Feminist Fandom

Fat Princess: Let Them Eat Cake

2008-07-24T08:22:08Z

I feel like one of the real gamers should be posting this, but I live with three, two girls and one guy, and this came to my attention. If you aren't yet familiar, PS3 is putting out this game called Fat Princess, which is basically a game of capture the ~~fattie~~ flag with cute little sprites that splatter blood everywhere trying to get to the princess. But there's a catch! The people of these kingdoms are into noncon stuffing and feed the princess until she's morbidly obese and the little sprite warriors can't lift her.

Outside of a fetish porn site, it's a little creepy.

Now, I doubt that this game will singlehandedly cause the gaming world to hate on fat people because many people pretty much already do, especially in America, in the mainstream at least. I can't tell you how much I adore people telling me that my fave character who must be a size EIGHT is a fat cow. Still, no matter how 'innovative' the game mechanics are, I have to question anything that at its base is pretty much a fat joke. LOL! SHE'S FAT!

The comments engendered by the people who can't stand people who want to think and discuss things are more enraging than the concept in my opinion, except for the fact that we have once again a character (or object, I guess), who happens to be female (gosh, funny how that randomly happens), that is helpless and made even more helpless by her immobility once you shove cake down her throat. "Charming" game indeed, or so I keep being told.

Feministe explains why this is problematic:

Fat Princess is a send-up of that tired old cliche. Believe me, there are a lot of ways you could send up that cliche, but of all the possibilities, Titan chose to make the princess FAT. The joke here is also obvious: LOL who would want to rescue a fat chick? It’s a shtick that’s been used in animation and film plenty of times; the dashing hero thinks he’s rescuing a beautiful damsel in distress, but the “joke” is on him because it turns out she’s larger than acceptable!

...Because women are helpless in the face of cake, of course, she just eats and eats. And of course, absolutely anyone who eats a lot is going to balloon up into a spherical caricature of a heavy person, right? That’s how fat people get made! And of course she’s so heavy that it takes a whole crowd of soldiers to carry her! Because that’s what fat people are like! The cartoon-logic is impeccable. It’s also very recognizable, from a long history of our culture mocking the fat, blaming fat people for their bodies, perpetuating all sorts of bullshit about fat... And the princess doesn’t even need to be a princess; from what has been released so far, she’s essentially nothing more than a heavy, inanimate object that takes a long time to move. Except this object is portrayed as a person who got fat by eating too much. And that’s not playing fat for laughs? Right.

Um... yep.

Mighty Ponygirl at Feminist Gamers' posts a response and her readers come up with two alternative versions in which they use an animal that the other team wants to keep from the other team or even an "Arm the Princess" game, which honestly wouldn't work in this case but would be a decent attempt in its own right. I'm inclined to shop a little uzi in her pixelated hand and write "fat chicks rock" on it, but that's just me. At Feministe, there's the suggestion of Velcro Princess wherein, instead of feeding her cake, you load her down with as much random crap as possible making it impossible for her rescuers to lift (bonus if she picks up corpses as you try to get her out, sez my male housemate who thinks that this isn't a big deal, but that Velcro Princess would be even more fun).

There's no big finish for this post, other than to ask, is this anything? Well, it's something, even if the art is cute and the game play well-constructed and even if the creators didn't MEAN to be MEAN, which seems to be the basis of any rebuttal (other than ad hominem attacks, dismissal of the issue as trivial, and internet memes). They just meant for it to be a silly, stupid game and it is, but if you think that it isn't playing on fatphobia and the cliche of female passivity, then you're underreading, and I'm not overreading. If you still want to play it, no one is going to excommunicate you from feminism, but it is what it is. Food for thought.

Some more responses:
Alas, a Blog's response.
Shakesville's response
This guy and minion commenters make fun of feminists and fat people.

On Doctor Horrible's Singalong Blog

2008-07-21T18:47:49Z

It’s just so frustrating. Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is great in many ways: it’s well-produced, well-acted, with great songs and comedy, and yet it could have been so much better if it had only realised that just because the hero and villain both fancy the same girl, that doesn’t stop her from being a person.

Full Essay Here

Joss Whedon's general response via the Washington Post

Langley Air Force Base, Va.: I've been reading some criticism (insert audible gasp here!) of "Dr Horrible" about the lack of a strong, empowered female lead. They claim that Penny is merely a prop for Dr Horrible and Captain Hammer to fight over.

What are your thoughts on that?

Joss Whedon: Hi! Here goes Typomania! If I don't get to a question, forgive. There are many, and i'm dodging the tough ones.

But, yeah, Penny is not the feminist icon of our age. And yes, she does exist in the narrative as part of Doc's fate -- but everyone in the story is there to move the story. Is she less real than Hammer? (Is ANYTHING?) We gave her a cause so she wouldn't JUST be the Pretty Girl but the fact is, neither Doc nor Hammer gives her the attention she deserves -- Doc's crush comes before he has the slightest idea what she cares about. Which is not uncommon. It reminds me of Sweeney todd, the Judge and Sweeney singing "Pretty Women" -- a beautiful duet with no insight whatsoever. Just images.

But we shoulda gave her more jokes.

Really Joss? Really?

Articles

2008-07-15T21:50:38Z

I'm writing a series of articles about women in fiction, strong female characters, that kind of thing. I've just finished my first one, which is kind of an introductory piece. It touches on sexism in fandom and in the media and the trap that many female fans get caught in. It's also got a criteria for what makes a "strong female character."

I'd be really interested in some feedback before I continue.

Read the article here.

books for 2nd grader

2008-07-14T20:20:12Z

I just agreed to start tutoring my friend's 2nd grade sister in reading. I've only taught secondary English but I know I can handle this - I just need a little guidance with materials. She is going to be repeating the year due to her poor reading skills. He says that she loves fantastical stories...especially "princess" stuff.

Can anyone recommend good books for the 2nd grade level that might catch her interest? Anything romantic/fantasy would be good. Also, I feel it's my duty as a role model to introduce her to stories with stronger heroines that aren't always the typical "damsel in distress" which I think sends a horrible message to little girls if that's all they are exposed to (and my friend agrees). I know if it has the fantasy elements she likes she would still like stronger heroines since she refused to leave the room when her brother saw the japanese anime "Revolutionary Girl Utena" which turns the typical fairy tale upside down.

Please post your suggestions ASAP so I can start collecting books!!!

Thanks!

Poll on "Strong Female Characters"

2008-07-10T14:43:54Z

leia_naberrie is posting a poll/discussion on "Strong Female Characters" Here.

I think this is an interesting subject in that I have people arguing with me that representations that I find sexist and degrading male or female are in fact positive and wonderful (and then proceeding to tell me that I'm "trying/looking to be offended" or I don't really feel that way. I'm just supporting "insert het ship here." HAHAHA!). I suppose it would help to understand WHY people think that way. I offer you this link if you would like to participate, with a general warning not to engage this person too much, as I know of one case of her harassing/instigating harassment of another user. However, she seems to be simply gathering information, and she is asking for a wide range of responses.

I suppose you could in turn ask what makes for a "Strong POC Character," if we were going for this. I don't think there is a set answer in either case, but several red flags on what NOT to do, and the need for understanding that women and POC are PEOPLE and should be given that consideration at least before anything else.

I'll be catching up on Who posts when I've seen the rest of this season. Sci Fi is behind.

ETA: Apparently it's the season to talk about this kind of thing.
nnaylime started it with an open discussion Here.
And pellucid ask about the writers 'ruining' your fav female characters Here.

