Lynn Minmei - horrible brat or misunderstood?

When I first read the novels and watched the series back in high school I didn't think Minmei was that bad. She seemed a bit immature, even to a fellow teenager, but that's to be expected from a young civilian girl I suppose. She looks particularly bad as her story is juxtaposed against a rather unflinching look at war and a lot of brave characters who are fighting for the future of humanity. But re-reading the First Gen novels a few years ago and revisiting the cartoon, pheeew, she's worse than I remember. Particularly once she begins to fancy herself a pop star. Her character is initially beguiling, but she quickly becomes like nails on a chalkboard to me.

I suppose you really do need to try and get down to her level to truly sympathize with her.

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I never thought she was that bad. Not at all. And in fact I sympathize a great deal with her character. She was spoiled and rather selfish, but that's very understandable, under the circumstances; and she never became a complete diva because of it.

At the start of the series, she's a very young girl of exceptional beauty and talent (bear with me: I'm going for what the writers of the show intended to portray, not necessarily what comes across on screen), but who is as shallow, self-centered and vain as teenagers typically are. But at the core, she's a basically nice, decent person. When Kyle, whom she has adored since childhood, reveals himself as a greedy, manipulative, bigoted drunk, she loses all affection for him. Contrary to his wishes, she wants to perform charity benefits for people whose lives are wrecked by Earth's destruction, and is willing to forego payment. When he (following his prejudices) whines that the military brought the Earth to its then-current state, she angrily corrects him, pointing out that the Earth was attacked, and Earth's military simply fought back. Underneath it all, she's a basically decent, good-hearted, level-heated person. I thought the show did a good job conveying this.

Early in the series, Rick Hunter falls hard for her, but at this point in her life, she has stars in her eyes, and all she can see is the fame and fortune that lies ahead of her. It's easy to condemn her for that, but how many people could resist the siren song of success if it stretched before them like that, especially when they were so young? Freud put the desire to feel important and achieve recognition from others as second only to the sex drive in human nature. If Minmei succumbs to this, its certainly understandable.

But as time rolls on, she finds (as so many celebrities doubtless have) that fame and success aren't all they're cracked up to be. Being famous means being recognized anywhere you go; but it also means being almost completely unable to have a private life. Being rich and famous means being adored by the public; but it also means being isolated and having few, if any, real friends, just sycophants and hangers-on. Being admired for your beauty and talent is wonderful; but it means that everyone loves the image they have of you, not who you really are yourself.

I thought the show did a pretty good job of showing how, once Minmei had made it, she yearned for the simpler, happier days before she was famous. And it was at this time she realized that in her quest for fame and glory, she'd overlooked what was really important in her life, and what she could have had if she'd only known at the time. It was a very sweet, innocent love, and if she'd only known at the time, she could have stretched out her hand and had this very good young man for the taking, but she was preoccupied with her career and didn't realize it. Rick Hunter fell in love with her before she was a star, and he fell in love with her. By the time she's grown up and realized she loves him too, it's too late. He's moved on. He's grown up and found someone else, with life experiences far closer to his own, with whom he can identify far more easily, and who has come to mean more to him, and Minmei is left behind. To her credit, she even realizes this, and wishes them well, at the end. She's grown up enough to see her situation realistically.

I didn't think she was that bad at all.

I recently watched Robotech: The Macross Saga again, and while I haven't watched all of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Minmei is more sympathetic and less annoying in the Japanese episodes I've seen. By the end of the Japanese version of Macross, Minmei seems to really love Hikaru (a.k.a. Rick), but she realizes that their lives are on different paths. She finally grows up and lets him go so he can be with Misa (a.k.a. Lisa) and continue serving in the military. It's quite touching and bittersweet. Minmei's dialogue was changed for her final scene in Robotech, and it makes the ending less poignant. Minmei doesn't seem as sad and regretful about losing Rick. Instead she asks Rick to forgive her because she didn't really want to get married and give up her music career. I wonder if the changes to the script were made so that viewers wouldn't be upset that Rick chose Lisa over Minmei, but it ended up making Minmei look bad for stringing Rick along. Minmei's voice acting and singing was also a lot better in the Japanese version.