The Not So Secret Confessions of a Jon Snow Hater*
* More like a Jon Snow Confused-Frustration-And-Ambivalence-er, but that's not as catchy
I've always had a rough relationship with Jon Snow. From the moment I picked up the series he seemed to have "Endgame Male Id Gratification On Legs Favorite" written all over him in flashing neon, and I just couldn't deal. Ever the one for self reflection and analysis of instantaneous emotional responses, I have given my irritation a lot of thought over the years, tried to reason them down and dissect the whys and see if I couldn't come up with a new relationship with the character. I mean, let's face it, in real life terms Jon is probably one of the more benign characters in the series, so what's the deal?
I don't know, but it turns out, I still totally have a deal. I thought that with the loooong hiatus of Jon chapters (since ASOS, seriously, 10 years!) I would have gotten more used to the realities of Jon Snow's character and arc, and now that I'm no longer a 17 year old teenager maybe things wouldn't bother me as much, in my wise maturity~. But they do, oh they do.
It's like, every time I read about how badass Jon Snow is becoming and how he has no choice and is just doing what he has to and is being The Man and how his development is dark but in only the most, IDK, likable way? Every time I read it all I can think of is "Why Jon Snow, why is it ALWAYS the Jon Snows?" Maybe it's something like gogoratchet's dislike of Locke in LOST, IDK. But I resent Jon Snow on a meta level, I resent that he has all this wah-wah-I-live-in-a-cupboard-under-the-stairs emo and I resent that so much of his storyline is Martin bashing us over the head with an anvil about how competent he is and I resent this whole "One day Jon Snow will be awesome and amazing and then all his haters will JUST SEE WHAT THEY DID NOT APPERSHEEATE" arc that spontaneously flows from him and I resent that he has all these themes of Doing The Right Thing and being the guy that the rest of the kingdom will need and all this kind of emotional angst that gets this vaunted, almost glorified depiction because there's very little about it that's ever qualified in the way that female characters' angst would be and if a female character was to have a romance like Jon Snow's it would have been written DIFFERENTLY and in a way that made her a Female Character instead of a female person and IDK IDK I have a lot of feelings.
All I know is I resent Jon Snow on a meta level and I'm pretty sure gender has a lot to do with it. He's this young male who has all this angst and is loved for it, and if he was a female character then he'd be whiny and unattractive for his emo and people would rip him apart for being gifted the Lord Commandership (just LOOK at how Dany gets bashed for not earning her dragons - and what the hell did Jon ever do to win himself the LC position, besides have a smart friend like Sam? And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh my brothers chose me, oh la la great glorious fraternity oh I am so full of impressive and prodigious merit oh but I still get to angst at Sam for putting me in a position I never asked to be in and OH MY GOD IT NEVER ENDS WITH HIM) and what a stupid sheltered idiot he was for not heeding Ygritte's superior knowledge about her own people and blah blah blah.
It's like, when I'm away from the books I'm neutral on Jon. I get why others like him and in theory he's, you know, fine. But then I pick up the books again and I'm that much closer to authorial intent and I just get SO IRRITATED. And I thought that it would be better in the later books, but it's not, it's just different, and it's worse. Because early on his Awesome was only anviliciously foretold, and now it is here, it is here, and I cannot deal. Jon Snow is this guy whom we are obviously supposed to like and the level of "supposed to" is so much higher than with any other character. I don't buy that we are this manipulated/controlled with even Dany (or Tyrion or Arya, but then they at least have less b'n'w personalities to begin with), at least Dany has misdeeds and mistakes in her list of deeds that we can call her out on. Jon Snow just evades all realistic criticism by being just perfect enough in all situations without technically negating the theoretical possibilities of token flaws still existing. UGH WHY IS JON SNOW THE BADASS OF THE SERIES, I RESENT SO FUCKING MUCH AND I'M SORRY BUT I CANNOT LIE.
I think the big thing is that something about Jon Snow's characterization and build-up as this great awesome guy is very male to me; female characters wouldn't get it without being "like a guy" and I resent that with a holy incandescent resentment, fair or otherwise. I would prefer to be fair, but yeah, I just have this emotional reaction to Jon Snow, IDEK.
ETA: Here it is in a nutshell: Jon Snow is the kind of character we are all supposed to want to be, because putting yourself in the place of identification with Jon Snow offers all this validation. AND I DO NOT WANT TO WANT TO BE JON SNOW. That is what I resent. I'm sick and tired of fiction telling me I want to be a male character. I'm not a boy I'm Arya dammit.
ETA2: In the role of Jon Snow, Harington gives a nuanced performance. Brooding, dignified and motivated by paternal respect, Snow is self-sacrificing and stoic. He even joins the brotherhood of the Night's Watch, soldiers who dedicate their lives to protecting Winterfell on a massive wall surrounded by a bleak, cold wasteland that's home to the White Walkers, a group of malevolent undead. - GAGGAGGAGGAGGAGGAGGAG
#i know many of you guys like this character # keep on keeping on #i'm just being honest # like andre 3000 if you think about it # i'm not trying to preach just essplain myself because this phenomenon of my own resentment fascinates me myself # why can i not deal wherefore my brilliant stores of rational perspective # tubmlr tags FTW # i need to go have breakfast
I've always had a rough relationship with Jon Snow. From the moment I picked up the series he seemed to have "Endgame Male Id Gratification On Legs Favorite" written all over him in flashing neon, and I just couldn't deal. Ever the one for self reflection and analysis of instantaneous emotional responses, I have given my irritation a lot of thought over the years, tried to reason them down and dissect the whys and see if I couldn't come up with a new relationship with the character. I mean, let's face it, in real life terms Jon is probably one of the more benign characters in the series, so what's the deal?