More on Doctor Who - from IO9

2008-07-06T05:16:27Z

There’s this issue you’re not allowed to discuss: that women are needy. Men can go for longer, more happily, without women. That’s the truth. We don’t, as little boys, play at being married - we try to avoid it for as long as possible. Meanwhile women are out there hunting for husbands.

More at IO9

On Doctor Who (Spoilers for the Finale)

2008-07-06T03:44:29Z

Doctor Who can now join the ranks of heroic narratives that abuse women in order to make the male protagonist appear more heroic and angsty. Hooray. Just when you thought you'd found a story that treated men and women with equal respect you get stabbed in the gut. It's much worse when you don't even see it coming. It's almost embarrassing.

After tonight's episode I'm not sure if I can watch Who anymore, and that actually makes me really sad, because I adored the show and my own participation in fandom more than probably any television program I've ever seen. So my review.

Donna Noble, the supertemp, ended the finale with all her progress as a character completely erased. She was mind wiped by the Doctor, ie. raped of her memories and depowered back to being an ordinary woman rather than time traveling companion. All so that the Doctor could continue to be the emo-lord who travels ALL ON HIS OWN WITH ONLY HIS IMMENSE PAIN

I'm sorry, FUCK YOU Russel T Davies, is that really the best you could do? I tried to ignore the fact that Sarah Jane Smith's dialogue was like that of a 14 year old school girl and she couldn't even complete a sentence except for that creepy herbal essences orgasm when they saved the day. And the fact that Rose had no purpose whatsoever except to have her "husband" provided for with a creepy doctor clone that sprang from the womb of Donna & Hand.

I'm sorry, how disturbing is that. He's me, but he ages. So you don't have to be sad anymore, go back to the alternate dimension where you can't actually do any good for the universe except to have sex with my clone and probably make lots of white trash babies and work in a shop. I gave you the universe, but now it's time for you to behave like a real woman. Fun time land is OVER.

Mickey gets to join TORCHWOOD! That blubbering snarly asswipe. But Donna gets mind-wiped Lois Lane Style and Rose gets "Handy" to satisfy "shippers."

It would have been better if they had never brought Rose back. I wish this entire season had not been written. This is such utter and complete BULLSHIT.

Oh and Martha didn't do much either besides stand around and shout big words, but she still gets to join Torchwood, so whatever. I'm pissed off.

Women and RPG classes

2008-06-27T23:21:32Z

It really bothers me that a lot of RPG classes reflect gender stereotyping. What bothers me more is that it's so difficult to complain about, because most people interpret it as dismissing a character simply for being a healer or a mage. Those people are right when they say there's nothing wrong with the more inactive, back-row classes like healers or mages, but the issue here is distribution. As an example I went to the Final Fantasy Wiki, which I know is not representative of all RPGs but seemed like a fairly good start-off point, looked at the class categorized and tallied my results.

Time Mage: 1/1
White Mage: 12/14
Archer: 5/6
Summoner: 6/9
Black Mage: 5/10
Dancer: 1/2
Beastmaster: 1/2
Paladin: 4/10
Monk: 3/9
Thief: 3/9
Gambler: 1/3
Samurai: 1/4
Blue Mage: 1/4
Ninja: 2/10
Machinists: 1/6
Dragoon: 1/6
Gunner: 1/8
Fighter: 1/17
Dark Knights: 0/4
Bard: 0/2
Berserker: 0/2

Top 6 classes represents 60% of FF female characters.

It frustrates me that female characters seem to be, by and large, streamlined into roles that keep them away from the heavy combat. Does anyone else feel the same?

An Amazing Doctor Who Episode - Spoilers Ahead

2008-06-22T02:33:12Z

Sorry to those unfamiliar with Doctor Who, I just had to post after tonight's ep.

For those who haven't been watching I was amazed, once again, to see one of my favorite characters on Doctor Who save the day. Not just a random, happy episode. A pivotal episode. And a pivotal moment.

Rose is the companion of The Doctor, or she was back in season 1 and 2. And today she returned for an episode to save the life of the Doctor and the Universe.

The first time Rose saved the day was in season 1. She looks into the Doctor and deus ex machina fashion, takes on the powers of creation as the goddess Bad Wolf to entropy the Daleks to death. This was probably the first time I've ever seen a tv show allow the sidekick/love interest a shot at super abilities that save the universe single handedly.

One can argue that Buffy saved the day repeatedly, but there was something more meaningful to me in Rose's character. That she didn't have to do anything, but she does anyways because of her pure love. And that she's allowed to do so in such a powerful way where all her power causes her to absolutely glow. Because there are supermen, but this time there was a super woman.

Tonight Rose saved the day again, as did Donna. And both of them did so in different ways.

First, Donna. She is an alternate universe version of herself, but she makes a choice on behalf of humanity and, as a a traditional christ-figure, she chooses to die. This isn't something that we are shown very often. Usually female characters save the lives of their children or sacrifice their abilities for the sake of others. But this time, it's a much bigger picture. The grand scheme. And Donna as Christ is pretty damn cool.

Second, Rose. The Doctor is dead because of a temporal shift. There is no God left to save the universe. And let's not pretend, The Doctor is most certainly God in the Who universe. But what happens next? Rose is only a companion. What on earth can she possibly do, trapped in an alternate dimension where we last saw her?

This is what's most amazing to me. Russel T Davies takes Rose and Rose BECOMES The Doctor. Not physically. Rose is still very much a human. But in character. Someone has to right time and space. Someone has to clean up the mess. And she does, exactly the way he taught her to. But this time, without his help. 19 year old Rose has grown up, and she truly is deserving of her title now.

That title is Bad Wolf, Goddess of Space and Time. And she, in true Doctor fashion, is forced to tell Donna that she is going to die. Her response is sorrow on Donna's behalf. "I'm sorry" she says, "I'm so sorry"--paralleling the Doctor in words as well as action. And as Donna dies, she looks up into the eyes of Rose and Rose tells her to tell the Doctor that the Darkness is coming. And that she is Bad Wolf.

And I just love it. Rose becomes the Doctor. She has to, because the Doctor died and someone had to be him. Someone had to save the universe. Maybe one can criticize that that's too much magic, that Rose doesn't deserve to become the Doctor because there can be only one Doctor, and that's HIM. But on the other hand, I think it says a lot that there's a show where the amazing GOD-like individual is allowed to be a woman. It's very rare. Men always save the day and it's never questioned if they deserve to be able to. It was really meaningful for me to see a goddess figure when so often women are merely side kicks and love interests

AMVs/Fanvids

2008-06-06T21:31:36Z

Something I've noticed about AMVs/Fanvids, along with starless_watch:

It seems like the more sexist or woman-hating/woman-bashing a song is, the more likely it is to become really overused for fanvids, especially shipping ones. This is especially applicable to songs that pit women against one another. Examples:

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend
Avril Lavigne - Sk8er Boi
Paramore - Misery Business
Any Number of People - Holding Out for a Hero

Thoughts?

Well worth the buzz, hype, and $5 matinee ticket

2008-05-31T05:33:09Z

I think what I like about SatC is that it's an American dream story that women can relate to. No, most women aren't going to be able to catch jobs that allow them to throw away money on Louis Vuitton bags. But the world is so often shaped by male perspective. Every sitcom is your average beer guzzling Joe with his hot starter wife and every comic book hero is your average male nerd exemplified. Oh and of course rescuing the fair damsel.

Read more at Salymander Speaks.

