#i REALLY prefer Having the character bc just the voice lines alone can IMMEDIATELY endear me to them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

darklygophilia · 7 years

Note

How would you compare iris west as a leading lady and love interest for the protagonist with LL and that failure?

Well, first, I don’t watch “The Flash” or “Supergirl” or “Legends of Tomorrow” so I’m not entirely certain how accurate my response can be. But, I do have a good friend who watches “The Flash” & also loves Iris as a leading lading.

With that said, from what I’ve heard, the writers of “The Flash” seemed to learn a very powerful lesson from the creators of “Arrow.” 1st, they found a leading lady actress who had great chemistry with their leading man (Stephen Amell & Katie Cassidy were never had a chemistry test & it showed; in fact KC was hired, contract signed, lock stock & barrel long before Amell signed on). The 1st most notable thing I noticed as a viewer when I started watching Arrow was how little chemistry Lauriver had with each other. The 2nd thing was how LL was a false feminist icon. She represented every feminist cliche: a woman had to be cold, fully independent (to the point of being reckless, which is turn made us question her intelligence), bitchy, self-righteous, judge-y, etc. She was written how men view feminists. Then there was her inconsistent story-lines & B-rated arcs.

Basically, if you deleted LL from the “Arrow” narrative the overall story & evolution of Oliver’s character development would remain the same, that’s how little she effected the show as a character. Don’t even get me started on her depressive drug & alcohol addiction arc in S2 after Tommy’s death (almost as bad as when Bella attempted suicide in “Twilight” after Edward left her). B/c of course the only reason a woman would go off the deep end is if her boyfriend dumped her or if her boyfriend died, both of which seem to happen to LL & both seem to be the reason for her S2 spiral. Back when S2 aired it was assumed (but never addressed fully b/c LL never faced her own guilt for Tommy’s death, guilt we now know thanks to 4x19 she never even had) it was b/c of Tommy’s death, and then after 4x19 it appeared the real reason behind LL’s spiral was Oliver leaving her (his self imposed exile to Lian Yiu b/c he felt guilty for betraying Tommy before his death, unlike LL who did not seem to feel any guilt in that 4x19 flashback nor throughout all of S2 where she wanted to blame & lay all the guilt on the Hood, even though Tommy died saving HER).

I digress...

In “The Flash” from what I’ve heard, after Eddie’s death, Iris preferred to focus on her career to get her through the tough time instead of spiraling out of control with addiction. LL’s addiction arc could’ve been empowering if the “Arrow” writers actually portrayed addiction properly, but they DIDN’T!!! LL spends the majority of S2 as an addict yet is cured within 2 episodes. It would’ve been more empowering to see her struggle with her addiction after getting clean and struggle with withdrawal b/c temptation & withdrawal are very important aspects of addiction! Again, that did NOT happen which made LL’s addiction arc seem half-assed at best. It also seemed to be the excuse the writers gave for why she would do the things she did instead of facing real consequences. She looses her job for a couple eps. but then blackmails her ways back into it. That’s not a consequence, that was like taking time off from work! Iris’ view of literally using her work to work through her grief sounds much more empowering.

LL was a very flawed character, but she was treated with kid gloves & promoted like a hero, with no real consequences for her actions. She was flawed but everyone on the show ignored those flaws which added to the character’s frustration with the viewers. As for Iris, she’s flawed but those flaws endear her to the audience (just like Felicity, Moira, Sara, Thea); makes her seem relate-able. She also seems to learn from her mistakes & evolves with the story. LL never evolved. Her personality stayed the same (bitter, self-righteous, revenge seeker) the only thing that changed was she eventually wore a mask. Thea’s personality changed just in S1 alone, and her development throughout the series has been one big evolution just like Oliver. Same with Diggle - he’s still the wise “black Yoda” but he’s also a bit more jaded & a bit more open minded to doing what’s necessary vs. what’s purely moral. Felicity was an adorable bumbling sidekick in S1, but by the end of S1 during the “Undertaking” we saw a great deal of backbone, “If you’re not leaving, I’m not leaving!” That backbone has grown throughout the series. I also think she’s become wiser in her take on reality, she’s not afraid to show her genius, and seems to have really embraced her awkwardness. Moira was ALWAYS complex, staggering that line of good/evil. LL never had that, her reactions were always the same & always in the extreme. I think Iris shows more gumption and strength while still being lovable (she’s strong without being cold/harsh).

So, in those aspects I can understand a vast improvement in Iris in comparison to LL.

Back when “Smallville” was on, we didn’t have as much social media, if anything a lot of social media like facebook, twitter, etc. were just starting out. As such, fans couldn’t really express their dislike for a character as readily as they do now. Fans were not as vocal then as they are now b/c a lot of what gives fans a voice were not as readily available to us. It wasn’t until the last few seasons of “Smallville” and after it ended that people really voiced how much they disliked Lana Lang, who IMO was very similar to “Arrow’s” LL. In a bid to have some familiarity with fans, “Arrow” seemed to immediately grasp onto the whole forbidden, untouchable love of Lauriver b/c it had its similarities to Clana. The problem is, both Clana & Lauriver ships are very disfunctional & not at all healthy relationships & a lot of people disliked Lana. She was a selfish friend (she was a friend to Clark and Chloe only when it was convenient for her), she played around with the heads of every guy she ever dated on the show (she broke up with Clark via video camera and eventually faked her death, claimed to love Clark yet married his nemesis, etc.) not to mention every relationship Lana was in was a love triangle! Whitney/Lana/Clark, Jason/Lana/Clark, Lex/Lana/Clark. It was ridiculous! Starting Laurel off in a love triangle (Tommy/Laurel/Oliver) especially when both male characters are more loved by the audience (hell, Tommy is still a series fav. & he’s been dead since S1) & making it feel like she was coming between two best friends was not going to endear her to fans!

The dislike for LL was immediate (not just when the show aired but it was made known that test audiences 100% disliked LL even before the show aired), the problem was Katie Cassidy’s contract was locked in so they couldn’t do much in terms of getting her off the show (she could neither be fired nor quit until she’d fulfilled the Black Canary role, which was why only 1 yr. after she became the BC she was let go from the show). The moment the execs at DC comics and Warner Bro. saw Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity & the positive response from viewers pretty much solidified the changed plans from Lauriver to Olicity! Hell, the president of WB called the show creators up & told them how much he loved “the blond IT girl” so much so they made Emily a season guest regular after 1 ep. and by S2 she was a full season regular!

Sorry my responses are always so long. I hope this answered your question.

1 note · View note