Stereotyping Goes Both Ways
Rutu Modan’s Exit Wounds tackles numerous complex issues (politics, family, death, etc.) exceptionally well. Her engaging style and broad understanding of life bring the characters and events to life in ways that make Exit Wounds a beautiful experience for readers. However, much of the difficulty in the book comes from stereotypes, indulged in not only by the characters but by the author herself. While books like Aya attempt to dispel stereotypes, Exit Wounds (and others we have read) shamelessly buy into stereotyping. In some cases this may be a sacrifice to a greater point (the parents in Shortcomings allow Tomine to create a deeper friendship between the main character and his friend) but in Exit Wounds it comes from the realistic touch that Modan brings to her story. The broad and all-encompassing aspect to daily life she brings to the novel is both a strength and a weakness. By providing such a faithful rendition of life Modan found herself in places that she had little experience in, which left her with little to draw on but societal stereotype.
If one more person mentions how only old people knit/crochet I might scream. By now, with the practice being referenced in at least two novels we should be thinking that youthful yarning is more common than previously thought. Modan’s inclusion of this through Numi’s knitting Gabriel a birthday scarf provides a bit of comedic relief as Numi and Koby discuss the possibility of his father’s death. Koby voices the popular opinion that I’ve so openly eschewed: “You made it? What are you, eighty?” (p.36) Understandably, stereotypes must be used to portray realistic life. However, when we add in the way in which Numi is drawn we find ourselves believing that even the author is buying in here. Numi’s androgynous appearance (which we presume is unattractive to most men) brings in another stereotype: only ugly girls work with yarn. If only old women and ugly girls knit, where do the many men who knit fit in? How about the young women who think themselves attractive?
Later on, we find another issue with Numi’s appearance. “Years of maternal harassment” have left her defensive and openly aggressive towards anyone who makes her feel ugly or anyone who seems to think she’s ugly. (p. 118) If only Numi could be more like her beautiful model mother life could be happy. Thankfully, Numi doesn’t believe this anymore, though her mother still seems to. It seems like every novel with an ugly female goes through this. We all know that people with mommy issues are a little screwed up. We shouldn’t have to have it written out for us. However this scene is the first moment Koby feels sympathy and (perhaps) attraction for Numi. As it is, this scene is important for the readers to understand where the sex scene comes from only ten pages later. I think it could be portrayed differently, with the attraction placed in a different scene. Again, we see where stereotyping is both essential and detrimental to the novel.
Let’s take a look at the last three pages, with Koby stuck up a tree. We finally get to see some kick-ass action from Numi, who seems to be stronger and more comfortable with herself than the Numi of the first 160 pages. Telling Koby off does her good and makes readers (me, at least) stand more on her side. Her line “I’m sick and tired of falling in love with every man who just happens to look in my direction” harkens back to her self-esteem issues, but she’s finally making a decision based on what’s good for herself. SIX PANELS LATER she reverts straight back to old-Numi, falling in love with any man who just happens to look in her direction (and ask for help getting out of a tree.) Others may think this a sweet and romantic moment for the two main characters but even with the very literal leap of faith from Koby I don’t see this being a very happy relationship.
Modan’s use of stereotype seems both purposeful and accidental, and as such is essential and provoking at times. I wish it were possible to have a strong female character who could learn from her mistakes and come out of the book stronger and more capable. I don’t think we’ve found that woman thus far, but this problem exists throughout all genres. I’m positive that graphic novels have a better chance of producing such a character and that many positive examples of this exist… somewhere.
I think mistaking a character’s sterotypes, or an author’s use of those stereotypes in order to tell a story, is the first error here, and I do think you’re wrong to accuse her of perpetrating a stereotype about knitting through Koby’s remarks. Your take-down of the moment they meet, as she’s being berated for not resembling the clownish mother or sister is likewise unfair–of course it could have been a different scene, but the moment is critical of the mother and not Numi. It’s very clear.
What’s more, the ending is open-ended. We don’t know what’s going to happen as he falls. She could just be joking with him, as it doesn’t seem like she’s rushing to catch him. We don’t know what happens when he lands. And for you to take your interpretation is unfair, as it presupposes what happens when he lands.
In a very general way, it is never the artist’s job to promote positive images as well as negative ones—it is the artist’s job to make art, to tell a story, to report on people as they are and not as we might wish them to be. Rather than condemn Modan for what she’s done, I urge you to put forward your own stories.