Mod Post

2008-05-31T05:24:01Z

Dear Fandom Femmes,

I've been getting a lot of requests to the community from people who have clearly not read the rules and/or have their journals entirely friendslocked. The purpose of having membership moderated in this comm is so that I can screen out trolls and troublemakers who might come in here and belittle our interests. So you might imagine that it makes it very difficult for me to decide who is screwing around and who genuinely would like to join a community comprised of entirely feminst fen, when I have no access to your posts and none of your interests look like they involve you in feminism.

Please, if you want to join, read the profile on the userinfo and give it another go. You can STILL COMMENT without joining (for now), as long as you continue to follow the rules.

Secondly, we have a lot of members and a dearth of posts. Content comes from members. If you have concerns about your canon/fandom that you feel other feminists might want to discuss, go ahead and link or post here.

Love ♥
Thine Mod

Hi, I'm Amy

2008-05-09T23:19:58Z

I'm new-ish. I think I may have been a member once before, or I had at least friended the comm. That was a whiiiile back and school got in the way; I frequented When Fangirls Attack for a while, but I'm more a Television critic than Comic critic. I don't have many truly feminist friends, so I wanted to join, or rejoin :) Anyway, my main point in posting is to pimp my blog, Salymander Speaks. Which, separate from my personal LJ, is me trying to write somewhat scholarly, or at least thoughtful, Feminist Media Criticism. And my latest essay is "Young & Experimenting" Buffy as Patriarchy's Sexual Feminine Ideal

Buffy was created by Joss Whedon as a reaction to the blonde horror-film victim. He has stated in multiple interviews that he created Buffy because he wanted a woman to beat the monster, in film she never has a chance, but in Buffy feminine power is redefined. To Whedon, Buffy is a full fledged feminist icon for the post-modern age. She kicks ass and wears high heels. But it is just this metaphor of patriarchaly defined sexuality in a female hero that is in opposition to feminist ideals. Throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer it is made apparent that Buffy fulfill the role of the perfect woman. She has silky blonde hair, her make up is never smudged or smeared, her clothes are sexy but not slutty. She remains chaste until finally consummating her relationship with Angel, the climax of true and perfect love.

There is a problem inherent in the Buffy narrative, however. And that is that Buffy’s sexuality is continually defined by her choice of partner be it consummated vs chaste love with Angel, missionary style vanilla sex with Riley, a one night stand with what’s his name, kinky bondage play with Spike, or quasi-lesbian sex with Satsu. While creator Whedon defines Buffy as “open-minded” I argue that Buffy’s sexual choices are in fact not choices at all, but Buffy fulfilling the role of patriarchy’s female sexual ideal which is to mold herself to the pleasure of her partner.

More at my other blog!

On Women's Murder Club

2008-05-05T17:46:46Z

I know I'm totally biased, because I love the show to pieces, but the constant dismissing of its core audience is just so tiring.

It made # 4 in the USA Today poll about which shows fans want to be kept, and statistics said that about 3/4 of its supporters were women. It made # 2 in its timeslot after the 200th episode of Law & Order SVU. Still, no news on renewal yet.

Bascially, at first, they said the audience was too old, specifically, women over fifty. There was this one guy who claimed in a blog the show was sexist for excluding men, another one who basically said 'there's nothing special about it, it only is for women and gay men'. And, of course, the first pilot was killed because allegedly it had a too complicated plot which the journalists were unable to follow.

What made it complicated? Oh, right, women in charge. The changes mostly included giving characters a lesser rank and have them obsess more about potential dates.

Even with all those changes not to the better, though, there is something that some people seem to find dangerous. Women bonding together! Watch out, it's anarchy!

Edited after Episode 12, "And The Truth Will (Sometimes) Set You Free:

Thanks to everybody who commented on this post. After this week's episode, I've got to say I was kind of stunned, not in a good way.

I didn't need to hear Lindsay say, "what happened that night wasn't, because you were drunk or irresponsible, you were just unconscious." Drunk or drugged, it doesn't make a difference, it would always still be rape!

And I felt like they were setting up the characters for cheap thrills quite a bit. I rallied everybody I knew to watch, because I never saw that happen.

And all in all, it's just more evidence how ABC wants this show to go down. It gained 540,000 viewers from one week to another... the result? Rumors of cancellation are going around again.

Just, WTF?

feminist_fandom @ 2008-04-22T14:53:00

2008-04-22T18:55:49Z

How do you navigate fandom knowing that
1) fictional men tend to be given more developed, more active and more relevant roles/personalities/etc than fictional women
2) popular fandom demonizes fictional women and glorifies fictional men?

The two are at odds with eachother, after all. Is the only solution to take what you get and appreciate it, even as you see all female characters relegated to support roles that are all similar to one another?

The Adam Hughes Poster

2008-04-21T09:40:08Z

Is it an homage to some other celebrity spread?
And if so which one?

x-posted

ETD the image.

Women's Murder Club Live or Die? It's a feminist issue, too.

2008-02-23T16:51:19Z

(Dear mods, I hope this is allowed, as our only goal is to bring those smart gals back on TV and reach as many folks who might be interested to join, as possible.)

There have been examples in the past of how fans have brought back a show that seemed doomed. Those examples give us hope as we're now trying to save Women's Murder Club from the fate of cancellation.

This show about four women solving crimes, based on the book series by James Patterson, could very well be the 'Cagney & Lacey' of it's time.

There are strong capable women on TV, but it's not like shows are overflowing with them. The idea to give most of the screentime of those 45 minutes to a team of women who are not only professionals, but also close friends, is rather unique - there is no backstabbing or competing over men, but true loyalty.

It's actually a fresh breath of air how they are not totally overdressed like what we often see (you know, when you watch and think 'no way she's wearing that clothes and shoes and still kicking that door').

There are men in their lives (and lovely subtext, too), but that's not what the show is predominantly about - and commenters on blogs have already complained about that, calling it sexist. Say that again? What's wrong with the focus being on the action and drama rather than the relationships in a - d'uh - cop drama? If it is all right for the male hero cop, than it must be all right for the female heroine cop too. Unless you think women are always defined by their relationships (with men, of course).

No folks, this show has got a lot of things right. The interaction between the women is fun to watch; they're characters that pretty soon matter to you.

Maybe, though, they're too smart, because according to various sources, abc is seriously considering to cancel Women's Murder Club after only ten episodes.

We are not willing to let that happen.

When the address of abc was posted on

passion_perfect, and the link to a petition, I thought it all needed to be in one place - so I opened up bring_wmc_back, and in no time, very talented people joined me as owners and mods and have already put a tremendous effort into this.

Check out the letter to abc

gargyloveswolfy wrote, and the website grumpybear1031 put up in literally no time. <ljuser="promopro"> had the idea to send Hershey Kisses to abc in honor of the Kiss-Me-Not Killer storyline (you'll get it if you ever watched and episode, and if you didn't, I can only recommend it).

We're making noise. Want to join us?

bring_wmc_back

Save Women's Murder Club

2 great metafandom articles yesterday

2008-02-11T15:14:54Z

http://community.livejournal.com/metafandom/171658.html

1 - addresses the 'oh no, we're being oppressed' attitude some men take to WisCon's existence

2 - Noted bigot Orson Scott Card receives YA lit award for literature that helps youth understand their feelings. Irony is a little bit more dead.

kind of a follow up

2008-02-04T10:14:13Z

I am SO GLAD I posted earlier and that I'm not the only one who has been unhappy the woman-hating junk in season 3 of Supernatural.

