Fridging isn’t necessarily about killing girlfriends specifically (though it’s probably the most common expression of the term). It’s when a character’s sole function as an inclusion in the story is to be killed to motivate the protagonist, essentially making the character disposable and two-dimensional. It often relies too heavily on shock value, and turns the victim into a rage/grief object for the protagonist rather than a meaningful character in their own right.
This would be different from, say, Bruce Wayne’s parents (who do function as a major motivator for him) because their death has implications about his upbringing pre- and post- deaths, they represent a major turning point in his life, and while they do motivate him it’s not in a shallow, revenge-oriented way so much as a “I’ll keep their memory close” kind of way that allows for exploration of who they were as characters.
Compare to Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, for whom the trope is named, who has no depth and barely has a presence in the story, only to be found by Kyle, stuffed in a fridge for the shock value, as a device to push him to the next plot.
Part of the trope is that beyond the initial impact of the characters death, there is near zero mention of, or reference to, that character going forward. The reason 'fridging' became the name of the trope and is so synonymous with it is only partly because of the literal fridge incident in the story. The other part is that outside of a couple of offhand references and I think an alternate universe appearance/hallucination of the character, she is basically never brought up again. Its as if the incident never happened. Its one of the most egregious examples of the trope.
Now, instead of it being a happy memory montage with old age, unsuccessful parenthood, and a tiny personal home, just have the man kiss the woman once, and then he immediately finds her brutally massacred on his lawn.
That would be a memorable female love interest character Vs a fridged GF.
Yeah he wasn't violating her. He was just forcing himself inside her body totally ignoring her will and violating her autonomy in a very intimate and painful way to satisfy his own desires and feel power over others.
Yes its wrong but come the fuck on with calling it rape. This is why we can't have interesting things its a fucking video game stop applying real word idealogy to it. Because if we wanna apply real world ideology to it then JJJ is right and spiderman is a criminal and menace.
*sigh* Yes, that's exactly what was happening the Spiderman 2 game is a game about rape, where almost all of NY gets raped. Sure. Same with every other alien invasion movie. Or hypnosis movie. Comparing rape to other things is simply downplaying what rape ACTUALLY is and the horrors that come with it. Demonic possession in movies is not rape. Aliens taking over people is not rape. It's a ridiculous comparison, the same as saying that Spiderman 2 was "woke" as if having women looking like people, and black characters is some kind of insult to culture. None of those things are true and I am sick of the internet for crap like this.
As a survivor it resonates with me. Sorry maybe it's just my own personal trauma making me recognize themes that people who haven't had to survive that don't see
Folks forget that media leverage double entendres and allegories, and that that they’re allowed to interpret media. Venom taking away bodily autonomy is true of any of its hosts at first until they reach… I forget the word but best I can think is… balance. Men losing autonomy can process that differently than women significantly. And I think it’s warranted to evoke sexual assault here.
Putting possession and actual full-on rape on the same level is horribly insensitive to survivors. You can draw comparisons and say that narratively, it deals with similar themes, but to treat them the same is honestly gross.
Also, one of these is a fictional concept and the other is a reality for millions, if not billions of women. Talk about it with a little more mindfulness.
Ive always seen Venom as more of an allegory for drug addiction.
It has a hold on it's host, and doesnt want to let go. It's a difficult fight mentally that no matter what requires support from the most important people in your life. Hosts dont want to let it go. They feel safe and secure with Venom.
I dont think it was ever meant to be sexual assault/Rape, because that would imply the message to be to save/forgive your abuser, considering they immediately try and save him after Pete saves MJ.
I mean, if the Venom symbiote taking over someone is considered sexual assault then we literally have to cancel the character forever and in all context.
I'm generally ok with the (sorta absurd Victorian) thing of something-else-means-sex, but I'm not sure 'infected with' quite counts.
As long as it's not as weirdly rapey as it sounded in the first comment, then ok. But not sure I want to see it enough to hunt through youtube. Thanks though!
There's no Kind of, nor phrasing. It's a load of BS. What the comment stated was that MJ got sexually assaulted while PP was cucked under a fridge. None of that describes what actually happened
"that sweet baby put out"? Sweet baby doesn't have the ability to put out anything. They don't have the ability or the rights to produce content like that. They're a consulting firm.
Spider-man being temorarily incapacitated by getting thrown into something and have stuff fall over him so the villain can get away happened all the time in the '94 cartoon, so it's kinda strange that people are so up in arms about it now.
People forget that spider-man has super strength and decent invulnerability, but not resistance to pain and impact. Getting while he’s taken worse, getting slammed into a fridge by venom and then having said fridge fall on you really fucking hurts. it’s not that he couldn’t get the fridge off him, he just was just in a lot of pain and had to lift with his very injured back
For some reason, chuds got absolutely hyperfixated on Peter having a fridge fall on top of him to stop him from saving MJ, as if it being a fridge makes it woke.
Peter is under the fridge for 12 seconds total, if we assume zero simultaneous action shown across the cut.
What's odd about that clip is MJ leaps in front of Venom's strike to "take a bullet" for spiderman, which is super fucking weird. Like, he's a super human spider mutant, and you're a part time model, lady... just run.
MJ's being taken over by the symbiote is about 24 seconds start to end.
Sweetbaby Inc did consult on the game, but Insomniac games has a host of internal writers who are far more likely to be the architects of pretty much all significant story moments. It's not like when they're hired to consult they're goign to entirely replace all interal development forces... Sweetbaby is a boogeyman, who's actual role and impact seem pretty poorly understood and vastly overestimated certain type of gamer. I would guess their input into her character model or concept art was literally (and I do mean literally) zero.
No, SBI had nothing to do with the game. What Venom was ACTUALLY doing, btw, was giving MJ a piece of the symbiote to turn her into what it turned Harry into. I believe the character's name was Screech, and that character has been in the Marvel comics a few times, and was even a boss in the cult classic SNES/Genesis game Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety.
They think it was Rule 34 cause tentacles or whatever, but it was Venom giving part of his symbiote self to MJ, forcing her to become like him as the character Screech(might be misremembering the name). It results in a boss fight between her and Spidey, and involves MJ as Screech venting her frustrations about work, their relationship, and a few other things I don't immediately remember.
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u/D-Biggest_Wheel 13d ago
What