Seeing to common misconceptions

[Olin of Xephon]

Something posted on my Shinji Thread got me thinking.
A lot of the Evangelion characters get generalized unfairly.

Of course this to be expected, but just like I never thought Shinji was a coward, someone else probably thinks he is, and while somebody out there is convinced Asuka is a Bitch, someone else must surely Identify with her.
Misato gets generalized as a skank, but I just thought of her as a fairly oridnary person, sure she has a drinking problem but so do three of my uncles.
Ritsuko makes a lot of people angry just because she tried to kill Rei, thus she must be evil, but she had more then a couple of good, or bad, reasons to do what she did aslo.

And Gendo is a bad man. But nobody seems to put a lot of thought into why he did what he did, and wether or not he was in some way justified.

So The point of this thread is to defend, or defy, any given character and have discussion (not a argument) about their generalization.

I'll start off with a easy one.

Is Asuka a Bitch? Or just a little misunderstood.
If that's to easy, how about this one, was Yui Ikari mad, or just trying to help her son?

[coff]

Yes Asuka is a bitch, but she has good reason to be.

[Asuka Langley]

I was quite annoyed with Asuka at first, myself, but I decided against simply brushing her off.

That turned out to be a good choice because I now definately believe Asuka to be misunderstood and naive.
The fact that someone like me could actually realize that, and understand her is proof that she's not 'just a bitch'.

It's true she went thru quite a lot as a child, and she's still 'carrying her cross' so to say, even thru out the series.
Now, some may think that it's not enough to justify her actions towards others. Fine, that's a different opinion and I have nothing against it, and I respect those who feel that way.
But personally, I see that differently and I can empathize with her.

She was betrayed and neglected by her own family. If your family doesnt love you, then who will?
Family is who you're supposed to be able to trust the most. She had her trust abused at such a young age that it's not surprising how she acts now.

Asuka was lead to believe that her mother didn't love her. Her step-mother quite obviously didn't like her, nor did she approve of her behavior. Asuka's father chose this new woman over herself and her mother. I can imagine how much that would hurt.
Love starts in the home, and Asuka had no one to give her an example to learn by.
I don't think she can be blamed for that.

She grew up on false happiness, and empty words.
It may SEEM like she's an unappreciative, selfish, spoiled brat.
But that's just what she let's everyone see. She's definately got another side to her. Hardly anyone sees the confused, scared, brokenhearted little girl that she hides away.

What it all comes down to with Asuka, is that it does take effort to like her and to understand her.
And it's a personal choice whether people decide to hate or pity her after making that effort, if they make it at all.

I suppose I went with understanding and admiration with a side of pity.

[sadsadshinji]

Misato is extremely conflicted about her purpose in life (why she is fighting the angels)
Asuka had a horrible childhood
ritsuko didnt recieve a normal childhood (no dad and mom always working)
gendo was really affected by his wife's death (even clings to Rei frantically showing emotion when she kamikaze attacks zereul)
Shinji suffers a similair childhood to Asuka, not understanding what is going on but being neglected...

[EVA-01X]

yep, the sad tale that is NGE....

[Timesplitter 01]

yep, the sad tale that is NGE....

So true :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Somnius Kenate]

Dr. Phil would have a field trip with the characters.

[Xanatose]

In a way, Jung was right. Only non-human beings will be able to understand humans as they are. It's only through seeing the species from an objective, outside point of view, that any real understanding of the human animal can begin to come to light. However, how humans would respond to such creatures is an important question.

Kaoru is not a 'fag' and Rei is not 'frigid.' No matter how we perceive them, they were meant to portray too distinct ways of interacting with the world: positively extroverted and negatively introverted. Whether Kaoru was gay, and whether Rei was cold, is moot in light of the fact that of all of the characters in Eva, they seemed to possess the most understanding of the other people around them. Each waxed philosophical in their own ways, either through social interaction in a bathhouse, or alone in a dark room. Where Kaoru was positively attracted to interaction, Rei retreated into her own negative thoughts often. But despite their choices, they left it to others around them to interpret their actions as they so desired.

