maishaparadox:Feminist Orphan Black: The CountdownOver the course of the next ten days, I will be pu
maishaparadox:Feminist Orphan Black: The CountdownOver the course of the next ten days, I will be publishing one drawing and mini-essay per day exploring different feminist themes in the BBC America tv series Orphan Black as a countdown to the premier of season two on April 19th. This series will include season one spoilers, so if you haven’t seen Orphan Black yet, consider this your official kick in the pants! (It’s only ten 45-minute-long episodes, you can do it in under a day if you make a marathon of it.) So with that little intro, let’s get right to it!10. Women as IndividualsOne of the core themes of Orphan Black is individuality. Although a huge proportion of the characters in Orphan Black are genetically identical clones —all played by the incredibly talented Tatiana Maslany — they are written and portrayed as completely different people. This is nearly opposite from how mainstream media has historically treated women characters: as (slightly) physically different versions of the same basic ‘woman’ character, whose primary purpose is usually to support the leading male protagonist as either a romantic interest or as a catalyst for his personal growth (or both!). From a media representation standpoint, it is rare to see multiple female characters filling out a cast, let alone multiple well-developed, unique women characters who are placed solidly at the center of their own drama. The clones’ assertions of individuality in the face of a world that lumps them together as an undifferentiated group sounds a lot like the feminist tenant that the category of “women” is expansive rather than reductive. In other words, although the normative patriarchal culture insists on seeing women — especially media depictions of women — as interchangeable and homogenous, women are actually complex individuals composed of many different facets of identity, all shaped by their unique circumstances, experiences, and choices. Women are not reducible to their gender. Orphan Black totally gets that. -- source link
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