I wanted to make this a separate post because I didn't want this link to get lost. If the mods want me to amend the last post and tack this note on to avoid clutter, though, I will certainly do that.

There is a songvid that tackles the treatment of women in Supernatural, particularly the violence against women: Women's Work by sisabet and sockkpuppett. It's an amazing vid - a disturbing vid (there are some pretty heavy violence triggers) - but it's very satisfying to me right now. I feel vindicated.

So go download it, watch it, and tell the vidder what a wonderful job she did.

Yeah. So disappointed in my new favorite show right now. When does the last season of Battlestar Galactica start again? 'Cause seriously, I need to see me some well-developed women characters.

ETA: I would like to re-iterate that this is an incredibly intense vid; it pretty much goes from one scene of violence to another. If you are not at all sure you can handle that, or want to, please, by all means, don't. I just put the link here because I still thought the vid said some meaningful things about violence and violence against women as portrayed in pop culture.

mmmm, smell that misogyny

2008-02-03T23:20:45Z

Spoilers for seasons 1-3 of Supernatural, including all the episodes that have aired so far in the US.

What is up with my show this season? Granted, Supernatural has always been a thoroughly male story, with the main storyline following two brothers and their adventures in killing undead things. What I adored about the show was the bond and the devotion between the characters and the theme of familial love.

Representation of women in the first two seasons wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't terrible, either. There were a few strong women, competent women, and women who were not only sex objects. There was even implied strength to both Mary Winchester and Jess, though, they are seriously lacking dimension outside of their connections to the boys.* I loved Jo and Ellen especially.

I seriously laughed out loud at the end of Season 2 when Dean tells the dead Yellow Eyes: "That was for our mom, you son of a bitch." I laughed out not because it was particularly funny, but because there is some real irony to calling the guy who killed your mom a "son of a bitch".

Still, it was ok for a pretty mainstream TV show.

Season 3, though, so far, has totally sucked in regards to representation of women. SUCKED. OUT LOUD. From the first episode there has been an almost relentless barrage of women-hating language. Dean has to say "bitch" nearly every. Single. Damn. Episode. And it is not really necessary at all. I find myself bracing for the next time I will hear that word in a new episode. This is not a fun feeling in a show that I used to just kick back and have fun watching.

There have been repeated jokes about guys "being girly/being like a chick/being a sissy", including repeated jabs at Sam and how he is "such a girl". Ok. We got it like, the first five times. I get it that the writers may be trying to emphasize Sam's more tender, compassionate nature and how he is in danger of losing that. But aren't there more interesting ways to show this rather than calling him a girl all the time? (This is ignoring the association of femininity with "being sensitive and tender". Being sensitive and tender is important no matter what your gender! That's why I loved Sam! He was sensitive and tender AND a straight guy AND was confident enough to not give a hoot about what people thought!)

Ellen and Jo have dropped completely off the radar. Why? I don't know. As a writer, it seems counterproductive to drop two characters with established backhistory and resonance and start over from scratch. But whatever.

We now have Bella and Ruby.

My verdict is still out on Bella. I find her intriguing, but annoying. I find that the writers tend to emphasize HOW annoying she is. I find Dean's brutal dislike of her a little too extreme, even all things considered. I find it disturbing. It makes me think: this is a facet of misogyny in Western culture personified. Ie, Dean is partially reacting as a man who wants to overpower and subdue this dangerous, out of control woman. I hate that. I hate that they have done that to Dean, because he was my favorite character. In spite of his womanizing ways, I really thought (was hopeful?) he had respect for women as people - ie - he could talk to them and would understand there was more to them than a nice ass or a pretty face.

I secretly hope the "familial murder" Bella committed in her past was an abortion. I know that's a bit dark (not to mention the whole "abortion is murder" problem) for a mainstream TV show. But it would make total sense as to why she was so very reluctant to tell Sam and Dean about it and insisted they "wouldn't understand". As cis-men they would not understand in some ways. I just think it would fit, beautifully, and add something to her. But it probably won't be. Gargh.

I am anxious to see how Bella is developed and I hope she is not completely screwed up by the writers.**

Ruby I like, though. More on that a little later.

Even all this considered, I was toughing it out because I was hoping the show would start to get better. As I said before, I loved the show because it was about the two brothers and that bond between them. This season has sucked for that too. They have relegated Sam and Dean to mostly arguing and being nasty to each other. There have been very few of those lovely moments that they used to share - good, bad - it didn't matter - but they were moments the characters reached each other; that was touching. It's like the producers and writers went through and glutted the main relationship of the series for fear of making it seem "too gay". (Dammit, STOP reading the slashfic if it bothers you!)

I just finished watching 3.09, "Malleus Maleficarum". And what a CRAP episode. CRAP. I am so ANGRY at the writers right now. There was one scene between Dean, Sam, and Ruby in the middle of the episode which the words bitch, hot stuff, whores and skank, all in less than five minutes. Whores was uttered by Ruby about other women (witches). It was completely unnecessary and just too much all at once.

I hated the representation of witchcraft. Hated it. They did try to make a passing reference to the fact that "yaknow, this is not like the Wicca stuff we have today", but when the phrase "burn the witch" came up, I felt uncomfortable. I know the history of witchcraft to an extent. I know the history of how WOMEN were BURNED at the stake because they practiced midwifery, or healing, or did not follow a medieval Christian religion which told them they were lesser than. When someone says "burn the witch" it squicks me, because MOST witches were NOT evil devil worshiping women! They were women who simply knew their power and would not let some patriarchal religion tell them otherwise.

I did like how Ruby was developed though. And she stood up to Dean ("Stop calling me a bitch"). And called him "shortbus". (Which is also problematic, but also was scathingly clever at that moment, and worked with the characters.)

But really, when Dean was choking on his own blood - I should've been worried for him dying. I wasn't. I thought, well, that's what you get for calling women bitches once an episode for the last 8 episodes. That's what you get for calling Ruby a skank. *Bwhahahaa!*

On a last note: what is it with the fact that 90% of the demons in this series are women? Seriously. Can we have some hot demon guys who try to feel Sam or Dean up too?

Oh wait. That might freak out our straight male viewers, and heaven forbid we scare them away by being too gay or something. But let's use the word bitch again, throw some more insulting references to women***, because our women viewers are not important.

I am really hoping something happens that redeems this season. Please.

PS. You will notice I am not even touching on the problem of the depiction of women and violence in the series? Yeah. Not enough hours in the day, really.

---------------
* On a personal aside: I want to know who they were outside of girlfriend/wife/mother. What was Jess doing for her degree? Did she have goals? Play chess? What about Ma? What else is there to Mary? Knowing more about her might have helped explain why John and his boys were so wounded by her death years after, and not just because the boys were young when she died.

** On another aside: could they not hire an actress who could actually do a half decent British accent? Barf.

*** I am still reeling from Dean saying the bartender's ass in one episode could fit on a nickle. As a writer I admire a great turn of phrase, even if it's crass. But. God. Cringe, cringe, cringe. It wasn't necessary.

Your Thoughts on Fanfiction Aesthetics

2008-01-13T11:23:35Z

giandujakiss speculates on fanfiction aesthetics

I don't really read het enough to make generalizations (not that there's anything wrong with it, and some writers are spectacular), and I've never in my life read a romance novel but I thought that this was an intriguing article nonetheless. The author discusses the difference between the aesthetics of relationships in romance novels and fanfiction.

