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.

Totally Belated Movie Review: In a World (2013)

Welcome to my new series, “Totally Belated Movie Reviews”, where I will review movies months, sometimes years, after they were released.

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For Lent this year I decided it’s time to declutter my Netflix queue so until Easter I won’t be adding anything to my list. Rather, I’ll be making a point to watch content that has been languishing there for months or years. This decision brought me to Saturday night where once again I was left with the difficult decision of how exactly to waste my time on the Internet and I found, waiting for me in the depths of my queue, In a World, a movie first released in 2013.

In a World is a devastatingly clever comedy following a female voice-over artist, starring, written, and directed by Lake Bell. The movie deftly tells a story that is very much about gender without being a movie that is “about gender.” The plot largely revolves around the competition for a particular voice-over role that will resurrect the famed movie trailer line “in a world.” The competition is between a well-known voice-over artist, his male protégé, and his daughter. The movie's main story is, of course, grounded in the resulting family drama.

Carol Solomon, the film’s protagonist, is a vocal coach and daughter of Sam Soto, a fictional, famed voice-over actor. Carol emotionally grounds the film and her struggles to break into the voice-over big leagues mirror the struggles of many women to achieve the highest degrees of success in any field. While the film pays attention to this element, it largely focuses instead of the relationships of the characters, making it an emotionally compelling film on multiple levels. However, in one of the movies overtly feminist moments, a Hollywood producer played by Geena Davis, one of Hollywood's leading feminist voices, levels with Carol about the importance of hearing women’s voices and in that moment the strongest message of the film could not be more clear. That message, to quote Davis’ character directly, is that, “Whether the general public choose to acknowledge it or not, voice over matters.”

In a World is certainly right about that. Voice over matters. It’s one more place that media manages to tell women that we don’t take up 50% of the space on this Earth. Whether we realize it or not, women are bombarded with that message. In voice over work, in movie crowd scenes, even on the subway, women are given less than 50%, less than their share. And while these instances may seem relatively innocuous in and of themselves, when we zoom out on them and consider the other places where women don’t take up 50% of the space (looking at you, Congress) or where women’s voices aren’t heard, it becomes obvious that these “little” things matter.

In a World drives that point home, and it does so quite elegantly and with plenty of humor. All in all, In a World is a stellar movie featuring all of my favorite things including Geena Davis, powerful feminist messages, snappy dialogue, and, of course, Eva Longoria trying to master a Cockney accent. That’s why I totally belatedly give this movie an A.

"But Was It Worth It?": On "Agent Carter" and Feminist Burnout

I want to be writing this right now to tell you just how Agent Carter is good, so good. And I want to be writing this now to applaud how groundbreaking the series is, because it is. It’s brilliant; it’s historic; it’s exciting. But I just can’t bring myself to write to simply extoll all those virtues in detail. Not today, at least.

You see, I have a bad case of feminist burnout. The weight of the issues facing contemporary feminists and the world is getting me down. On days like today, I struggle to believe that the work I am doing is ever going to make a difference. It happens to all of us once in awhile and I would imagine something like it happened to Agent Peggy Carter herself.

When I watch Peggy struggle with the harsh realities of working in a field dominated by men who underestimate her ability and intelligence and who regularly put her down, I see a vivid set of emotions brought to life by the brilliant Hayley Atwell. But the one that stands out the most is exhaustion. Now part of this stems from the fact that Peggy spends her evenings and weekends working outside the law to clear Howard Stark’s name, but I would imagine a significant part also comes from the endless reminders that she is a woman in a man’s world. That is something I relate to all too much right now.

When Peggy faces an office of men who continue to remind her that she doesn’t belong, I am reminded of Congress, of boardrooms, of university faculties. All places where women struggle to achieve equal representation and to have their voices heard. When Peggy hears herself being portrayed as a hapless damsel in distress on the Captain America radio show, I see the way women are portrayed in most media as a series of boring stereotypes rather than well-rounded characters. When Peggy is forced to live by a stringent set of rules in her boarding house, I am reminded of the societal rules policing my own body and sexuality. In short, it all hits too close to home.

But Peggy fights on, quite literally. Through the exhaustion, through the pain, Peggy fights on and serves as a personal reminder for me, and those around me, to do the same. At the close of the pilot, Peggy sits with her sidekick, Edwin Jarvis, at an automat as Peggy questions whether it’s all worth it and Jarvis replies, “I don’t think we’ll know that until the job is truly done.” The same can be said for feminism. Though I may not see the fruits of my labors today, I must remember that one day the job will, indeed, be truly done. Then I will know for sure what I must today believe on faith: It will be worth it.

As I continue to fight in my own small ways for equality and justice, there is another important and affirming lesson I have taken away from Agent Carter. An ongoing theme of the Marvel cinematic universe is, in the words of Nick Fury, that “One man can accomplish anything if he realizes that he is part of something bigger.” Though, Fury may have left us out, Peggy Carter reminds us that one woman can accomplish anything, too. With that in mind, I will go forward and remember that I am part of a larger movement of women who can and will accomplish everything. And I, like Peggy, will fight on.