(Sometimes, the wording may be a bit off - English is not my native language. I hope it was only rarely)
Miranda – an attempt at capturing her essenceShe turned out to be the most interesting, the most fascinating woman I have ever encountered in a game on electronic media: Miranda Lawson, black-ops agent, genetically optimized superwoman, renegade daughter with a conflicted childhood, with the figure of a femme fatale and the heart of a warrior, a cool demeanor and a core of passion, a mind like a double-edged sword and a presence like a blue giant star. A powerful friend and an enemy to be feared, but to those who dare desire her – a dream made flesh.
Who else could capture the heart of a larger-than-life hero? Where else would he look and not look down? Who else could walk beside him on this path and not be burned to ashes? Who else but coolly indomitable Miranda, the almost perfect companion, who settles for nothing but the best, because she is one of the best herself?
Introducing Miranda: not a girlWe live in a culture and time where women are regularly designated "girls". This tendency falls flat on its face if applied to Miranda, because for all her physical perfection, apparently the epitome of youthful health and attractiveness, she is definitely not a girl. This is most obvious when comparing her with Tali, who has grown in character and power considerably since we met her first in Mass Effect 1, but retains a certain coy girlishness (which presents an attraction all of its own, but that’s another topic). Miranda has none of that. She is a woman not with charm but with presence, seems almost at the height of her personal power. Nonetheless, she also is no femme fatale, in spite of her physical attractiveness. There can be no doubt that she has the ability for such a role, but so far it seems she prefers to be less deceptive. If her most open moments are not a deception, then she is as she seems: a powerful woman with a stunning presence, tempered by personal conflict, dedicated to a cause she believes in, and a tendency for blunt honesty and open confrontation. As far as I'm concerned: a woman to be admired. In Latin: Miranda.
Deciphering Miranda: no mere beautyLet’s face it – or, as Miranda has put it: why hide from it? – great beauty and attractiveness are never "mere". There is something dishonest in our culture’s tendency to play down the importance of the physical while dancing around it like around the proverbial golden calf. Great beauty and attractiveness may cause happiness or tragedy, they may give you power or turn you into a victim, but they are always remarkable and always influence how others perceive you. Whichever it turns out to be: the physical is as much part of your person as less tangible attributes. Miranda fully appreciates this, she fully appreciates her own physical superiority, while having not a single bit of vanity because of it. All the while, her attractiveness goes beyond the "mere" physical. Her presence is the result of a great figure, an interesting face, the physical grace resulting from her combat training, and the confidence she gains from her competence, all combined. If she were not beautiful, her relationship with Shepard would be very different. The story setup would be about seeing the extraordinary personality hiding behind the unremarkable or even the ugly. As it is, their story is a very different one: one of two people who both, in their different kind, may represent the best or the worst their species has to offer the galaxy, and who will decide which it is to be by the way they come together, or not.
Enhancing Miranda: no mere geneticsA much overlooked aspect of what makes Miranda fascinating is her heritage. Yes, everyone knows she's genetically engineered, but I suspect few appreciate it. We're so conditioned to see its problems that we tend to overlook that whatever the intent and the methods of her creation may have been, she really *is* enhanced, and may just represent the future of humanity. We're never exactly told what is enhanced apart from her looks and her longevity, but I take it for granted that enhanced mental acuity as well as enhanced physical reflexes and senses are a part of the package. We have seen so many disastrous results of genetic experiments, particularly by Cerberus. Miranda represents the other extreme: because her father wanted a dynasty – I take that to mean he wanted his daughter(s) to inherit his "business empire" – she has nothing like the control chip she’d wanted to implant in Shepard, nothing making her essentially less human. No, she only got the good parts.
All the while genes only provide potential, which must still be realized. No mere genetics can substitute for learning and training, only let you have an easier time doing that. Miranda may have extraordinary potential, but her father also wanted extraordinary results. So, even apart of the emotional deprivation she may have experienced, in a way she had to work just as hard as anyone else; which, among other things, makes her as human as anyone else - only better.
Romancing Miranda: not about needRomancing Miranda tells us about a kind of love that is not about need. Miranda is confident and powerful. There is a core of emotional vulnerability, centered on her perception of herself as "only a tool", but that only makes her more human, not less confident in what she does. You get the impression that, given time, she'd come to terms with it on her own. As she herself tells Shepard, she doesn't need a friend. As she herself admits some time later, she wants one, she also wants a lover, nonetheless. But she settles for none but the best. So she is the type of woman even Shepard, larger-than-life hero that he is, must make an effort to be worthy of. Miranda will never be taken for granted. She doesn't fall into his lap. As a rule, she doesn't cry on his shoulders even while appreciating that she could if she needed to. Because in her own way, she's larger than life herself, as Shepard's equal an almost perfect companion. By challenging him she will bring out the best in him, as he will do with her, and together they will make a total greater than the sum of its parts.
Modifié par Ieldra2, 12 février 2010 - 06:09 .
Ce sujet est fermé
Retour en haut
. 
