This is a really interesting question and I think it boils down to the individual writer. I don't know if you know Doctor Who at all? I went through a stint of writing fics about the Master and, you know, I had a particular way of dealing with it.
What I tried to do (and I don't know if I managed) was to try and stick as close to canon as I could with the character. I told the story through his eyes so in some respects I did have to take a flippant attitude to some of what he did (I use a POV that's very tied to the characters) and trust that what he was doing would speak for itself as being something horrible.
I never - as far as I was aware - actively tried to get people to side with the Master, or premote his viewpoint as right (because as far as I'm concerned it's NOT) I just told the story.
I guess it also helped that I wrote Doctor/Master so I always had that contrasting viewpoint, one that was clearly in the narrative, saying how wrong his actions where. The Doctor is a very very principled character and it was pretty IC for him to comment.
Rorschach is...an odd one. I think one of the best (and worst) things about Watchmen is that it has very little narrative objectivity when it comes to Rorschach. He's pained as a very...questionable character but I do think the narrative tries to force you to side with him and in a way you *have* to. The only objectively 'good' character (Dan) is painted as ineffective. It's an awesome piece of writing but I know it made me feel very uncomfortable.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-02-22 07:34 pm (UTC)What I tried to do (and I don't know if I managed) was to try and stick as close to canon as I could with the character. I told the story through his eyes so in some respects I did have to take a flippant attitude to some of what he did (I use a POV that's very tied to the characters) and trust that what he was doing would speak for itself as being something horrible.
I never - as far as I was aware - actively tried to get people to side with the Master, or premote his viewpoint as right (because as far as I'm concerned it's NOT) I just told the story.
I guess it also helped that I wrote Doctor/Master so I always had that contrasting viewpoint, one that was clearly in the narrative, saying how wrong his actions where. The Doctor is a very very principled character and it was pretty IC for him to comment.
Rorschach is...an odd one. I think one of the best (and worst) things about Watchmen is that it has very little narrative objectivity when it comes to Rorschach. He's pained as a very...questionable character but I do think the narrative tries to force you to side with him and in a way you *have* to. The only objectively 'good' character (Dan) is painted as ineffective. It's an awesome piece of writing but I know it made me feel very uncomfortable.