded upon, but then I realized the error of that in that she had more screen time than RAM ever did. So that point is moot. xD

I think Yori has plenty of personality, but it's sort of understated and could easily be overlooked among everything else that's going on.

Key points for me that I've always enjoyed:

* She wasn't corrupt, but she'd blocked herself off so strongly that it took a moment for her to even register that TRON was standing in front of her. It took his touch to get to her to "wake up", so to speak. It's shippy as hell and not only that, I think it speaks some volume there about her capacity for survival and adaptation.

** She laughed when she slid down the huge hill/wall thingie and wanted to do it again. It's adorable and innocent and child like amidst all the urgency and chaos, and it brings a grin out of TRON. She can take the time to enjoy a small moment, detached from the current problems. In this, she reminds me a little of Quorra.

*** She's at first skeptical of Flynn being a User. It never ceases to crack me how AWED/SURPRISED TRON looks at Flynn's announcement, and Yori's next to him with a totally arched eyebrow and a "You're a User?" She's witty and a tad sarcastic. I love it. It's part of Lora leaking in I think, because you know if Flynn and Lora had a relationship, they'd have to have some qualities that they shared and liked about each other. Witty and sarcasm are a huge part of Flynn, so yeah. I love that TRON's love interest is witty and sarcastic, albeit a little more subtly, but it's still awesome.

**** When TRON "died" she mourned him, but she was fairly tough about it. She sort of shut down emotionally, but she didn't break down and become a mopey mess. She lost some of her determination and her drive, and didn't want to go on anymore, but she was dignified about it. And when Flynn got her to continue, she did everything she could to help him. She went on with renewed strength. This shows some serious strength of character for me.

She's a quiet and more subtle character, but she definitely has key personality traits that make for a strong, awesome character, and if she could be developed more, I think she'd be a totally kick ass and amazing character. She has layers, you just have to look at her to notice them. If she's written off as not bringing anything to the movie, then what's neat about her isn't going to show through.

I mean, I sort of agree that she didn't physically DO much in the movie to change or help events, but as a character I think she has loads of potential and brought a slight innocent flavor to the movie. She's not a fighter, and she was never in the games, so why else would we see her being in on that kind of action? We wouldn't. Not unless she was really forced to, which I've brought out already I think she's a very capable survivor.

Anyway, that was kind of a ramble. But that's my two cents. x) I hope it made sense!

/essay

[inanna7.livejournal.com]

I've seen some less than kindly comments from some trolls people arguing over why Lora/Yori shouldn't have been in Legacy. I would have like to have seen Lora in it, but in some ways, I'm kind of glad that Yori wasn't in it because of the possibility that they may have not shown her, but mentioned her and that she had been killed off. I think this way, the door is still open for her return. Most of the comments have dismissed Yori as only being eyecandy, but I take what they say with a shaker, not a grain, of salt since these commentors have also dismissed Quorra as eyecandy & that just makes me wonder if we were even watching the same movie as them.

As for Yori being underdeveloped, I have to say every character in the original Tron was, with the exception of Flynn. Which I've always seen as a benefit for a fanfiction writer, the less that is there, the more the writer can fill in. And I would be surprised if Yori didn't have some childlike qualities about her, she's an innovative program. Kind of hard to be creative if there's no curiosity there, IMO.