Have you found this difference in aesthetics? Or, alternatively, in other texts you've encountered, is there a difference in the romantic "overplot" or focus of the relationships (intimate or platonic)?

Carnival Posted!

2008-01-08T09:59:10Z

Karen Healey has the 19th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans up at Girls Read Comics (And They're Pissed)!

Looking for a host for the 20th issue. Please contact me if interested.

Your Thoughts on Fandom Portrayal of Rape Victims

2008-01-03T04:02:02Z

It's been suggested that I start pulling articles from metafandom for us to discuss here... feel free to do this yourself, if you like. I've been keeping a eye out for good topics that would actually be relavant to our interests. If you go to read these articles and you disagree, please be kind in voicing your disagreement, or I will smite you. SMITE.

Dear Fandom, Please Stop Complaining About Rape Victims

I think that there are a lot of salient points in this essay, whether you agree with the author's definitons of rape and brand of feminism or not. Should fanfic writers and roleplayers nix plotlines and backstories that involve rape because it's "overdone?"

Here was my comment:

Sherry Turkle in Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet included in her discussion of internet identity that roleplayers often are able to work out their own issues with their roleplay, and this is likely a reason you see individuals who want to play the same thing over and over. They're satisfying a need or working out questions they've had. In fact, I once ASKED my roleplay partner if I had too many characters who were survivors of sexual violence, and he (yep, he) said something to the effect of "1 in 3. Seems about right."

In those roleplays, I've seen players work out their gender issues and decide that they are transsexual. I've seen a guy who called himself a "beer and pussy" guy realize that he's bisexual. I've worked on some of my own issues and actively been able to make the effort to understand different walks of life. Of course it's speculation, but roleplay is such a helpful workspace. It's always rankled me when people tell us that we're using it wrong. How about you define your desires for that space or create your own?

I don't want to have to justify why I bothered to put a character in a specific situation when I'm doing it to work out my thoughts on domestic violence/rape/insert issue here that people are going to slap the label of angst on and write off what I'm doing. Trust me, I try pretty damn hard to be "realistic" in many facets of characterization, but that "realistic" reaction to the plot is ENTIRELY DEPENDANT on the psychological make up of the character in question. Which means, of course, that every character is going to react in the way that character should react... whether you agree that it's the right reaction or not.

I bopped over to the community I thought you were referencing, and as I suspected, there's really no deeper analysis than "omg attention wh0re!!" I promise you, that yes, a lot of people go into roleplaying because they crave attention, and when these people roleplay EVERYTHING is going to suck. It's not the "overdone" rape plotline. And this goes beyond that post, as you pointed out with the Mary Sue test. I've seen on more than one occasion, in these snarky fandom communities about roleplay and fanfic, disparaging players and authors for Sue-ing up their characters by adding sexual violence... as you said... maybe they should consider why these people want to talk about this. Or address not their issues with the plotline, but the assumptions that come with bad writing (if they bothered to look that closely, which they aren't. They just cry "Sue!" and laugh.).

It especially bothers me when someone tells a writer/RPer that she is not writing/playing a rape victim "realistically". This is more of the same patriarchal bullshit that allows defense attorneys to claim, and juries to believe, that no rape occurred because the victim is not acting the way she or he would if she or he had really been raped.

Exactly what you said. And to the last paragraph, fandom complains BOTH that they aren't playing the aftereffects realistically and that they don't have to be realistic about the number of characters who have experienced sexual violence. ???? Make up your mind. Realism or no realism? Or realism when it's convenient?

Your thoughts on this discussion issue: Show me them.

This is my tl;dr Veronica Mars Paper.

2007-12-13T13:39:16Z

This is an actual paper that I wrote for a film class. It clocked in at just over sixteen pages thus it is long and I broke it up for better digestion. As a show that had a supposedly Feminist premise and as this is a paper that definitely uses the Feminist lens, I thought it'd be useful to post this here. I hope y'all enjoy it. :)

A Hard-Boiled Nancy Drew:
Veronica Mars as a Hybrid of the Whodunit and Hard-Boiled Detective Genres

Veronica Mars (2004-2007), a critically acclaimed prime time television show, is a particularly intriguing example of hybridization. This television show not only deals with the conventions of the teen drama/melodrama, which has been a popular form in both film and television since the late 80's/early 90's, but also more interestingly is a hybrid of the two threads of the detective genre, the whodunit and the hard-boiled detective fictions. Borrowing the centripetal structure (Rubin 198) and emphasis on 'the story of the crime' over 'the story of the investigation' from the whodunit (Rubin 193), Veronica Mars is set in the corrupt, "sordid and violent" (Rubin 188) world of the hard-boiled detective. Of particular interest, the main site of conflict between the dual threads of the detective genre is largely centered in the portrayal of Veronica Mars, the title character. Veronica, a tiny blonde high school student by day and a tough cynical neo-noir detective working for her father after school, is something of a hard-boiled Nancy Drew. In terms of the individual mysteries that occur in each episode, Veronica is usually portrayed as a master of her surroundings, a step ahead of all those involved including authority figures like her vice-principal, the local sheriff, and even her own father, but in regards to the overarching mysteries that drive the seasonal arcs she is extremely vulnerable particularly on an emotional and sexual level. This divide between her level of control and stability causes a constant oscillation between Veronica's depiction as the masterfully cool and detached whodunit detective and her portrayal as the vulnerable hard-boiled detective with his characteristic "partial vision" (Rubin qtd. Bonitzer 200) and labyrinthine entrapment. In particular, this divide seems to be centered around issues related to the feminine, female anger/aggression, and female sexuality. Focusing on "the Pilot," as a microcosm of the themes, structure, and issues that preoccupy the entire series, I will look at the way in which Veronica Mars is depicted as being set in the hard-boiled world, but uses the whodunit structure to tell its story. Also, I will explore the dual characterizations of Veronica Mars as being both the masterful, detached whodunit detective and the vulnerable, entrapped hard-boiled detective. Furthermore, I will show the way that Veronica's femininity and issues with the feminine are used to carry through this dual vision of her characterization and this world.

The whodunit detective and the hard-boiled detective are in many ways contradictory, oppositional characters. The classic whodunit detective is generally characterized as a mild gentleman sleuth much like the penultimate whodunit detective Sherlock Holmes. This detective's interest in the mystery that he is investigating is "primarily cerebral" (Rubin 185) with his activities centering around "figuring out clues, with little risk, from the perspective of an observer on the sidelines" (Rubin 185, emphasis mine). The whodunit detective is largely motivated by a "scientific curiosity or gamelike diversion" (Rubin 198) and his position as a detective is more "an exotic hobby rather than a livelihood" (Rubin 185) which he engages in for the prestige of solving "an exceptionally puzzling crime" (Rubin 182). This detective's relationship with the victim of the crime, who is "almost always socially prominent" (Rubin 185) so as to add to the stature of the crime, is as distant and detached as his attitude towards solving the crime. This is not a character who gets his hands dirty or his emotions involved in the events of the story. He is cool, detached, a masterful observer of the world of the mystery. The hard-boiled detective, on the other hand, is vulnerable on a number of levels. Whereas the whodunit detective is only rarely and glancingly physically threatened, the hard-boiled detective is "constantly exposed to violence...often [being] wounded, beaten up, tortured, drugged or thrown in jail" (Rubin 194). The hard-boiled detective's relationship to the victim is far different from the whodunit detective too as the murder victim in the hard-boiled fiction is presented as "a sympathetic character whose loss is keenly felt and about whom the detective cares deeply" (Rubin 194). Furthermore, while the whodunit detective is an unmoved and unmovable observer, the hard-boiled detective is often faced with temptation in form of bribes, sexual favors, or by being compromised by his emotional ties to the mystery (Rubin 196). While not amoral, the whodunit detective is more impartial due to his detachment and is thus less concerned with punishing the guilty than solving the puzzling crime. Because he is personally engaged not just intellectually stimulated by the mystery, the hard-boiled detective often functions as "a moral avenger, acting righteously if unofficially in the name of society" (Rubin 197). In other words, the hard-boiled detective is very much involved in the events of the story. Rather than being a masterful observer, he is an entrapped participant with only a "partial vision" (Rubin qtd. Bonitzer 200) of the world of the mystery.

