Thank you. I've been trying to put into words my dislike for the treatment of females in Supernatural, and mostly all I manage is headbanging in frustration.
My greatest problem is how completely unnecessary the killing and removal of all female characters is. The relationship between Sam and Dean is completely, utterly and irrevocably fucked up. They die for each other, kill and all morality is secondary where it comes to each other and in portraying such a relationship you don't need to kill Bella or write out Jo (did you read the post where they discussed her exit and how it boiled down to her learning to accept her place in the healing of men and accepting them as the active ones? I've forgotten who posted it.) or do anything to Ruby because it's completely obvious to the audience that their worlds are central around each other even if they have long-term girlfriends.
The beginning of the final episode opens with yet another montage of "the story so far" which has Dean and Sam killing things. Without context it's fascinating. Shooting of black man, shooting of woman, Dean with demon, Sam killing demon, female demon talking about Lilith, Lilith killing something, Bella's moments before death, Ruby looking evil, random black man they tortured in last episode being demonic, Ruby killing things, death of hell hound stalked woman, beating and fighting of 4 people including 1 black man and 1 female vampire, and angst Dean shot.
And then of course in the final Bobby survives while Ruby doesn't. Either her 'demonic soul' is sent back to hell when Lilith forces her out of the body, or she's completely killed by it. But I think the greatest moment was when they were outside the house with Lilith in it, and Dean had a brief argument with Sam and Bobby about the murder of the 10 year old girl the demon inhabited. Dean put up a token protest which was quickly silenced and he went along with it. Sam then goes into the bedroom where the demon is lying with the mother on the bed, and the mother lies their terrified as Sam pulls back the curtain. She encourages Sam with ever increasing "do it!" until the girl begins to wake. Sam has a moment of conscience which he suppresses as she wakes and he goes to stab her, only to be interrupted by Dean who declares the demon not to be in her anymore.
I was discussing this scene with a friend, and how abhorant it is that we as the viewer are meant to cheer Sam on to save Dean and kill this girl. Not just that, but Sam doesn't offer up any sort of disgust at his actions, really. He hesitates but this seems more because she is passive, not that she's a 10-year-old girl. When she moves his objects are gone. He doesn't pray, or do anything of the kind. It's similar to the scene in the Omen, only without any of the methods being used to make Sam sympathetic. But while discussing this my friend pointed out that not only is the girl passive, but the mother. The mother has already witnessed the death of the cat, the babysitter and her own father at the hands of the child and yet she lies in bed terrified to do anything for herself but cheer Sam on.
If people want to like Supernatural, fine. Many shows are problematic in their politics (ala 24) but they should be treated and accepted as such and don't need to be excused and have their sexism and racism written off.
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WARNING: SPOILERS FOR FINAL
Date: 2008-05-19 07:50 am (UTC)My greatest problem is how completely unnecessary the killing and removal of all female characters is. The relationship between Sam and Dean is completely, utterly and irrevocably fucked up. They die for each other, kill and all morality is secondary where it comes to each other and in portraying such a relationship you don't need to kill Bella or write out Jo (did you read the post where they discussed her exit and how it boiled down to her learning to accept her place in the healing of men and accepting them as the active ones? I've forgotten who posted it.) or do anything to Ruby because it's completely obvious to the audience that their worlds are central around each other even if they have long-term girlfriends.
The beginning of the final episode opens with yet another montage of "the story so far" which has Dean and Sam killing things. Without context it's fascinating. Shooting of black man, shooting of woman, Dean with demon, Sam killing demon, female demon talking about Lilith, Lilith killing something, Bella's moments before death, Ruby looking evil, random black man they tortured in last episode being demonic, Ruby killing things, death of hell hound stalked woman, beating and fighting of 4 people including 1 black man and 1 female vampire, and angst Dean shot.
And then of course in the final Bobby survives while Ruby doesn't. Either her 'demonic soul' is sent back to hell when Lilith forces her out of the body, or she's completely killed by it. But I think the greatest moment was when they were outside the house with Lilith in it, and Dean had a brief argument with Sam and Bobby about the murder of the 10 year old girl the demon inhabited. Dean put up a token protest which was quickly silenced and he went along with it. Sam then goes into the bedroom where the demon is lying with the mother on the bed, and the mother lies their terrified as Sam pulls back the curtain. She encourages Sam with ever increasing "do it!" until the girl begins to wake. Sam has a moment of conscience which he suppresses as she wakes and he goes to stab her, only to be interrupted by Dean who declares the demon not to be in her anymore.
I was discussing this scene with a friend, and how abhorant it is that we as the viewer are meant to cheer Sam on to save Dean and kill this girl. Not just that, but Sam doesn't offer up any sort of disgust at his actions, really. He hesitates but this seems more because she is passive, not that she's a 10-year-old girl. When she moves his objects are gone. He doesn't pray, or do anything of the kind. It's similar to the scene in the Omen, only without any of the methods being used to make Sam sympathetic. But while discussing this my friend pointed out that not only is the girl passive, but the mother. The mother has already witnessed the death of the cat, the babysitter and her own father at the hands of the child and yet she lies in bed terrified to do anything for herself but cheer Sam on.
If people want to like Supernatural, fine. Many shows are problematic in their politics (ala 24) but they should be treated and accepted as such and don't need to be excused and have their sexism and racism written off.