Red and Blue make Purple

Have we talked about how imperfect Marinette is in Le Gamer?

sarahcada

(Has this been discussed somewhere? If yes, hit me up with a link.)

OKAY HEAR ME OUT. Because I think this is super important.

So far, we’ve seen and loved how Marinette is portrayed as a normal girl who likes pink and making clothes, has a massive crush on her classmate, is an all around sweetheart, a reluctant but natural leader, and, as we now know, a girl gamer yeeeeeeah! She’s not a perfect babysitter, she dislikes homework, and stutters in front of her crush. This same normal girl is also a kickass superhero. This is great and empowering, as she’s meant to be a role model for ~~girls~~ everyone; that even if you think you’re just normal, you can be a hero in your own way.

BUT we’ve also seen her be a little careless and make wrong decisions. Like making decisions out of jealousy (Bubbler), skipping responsibilities at home because of her responsibilities with friends (Chronogirl), occasionally lying, and frequently forgetting appointments (GOD BLESS TIKKI). She can also be biased and quick to blame others when it’s to her benefit (Rogercop–though I think this might be rare).

She steals Adrien’s phone (Copycat–this is felony, children). She returns it, but still. And there’s her provoking Chloé in Kung Food (who in turn provoked Mari’s uncle into getting akumatized–but then Chloe always gets someone akumatized). But Chloé provoked her first, and Marinette’s in the right this time again, I think.

Most times, she has good intentions behind her mistakes, and this makes her very endearing. And she’s still a role model for everyone because even if you have good intentions, things can go wrong– but hey! you can fix it.

But then, in Gamer, I’m pretty sure this is the first time we see Marinette doing something really selfish, and putting thought to being selfish. This is the most selfish we’ve ever seen her, that I almost feel like it’s a foil to her usual self, and her Ladybug-hero-of-Paris self.

She finds out early on that the tournament is a big thing. It’s not just a big event, but it’s a big thing for Max. Kim tells Marinette that Max has been training for a year. It is a very big deal to him. And what does Marinette do with this information? She disregards it and schemes to use the tournament as a way to spend time with Adrien. We see Alya reprimand her, but what she emphasizes is the importance of the tournament. Marinette is confident she won’t let the school down, so Alya’s argument becomes moot.

She doesn’t give a thought to Max. Or rather, the only thought she gives Max is that she’s going to defeat him. She proceeds to elbow her way in–gamer extraordinaire or no–obstinately taking a seat and giving that glare as she wordlessly demands for the controller.

When Max gets defeated, he actually manages to be a good sport about it, congratulating Adrienette, and excuses himself. To me, at that point, that behavior is better than Marinette’s. Once outside, Max rants, and I believe he’s very disappointed in himself, and not at Marinette nor Adrien. The akuma blackens his heart, of course, and blows it out of proportion.

Back to Marinette, she seemed to have a small oops? moment in the library when Max was leaving, but it was wiped away by the thought of succeeding to be partnered with Adrien. Tikki later reminds her about Max’s feelings. Marinette concedes to Tikki’s point, that she’s only thinking about Adrien– and then suddenly she’s distracted YET AGAIN.

(The episode and the fandom then focuses on Adrienette and Marichat and gaming references from this point on, and only highlighting Max when storytelling his progress as he levels up.)

So, basically, this is the first time we’ve seen Marinette be directly responsible for an akuma victim, and worse, she did it deliberately. Of course, she didn’t mean for him to be akumatized, but other than that, she knows exactly what she was doing, and she repeatedly focuses on herself and on Adrien. (Such are the effects of our smol model son of a sunshine prince, I guess.)

But, see, this is important, because it cements Marinette’s normal-ness. That, despite looking like a goody-two-shoes, she’s really really like us, imperfect and human. It shows that selfishness doesn’t always look like Chloé Bourgeois. It feels a little like a wake-up call or a checkpoint.

At the end of it all, Ladybug and Chat Noir save the day, and Marinette realizes her mistake. And she’s still a role model for everyone because even if you did a really stupid, selfish thing, you can and should apologize.

And, hey, after you do it, your crush might be impressed and touch your shoulder again.

BUT WAIT I’M NOT DONE. I really do hope that Marinette learned her lesson here, because I can’t imagine her doing the same thing. I’d be scared if she does. I’m actually also nervous at what other character flaws she has. We all have these, and we see them at unexpected times. I am…very nervous about this.

So yep, that was a long post. Let me know your thoughts!