Getting on my bad side - a rant

Now I’m not one to get into internet fisticuffs. I observe them from afar I’ll admit – but to actually get involved in spats – not going to happen. At least I always thought so.

I posted quite some time ago on a message board about how much I enjoyed the book Death Angel by Linda Howard. Now I know not everyone is going to like this book. I’ve said time and time and time again that not everyone is going to love the same book. But after I posted some other people weighed in their thoughts. Some loved it too – some didn’t. But of the people who didn’t, their reasons I thought, were critical of the heroine. They called her a whore and other nasty things. I know the heroine isn’t a real person or anything – but I did take offense to the tone of condemnation and posted said thoughts. This is what I wrote in response to an earlier post:

(earlier post)Quote:

Women calling other women whores has always bothered me. It makes it ok for men to do it without a thought.

(My reply)That really bothers me too. Really!! A LOT!! I did have a reply to Katie(Kat) post after my original one but had to sit on my hands in order not to hit post (you don't always want to act in haste) 'cause I was a bit hot under the collar at the tone of it.
I think many who don't like this book are being terribly judgmental on both Drea and Simon. While the author didn't go too deep into Drea's background and barely at all into Simon's, she did give enough background for me to empathize with them. Would I have made the same choices? No, but I'm not going to judge them for the choices they did make. Who knows how anyone will react when tragedy strikes like it did to Drea when she lost her son - and who are we to judge? Yeah - she made a rotten choice in becoming the mistress of a drug lord (not a whore or a prostitute as some claim). But I imagine she was pretty dead inside - and I do know what that's like.
And I agree that Simon's epiphany was wonderfully done. From that moment on, he was determined to protect Andie at any cost from anyone who posed a danger to her - even if was herself. I don't see anyone condemning the two FBI agents. The one in particular knew what was going to happen and as he thought - he worked for the department of Justice.
It's fine not to like the book - as I said in the original post, it's not going to be for everyone. I loved it and obviously there are others who feel the same about it.
But to be honest, I am uncomfortable with the attitude of scorn leveled because there are those of us who do read and enjoy books with protagonists who contain shades of grade. To me, gray is a much more interesting colour that white and I'm glad Ms. Howard kept them gray at the end - just a whiter shade of pale. There seems to be a real double standard for some readers when it comes to heroines. They must be ‘pure’, they must never have been married. And if they have a checkered past, this is a big sin to some readers. But that is a subject for another day.

Now for the record, this all happened back in January. January 4^th to be exact. Yesterday, I noticed this response:

Hi! I just saw this and figured better late than never to respond. You're bothered by my post. Funny, I'm bothered by moral relativism. I'm bothered by characters who act dumb and sleep with criminals out of greed, not desperation, with no concern about how much suffering was caused to obtain that money.

You think it's wrong to judge someone, to say they are a villian for working for a drug lord and murdering people? Okay, I have no idea what to say to this. Shades of gray, really? I mean really!

Some actions are just wrong and no amount of excusing bad behavior because of someone's past makes it okay. We'll all have tragedies in our lives but that is never a justification for hurting other people.

Could these characters be redeemed? Yeah, but imho Howard did not do this. If other readers think she succeeded I totally understand. Heck, I might have enjoyed the book if Howard had spent more time on character development and less time droning on about tax reporting for banks.

I do have to clarify something I think you implied in your post. There was no scorn coming from me for readers who liked this book. The "scorn" you got from my posts was for the story, Howard's writing, my paying $20 some dollars for the hardcover, and the idea that morality is relative. I know some people have problems when strong opinions are expressed, but I was addressing the themes brought up in the book not anyone I'm having a discussion with.

One last comment, I'm sorry if I offended some posters with my calling Drea a whore. I will not use that term again. Instead I will just say she was a prositute. I think prostitute is the correct verbiage when someone has sex for the sole purpose of being paid.

So – this got my dander up and I thought of a few different things I could post.

For example:

Hi! I just saw this and figured better late than never to respond.

Ah, no.

Or another one I thought of:

Considering the tone of your post I must respectfully disagree with your statement ‘better late then never.’

And the little girl in me (who by the way is named Kissie – a name I apparently called myself before I could my R’s or T’s) wanted to answer:

You are full of poop (she likes saying that word because it’s kind of fun) and your little faces are silly.

Then there was:

And why again is it you feel the need to go back – way back to January 4^th to comment??????

But I decided in the end not to respond because this person was (to me) obviously trying to get a rise out of me and I’m not going to play the game. I just don't want to get into a war of words on a site dedicated to a love of romance.

But Krisite didn’t like this stand I took and insisted that I do this post

Now maybe it’s just me – I’m too much a pacifist, or too non-confrontational or could be I’m just a wimp – but I just can’t understand the reasoning behind going back to a comment made over two months ago- that no one really remembers and making a big deal out of it; of being on the verge of insulting to someone you don’t know. Disagree with me all you want – hey – that’s fine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone. And maybe ‘cause I’m sick (I hab a bad cod) I’m over sensitive. But to the person who responded ------

Bite Me!

There! Now Krisite is happy.

As is Kissie