Celebrating Pride Month: Jessica Jones vs. Sovereign
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 4:54 am
This one is going to be a bit more odd as it's not really about the LGBT content of a story but rather me ranting about a show I don't like and why the novel with the Teenage Trans Girl is better.
I don't like Netflix's Jessica Jones. I don't care for Jessica, I find her to be a bland, underdeveloped, unlikable jerk who has no real character development and after 3 Seasons and one miniseries reveals little to nothing about herself. Jessica starts the series as an angry drunk who has no real faith in humanity and she ends the series as an angry drunk who has no real faith in humanity. She either drives away or is turned on by everyone close to her.
Honestly, for me, this show is one of the MCU's worst stories and I have no interest in going back to it and the biggest reason for that is what the show does to the only character I gave a damn about, Jessica's Stepsister Trish.
Trish is the MCU's version of Patricia Walker aka Hellcat. Despite the name Trish in the comics is a HEROIC character, she is not and to my knowledge never has been, a villain and in the first season she was pretty much the only character I would count as heroic and likeable. And then came seasons 2 and 3 which went "Ha Ha, You're so Stupid, NO ONE IS GOOD IN THIS SERIES! In fact Trish has been evil this whole time you were just to dumb to realize it."
Jessica Jones is a Grim Dark show that deals with serious subjects and like most Grim Dark stories it has no real interest in exploring those subjects, they're there more for shock value and like most bad stories, bring it up just to drop it as soon as possible because it's more important that you're talking about it rather then actually addressing it.
I don't like stories like this, ones that are dark because they have no real ideas of their own, just make everyone as unlikable as possible and if you are good you're secretly the worst of the bunch and we hate you.
And what's worse is Jessica herself is actually a really likeable character in the comics. Oh sure she has her angst but she's generally a nice person, who does believe in the good in people, who has friends and lets people get close even if they may hurt her because not doing so would be worst. Because at the end of the day, no matter what Jessica may say or think she IS a Superhero and she's believes the world is worth fighting for.
I would rather watch She-Hulk on a infinite loop, while being forced to listen to "I know a song that gets on everybody's Nerves" that is sung by Neelix while eating his ship killing cheese then EVER watch this show again!
Cue Sovereign.
The sequel to Dreadnought and the second book in the Nemesis Series by April Daniels Sovereign is, IMO, not quite as good as the first book. Most of that comes down to passing issues in the first few chapters, a little to much Angst in the middle and what I feel is a unearned 4th act threat. All that said I still love the Hell out of this book and Daniels' fun way of describing things will never not be fun.
One of my problems with a lot of Superhero Deconstruction stories like Jessica Jones, the Cadmus Arc in Justice League Unlimited and The Boys is that the stories often have to bend over backwards to try and justify why Superheroes suck and why we should have little to no faith in people.
Dreadnought (I know the series is called Nemesis but I just call it Dreadnought because Nemesis hasn't really done anything and this is Danny's story) is a series that does delve into the flaws and issues of Superheroes but it's less a case of damning them for the crime of existing and more of a, well, I'll let Picard say it for me
Sovereign is a story that's has it's flaws but it's also one that moves the characters forward, has them all dealing with their personal issues and traumas. And like any good superhero story should, it shows WHY these characters and Super Heroes. Danny has found that she enjoys hurting others after years of being abused by her father and uses her Superheroing as an unhealthy way to deal with these issues but by the end she realizes that she was wrong to do so and takes a step back and decides to get better.
She gets a girlfriend in Sarah, is adopted by Doctor Impossible and saves the day again. She's not perfect, but she's not suppose to be, all she is suppose to be, in her mind, is a hero. And as dark as this series gets I'm still invested because I LOVE these characters and I want to see more of this.
As of this writing there are no talks about bringing Jessica Jones back and while a third novel in the Dreadnought series is on the way it will be a while but there is still a demand for it. I think the reason for this is that Danny is an inspiration to and a great character as even many Cisgender readers felt like they related to her and want to see her story continue. Jessica is just to unlikable and I think that the reason there is no plans to return to this is because the story was just to dark to get anyone invested in it.
Netflix has a bad habit of cancelling shows that are great and have so much more to offer *Cough* Warrior Nun *Cough* but honestly I think most of the Netflix MCU shows just aren't that good and while Daredevil is set to return I don't think we'll see Jessica Jones as the show just wasn't any fun.
And as Sovereign shows, there is a difference to being dark and being needlessly cruel.
