TV’s Frink said:
Actually, it doesn’t.Yes, it does. A false premise inherently negates any conclusions which follow from it.
Wow, you know so many words!
Basic common human decency suggests that even if you don’t think something is offensive, the fact that many other people think so means you should try to use a different method to get your point across.
It has nothing to do with what I think. There is a generally accepted definition of Mary Sue, which is completely at odd with your “gut feeling” of what it means. I’m not going to stop using the English language in accordance with its accepted conventions just because someone else is unwilling or unable to do their homework.
Whatever you or other people say is the official definition of the word, it hasn’t been used that way. We don’t judge words by what Webster said once, we judge them by how people actually use them. Every good dictionary adheres to this doctrine.
As I said and which you keep conveniently ignoring, all you have to do is argue your points about Rey being overpowered or unearned or whatever without using a term many of us find offensive. Should be simple. But nah, it’s better to attempt to prove your superiority instead with big words, right?
As Kat Feete said, “The term was coined in fanfiction, made its way from there into the publishing world, and has slowly been filtering into the writing community as a useful shorthand for a frighteningly common error in characterization.”
I should disregard useful shorthand because you “have a bad feeling” about it? If you can’t be rational about a topic, why do you even reply to it?
There are other ways to state the same concept in a short manner.