This dualistic set-up between the characteristics of each kind of detective is also reflected in the form and attributes of each type of detective fiction. The classic whodunit detective story is commonly set in "a very familiar, domestic, bourgeois context" (Rubin 186) of the upper-middle class world and possesses "a quality of isolation" (Rubin 187) best exemplified by the classic manor house mystery. This is a stable and controlled world with a "clear layout and clearly defined rules" (Rubin 188) which the master detective has "total vision" (Rubin 200) of and exploits in his solving of the mystery. The setting for the hard-boiled detective story tends toward the grittier, urban context and is "a more epic form...[that] takes in more territory, spreads its focus more widely" (Rubin 198). The hard-boiled story "creates a more complex, amorphous space...a space that is essentially expanding and unbound, where it is harder for us to get our bearings" (Rubin 198). As is common with the thriller, the hard-boiled detective story "favors labyrinthine, mazelike plot structures, filled with twists and tangles" (Rubin 199). The emphasis of each kind of story is distinct too. As Rubin outlines from Tzvetan Todorov's essay "The Typology of Detective Fiction,":

a work of detective fiction consists of two stories, two paths that are followed:(1) the story of the crime, and (2) the story of the investigation. The first story concerns a crime (usually a murder) that has been committed but that the audience has not seen, because it occurred either in the past or offstage. Then the detective arrives on the scene and commences the second story, in which he investigates the crime and discovers its solution.

...[T]he whodunit throws most of its weight onto the first story, the story of the original crime. The second story, the investigation, has little importance in itself. Its main purpose is to recuperate the first story, to bring it to light, to provide the solution to its mystery. This imbalance produces the very peculiar dynamics of the whodunit: The crucial first story is inactive, already accomplished, whereas the second, which is present and active, is a story in which nothing happens....

The detective thriller reverses the priorities of the whodunit: It suppresses the first story and vitalizes the second. The story of the past crime under investigation becomes less important, while that of the investigation itself is given more weight. As a result, suspense is more prominent in the detective thriller; what is going to happen next gains ascendance over what has happened in the past (193, emphasis mine).

Moreover, the whodunit and the hard-boiled fictions not only differ in their elements of story, but also in terms of form and structure. The whodunit story has "a centripetal structure: concentrated, tightly interconnected, tending towards the center....[T]he crimes (including motive, suspects, and victims) often fall mostly within a family circle" (Rubin 198, emphasis his). The hard-boiled story, however, has:

a centrifugal structure – loose, diffuse, tending away from the center....The case seems relatively simple and straightforward at first, but then the plot thickens, grows more devious and widespread. Evil and disorder become generalized and ingrained rather than isolated and detachable....The original crime that is being investigated is just a thread that leads into a much larger and more complex web of conspiracy and deception, and the detective and audience become more and more entangled in that web (Rubin 198, emphasis his).

As the character of each kind of detective is oppositional, the movement of each kind of narrative is oppositional too. In terms of linear progression, the whodunit directs us towards the past and the story of the crime whereas the hard-boiled fiction focuses on the future and the story of the investigation. The whodunit spirals inwards hovering ever closer to the resolution of the mystery and comforting knowledge while the hard-boiled story spirals outward into deeper mystery and further confusion.

It's challenging to conceive of these two contradictory threads of the detective genre coming together to form one cohesive story. It would be natural to think that the movement of each narrative would instinctively collide with each other, that the characteristics of each type of detective embodied in one character would be an irresolvable and perhaps unbelievable discrepancy. Yet, Veronica Mars manages to unite these disparate storylines, contain them in one body of fiction. The oppositional forces of both types of fictions are contained in Veronica Mars through having the detective be female. Due to the duplicity inlaid in the ideological construction of femininity, the fact that the masquerading and performative aspects of femininity are acknowledged pieces of the feminine, the paradox of the differing fictions is aligned with the paradox of the feminine. This trick of aligning the oppositional forces of each fiction, which would be difficult not impossible with the traditional male detective, is simplified in having a female detective. This is not to say that masculinity is somehow 'natural' or even 'more natural' than femininity, but only that the accouterments of femininity (make-up, dress, even attitude) are ideologically constructed as being an act that the female performs usually for the benefit of the male. Whereas masculinity is considered just being, femininity is considered a becoming. Although masculinity is too a gender performance, there is a greater sense of being able to put on femininity and thus also possessing the ability to take it off. There is a false note to femininity that allows the female to exist as a paradox that isn't a paradox, a contradiction without being too much of a contradiction. This alignment allows for the whodunit detective and the hard-boiled detective to be embodied in one character, the whodunit centripetal structure and plot emphasis and the hard-boiled world to be embodied in one work of fiction.

The contradictory movements of the story lines in "the Pilot" are realized in two basic ways. As the story progresses forward, the further we're drawn backwards into Veronica's past and into 'the story of the crime.' "The Pilot" begins in medias res, recalling the conventions of the Epic, and approximately three-fourths of the episode takes place in flashback. The opening scenes of the series presents the audience with an odd scenario, a tiny blond teenager girl on a stake out during the wee hours of the morning in poor, ethnic, crime-ridden neighborhood. This opening, with it's presentation of many contradictory elements, allows the show to subtly set up Veronica to be the central enigma of the show. This portrayal of Veronica as an enigma is primarily achieved in the teaser through initially introducing her character via her voice not her body. As Veronica's cool, cynical voice narrates the opening shots of the show, the camera seems to be restlessly searching for a body to attach to this voice. The camera's gaze creates a question about this voice, its identity and location. The camera fades in on a shot of the Motel Camelot. It then comes closer to the motel taking us to the second floor hallway. It briefly rests on a window, which has a silhouetted couple behind it, until a man crosses the frame and the camera follows this man downstairs to the doorway of the motel lobby. As the man is about to enter the lobby, the camera radically changes angles and cuts to a high-angle view of the street which has on it a lone car parked perpendicular to the motel. The camera begins to slowly pushes in on this car, but then as if impatient to get to the car it cuts to a closer shot of the vehicle. It continues to push in, but then again interrupts this push in to cut to inside the car. When we're inside the car, we still don't initially see Veronica's body. Rather, we see clues to her existence like her backpack with an algebra book, camera, and thermos spilling out of it. The first we see of Veronica's body is her arm crossing the frame. This action allows the camera to follow her arm to partially reveal her face. The camera hovers over Veronica's mouth and chin for a moment until the camera pulls up to bring her whole face into frame fully revealing her to the audience¹.

