Two of my favorite things: feminism and Whedon shows

[lirazel]

Via a recent link on whedonesque, I stumbled across a series at meloukhia.net about feminism and Joss Whedon's shows. The one linked to on whedonesque is on Dollhouse, and is a bit disappointing--it opens arguments without really exploring them, to be honest. But some of the older articles are worth checking out.

Like this one on sex and punishment on Joss's shows--not anything that hasn't been said before, but still, nice to see someone examining it again.

But I really, really like this two part exploration of how Angel is really pretty antifeminist. It especially delves into Cordelia's character and hints at how it was destroyed (I still want to yell "WTF, JOSS?" about that one), and it had one especially insightful quote I wanted to share.

We see a recurring theme with Cordelia: she is not allowed control of her body, because her body “needs” to be used by others. Yes. I had never, ever noticed this before (probably mostly because I got into Angel before I really learned how to read texts from a feminist perspective), but it is so, so true. From demon pregnancies to visions forced on her against her will to having her body stolen from her to be the vessel of Jasmine, poor Cordy is never allowed to be Cordy for very long before her body is stolen from her again. Since she's far and away my favorite character on that show (with Gunn in a close second), and since I love her so hardcore on Buffy, where she's always HBIC, this still makes me bitter.

And then Fred goes through the same thing! It's troubling, and not something I'd thought about on a conscious level, even if I would have told you that Angel isn't exactly a feminist show.

On the other hand, the second part includes some truly great moments for women on Angel and also has some love for Lilah, who I think is just an incredibly fabulous character in every way.

I don't agree with all her points in all the articles (obviously), but still, there's some interesting stuff going on all of them. I really appreciate that she's examining all this from the point of view of a fan who still sees problematic aspects of shows she loves (just like me!).

ALSO: Go vote for Buffy here! Because River is beating her, and we can't have that! As much as I love River, Buffy is my hero.

[ETA] While we're on the topic of Joss-criticism, I thought I'd throw out this link, too, since it's someone who is far more knowledgeable than I am calling him out about something else that's really bothered me about his shows.

Comments

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're right. *muses*

YES! Cordy kicks ass! (When they let her.)

NO! BUFFY'S BETTER!

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

*pulls out the BIG O'L FEMINIST YELLOW PAGES* Let's cal up Joss and see what he thinks in this philosophical theory.

Cordy should have kicked some sense into those male writers. *shakeshead*

Um, s'cuse me? Have you seen the kickassness River can do? I propose a cage match.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

River kicked ass against Reavers in one movie (and shot some guys in one episode). Buffy kicked ass against vampires, demons, gods, nerds, gone-to-the-dark-side Slayers, immortal mayors, and THE US ARMY over the course of SEVEN SEASONS (and a comics series).

BUFFY WINS.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

*points to icon*

River killed three guys with her eyes CLOSED.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Buffy has hot, building-destroying sex with the sexiest man(pire) to ever live.

BEAT THAT.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

*glares* Oh you HAD to pull out the Spike card, didn't you?

Well you know what? River is still winning, so HAH.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I ALWAYS PULL THE SPIKE CARD!

Stupid internet polls don't count! BUFFY. SPIKE. SEX.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

*snatches the Spike carde away* HAHA!

*sticks tongue out* You seem to think it counted! Personally, I liked Buffy/ANGEL sex better.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

*snatches back*

That's a lie, and you know it. There's no sex better than Spuffy sex.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

*throws it thorugh the shredder*

I have to admit, I blushed during the Anya/Spike table sex.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

That scene broke my heart, but yeah, I can understand why you would get blushy.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

That scene broke my heart too. But more on the Xander/Anya side.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

It broke mine for both Spike and Anya. They'd both had their hearts broken being left by the people they loved, and they just wanted a little comfort, poor kids. Who else were they gonna turn to? It's not like either one of them had other friends.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

It's a bit shameful, but I dxid always secretly want an Anya/Spike relationship. It was like my kick for a Faith/Xander.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I don't personally think that long-term/romantically they would have worked out, but I would have loveloveloved to see them interacting more as friends. I think they could have developed a lot of respect for each other.

I understand a lot of people's love of Faith/Xander...but the only one of his relationships I think really, really worked was his with Cordy (which I ADORED). With Anya, there was too much of a power imbalance, and I think he took her for granted. Cordy would never let him do that.

[serendipily.livejournal.com]

I would ahve loved to see Spike interact more witht he Scoobies. The whole Anya/Spike dynamic would have made a great friendship. They're both demonic sort of people who had their hearts broken. It's a wonderful relationshop they could have had.

Cordy/Xander made me laugh my ass off. Xander/Anya broke my heart. He ran the moment something remoktely bad happened.