a thought on "Binti"

[apostle_of_eris]

I don't know where "competence porn" came from, but we all know the stuff. The protagonist is some kind of nerd, and the intensity and focus of that very nerdness is what pulls him through and saves the day. It's not "identity" as in "identity politics", it's just a cornerstone characteristic

Comments

[kalimac]

Binti is competent, but I don't get a sense of competence porn from the story. She does, however, seem preternaturally cool about what has happened to her, no matter how much she says she's upset about it.

[apostle_of_eris]

It's the nerd's nerdiness that enables him to pull through. It's Binti's tribalism* that enables her to pull through. I see a parallel; I didn't mean to say they were the same, but have structural similarities.
* see previous note on European words for non-European things.

[apostle_of_eris]

de-typoed
thanks