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a character study on wei wuxian
Mar. 21st, 2021 08:18 amI was reading ![[twitter.com profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
suibian_gongzi's thread about their interpretation of Wei Wuxian's characterization this morning, and how it differs from the predominant fanon characterization, and it made me think about my own ideas of who Wei Wuxian is, and how that differs from the prevailing fandom interpretation.
I definitely think my interpretation of Wei Wuxian's character differs from the "feral ADHD gremlin" characterization that's common these days (though my modern characterization of him maybe utilizes some of the same elements that found the basis for that reading?). I don't hate it or anything, though I do sometimes find it boring, but to me, it really misses some of the core concepts of what makes Wei Wuxian such a fascinating character.
( I'll go into more detail in a cut, here. )
Another aspect of his character that I think stems from this—and another aspect of his character that's frequently ignored—is just how manipulative Wei Wuxian is. In the book, he's absolutely ruthlessly clever, and a lot of that cleverness really gets lost in the adaptations.
( Examples: )
Little things like this—direct examples of Wei Wuxian's extremely quick cleverness and ability to manipulate people and situations into his favor—really fall by the wayside in a lot of depictions. I think that people assume that Wei Wuxian's occasional bouts of awkwardness or misunderstanding with Lan Wangji are because he's awkward or socially inept, and not because Lan Wangji's relationship and feelings about Wei Wuxian are complicated and hard for Wei Wuxian to understand (both because of his insecurities and because Lan Wangji doesn't communicate them well).
Like in the end, Wei Wuxian is deeply charismatic, extremely capable, very clever, sometimes manipulative, flirtatious, quick-witted, extremely full of bravado (a good bit of it false, but hard to see through), and dislikes any variation on unquestioned authority. His downfall after the war didn't stem from political ineptitude, really (and I think a lot of people assume it did), so much as a refusal to ever capitulate to politics (which I think he sees as an arm of "authority" or the prevailing power structures) in favor of what was obviously, clearly right. It was a genuine tragedy that Wei Wuxian's desire to do good, no matter how difficult or seemingly impossible it was, is what earned him his status as a villain.
I definitely think my interpretation of Wei Wuxian's character differs from the "feral ADHD gremlin" characterization that's common these days (though my modern characterization of him maybe utilizes some of the same elements that found the basis for that reading?). I don't hate it or anything, though I do sometimes find it boring, but to me, it really misses some of the core concepts of what makes Wei Wuxian such a fascinating character.
( I'll go into more detail in a cut, here. )
Another aspect of his character that I think stems from this—and another aspect of his character that's frequently ignored—is just how manipulative Wei Wuxian is. In the book, he's absolutely ruthlessly clever, and a lot of that cleverness really gets lost in the adaptations.
( Examples: )
Little things like this—direct examples of Wei Wuxian's extremely quick cleverness and ability to manipulate people and situations into his favor—really fall by the wayside in a lot of depictions. I think that people assume that Wei Wuxian's occasional bouts of awkwardness or misunderstanding with Lan Wangji are because he's awkward or socially inept, and not because Lan Wangji's relationship and feelings about Wei Wuxian are complicated and hard for Wei Wuxian to understand (both because of his insecurities and because Lan Wangji doesn't communicate them well).
Like in the end, Wei Wuxian is deeply charismatic, extremely capable, very clever, sometimes manipulative, flirtatious, quick-witted, extremely full of bravado (a good bit of it false, but hard to see through), and dislikes any variation on unquestioned authority. His downfall after the war didn't stem from political ineptitude, really (and I think a lot of people assume it did), so much as a refusal to ever capitulate to politics (which I think he sees as an arm of "authority" or the prevailing power structures) in favor of what was obviously, clearly right. It was a genuine tragedy that Wei Wuxian's desire to do good, no matter how difficult or seemingly impossible it was, is what earned him his status as a villain.
