My latest essay on RogerEbert.com questions the Chosen One Mythos and whether it’s a means of keeping the rest of us pinned down:
“Friends, I came here today to talk to you about the inherent shortcomings of the “Chosen One” mythos. Not that I don’t love a good legendary hero, but many of them succeed because of the party surrounding them, and when the light hits them from a certain angle, the flaws start to show.
We’re led to believe the chosen one is a farm boy, or a servant, or a high school girl. An ordinary person. That’s ostensibly true, but most often they are chosen due to their bloodlines or inherited power. What does that sound like to you? For me, it’s analogous to a monarchy or the scion system. Systems of power that have little to do with merit or worthiness but everything to do with some sort of lineage.”
—Sherin Nicole
Read the full “The Legend of Us: Expanding the Chosen One” over on RogerEbert.com