Once Veronica's body is revealed to us, the incongruity of this body being in this context is foregrounded for us. Once one mystery is settled, a larger mystery is created for us thus leading us deeper into the labyrinth. The PCHers, the local biker gang, amble along to menace Veronica. This swift introduction of an element of danger, signified by the fast paced music, quick cuts, and faces of lower class ethnic masculinity, further complicates our picture of the heroine of this world. This concealment of Veronica's physical identity and protraction over the issue of Veronica's psychic identity leads the audience to confront their expectations over the assumptions related to Veronica's appearance versus their knowledge of Veronica's situation. The expectation is that a nice, young, pretty white girl like her shouldn't be in the ghetto mixed up with the sex and violence of that world. What is she doing there? How did she become the kind of person who would be involved in such a thing? Yet, as Veronica explains to the audience, the only way that we can learn about Veronica's present situation and move forward into her future is through paradoxically moving backwards into her past.

By having the whodunit structure and plot emphasis exist in a hard-boiled world, Veronica Mars is presented to us as a haunted world. This is a world haunted by a mythic past, as all thrillers are, with displaced remnants of that past often being glimpsed in caricatured form. For instance, the sleazy Motel Camelot, which is a location that is repeatedly foregrounded in "the Pilot," is very much a parodic remnant of the Heroic Romance. Also, this is a world in which Veronica feels personally haunted by her own idyllic, mythic past which we also get glimpses of via the use of flashbacks. Marred by the violent disruptions of Duncan's betrayal, Lily's murder, Veronica's rape, and her mother's abandonment, Veronica's present life is presented as something of a fallen world, life after Eden. This emphasis on the past as being very much in the present leads to an overall focus on 'the story of the crime' (Why did Duncan dump Veronica? Who killed Lily? Who raped Veronica? Why did Lianne Mars leave her family?) over 'the story of the investigation' (Will Veronica find out the truth?). The 'question' of whether or not Veronica's investigation will reveal the truth is made largely irrelevant as elements of the story's structure such as Veronica's voice off narration and the use of flashback lend us a distance that allows us to feel secure in the knowledge that her efforts will reveal this truth. Furthermore, the true location of anxiety and suspense is not centered around the external mysteries that Veronica investigates, but is concerned with the internal mystery of Veronica.

The second manner in which the oppositional movements of the story lines are represented is through the centripetal form of Veronica's literal movements through the physical space of Neptune versus the centrifugal expansion of the mental space of this fictional world. Rather than advancing in a linear fashion, the story of "the Pilot" unfolds in a vortexical pattern². As previously mentioned, the Motel Camelot is a featured location in "the Pilot." The episode opens at the motel, returns to the motel in the middle of the episode, then ends at the motel. However, each time that we return to the motel, Veronica is depicted as both physically and emotionally closer to the motel and its symbolic presences as a signifier of her past. As the structure of the whodunit demands, she is shown spiraling closer to the mystery and 'the story of the crime.' In the opening scenes of the show, we see Veronica sealed behind the chrome and glass of her car watching the motel. We are left to assume that she is on some job that involves catching a 'money shot' of a cheating husband. Due to the detached cynicism of her opening monologue, we don't have any notion of the personal nature of this case for Veronica. Instead, we are mislead into believing that the real mystery being depicted here has to do with the arrival of the PCHers and the poential danger that they present to Veronica. On returning to the motel, we learn that Veronica is there to watch Jake Kane. Mr. Kane is the father of Lily, Veronica's murdered best friend, and is intimately connected with the reasons that Veronica has become the kind of girl that would be mixed up in this sordid and violent world of the hard-boiled detective. The PCHers, the obvious threat, are invalidated as a true threat. It's people and situations that are closer to home that will undo our heroine.

Also, it is key to note that this time Veronica is more interactive with the environment surrounding the motel. Although the shots showing Veronica behind the windows of her car seem inconsequential on an initial viewing, the existence of these shots highlights her decision to roll down her window and engage the PCHers. While she does get out of her car, she isn't protected by her layers of chrome and glass. Rather, Veronica is able to master the predicament with the PCHers through her foresight in bringing non-lethal weapons like her taser and Back Up, her quick wit, and her skills as a detective. Nevertheless, the detachment Veronica exhibits in handling the PCHers is stripped from her on her final return to the Motel Camelot. When Veronica learns that her father is still investigating Lily's murder and that it was her absentee mother that Mr. Kane was seeing at the motel, she is reduced to a lost little girl, a motherless child. She races to the motel, the top to her convertible completely down. The next we see her she is standing on the balcony outside room six banging on the door with the hope that her mother will answer the door. The first thing we're shown is a Close Up of Veronica's hand banging on the room door. The camera seems to be pulling out to bring Veronica's face into frame, but it's interrupted by a cut and we're brought to a Long Shot of Veronica at the door. Veronica's back is to us, but it's clear that her mother is no longer at the motel as no one is coming to answer Veronica. She lets her hand fall away from the door and steps back from it turning around to the balcony railing to face the audience. The camera is pulling back from her and fades into a shot that's further back from her. This movement denies the audience the ability to clearly read her expression. Nonetheless, as her voice off is very vulnerable and revealing, in sharp contrast to the detached voice off delivered in the teaser, it seems that the further that we get from Veronica, with each fade away bringing us farther back from her, the farther we're let into Veronica's internal space. Likewise, as Veronica's psychic identity is the central enigma of the show, this access to Veronica represents a spiraling out, a diffusion of the world of the mystery. The information that we've gathered about Veronica's past through the course of the episode, which has involved tightly circling around Veronica's internal world, has lead to an expanded base of knowledge of both the first season's set of mysteries and the show's primary mystery.

The contradictions that shape the textual fabric of Veronica Mars are, of course, not confined to the structure alone, but also extend to the depiction of Veronica herself. Veronica is presented as both the masterful, detached whodunit detective and the vulnerable, entrapped hard-boiled detective. "The Pilot" handles this dual characterization by drawing a sharp distinction between the present Veronica and the past Veronica, portraying Veronica being embroiled in a series of 'false alarms' in the first half of the episode which she sidesteps through her wit and bravado, and by having her succeed in managing a handful of short-term problems, both introduced and solved within the episode, but fall vulnerable to the larger mysteries that drive the show. The portion of the episode that crystalizes this oscillating, paradoxical portrayal is the return to the Motel Camelot and the flashback that follows detailing Veronica's rape. As previously mentioned, in this scene the PCHers are revealed as a red herring threat, the final false alarm in a series of them, as Veronica deftly handles the dangerous biker gang³. The minute we witness Veronica's response to Weevil's mocking question, which the teaser presented as a thrilling cliffhanger, we know that she isn't in any real danger as she is clearly in control of the situation. Furthermore, the manner in which this scene visually unfolds further supports this conclusion. Like the unmoveable and detached whodunit detective, Veronica is basically depicted orchestrating the defeat of an entire biker gang without even getting out of her car. Throughout the scene, the bikers are shot at various angles and directions, but Veronica is depicted as rather stationary. For instance, in the shot/reverse shot conversation between Weevil and Veronica, there are very subtle differences between the orientation of Weevil's shots that create a subliminal impression of shiftiness and being off-balanced that is exasperated by Veronica's undifferentiated framing throughout the scene. While not as apparent as earlier scenes in which Veronica appears to be moving at a slower speed than those around her, she is again at the center of a vortex.

This grounding of Veronica as the center of a contingency of moving bodies and forces is played up in the actor's performances too. Although Weevil often displays these character ticks which seem to convey annoyance or that he's losing patience with another character and about to get violent, the ticks -- licking his lips, looking up, and other fidgeting-- could also be interpreted as nervousness as if Weevil weren't so comfortable with the violence of his lifestyle. Meanwhile, Veronica has very little expression and a certain economy of movement that highlights her calm. She is dispassionate even in the face of her own actual violence. As she watches Back Up attack one of the PCHers and tasers Felix, she doesn't look uncomfortable or even remotely concerned by her actions, but rather coldly and efficiently acts to contain the threat against her.

