Sean Rabbitte: "Dear Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: The Term Mary Sue is Totally Overused"

Dear Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: The Term Mary Sue is Totally Overused

By Sean Rabbitte

            While the term “Mary Sue” has become sort of dry at this point, I don’t think it would be a good idea to stop using the term all together as, well, it’s a good descriptor of what a lot of people do. In non-professional writing and occasionally in professional writing, certain authors will try and write themselves an “Author Avatar” into the story because of ego, accident, or just because that’s the story they want to write. However, it can not be ignored that the term has become far overused. I personally find it amusing whenever someone calls an author out for writing a “Mary Sue” into their story when in reality the similarities between the author and character are circumstantial or minor at best. People just notice the similarities and simply call “Mary Sue” without even looking for possible reasons for the similarities. Take the work of Elsa Sjunneson-Henry for example: many people seem to complain or disregard her work because it often has to do with disabled female characters, as she herself is. However, those criticizers don’t fully read into the story to realize that that is the point of the authors writing: without those traits present in her work, it would not be the same story at all, nor would it convey the same message to the reader that is intended. After having read Elsa’s I Built My Own Godd*mn Castle (https://www.tor.com/2017/07/31/i-built-my-own-goddmn-castle/), which she wrote for the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction anthology, it can be seen that her primary reason for writing in so many disabled and female characters is not to insert herself into the story or create an idealization of herself, but it is because she wants there to be more fiction and literature in the world that focuses on disabled characters. She does this because she thinks the world needs to be able to read and experience these stories through the lenses of a disabled protagonist.

            Another odd thing about calling an character similar to an author a “Mary Sue” is that it makes sense for an author to write characters they can actually relate to and understand the experiences of. In the past, many people have written stories about characters that are not like them, whether from different parts of the world then them or with different features, and this has created a few problems. First, the character often ends up very different from what the person would likely act or behave, which then leads to disinterest or even anger from those in those who are like the character in upbringing or traits. However, when the characters the author is writing about are similar the author, these problems are a lot rarer because, well, the author has experience with that lifestyle. While a non-disabled male can try to write a story about a disabled female, an author like Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, who IS a disabled female, will likely be able to write the same story but much more accurate and realistic. Saying an character who has shared similar traits or experiences with an author a “Mary Sue,” is really just silly because, well, the more similar a character is to the author the more likely that character will be written with real experience in mind. It’s because of this that I’ve felt that the term has been overused for quite a while now, and really should only be used when its clearly the author just inserting themselves into a story or when a character has unexplained exceptional talent or power, because otherwise, the word is just going to get thrown around to start flame wars on the internet. So next time you go to call something a “Mary Sue,” make sure it fits the situation beforehand.