Languorous Lass wrote:PixieSailor wrote: She had to make LIFE CHANGING decisions with almost no time to think, and so much more on the line than a trip to the beach. She's spent her whole life not saying no to anyone, and learning to follow her parents. When it turns out they're not people to follow, she has nothing to go by. And the small amount she has to follow? She has no clue what to do with it. . . . . She's being forced into bigger choices than most of us have ever made, when she's never made a decision by herself before all of this. She's trying to learn, and finally has a chance to. She's made huge mistakes, mistakes that seem far too stupid and rash to be forgivable in most circumstances. I won't deny that. But why would she know to do anything other than what she has done, given her life?
(stands up, applauding)
Beautifully put, PixieSailor. The people who have been complaining about what a beeyotch Bree has become (including Lurker, for whom I usually have the greatest respect) have been forgetting her background and her circumstances. I wonder how these people would respond if they were unceremoniously dumped into similar circumstances.
The other thing we need to remember is that Bree is
a seventeen-year-old girl. Plenty of girls her age behave a lot worse than Bree does, even when they haven't had to face the kind of adversity she has.
IOW,
GIVE THE GIRL A BREAK ALREADY. 
I decided I'd give her one more chance yesterday (thanks to Mvidrine's plea of sympathy) and have been trying not to be so harsh toward her for the last day or so, but I'll take the time explain my disdain for the girl a little better.
The problem isn't just what she's done - though that's a lot of it. The problem also consists of how she arrived at doing those things; the kind of thought processes she's utilizing that she - for some reason - considers logical.
Bree doesn't seem interested in making smart decisions of late - just in making decisions. Being like Tachyon doesn't mean one just reacts, but that's how Bree apparently thought during the whole Hostage Crisis.
But even before any of that stuff, she acted like she was the center of the universe and that it was fine for her to do whatever she wanted without consulting anyone else or considering anyone else - regardless of the potential danger it would create for them.
She adamantly guarded her precious secrets while she and Daniel were living in motels - despite knowing her parents had been kidnapped, and that Daniel was now in every bit as much danger (maybe more if caught) than them. She never hesitated about going to Jonas' place, despite how obvious it was that doing so could put him in danger. Worse still, rather than telling Jonas and Daniel she was going to meet her dad, discussing it with them, and getting them to go along with her, she stole Jonas' car (which the Order could have logically used to trace it back to Jonas and punish him for harboring their runaway), and took off - possibly with no intention of ever returning.
After that, she made Jonas and Daniel out to be jerks for caring about her, and then got Daniel's hopes up and broke his heart when it suited her.
She has consistently and deliberately used people with no consideration for their physical or emotional well being and done so in what appears to be nothing short of a calculating manner. The only time she doesn't seem to plan things out is when she's trying to act like Tachyon - and then she ends up becoming the attempted murderer of someone who may have genuinely placed themselves in a major sacrificial good samaritan position (to help her, of course).
And she does it while acting as a major hypocrite.
And then we have that whole "I can fix your potentially lifelong motor function-impairing wound, Jonas - maybe" thing.
So Bree's actions combined with the consideration - or lack thereof - that she expresses for everyone else is what has made me feel completely justified in complaining about her. Going through horrible situations is reason to feel sorry for someone, yes, but when - instead of learning compassion for others through those experiences - they take only the worst possible lessons, it becomes very difficult.
To give you an example of what I wish Bree had made some attempt to become - and perhaps why I have so much trouble with her shortcomings - there's a video game called "Final Fantasy X." A lot of people have complained about this game's main character, Tidus, for being "whiny" - and while that's somewhat true, it's largely unfair, as he only ever complains about not being able to go back to his life - and he doesn't try dragging other people down to benefit himself.
Because of his backstory and his situation, I actually feel sympathy (that doesn't get overshadowed with annoyance as with Bree) for this character, even though Bree's backstory bears similarities to his own (his dad apparently drowned at sea when he was 7; his mother let herself die soon afterward because of her heartbreak, despite having a dependent child to care for; ten years later, at 17 like Bree, he was taken from his world - where he had gained fame and fortune as an athlete - and deposited into a harsh world where no one knew him, where he was looked down upon, and where he had no way of getting home). Yet through all this, he expresses compassion for others - even complete strangers - constantly, even at danger to his own life.
Even more than the above example, I'm bothered by Bree because of one of the game's main villains. He's someone who went through awful things in childhood too (disowned by his father, lost his mother soon after, and grew up in solitude), but even though he became a psychopathic murderer, he did it because he still had compassion for others. He wanted to kill everyone on the planet - but because he
loved them and thought he was doing them a favor (he'd become twisted and thought life was a torturous prison). Even as a villain who committed great atrocities, he displayed more consideration for his fellow man than I've seen from Bree.
And
that's why I've had so much trouble overlooking her behavior. When I can respect and sympathize more with a villain who plotted genocide, there's something wrong with our princess.