I don't know, but it turns out, I still totally have a deal. I thought that with the loooong hiatus of Jon chapters (since ASOS, seriously, 10 years!) I would have gotten more used to the realities of Jon Snow's character and arc, and now that I'm no longer a 17 year old teenager maybe things wouldn't bother me as much, in my wise maturity~. But they do, oh they do.
It's like, every time I read about how badass Jon Snow is becoming and how he has no choice and is just doing what he has to and is being The Man and how his development is dark but in only the most, IDK, likable way? Every time I read it all I can think of is "Why Jon Snow, why is it ALWAYS the Jon Snows?" Maybe it's something like gogoratchet's dislike of Locke in LOST, IDK. But I resent Jon Snow on a meta level, I resent that he has all this wah-wah-I-live-in-a-cupboard-under-the-stairs emo and I resent that so much of his storyline is Martin bashing us over the head with an anvil about how competent he is and I resent this whole "One day Jon Snow will be awesome and amazing and then all his haters will JUST SEE WHAT THEY DID NOT APPERSHEEATE" arc that spontaneously flows from him and I resent that he has all these themes of Doing The Right Thing and being the guy that the rest of the kingdom will need and all this kind of emotional angst that gets this vaunted, almost glorified depiction because there's very little about it that's ever qualified in the way that female characters' angst would be and if a female character was to have a romance like Jon Snow's it would have been written DIFFERENTLY and in a way that made her a Female Character instead of a female person and IDK IDK I have a lot of feelings.
All I know is I resent Jon Snow on a meta level and I'm pretty sure gender has a lot to do with it. He's this young male who has all this angst and is loved for it, and if he was a female character then he'd be whiny and unattractive for his emo and people would rip him apart for being gifted the Lord Commandership (just LOOK at how Dany gets bashed for not earning her dragons - and what the hell did Jon ever do to win himself the LC position, besides have a smart friend like Sam? And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh my brothers chose me, oh la la great glorious fraternity oh I am so full of impressive and prodigious merit oh but I still get to angst at Sam for putting me in a position I never asked to be in and OH MY GOD IT NEVER ENDS WITH HIM) and what a stupid sheltered idiot he was for not heeding Ygritte's superior knowledge about her own people and blah blah blah.
It's like, when I'm away from the books I'm neutral on Jon. I get why others like him and in theory he's, you know, fine. But then I pick up the books again and I'm that much closer to authorial intent and I just get SO IRRITATED. And I thought that it would be better in the later books, but it's not, it's just different, and it's worse. Because early on his Awesome was only anviliciously foretold, and now it is here, it is here, and I cannot deal. Jon Snow is this guy whom we are obviously supposed to like and the level of "supposed to" is so much higher than with any other character. I don't buy that we are this manipulated/controlled with even Dany (or Tyrion or Arya, but then they at least have less b'n'w personalities to begin with), at least Dany has misdeeds and mistakes in her list of deeds that we can call her out on. Jon Snow just evades all realistic criticism by being just perfect enough in all situations without technically negating the theoretical possibilities of token flaws still existing. UGH WHY IS JON SNOW THE BADASS OF THE SERIES, I RESENT SO FUCKING MUCH AND I'M SORRY BUT I CANNOT LIE.
I think the big thing is that something about Jon Snow's characterization and build-up as this great awesome guy is very male to me; female characters wouldn't get it without being "like a guy" and I resent that with a holy incandescent resentment, fair or otherwise. I would prefer to be fair, but yeah, I just have this emotional reaction to Jon Snow, IDEK.
ETA: Here it is in a nutshell: Jon Snow is the kind of character we are all supposed to want to be, because putting yourself in the place of identification with Jon Snow offers all this validation. AND I DO NOT WANT TO WANT TO BE JON SNOW. That is what I resent. I'm sick and tired of fiction telling me I want to be a male character. I'm not a boy I'm Arya dammit.
ETA2: In the role of Jon Snow, Harington gives a nuanced performance. Brooding, dignified and motivated by paternal respect, Snow is self-sacrificing and stoic. He even joins the brotherhood of the Night's Watch, soldiers who dedicate their lives to protecting Winterfell on a massive wall surrounded by a bleak, cold wasteland that's home to the White Walkers, a group of malevolent undead. - GAGGAGGAGGAGGAGGAGGAG
#i know many of you guys like this character # keep on keeping on #i'm just being honest # like andre 3000 if you think about it # i'm not trying to preach just essplain myself because this phenomenon of my own resentment fascinates me myself # why can i not deal wherefore my brilliant stores of rational perspective # tubmlr tags FTW # i need to go have breakfast