Rerun: On Lucky Starr and Crying
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oldschoolcrimefighters(Originally posted December 29th, 2015)
Spoilers for the Lucky Starr books
“Mother said I wasn’t to cry.”
“Don’t cry, David, it will be all right.”
“If you’re going to cry, turn your head away.”
These are bothering me and I desperately want to read them as something other than ‘boys don’t cry’ toxic masculinity bullshit so I’m choosing to interpret them instead as a more subtle character thing with Lucky.
The only memory Lucky has of his parents is their last moments. The only memory of his mother’s voice is her telling him not to cry. She means it reassuringly, even though it’s hollow – the pirates are right outside the door, and there’s no time to worry about anything but getting her child to safety. Pirates don’t take prisoners – children are no exception.
“Don’t cry, David, it will be all right,” she tells her four-year-old son, and then launches his lifepod and he never sees her or his father again.
For two days he drifts. Four years old and alone in the cold vacuum of space. After he’s rescued, for hours all he’ll say is “Mother said I wasn’t to cry.” How many times must he have repeated that in those two days – how tightly must he have clung to those last words? It will be all right, but it’s not all right, but maybe if he’s good and does as mother says, it will be.
Twenty-five years later, Lucky steps safely back aboard a small Venusian submarine called the Hilda, and he smiles to a worried little Martian man and tells him, “If you’re going to cry, turn your head away. I didn’t get in out of the ocean just to get all wet in here.”
It’s a joke, but at the same time, it’s a bit callous. Lucky did almost die out there. Bigman had every reason to be worried for his best friend.
Maybe part of it is that David Starr doesn’t know what to do with tears. It’s not 'boys don’t cry’ – it’s that Lucky, himself, doesn’t. Because everything will be all right if he just doesn’t cry.
Maybe part if it is because this time, it is all right. Sure, they’ve still got a two-mile flesh pancake between them and the surface, and a telepathic frog conspiracy to get to the bottom of – but for right now, it’s all right. He’s still here. He makes light of Bigman’s concern not because he doesn’t appreciate it, but because he feels the tears aren’t necessary.
Spoilers for the Lucky Starr books
“Mother said I wasn’t to cry.”
“Don’t cry, David, it will be all right.”
“If you’re going to cry, turn your head away.”
These are bothering me and I desperately want to read them as something other than ‘boys don’t cry’ toxic masculinity bullshit so I’m choosing to interpret them instead as a more subtle character thing with Lucky.
The only memory Lucky has of his parents is their last moments. The only memory of his mother’s voice is her telling him not to cry. She means it reassuringly, even though it’s hollow – the pirates are right outside the door, and there’s no time to worry about anything but getting her child to safety. Pirates don’t take prisoners – children are no exception.
“Don’t cry, David, it will be all right,” she tells her four-year-old son, and then launches his lifepod and he never sees her or his father again.
For two days he drifts. Four years old and alone in the cold vacuum of space. After he’s rescued, for hours all he’ll say is “Mother said I wasn’t to cry.” How many times must he have repeated that in those two days – how tightly must he have clung to those last words? It will be all right, but it’s not all right, but maybe if he’s good and does as mother says, it will be.
Twenty-five years later, Lucky steps safely back aboard a small Venusian submarine called the Hilda, and he smiles to a worried little Martian man and tells him, “If you’re going to cry, turn your head away. I didn’t get in out of the ocean just to get all wet in here.”
It’s a joke, but at the same time, it’s a bit callous. Lucky did almost die out there. Bigman had every reason to be worried for his best friend.
Maybe part of it is that David Starr doesn’t know what to do with tears. It’s not 'boys don’t cry’ – it’s that Lucky, himself, doesn’t. Because everything will be all right if he just doesn’t cry.
Maybe part if it is because this time, it is all right. Sure, they’ve still got a two-mile flesh pancake between them and the surface, and a telepathic frog conspiracy to get to the bottom of – but for right now, it’s all right. He’s still here. He makes light of Bigman’s concern not because he doesn’t appreciate it, but because he feels the tears aren’t necessary.