Rei didn't act any more cold to Asuka than she did to anyone else. Yet it was up to Asuka to create a negative evaluation of that behavior, whereas Shinji became intrigued by her. The same can be said of Kaoru. He expressed himself in a way people are normally too uncomfortable to, but said no sorrys' and begged no pardons'.

Ultamately, how we as individuals interpret these two charecters is far telling than any answer Anno could give us to explain their behavior.


Edit: Added a final thought

[Dave]

You have a way with words Xanatose.

[coff]

I still don't think Kaworu was gay. Honestly this first time I watched Eva I didn't think he was gay, I assumed his love for Shinji surpassed sexual desire.

[The Eva Monkey]

Is Asuka a bitch?
Is Kaworu gay?
Is Gendo Evil?
What's Rei's importance?

If you've not read these, I would suggest taking a look.

[houtaru]

These are my perceptions of the characters:

Shinji was a coward. (Anno himself even says he is a 'cowardly young man' in the first volume manga commentary) He was afraid of human contact and of pain. He always ran away (until the end). So he was a coward, but stopped running in EOE. He changed himself.

Asuka is a bitch. That's her character. She's a coward when it comes to emotion. She's terrified of other people just like Shinji. But she did open up a little towards Shinji. She has the power to change herself. (You could say she opened up to Kaji, but that wasn't really her was it?)

Gendo IS EVIL. He is not doing the EVA project for the woman he loves - he is doing it FOR HIMSELF. Remember, she wanted to remain in the eva. He is willing to make the rest of us suffer for HIS loss. Isn't that the epitome of selfishness? And evil? You could say that his acts are human, and I would agree with you, but these acts were still immoral. You cant legitimize evil acts just because you're in pain. He never really changed, but may have realized all this in his complementation scene in EOE.


Just my 2 yen.

[Asuka Langley]

I'd say that was more her self-defense, and less her 'character'.

[Timesplitter 01]

These are my perceptions of the characters:

Asuka is a bitch. That's her character. She's a coward when it comes to emotion. She's terrified of other people just like Shinji. But she did open up a little towards Shinji. She has the power to change herself. (You could say she opened up to Kaji, but that wasn't really her was it?)

I wouldnt say that Asuka is a bitch , I would say she is stubborn. As for her being terrified of other people , she must hide it well , cause I can not see it

[Asuka Langley]

Well, she is afraid that people will hurt her.
So that makes her partially scared of them.
But not in the social sense. She's a very confrontational person.

[Timesplitter 01]

Well, she is afraid that people will hurt her.
So that makes her partially scared of them.
But not in the social sense. She's a very confrontational person.

She is a very confontational person. She is like this becasue she doesnt want to get close to anyone. This probably links back to her mothers death ( *everyone says duhhhh*). If her mother was still sane and alive she would probably be alright.

[Asuka Langley]

I'm not sure she'd be totally okay.
If her father left her and Kyoko that easily, there's nothing saying that he'd stick around even if Kyoko didnt go crazy.
I imagine she'd have little time for family, so there'd probably still be something wrong with Asuka. :(

However, she seemed to have things quite resolved once she was certain that her mother really loved her.
Like I've said before, she just needed reassurance. And having no family for her whole life didnt give her anything to go on.

[Timesplitter 01]

I'm not sure she'd be totally okay.
If her father left her and Kyoko that easily, there's nothing saying that he'd stick around even if Kyoko didnt go crazy.
I imagine she'd have little time for family, so there'd probably still be something wrong with Asuka. :(

However, she seemed to have things quite resolved once she was certain that her mother really loved her.
Like I've said before, she just needed reassurance. And having no family for her whole life didnt give her anything to go on.

That's true too. But if her mother didnt die( and go insane) , boh parents would still be alive. She would have choose who to go with , she would have chossen her mother.

[Asuka Langley]

Yep.
That's probably a given. Altho, she'd probably get left out a lot due to Kyoko's line of work.
But I suppose that it's the basic feeling of knowing that someone will be there to assure you.

[Timesplitter 01]

She would have problems , but not to the extent that she has them now.