As the scene at the Motel Camelot ends, we’re brought to a flashback in which Veronica divulges that she was drugged and raped at a party. Veronica tells the audience in a voice off that she went to the party after Duncan dumped her, Lily died and her father lost his job in order to “show everyone” that she wouldn’t be intimidated by public opinion. This act of bravado can be contrasted with the present Veronica's act of bravado at the Motel Camelot. The comparison uncovers a few interesting details about the way that Veronica’s dual characterization hinges on her feminine body. Whereas present Veronica is shown very much in control of her situation and herself, the Veronica of last year is presented as extremely vulnerable. While the present Veronica is centered and unmoveable in her car, the past Veronica is shown constantly being pushed around by other people and mysterious forces. At the party, she is shown uneasily navigating the maze of people. As she makes her way through the crowd, she encounters both people like Logan and Duncan and unknown forces like the roofied drink that compel her to alter her course through the labyrinthine environment of the party. Veronica is constantly mobile during the flashback. Even when she collapses and passes out, she is shown in the next shot waking up in a different location thus keeping that sense of her being moved by unknown hands. Also, as the entrapment and vulnerability of the hard-boiled detective is showcased in this scene, the characteristic ‘partial vision’ of the hard-boiled detective is too literalized in this scene. Veronica doesn’t see who offered her the roofied drink or know the identity of her rapist. While the present Veronica possesses a tremendous amount of foresight which is particularly displayed in her plan to help Wallace, the past Veronica was unable to foresee her danger or act to avert it⁴.

Veronica’s rape is the definitive event of her past, the last straw in a string of hard knocks on our girl. Despite the reality of male rape, rape is considered a feminine issue. In the arena of popular opinion, rape is thought to be an act that a masculine body acts on a feminine body. It is significant that the event that so definitively marks Veronica from her past self is so intimately connected with notions of the feminine body because it is an event that has the singular ability⁵ to unerringly confirm Veronica’s possession of a feminine body. The nexical quality of femininity in Veronica Mars can be noted through juxtaposing the past Veronica’s appearance with the present Veronica’s appearance. The look of the Veronica of the past is consistently more classically feminine than the appearance of the present Veronica. This Veronica has long hair, pink fuzzy sweaters, skirts, dresses, short shorts, pep squad outfits, and other kinds of girly behavior. The outfit she wears at the party is a picture of naive girlhood. The white summer dress alone is a signal of her innocence, her status as prey, but the stars, flowers, and ribbon accessories serve to maximize this depiction of utter ‘girlness.’ The utter ‘girlness’ of the past Veronica is the essential quality that makes her distinct from the present Veronica’s relatively masculinized appearance and behavior. While still conforming to traditional standards of feminine beauty, as this is television, the present Veronica has shorter hair, wears butcher clothing like jeans and t-shirts, and her feminine side seems to be confined to glossy lips and pink nail polish. However, in order to pull back on that effect, there is the fact of Veronica’s rape. Although Veronica asserts that she is “no longer that girl,” the events of the rest of the episode (and the rest of the season) happen as they do because of Veronica’s vivid memory of that girl. It is the memory of that girl and her powerlessness that drives Veronica. Again, we are left with a paradox, a contradiction as it is Veronica’s powerlessness that fuels her power. This paradoxical power in victimhood is a mode of power particularly associated with the feminine in the popular imagination. It is this conception of power, which does not fit well on the masculine body⁶, that allows Veronica to be both the whodunit detective and the hard-boiled detective.

Veronica Mars is a series compelled by paradox, contradiction, and the aim to align oppositional forces operating within the text. In seeking to make a hybrid of the disparate fictions of the whodunit and hard-boiled detective, Veronica Mars utilizes Veronica’s feminine body and the duality inherent in the ideological construction of femininity to implement the dual, oppositional visions of both structure and characterization in each detective fiction. By uniting the duality in the competing visions of the detective with the duality of femininity, this allows for the whodunit detective and the hard-boiled detective to be embodied in one character, the whodunit centripetal structure and plot emphasis and the hard-boiled world to be embodied in one work of fiction. This body is Veronica Mars.

Endnotes:

1. The teaser is, in its short length, an example of a variety of ways that women have traditionally been portrayed in narrative film. The female voice that must be 'pinned' to a female body, the female presence being signified by empty space or objects, the parts of a female body like a glossy pink mouth or tiny feminine hand with pink shiny nails being cut off from the whole body and used as another signifier of the female presence.

2. The vortexical pattern of Veronica Mars is also expressed in the camera work with frequent scenes of Veronica being isolated, lost in thought as the people around her move and exist in a world that appears separated from her own reality.

3. "The Pilot" seems enamored with putting Veronica in a myriad of seemingly threatening situations which she easily sidestep due to her superior intellect and tough veneer. First, she is caught napping in class by her AP teacher and is put on the spot by being asked to answer a question that the rest of the class was reluctant to answer, but Veronica has no problem, sans any books or notes, responding to her teacher with a smart and cynical answer. Then, the vice-principal, Mr. Clemmens, calls Veronica out of class to search her locker for contraband with the police, but Veronica is well ahead of them and has planted the heart-shaped picture of Mr. Clemmens to let them know that she has outsmarted them. Next, Weevil tries to intimidate Wallace, but Veronica sasses Weevil in front of his gang and gets him off Wallace.

4. This is not to say that Veronica is in anyway responsible for her rape. As the episode “A Trip to the Dentist” highlights, there are many factors in Veronica’s rape. It’s a very complex event that involved a number of people acting (like Dick, Madison, Logan) or not acting (like Meg, Carrie) in a way that contributed to Veronica’s rape. There were many different motives operating, some that had nothing to do with Veronica, (like Dick putting the roofie in Madison’s drink, Logan taking off with Cassidy’s freshman girl) and dark secrets (like Cassidy’s molestation, Duncan’s belief that Veronica was his sister) that all contributed to Veronica’s rape. There was no possible way for Veronica to know or help all of this which is what adds to the event’s terrible force because the way it’s portrayed it’s almost inevitable that Veronica was raped that night. The forces of fate, cruel and unforgiving, were aligned against her.

5. The only other act that would produce similar results is giving birth and becoming a mother, but motherhood and adult womanhood especially when paired with power are too fraught with problems in Veronica Mars for Veronica to become either of those things.

6. For example, Cassidy Casablancas with his feminizing nickname and history of sexual molestation is a character drawn as a victim in a similar manner to Veronica, but in the second season when he seeks to gain some control and power over his situation this leads him to destroy both others and himself. This inability for the masculine body to find ‘power in victimhood’ is crystalized in the fact that Cassidy is Veronica’s rapist. This is also true, to a lesser extent, with Logan. When Logan, who has been a long time victim of his father’s physical abuse, acts out, it is usually with destructive results.

Call for Submissions: 19th Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

2007-12-09T03:09:55Z

Where: Girls Read Comics (And They're Pissed)
When: January 5th
Deadline for Submissions: January 3rd
Contact: ten[dot]karen[at]gmail[dot]com and submission form

Submission Call

Notice: Accepting Volunteers to Host the 20th Carnival. Email Ragnellthefoul[at]hotmail[dot]com if interested.