I don't like Netflix's Jessica Jones. I don't care for Jessica, I find her to be a bland, underdeveloped, unlikable jerk who has no real character development and after 3 Seasons and one miniseries reveals little to nothing about herself. Jessica starts the series as an angry drunk who has no real faith in humanity and she ends the series as an angry drunk who has no real faith in humanity. She either drives away or is turned on by everyone close to her.
Honestly, for me, this show is one of the MCU's worst stories and I have no interest in going back to it and the biggest reason for that is what the show does to the only character I gave a damn about, Jessica's Stepsister Trish.
Trish is the MCU's version of Patricia Walker aka Hellcat. Despite the name Trish in the comics is a HEROIC character, she is not and to my knowledge never has been, a villain and in the first season she was pretty much the only character I would count as heroic and likeable. And then came seasons 2 and 3 which went "Ha Ha, You're so Stupid, NO ONE IS GOOD IN THIS SERIES! In fact Trish has been evil this whole time you were just to dumb to realize it."
Jessica Jones is a Grim Dark show that deals with serious subjects and like most Grim Dark stories it has no real interest in exploring those subjects, they're there more for shock value and like most bad stories, bring it up just to drop it as soon as possible because it's more important that you're talking about it rather then actually addressing it.
I don't like stories like this, ones that are dark because they have no real ideas of their own, just make everyone as unlikable as possible and if you are good you're secretly the worst of the bunch and we hate you.
And what's worse is Jessica herself is actually a really likeable character in the comics. Oh sure she has her angst but she's generally a nice person, who does believe in the good in people, who has friends and lets people get close even if they may hurt her because not doing so would be worst. Because at the end of the day, no matter what Jessica may say or think she IS a Superhero and she's believes the world is worth fighting for.
I would rather watch She-Hulk on a infinite loop, while being forced to listen to "I know a song that gets on everybody's Nerves" that is sung by Neelix while eating his ship killing cheese then EVER watch this show again!
Cue Sovereign.
The sequel to Dreadnought and the second book in the Nemesis Series by April Daniels Sovereign is, IMO, not quite as good as the first book. Most of that comes down to passing issues in the first few chapters, a little to much Angst in the middle and what I feel is a unearned 4th act threat. All that said I still love the Hell out of this book and Daniels' fun way of describing things will never not be fun.
One of my problems with a lot of Superhero Deconstruction stories like Jessica Jones, the Cadmus Arc in Justice League Unlimited and The Boys is that the stories often have to bend over backwards to try and justify why Superheroes suck and why we should have little to no faith in people.
Dreadnought (I know the series is called Nemesis but I just call it Dreadnought because Nemesis hasn't really done anything and this is Danny's story) is a series that does delve into the flaws and issues of Superheroes but it's less a case of damning them for the crime of existing and more of a, well, I'll let Picard say it for me
Danny is a flawed person who has issues and can be very violent but she's still a good person and hates it when she fails to measure up to what she thinks a Superhero is. Even after the Legion (her worlds version of the Justice League or The Avengers) show that they aren't the perfect paragons she thought they were she still feels that heroes are people who should save the day and inspire others to be good to those around them.If we're going to be damned, let's be damned for what we really are.
Sovereign is a story that's has it's flaws but it's also one that moves the characters forward, has them all dealing with their personal issues and traumas. And like any good superhero story should, it shows WHY these characters and Super Heroes. Danny has found that she enjoys hurting others after years of being abused by her father and uses her Superheroing as an unhealthy way to deal with these issues but by the end she realizes that she was wrong to do so and takes a step back and decides to get better.
She gets a girlfriend in Sarah, is adopted by Doctor Impossible and saves the day again. She's not perfect, but she's not suppose to be, all she is suppose to be, in her mind, is a hero. And as dark as this series gets I'm still invested because I LOVE these characters and I want to see more of this.
As of this writing there are no talks about bringing Jessica Jones back and while a third novel in the Dreadnought series is on the way it will be a while but there is still a demand for it. I think the reason for this is that Danny is an inspiration to and a great character as even many Cisgender readers felt like they related to her and want to see her story continue. Jessica is just to unlikable and I think that the reason there is no plans to return to this is because the story was just to dark to get anyone invested in it.
Netflix has a bad habit of cancelling shows that are great and have so much more to offer *Cough* Warrior Nun *Cough* but honestly I think most of the Netflix MCU shows just aren't that good and while Daredevil is set to return I don't think we'll see Jessica Jones as the show just wasn't any fun.
And as Sovereign shows, there is a difference to being dark and being needlessly cruel.