Message-ID: <143@hocse.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 1-Mar-84 17:27:17 EST
Article-I.D.: hocse.143
Posted: Thu Mar  1 17:27:17 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Mar-84 09:02:58 EST
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 48

A friend of mine not connected to the net wrote
this up on the subject of Heinlein and Friday.

*********************************FLAME ON********************************
In all the flaming of Heinlein on the net, not one person has stated the
real objection I have to FRIDAY: in real life, women do not fall
in love with their rapists.  (In fact, no one has even mentioned
the beginning or end of the novel at all.)  Most women are not so
calm and collected as Friday, and while she may be SUPPOSED to be
extraordinary, Heinlein does a grave disservice to all of us who
are not such "together" people.  I suppose most of Heinlein's
characters rise to the circumstances much better than we would;
it's just that in all the other circumstances, I can at least
imagine that I would do as well.  I think it's an important
consideration.  That is not to say that I believe that all fiction
must be "politically correct," just that one must consider the
consequences of one's words.  Heinlein may very well leave men with
the mistaken impression that rape is no worse than purse-snatching.
This is what pisses me off about FRIDAY.
*********************************FLAME OFF*******************************


For what its worth, I have a slightly different view on this
subject. I agree that the rape was gratuitous and unlikely, stuck
in to "arouse the audience(of men)." Friday even says at one point
the "rape is a poor interrogation technique," which happens to
be true. It seems unlikely that supposed professionals would
waste what turn out to be critical minutes(more likely hours, the
scene is dragged out forever)before moving on to something
more likely to be effective. I call this gratuitous.

The more important point is that given the character of Friday,
she is unlikely to forgive the rapist as easily as she does. 
A much more likely outcome would be her shooting him the
instant she recognizes him, and perhaps feeling a very small
twinge of regret upon hearing that he's supposed to have
been one of the "good guys." I'm not
saying it couldn't happen, just that it happens too quickly and
with too little development to have a shred of credibility.	

What is being requested here is a reasonable standard of
characterization, consistant with actual human psychology.
Friday was not portrayed as a masochist, nor as a victum
of the "Patty Hearst" syndrom, nor were any other
reasonable motives put forward. Hence her behavior seems
absurd. Nobody forgives that easily.