Final Fantasy X-2, and the character of Yuna especially, caught a lot of flack. And I suspect that at least part of this is due to the close-mindedness of some of the fans.
In Final Fantasy X, Yuna was a shy white-mage/summoner. In X-2 Yuna's a gunner who happens to sing. It's generally the singing that gets criticised the most, and I'm not entirely sure why.
Firstly, singing and song-writing has been a well-respected profession for thousands of years. Bards were the keepers of oral history, and songs were used to incite strong emotions during battles, or to mourn the dead. Hymns are used in religious worship. The "popstars" we have today, who sing tinny canned repetitive music do not make up the majority of musical history. They are the tip of the iceberg.
Secondly, it was never really Yuna's idea to sing. In the first instance, LeBlanc stole her appearance, and in the second instance, it's highly likely that she was being strongly influenced by Lenne. At the very least, Lenne designed the style and the lyrics of the song.
Another thing which I think influences the dislike of Yuna in X-2 is the fact that...well. To explain this, I'm going to have to talk about high school cliches. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, whatever. Now, it's the nerds (or whatever term you prefer) who play RPGs, but, in X-2, Yuna is more cheerful, more active, and more popular than nerds are generally perceived to be. She's a cheerleader. And I think that at least some of the bad feeling towards her comes from the nerds feeling abandoned, or feeling that Yuna has "sold out" or "lost intelligence" by dressing and acting the way that she does - in a way that makes her happy.
Firstly, these stereotypes do not exist outside of TV-Land. Nobody's that flat and 2D, not even characters in videogames (barring some of those background characters, who repeat the same line ad infinitum). And no one says that someone has to stay one way, or else they're being disloyal to themselves. Yuna went from seventeen to nineteen, and that's a period where girls change a lot - even without losing the burden of their upcoming suicide.
And that's another thing. Yuna in X faced the fact of imminent death and sacrifice for the sake of the world. Yuna X-2 has lost her, for want of a better word, lover, but she has also lost the burden that she faced before. Yuna is easily lead, and, wanting to be happy and having lost her goal, she now follows Rikku. Perhaps she also feels that she owes it to Tidus to live her life to the fullest, and just have some fun.
I'd also like to reference the Avril Lavigne song Complicated here. That song always offended me. Listening to the lyrics, it would seem that a friend of hers wants to change, for whatever reason. She views this as them being untrue to themselves, or faking. Now, it's true that you should be true to yourself - but it's equally true that your teenage years are a time for changing and experimentation. Sometimes, being true to yourself does mean changing your actions - especially when the circumstances have changed as drastically as Yuna's have.
Finally, the other criticism I've heard levelled at Yuna is that her actions are "not becoming of a High Summoner". Firstly, it's debatable whether Yuna is a High Summoner. Yes, she's a Summoner who helped defeat Sin - but there's a key word in that sentence and it's not the word 'defeat'. She helped. She, alongside her guardians, defeated Sin, and one of their members died doing it. It's arguable whether this is the same as using the Final Summon, which would have destroyed both Guardian and Summoner. However, it's simpler to let the world of Spira believe in the story they've always understood, rather than break apart the entire religious structure of the world, so she keeps that label.
If we do consider her to be a High Summoner, then we must also acknowledge that she is the first one to get up and walk away. The only precedent for a High Summoner's actions is lying around, being stiff, and sometimes being made in a statue. Yes, it is true that Yuna's actions are not typical of a High Summoner - but, since she didn't kill herself immediately after defeating Sin, there is no way she could act like a typical High Summoner. There's also no way that Spira can have any expectations of her actions. She is the first of her kind, and she gets to make the rules. When people claim that Spira should expect religious figures to act a certain way, they're basing this on precedent from our world, and there's no reason why that should affect Spira's mindset. That precedent does not exist there.
LeaveBritneyYunie alone!
Firstly, singing and song-writing has been a well-respected profession for thousands of years. Bards were the keepers of oral history, and songs were used to incite strong emotions during battles, or to mourn the dead. Hymns are used in religious worship. The "popstars" we have today, who sing tinny canned repetitive music do not make up the majority of musical history. They are the tip of the iceberg.
Secondly, it was never really Yuna's idea to sing. In the first instance, LeBlanc stole her appearance, and in the second instance, it's highly likely that she was being strongly influenced by Lenne. At the very least, Lenne designed the style and the lyrics of the song.
Another thing which I think influences the dislike of Yuna in X-2 is the fact that...well. To explain this, I'm going to have to talk about high school cliches. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, whatever. Now, it's the nerds (or whatever term you prefer) who play RPGs, but, in X-2, Yuna is more cheerful, more active, and more popular than nerds are generally perceived to be. She's a cheerleader. And I think that at least some of the bad feeling towards her comes from the nerds feeling abandoned, or feeling that Yuna has "sold out" or "lost intelligence" by dressing and acting the way that she does - in a way that makes her happy.
Firstly, these stereotypes do not exist outside of TV-Land. Nobody's that flat and 2D, not even characters in videogames (barring some of those background characters, who repeat the same line ad infinitum). And no one says that someone has to stay one way, or else they're being disloyal to themselves. Yuna went from seventeen to nineteen, and that's a period where girls change a lot - even without losing the burden of their upcoming suicide.
And that's another thing. Yuna in X faced the fact of imminent death and sacrifice for the sake of the world. Yuna X-2 has lost her, for want of a better word, lover, but she has also lost the burden that she faced before. Yuna is easily lead, and, wanting to be happy and having lost her goal, she now follows Rikku. Perhaps she also feels that she owes it to Tidus to live her life to the fullest, and just have some fun.
I'd also like to reference the Avril Lavigne song Complicated here. That song always offended me. Listening to the lyrics, it would seem that a friend of hers wants to change, for whatever reason. She views this as them being untrue to themselves, or faking. Now, it's true that you should be true to yourself - but it's equally true that your teenage years are a time for changing and experimentation. Sometimes, being true to yourself does mean changing your actions - especially when the circumstances have changed as drastically as Yuna's have.
Finally, the other criticism I've heard levelled at Yuna is that her actions are "not becoming of a High Summoner". Firstly, it's debatable whether Yuna is a High Summoner. Yes, she's a Summoner who helped defeat Sin - but there's a key word in that sentence and it's not the word 'defeat'. She helped. She, alongside her guardians, defeated Sin, and one of their members died doing it. It's arguable whether this is the same as using the Final Summon, which would have destroyed both Guardian and Summoner. However, it's simpler to let the world of Spira believe in the story they've always understood, rather than break apart the entire religious structure of the world, so she keeps that label.
If we do consider her to be a High Summoner, then we must also acknowledge that she is the first one to get up and walk away. The only precedent for a High Summoner's actions is lying around, being stiff, and sometimes being made in a statue. Yes, it is true that Yuna's actions are not typical of a High Summoner - but, since she didn't kill herself immediately after defeating Sin, there is no way she could act like a typical High Summoner. There's also no way that Spira can have any expectations of her actions. She is the first of her kind, and she gets to make the rules. When people claim that Spira should expect religious figures to act a certain way, they're basing this on precedent from our world, and there's no reason why that should affect Spira's mindset. That precedent does not exist there.
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