What did Greg Farshtey De-canonize Hewkii x Macku?

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

 

Okay I don't know if Greg has ever covered this, but I have a big serious question: if romance is non-canon, then how does a big chunk of web of Shadows work? Why does Sidorak want to marry Roodaka if there are no romantic feelings? Why is there a CONCEPT of marriage if there are no romantic feelings? That seems to completely contradict the whole thing.

Yeah, it pretty much does. I believe the answer they used was that it was some sort of political alliance. Also, I think that came from the movie people too (certainly it was in a movie, but I think the other sources also included it to be consistent with that, if bad memory serves).

 

In BIONICLE Adventures #9: Web of Shadows, Sidorak is stated to think of Roodaka as something to be "trusted and coveted". He also acts pretty infatuated with her. That said, later on in the book it states that an engagement between the two meant that they would share their conquests, the competition to earn Makuta's favour would be over and Sidorak would have "standing in Roodaka's land".

 

That said, for someone who's not meant to be in love with Roodaka, he sure acts like he's in love with her. In another book (Adventures #8), a bit after she sits around musing on how he's probably going to die and how great that is, he is thinking about how he's going to go home and have a big old victory celebration with Roodaka. Also, if it was simply a political thing, why would Roodaka have to try so hard to make him like her? She's got power and everything, so there's not really a reason to be so admiring towards him, nor for he to apparently enjoy Roodaka's company so much. In fact, it's kind of weird, them apparently competing for Makuta's attention for however long before this.

Edited July 28, 2014 by ZippyWharrgarbl

[fishers64]

--Then a "queen" reference pops up with Roodaka (who has female characteristics for all to see presented in toy AND movie likenesses) in conversations regarding her hooking up with Sidorak... going so far as to discuss marriage.  (Since they already hang out together, just what "marriage" then means is open to question.

 

1) As has been stated elsewhere, the "marriage" between Roodaka and Sidorak would have been nothing more than a formalized political alliance. No romantic relationship was implied there.

 

Uh-huh. I wish they could have said that the GBs made the whole thing that way based on the Agori or something...*sigh*

Edited July 29, 2014 by fishers64

[believe victims]

 

--Then a "queen" reference pops up with Roodaka (who has female characteristics for all to see presented in toy AND movie likenesses) in conversations regarding her hooking up with Sidorak... going so far as to discuss marriage.  (Since they already hang out together, just what "marriage" then means is open to question.

 

1) As has been stated elsewhere, the "marriage" between Roodaka and Sidorak would have been nothing more than a formalized political alliance. No romantic relationship was implied there.

 

Uh-huh. I wish they could have said that the GBs made the whole thing that way based on the Agori or something...*sigh*

 

 

but why does the concept of marriage, a concept steeped in romantic implications, even exist in a romance-less world?

[Alyska]

I guess it carries the implication that marriage among Spherus Magna folk was as often about politics, resources and convenience more than it was about love, hence why the term is used that way. It's certainly not unprecedented if you look at most cultures throughout Earth's history.

[toa kopaka4372]

 

 

but why does the concept of marriage, a concept steeped in romantic implications, even exist in a romance-less world?

It's not really steeped in romantic implications, though, that's just how most of society views it today. For most of our history marriage was done for legal, political reasons; actual love very rarely factored in the equation. I have no problem believing that's what the term implied inside the Matoran Universe.

 

Edit: Beaten to it by Alyska

Edited July 29, 2014 by toa kopaka4372

[Pomegranate]

There's also the other boring technical definition of combining two things, so it could've just been an extrapolation of that  It certainly didn't seem that way in the story, though. Perhaps the truth we've all been missing is that they were never native MU-ians to begin with? Maybe? Somehow?

[BMP98]

I've seen a lot of posts about the lack of biological impartiality doesn't mean anything, and I just wanted to clarify that. Whether or not people are aware of it, attraction is a result of the need for sexual reproduction. I believe what Greg means is that if a whole species has no need to reproduce sexually, they would not have any sort of natural attraction in the way that we do. Platonic love does in fact exist because of biological attraction.

 

That all being said, Bionicle fudges up the science a lot anyways, and I am a big fan of the Hewkii and Macku relationship and it's canon in my book.

[Mukaukau Nuva]

22 hours ago, Brendenpostma said:

Bionicle fudges up the science a lot anyways

This is the real kicker. Literally nothing else in Bionicle has a marked scientific basis; it's science-fiction of course, but (1) physics-defying giant robots, (2) elemental powers, (3) rock being different from stone, and (4) quasi-magical mask powers are all concepts that have no scientific justification yet are accepted as part of this world's rules.

Romance not being accepted because of some (in my opinion, misunderstood) argument in favor of biological-determinism is just a rhetorical sleight of hand. Bionicle declines to feature romance not because science says so, but because Greg says so, and Greg knows that argument isn't going to be enough to convince some of us (least of all me).  

[Black Six]

Major revival. Please don't post in topics over a year old.