(Pt 2) Someone could argue that they could just make Adrien have more free time if it was Adrien-pov, but I'd rather not the show compromise the restrictiveness of Adrien's home life like that. With more "free time" to show him interacting with other characters, his isolation from the rest of the cast because less apparent (Compared to Marinette, which the show can work with what its trying to do because she interacts with many characters and meddles into situations, for better or worse)
I think you have made your points, Anon ^^ I can hardly add anything more.
One argument I have stumbled upon recently in favor of "Adrien should be the protagonist" is that Marinette comes from a loving and caring family and therefore she doesn't have problems 🙃
As if a loving and caring family prevented Marinette to be bullied before the story started, to have little to no friend before meeting Alya and had so much low self-esteem of herself to the point she believed her taking actions would only make things worse. Insecurities which still ressurface from time to time, both as a civilian and as a superheroine. (Pharaoh, Timetagger, Miracle Queen, Furious Fu to name those)
The thing about picking a protagonist isn't about picking who has the most tragic backstory ™ as the main character. It's picking the character you want your audience to experience the story you want to tell.
Also, those people often forget that when Marinette became Ladybug, her life changed too! While Adrien jump on the occassion to be a superhero with both feet, Marinette was reluctant. She didn't even think herself up to the task put on her shoulders (not as her first mission as LB and not when she became the Guardian).
While Adrien experienced freedom, Marinette became burdened.
After making her first mistake as Ladybug and seeing the consequences of it, she spiraled down. Everything is her fault. She only creates catastrophes. She only makes things worse for everyone. She quits.
She only started to be Ladybug again when she saw she was the only one who could help Alya and Chat Noir.
She chose to become Ladybug. She chose to accept the burden on her own.
Becoming Ladybug has allowed Marinette to face adversities such as bullies (Hawkmoth, Chloé, Lila) or her mistakes. It also allowed her to stand up for herself, to acknowledge her mistakes, to learn from them and to make things right. But it doesn't mean some of her mistakes aren't affecting her on the long run.
Becoming Ladybug allows her to grow and become a better person. She inspires people to do the same (both her classmates and the audience) and that is what we see throughout the show.
But by becoming Ladybug, by accepting to carry the burden, Marinette kept pressuring herself so much that she believes everything rests on her shoulders and her shoulders only. As a result, we have seen she has hard time accepting to delegate and share the burden on the long term because she has to keep things under control. She doesn't allow herself to be vulnerable.
Marinette's creativity is her greatest asset and allows her to find solutions to problems but at the same time, it is also her creativity that leads her to overthink things and imagine the worst case scenario.
Also, because of her background -- because Marinette trusts her parents as well as their advices and their rules -- she more easily believes authority figures like Fu, Bunnyx and Su Han. She thinks outside the box, yet she doesn't question people who have more experience regarding the Miraculous. In fact, she listens and relies on them to guide her. She follows their directions, but doesn't question if those directions actually fits her. So she molds herself and becomes someone she doesn't recognize and she feels like she isn't true to herself anymore.
Marinette wants to be a normal girl with a normal life like she used to be, except her secret forever prevents her to ever be that again. And Marinette is mourning that fact. (Gamer 2.0, Miracle Queen, Gang of Secrets, Rocketear).
Adrien? Adrien, in opposition, never had a normal life. Everything is dictated to him. His schedule, how to pose and behave. You have an emotional burst? Keep it down. Even better, hide it! Bottle those emotions up. You have to keep appearances. No wonder Adrien doesn't know who he is. He always had defined himself through others and what they expected of him. He has never learned to define himself on his own.
As a civilian, Adrien is trapped. Both litterally and figuratively. If he makes a mistake, his father tends to punish him severely, stripping away the little liberty Adrien has as a civil. Chat Noir allows Adrien to break free and more importantly, break free, incognito. But it doesn't solve his problems which all boils down to his father's authority and control. Instead, Adrien runs away from his personal problems and it is not a reproach. Adrien has good reasons to do so as it is how he survives. But it is not healthy nor safe for him on the long run.
Whereas Marinette can make various mistakes and has the power to fix them. In other words, she can confront her mistakes. She is allowed to cope with her different emotions. She has the latitude to do so. She is allowed to make her own choices which will affect her as well as the others.
And the show is centered about emotions because life is filled with them and we grow up to deal with those.
But just because Marinette is the protagonist doesn't mean Adrien is irrelevant as a character. In fact, he is the deuteragonist. The second most important character to follow. The one who foils and complements the protagonist.
Both characters have a story that is being told. Marinette's point of view is favored because it is the one that provide the widest array of possibilities and because Ladybug always find a solution to fix a problem.
