After
our discussion through Hunger Games of what makes a superheroine, I
started thinking about the characters in a show I watch, The Vampire Diaries. Yes, the show is sort of a Twilight
knock off and not super well written, however, I still enjoy it. But
the question comes, why is the show so popular when its major plot is
that the main character Elena is the damsel in distress always saved?
One
reason I believe it has been so successful is that most females would
like the idea of having two super attractive guys always wanting to
protect them. On the other hand, nowadays media cannot succeed if they
present only weak females. Then I thought of the criticism of the Hunger
Games, Katniss doesn’t make enough hard moral decisions. Well, that
isn’t a problem with Elena. Almost every episode she has to choose
between the lesser of two evils; usually allowing a crazy psycho vampire
to get what they want in return for the safety of a loved one.
Throughout the show there is major emotional turmoil and moral conflict.
Even
though Elena has to make moral choices, her choices are usually
overruled by Stefan or Damon, the vampires in love with Elena. She can
choose the moral high ground to sacrifice herself for a loved one, but
it doesn’t matter. One of the boys will end up saving her, even if it
means the death of another character. But, she can take care of herself
and has been in a good number of fights, even getting herself out of
some hostage-type situations. She is shown as both an independent strong
woman and a more helpless female in need of protection. Can Elena be
considered a strong female character if she is strong and makes the hard
choices, but her choices are not followed?
Along
with Elena, there are many other formidable female characters. All are
connected in that they want to protect the men and friends in their
life. In my Charlie’s Angels post I questioned the “wrongness” of women
using their sexuality to get what they want. Here in The Vampire
Diaries, these women go a step farther. The characters use not just
their sexuality, but exploit the fact certain male characters like them.
Elena, though she is sometimes ignored by Stefan and Damon, she also
has considerable influence over them. She holds their love over their
heads in a “if you love me you won’t do …” type of way. The classic male
protective nature can be taken advantage of by the women.
To
me, these types of qualities could offset some of the more
stereotypical qualities that the women possess in this show. All of the
characters are beautiful, love is the females’ main priority, they are
slightly overemotional, and they are vindictive in revenge. Does a
female character have to challenge all stereotypes or just show more and
more strength. Is it enough just to be respected?
Vampire Diaries is defiantly a fun show and I especially enjoy watching Stefan and Damon. I have never really considered Elena a superheroine. I agree that she does try and sacrifice herself for those she cares about but she can always rely on Stefan and Damon to save her from danger. So I have to ask, is Elena really making moral decisions and self-sacrafice when she has two "guardian vampires" to come to her rescue? I feel that Elena often comes across as overemotional female character and is overshadowed by the strength demonstrated by both Stefan and Damon.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Stefan and Demon's sometimes overshadow Elena's strength, but I don't necessarily think that makes her weak, and I do believe that she often has to make very difficult moral decisions. Elena is independent and even though she is often the damsel in distress, she makes unexpected decisions that prove her strength. In addition to Elena, other female characters, such as Bonnie and Caroline, are also powerful, proving that the Vampire Diaries shows women in a modern, more feministic manner.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't think that Stefan and Damon's arguably unnecessary show of strength prevents Elena from being considered a strong female character. There is always someone stronger, smarter, or better than you (save Michael Phelps), but that doesn't mean that you're not strong, smart, or good at what you do. The fact that she makes the difficult moral decisions that we all would shy away from speaks highly of her character. However, what Alex wrote is very interesting. Do these aforementioned tough moral decisions lose their difficulty because she is repeatedly protected and ignored by these men? With this in mind, she could, in theory, flip a coin to make these decisions, all the while knowing that it will not impact the outcome anyway.
ReplyDeleteMaggie, you bring up an interesting point when you question whether women have to break gender stereotypes to be considered a strong character. It seems that much of what we have all been discussing, in class and here on this blog, has to do with breaking gender stereotypes and yearning for a new societal view of women. However, if we change women in this way to make them appear stronger, are we empowering women, or simply making their image more like that of a man, and therefore actually hindering any hope of respecting the female gender just for what it is?
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have never watched The Vampire Diaries before, I can see, even by the poster provided, how it closely resembles Twilight. The girl is placed between two attractive vampires. Elena is portrayed as a damsel in distress, constantly protected by Stefan and Damon. I do think think that making difficult moral decisions in order to save the ones she love does make her a strong female character, even though these decisions may not always be enforced. As a result, I think that because her decisions are not always followed through, this shows the dominance of patriarchal influence. The subversion of Elena's moral decisions by Stefon's and Damon's protective natures shows that male influence does in fact overpower Elena's moral high ground.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree with the last comment that male influence can overpower the moral highground. But I still pose the question, does moral high ground give Elena a shot at being a superherione? Elena tries to make the decisions but half the time her choices make things worse. Her only strength comes from her need to protect others. Which also makes her seem weak and overemotional. She plays into the stereotype of mothering female, but there is still some respect in that. Right?
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have never seen this show, I would like to take a spin off of Maggie H's comment about mothering females. From what I have read in this blog and the comments about it, this character seems "dwarfed" by her male counterparts, but contains emotions as her differentiating quality. I would like to ask why this is a bad thing? I know that most people deem emotional people as being weak, but isn't it emotion that drives people to love, save, and do all of the notable actions in movies/tv shows? I don't think that this character being "motherly" is a bad thing in any way, unless it is connotated that way by the creators of the show. I think a lot of stereotyping is just misunderstanding. Both women and men can be emotional; this can be perceived as a good or bad thing based on the context that it is given in.
ReplyDeleteThe men definitely overpower and outshine the women (but I am a woman, lol). Damon's love for Elena and the intensity between the two is what has me hooked. WOOO HOOO TEAM DAMON!!!!! Lol, who needs Twilight!! We have Damon!!!
ReplyDelete