Saving Her Soul: The New Damsel in Distress Trope?

Let’s talk about Thea Queen’s soul.

After all it has been the subject of much discussion this season on Arrow, following an extended arc in which older brother Oliver set out to save his sister’s soul. Of course, the reason Thea’s soul needed saving was because she was determined to exact revenge on her murderous father who had swooped into her life only to rob her of her agency and use her to murder one of her friends. This plotline drives most of Oliver’s action and character development for much of the third season, while Thea’s story is sometimes treated as more of an afterthought, a supporting story meant to serve as a foil to Oliver’s main arc.

Meanwhile, in the Marvel universe, another older white guy set out to save another young woman’s soul last night. I won’t give specifics so as not to spoil the season finale for anyone who hasn’t watched it, but let’s just say it is only one of many problematic happenings in the MCU this month.

Taken together, these plot arcs clearly have a common theme: Saving women’s souls. Years ago we weren’t even talking about souls. We were talking about women trapped in towers guarded by dragons or tied to railroad tracks with a train approaching, but as time has ticked on the damsel in distress trope has faced backlash, and it seems as if the wayward soul is the new damsel in distress. Writers and producers have figured out that women are capable of watching their own backs, but their souls are another matter. Physically women don’t need saved; morally they do.

Of course, there is an argument to be made that these stories are all in the service of character development. That may be partially true, though that character development is often mishandled or diminished in the service of man’s development.

Regardless, the problem does not arise in the fact that these arcs serve no purpose as they usually do add something to a show; it develops because women are being robbed of agency in ways that male characters simply wouldn’t be. While Oliver’s soul may be the subject of much conversation on Arrow, it’s clearly set out as a choice for Oliver to make and not for another character to make for him, in contrast to Thea whose soul is something to be bartered for by Oliver, Malcolm, and the League.

In addition of being robbed of agency, women are not allowed the same types of character development and plot arcs afforded to male characters. It would appear that while we adore watching women who act as killing machines motivated by a deep sense of justice, like Sara Lance, we’re uncomfortable learning just how they became that way, or at least writers seem to think we are. They might assume we enjoy watching how Oliver Queen became the Arrow, but that we’re not interested in how Sara Lance became Black Canary and even when they acknowledge that we might be interested in a woman’s development, like Thea’s journey to become Arsenal, they often rob that story of many of the grittier elements that are allowed for characters like Oliver and Roy.

We still treat male and female characters differently, and the “saving her soul” trope has become a part of that, a way to replace the damsel in distress with something slightly more palatable. It is a plot device that often sacrifices agency and development on the part of the woman for development of the man or to advance a storyline, and in it’s current form it’s unacceptable. Yes, men and women are different and have different stories, but until we can show those stories equal time and attention, the least we can do is give the characters equal shots at agency and development.

Does "Arrow" Have a Problem with Female Agency?

Last week on Arrow we saw the reveal of Sara Lance as the famed Black Canary, one of two new female additions to the cast of characters in Starling City along with the wily and suspicious Isabel Rochev. The addition of Black Canary is exciting not only because she’s a heroine of comic book lore, but because it serves to enhance an already strong and nuanced cast of female characters. Unfortunately, it also has me asking an important question: Does Arrow have a problem with female agency?

Here’s why I bring it up: In the build-up to the unmasking of Black Canary it was established that Sara is running from something or someone and that means that she isn’t on equal footing with the Arrow, or Oliver Queen, her male counterpart. Rather, Sara lacks some amount of agency afforded to Oliver. She dons a mask not only out of choice but, to a certain extent, out of necessity. As long as she’s hiding, she can’t have the same amount of freedom or choice as Oliver and that’s disappointing on a show that already struggles with giving its female characters a whole lot of agency.

Of course, you may argue that Arrow has lots of strong, independent female characters. And it does, but those characters don’t have a whole lot of control over their destiny. We can start with the classic example of Moira Queen who spent almost all of Season 1 under the thumb of the devious Malcolm Merlyn and only escaped in the last episode of the season which resulted in her imprisonment and a continued lack of agency for Mrs. Queen, though, this time as a prisoner of her judicial fate.

Now we can move to some seemingly more “in control” ladies. We’ve got a few to talk about. Of course, first and foremost there is the formidable Laurel Lance, a relentless attorney with an eye for seeing the real bad guy. Then, there’s the sassy and too-grown-up-for-her-own-good Thea Queen, Oliver’s little sister who has a remarkable amount of responsibility for her purported age of eighteen. Finishing out the trio is the incomparable Felicity Smoak, Oliver’s apparent Gal Friday and tech extraordinaire. All of these women seem to be pretty in control of their own fate and to a great extent they are. The problem lies in the writing for these women. All three have been subjected to a pretty high amount of damsel in distress syndrome, or DIDS as I like to call it. Now, that’s bound to happen a little in a superhero drama, but you don’t see the male characters being rescued nearly as much as you see the female characters being saved by the dashing Oliver and let’s be real DIDS is a little old. There are a lot more interesting stories to be told than Oliver once again dashing in and saving Laurel or Felicity at the last minute.

Now, I know what you’re going to say: But it’s a drama and everything’s not supposed to be coming up roses for all the characters. And you’re right. It is a drama, but the last time I checked giving female characters more agency over their own fate didn’t mean everything was suddenly  happy go lucky for them.  In fact, many of the most interesting female characters on TV have loads of agency and aren’t all that happy. To name a few, there’s Mellie Grant on Scandal, Christina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy, and Regina on Once Upon a Time. I don’t think anyone would say that these women have easy lives or that they lack agency. In fact, the high amount of agency these characters have often serves to make their stories more interesting and dramatic.

Stop. I know what you’re going to say now, too: But it’s a show that’s about a man and it’s hard to give the female characters more agency without taking away from his story. Well, it is a story about a man, but as in the above examples giving the supporting characters more agency doesn’t take away from the main character’s story. Mellie’s story doesn’t detract from Liv’s, Christina’s doesn’t detract from Meredith’s, and Regina’s doesn’t detract from Emma’s so why should we have any reason to believe that giving Oliver’s supporting women more agency would make his story less interesting.

Okay. By now you’re probably wondering who Oliver is going to rescue if we try to cure the ladies of Arrow of DIDS. And the answer is everyone. Oliver can go on rescuing Laurel, Thea, and Felicity, but maybe he should be rescuing  Quentin Lance, Roy Harper, and John Diggle just as much, and to make things really interesting maybe every once in a while Felicity or Laurel or Thea should rescue Oliver. Now, that’s an episode I’d definitely tune in for.

It goes without saying that Arrow already does a better than average job of providing us with a large cast of nuanced female characters, something many shows still struggle with, but that’s doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Giving the female characters more agency only makes them and the show more interesting. I have a lot of faith in this show and I’m excited to see more of Isabel Rochev and Sara Lance. I really believe Arrow can and will do them justice. Now, it’s time for Arrow to do justice for all of its characters.