Forgive the title of this post for it is strictly an attention getter.
Frankly I agree with what Josh posted. Everybody concentrates on Penny's character, how she's not developed, a push-over, etc, but nobody pays attention to the characteristics of the two male leads. As Josh says, they are both buffoons in their own ways. Yet, nobody is complaining about that. Actually, this type of characteristic is seen all over television and film. The men are the dumb ones while the women always look on thinking how stupid the men are. Look at most commericials, they do this all the time. Think of those Miller Lite ads where the woman bartender always insults the stupid guys. Where' the outlash? Sitcoms are great at this too. Think of Home Improvement, The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond. Male characters are always looked at to be idiots but there is not a outlash against that.
I'm not saying women aren't treated unfairly in media, cause they are. However, I don't feel every show/movie/whatever should be dissected over how women are percieved. I personally never thought Penny was an object in the Dr. Horrible. She might have been the only noble character in the episode and that's why she died. It's always the good ones.
Finally, I think people should go easy on Whedon. He's given everyone for series full of strong female characters. He only had 40min in Dr. Horrible. Besides, Horrible is the focus, not Penny. If you wanted to dig deeper what about his sweaty roommate? I'm sure people could come up with complaints for that.
7 comments:
I agree that it's important to note shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and other sitcoms that play with the idea of goofy male leads. I guess the payoff for the "idiot" depictions would be that they often get the shows named after them, so they get to be indispensible in that respect.
I also agree that Penny is supposed to be something noble, even if that's too one dimensional and sparks criticism. She's just sort of a 'muted' character (certainly no Buffy or Zoe). If any form of goodness had to suffer in that show to move the plot along, Penny is a logical choice.
Wow, I'm totally into the idea of dissecting the fact that she was a totally "good/noble/moral" character and THATS why she died. I think a lot could be gained from that.
We kind of beat the "women badly represented" thing to death, so this is refreshing outlook, if we are still desirous of talking about her death.
Yeah, Josh was right!
This is exactly what I was trying to get at when we were discussing this in class. I consider myself a mild feminist on some level, and I don't believe that Penny needs to be a fully-developed character. Hammer sure isn't fully-developed either. The focus of the piece is on Dr. Horrible and his double identity. Many complain that the female was the one killed, but Hammer completely lost grip with reality and essentially ended his own career. I don't believe there should be a feminist issue with a film only 40 minutes long when the titular character,the main protagonist, is a man.
It would be hard to develop an effective argument for labeling Whedon an "anti-feminist" when he has produced series' such as Buffy with a strong woman serving as the protagonist. Dr. Horrible works great despite giving a female character a lackluster role, and I feel as though this brief 40 minute departure from Whedon's other shows can be forgiven for not having enough to please the feminists this time around. The focus is on Dr. Horrible, after all.
So many points to make!
1) It is possible to label a work "anti-feminist" while not putting that label on its creator. (Although I am NOT making that argument about Dr. Horrible).
2) For years, people who study TV have been making precisely the arguments about buffoonish male characters that Adam says he wishes they would make. Studying constructions of male-ness is a vital concern for scholars interested in gender criticism.
3) Folks, if Penny, like so many women characters before her--is the "noble" one who suffers innocently because of that nobility--and it is frequently female characters who suffer that fate, then that's worth talking about.
(I hate to keep harping on this gender stuff, but so long as you keep bringing it up, I'll keep pushing back.)
Also, Roxanne--you aren't a "mild feminist." Don't be scared to flat out call yourself a feminist. 'Cause you are. :)
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