Mary Sue…that dreaded criticism given out when a character (almost always female) is either too perfect or too intelligent or too angsty or too…too…too…too… Feel free to fill in the blank.

I hate this criticism.

Do you know what this criticism is? It is a catch-all, scare the author, ‘I don’t like where you are taking the character’ type commentary that does absolutely nothing when it comes to constructive help in making the author a better writer. It requires no real thought from the critic.

Guess what?

Characters are allowed to be good at what they do! (Yes, even the females.)

This particular criticism was tossed at me during one chapter of my Compass Rose story on how I was handling Darcy because I actually made her good at a couple of things. Oh, my goodness! The horror! A humble woman who was both a great assistant and who could actually cook! Mary Sue her!

Bite me.

It was one chapter. No character is going to be perfectly unperfect across every chapter and page of a story. People are actually good at things as often as they are bad. When things come together at just the right point, you are going to see them at their best. Please look at real life people – sometimes they are the kind of cool you almost have to hate because they are so perfect. Wait five minutes – it’ll change. The same goes for characters in a story – wait a chapter or two and it should change. Deciding that a character is a bit too ‘Mary Sue’ because of the happening in one chapter? Sorry, but that’s stupid.

Professional author Ann C. Crispin is quoted as saying: "The term 'Mary Sue' constitutes a put-down, implying that the character so summarily dismissed is not a true character, no matter how well drawn, what sex, species, or degree of individuality." There are people not writing decent female characters because they are worried about this criticism. They’re not quite so worried about the guys…after all, what could be more ‘Mary Sue’ than Captain America, Superman, Batman, James T. Kirk, etc., etc., etc. The ‘too fill-in-the-blank’ male characters often become heroes while the women are booed off the stage.

Not that I want to make this all about a gender issue, but the fact of the matter remains that many more women are considered ‘Sues’ than men. Many of our favorite female characters might have been written off as Mary Sues if the term existed when they were created – Black Widow, Jean Grey, Wonder Woman, and pretty much every Disney princess ever. Fortunately the Mary Sue thing got started after most of those women were accepted and untouchable in terms of existence.

People claim – “well, if they just had some flaws, then they wouldn’t be Sues” – except then you start getting the Sue variations. Give your female the tendency to cry too much? She’s a Weepy Sue. Fight too much? She’s a Jerky or Warrior Sue. And so on and on and on…

Another criticism is that Mary Sues are wish fulfillment characters. What hero or heroine isn’t? I’m sorry, but hello? All characters are wish fulfillments of one kind or another. If JK Rowling had written Harry Potter, but made it Harriet, how many people would have written ‘her’ off as a Sue? Tragic and/or abusive background to win sympathy? Check. Striking or unusual features (see eyes and scar)? Check. An unknown power or potentially great power? Check. Everything that happens seems to center on character, character’s past, character’s destiny? Check. People love/hate/admire/fear character without actual reason or connection to character? Check.

Critic – ‘Well of course you’d expect that about the main character…its why they’re the main character!” So…if your female is the main character, why does she get called a Canon Sue instead of being allowed the same leeway? Why do other characters get called Sues even when they are the main character, but not a fan favorite?

Generally speaking, as far as I can see, ‘Mary Sue’ is usually directed at original characters put into fandom – particularly those fandoms that are all or predominantly male. These fandoms do not have enough women to write the story the author wants to write, so the author adds original characters in order to write their story. This sets off all of the people who don’t like original characters or who don’t want their fandoms changed or who don’t want to see a woman breaking up a slash pairing…especially when said pairing is non-canon.

(I always find it interesting how people don’t fuss or blink when a straight character is fanfic’d as gay/lesbian, but they bring out the torches and pitchforks if the reverse happens. Again, bite me. If you are going to complain about one, you have to be fair and complain about the other. You can’t write Xander as gay but get fussy when someone writes Tara as straight.)

Thus, in my mind, ‘Mary Sue’ is a very BAD form of criticism. If you are ever tempted to tell someone they’ve written a Sue, stop. Just stop. Go back through the story and find WHY you don’t like the character. If it is legit, explain it in real, constructive terms…and NEVER use ‘Mary Sue’. Seriously – ‘Mary Sue’ is a generic insult meant to frighten people away from exploring different avenues of expression, including an exploration of feminine wish fulfillment.

As I said at the beginning – I hate this criticism.