As it has been said countless times already:
It’s bad writing.
There is a fundamental concept in literature, film, and other forms of storytelling that describes a reader’s or viewer’s willingness to accept the premises of a story, even if they are fantastical, improbable, or otherwise unrealistic.
This fundamental concept is called “Suspension of Disbelief”.
The term was coined by the poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the early 19th century. Coleridge described it as a state where the audience willingly sets aside their critical faculties, ignoring the implausibility of a story’s elements in order to engage emotionally with the narrative.
It’s a sort of “contract” between the creator and the audience: the creator promises to deliver a story that is internally consistent and emotionally compelling, and in return, the audience agrees to temporarily accept the story’s premises, no matter how fantastical.
Suspension of disbelief is crucial for the enjoyment of genres like fantasy, science fiction, horror, and even certain types of drama or comedy, where the events depicted would not happen in the real world. For the audience to engage with the story, they need to accept its reality on its own terms.
Without this suspension, the audience might constantly question or reject the narrative, which would prevent them from becoming immersed in the story.
Even in the most fantastical settings, characters should have motivations, emotions, and actions that resonate with the audience. Relatable characters are key to maintaining emotional engagement.
If female characters are portrayed with traits traditionally associated with male characters (such as extreme physical strength, aggression, or stoicism) or if male characters are portrayed with traits traditionally associated with female characters (such as heightened emotional sensitivity, nurturing behaviors, or vulnerability) in a way that feels inconsistent with established norms, it will challenge the reader’s suspension of disbelief.
Readers will struggle to accept these characters if the traits seem forced, exaggerated, or not fitting within the context of the story or world. If a story suddenly reverses norms without adequate explanation or setup, it will break the suspension of disbelief.
Mishandling the inversion of gender traits is a common pitfall for untalented writers.
Untalented writers might accidentally reduce complex gender roles to simplistic stereotypes or caricatures, which can come across as shallow or even offensive. For example, making a female character overly aggressive without depth or nuance might feel like a lazy inversion of gender norms rather than a thoughtful exploration of character.
This results in stories that are inconsistent, unbelievable, and unsatisfying. Like The War Within.
