A Penny for My Thoughts
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Too Much Time On Our Hands: Opinions, Theories and More
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “A Penny for My Thoughts”.
MY TWO PENNYS
I do agree with your point about Joss, yet I believe your points are completely opposite.
Joss has made a name for himself by his female characters in particular Buffy and Zoe as you said.
Yet, I would agrue that they are not savior of women in sci-fi, but its downfall.
Buffy, is often seen as a strong female role model, because she is in the male super power role of moster killer. She has the power of the slayer and just like Superman, she not just get credit because their powers which were given to them. Moreover, if Buffy is going to step out of the old roles men have put her in could we once see a heroine not pick the bad boy over and over again? She is super powered but makes the same pathetic decisions as one of the women from sex and the city.
Zoe, also is just a swap of a traditionally male solider role. What we know of Zoe is her military background and her marriage to an insecure, physically weak, petite pilot. While there surely should be a range of roles women should play, Joss’s weak character development of women here is just having a woman play a man.
Making a woman play a man is not enlightened, its insulting.
If you want a strong women role let it come from a place a woman comes from the bottom up. Penny, from Dr. Horrible actually is the closest that Joss has come to real character developement for a strong woman. Penny, we find has had a diffcult time in life and instead of turning to despair like Dr. Horrible or to ego like the Hammer, she turns to help others. She does realize from the start how cheesy the hammer is and at the end actually gets up and leaves him on stage, while the rest of society continues to praise him. She is the only non-bias person to see through him. In the end, she becomes a victim not from some macho facade or school girl crush on the bad boy, but because men unlike women cannot see past themselves to what is true. That is insight, courage, determination, faith, and hope…all which make her a very strong woman.
Interesting viewpoint regarding what constitutes a strong woman. I guess differing opinions per force reflect our own perceptions of both ourselves and the world/people around us.
I cannot speak to Buffy too much. I watched the movie, and that personage has been eclipsed by the TV characterization with which I have little familiarity, and can speak little to (other than expressing an antipathy for the lead actress).
But I do take issue with the characterization of Zoe as strictly a male role played by a female. That statement speaks not to the strength of the person, but rather to gender roles. Yes, traditionally that character might/would have been played by a man. No good reason for it other than accepted gender bias. I applaud the choice in casting.
You gave a definition of what constitutes a very strong woman, so I will give you mine. It does include courage and determination, but adds not faith and hope, but independence and self-reliance. In that, Zoe meets all qualifications (omitting for a moment her loyalty to Mal). Inara and Kaylee are also strong characters, but presented differently; it’s not the part/role they play, but the characteristics they exhibit.
You say it is insulting to have a woman play a man, but that belies a cultural and gender-specific bias one may well see just as insulting. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but saying Zoe is a woman playing a man automatically assumes man’s role is that of the stronger character.
I say strength of a person does not come from playing to their specific roles, but from the makeup of the individual. Males can be weak, females can be strong, and vice-versa, but that does not mean they are playing within or outside their respective roles. They are individuals with specific characteristics, and it is those characteristics which makes them strong or weak, not their genders.
Which brings me back to Penny. Not determined; we don’t know of her courage; is not presented as independent. She is somewhat self-reliant since she does her own laundry, but that is the extent of her characterization. She becomes a victim because she is presented as a victim. And I’ll repeat my strongest objection . . . she is not a character onto herself; her sole purpose is adornment for when the guys are around.
OK, yes, she does have a solo number, but I cannot point to the end of the show and say she has grown any, or has any self-import other than to be an object of contention/desire for the two leads. I’ll stand by my statement she could have been replaced by a cute animal or even an inanimate object. In fact, it might have made a better story; Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer as rival brothers vying for a family heirloom of little value save for bragging rights as to who has it.