I really enjoy the feminist analysis of True Blood going on at Feministe, Racialicious and Womanist Musings. This season (3) there has been much talk on those forums about all the violence against women going on in True Blood, which I can understand, I mean the vampires are certainly badly behaved but I have to admit to also feeling a little “meh, they’re vampires” on the whole topic, too. I kind of expect my vampires to be lacking in some willingness to observe the boundaries of others.
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(Is this not the most ridiculous magazine cover for a TV show ever? There are some friends I have been trying to convince to try out True Blood, and they’ve been like – a show about vampires, and you’re how old? – and this magazine cover is not helping matters.)
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And yet, when we started watching the Dexter series on DVD this week I managed to be completely appalled by the misogyny. The entire television show (at least in season 1), has a major madonna-whore complex. I get that the show is about serial killers and that serial killers are generally depicted killing women, I can swallow that bit of misogyny, but the show has two very different responses to the various female victims depending on whether or not they were the madonnas of the world or the whores. When a madonna gets got Dexter is motivated to go to all sorts of lengths to bring the serial killing motherfucker (figuratively, and sometimes literally a fucker of wholesome mother types) down. But when a whore gets got, everyone, and not just Dexter, thinks it’s some sort of devilishly thrilling game being played by the serial killer and that we should all clap hands in anticipation of the fun that is about to begin. Jokes about the woman’s severed head and admiration of her lovely carved-up arse all follow as part of the weary cynicism of the hip crime solver. Now I will admit that sex workers don’t fare much better on True Blood, they have on occasion been little more than fodder for a vampire’s grazing but the show seems somehow less gleeful about that prospect. At least the fetishism doesn’t extend to his or her mutilated body parts. (Goddamn! for poor sex workers. When you’re done providing background colour in this scene can you please trot over and feed the vampires and serial killers?) Surely there is more to my inconsistencies than that I now find vampires hot and Dexter not? (In evidence against me I found this feminist analysis of Dexter – here, here and here).
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I think vampires are supposed to be a metaphor for our collective fear of the sexual appetite? Which must mean that I dig that fear or something. I am probably not the best judge of anything when lust is involved. My moral compass can be jammed from time to time. For instance, I have really been unnecessarily forgiving of the Labor Party’s failed emissions trading scheme because I have a crush on the Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong. Whenever she is on television trying to justify said collapse of carbon market I find myself thinking how can we be angry with poor foxy Penny Wong?
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I probably shouldn’t be writing a feminist blog.
I enjoy Dexter, so I might be justifying shit that isn’t justifiable, I’m gonna be upfront about that.
When the men in question were objectifying the dismembered body parts, I felt that we were supposed to judge those men and find them lacking; that we were supposed to see that it’s not JUST the serial killer who is preying on women, reducing them to pieces. It’s everyone they encounter, including the people who are supposed to keep them safe from murder and dismemberment. (note that in the book, it’s made pretty clear that Dexter isn’t the only would-be serial killer. The difference is the other cops involved have kept their killing technically legal. There’s lots of moral gray areas both in the show and book, which is part of the problem for a guy who needs moral issues spelled out in black and white.)
Bear in mind that at least one character (a woman who is unmarried and who has and enjoys sex) feels a connection to the sex workers and thinks of them as “her girls,” people who it’s her responsibility to protect and keep safe both as a cop and a (female) human being. She is very invested in protecting them both from the serial killer AND from being dismissed as expendable by the other cops. NOTE: her sexist humiliations is part of the whole “cops can be misogynist jerks, too” deal. They aren’t automatically good guys just because they wear a uniform.
I haven’t read the feminist discussions you’ve linked to yet (but I will when it isn’t nearly midnight, heh), but part of why I like Dexter is because there are several fleshed out female characters who do stuff other than sit about and talk about the main (male) character. They have lives. They connect. They do stuff. They are PEOPLE. Is Dexter a perfect show? No. it’s pretty flawed, as all tv shows are. But for all its violence and women being victims, I think it manages to comment upon those trends/cliches as much as it profits from them. There are characters who are misogynist, but that’s true of life as well. Generally speaking, I come away from the show feeling that the sexism etc are commented on and not just peddled.
It’s really interesting you comparing Dexter to True Blood, though. I do read commentary on TB even though I’ve only seen the first season.
Ah thank you for the well reasoned counter-view, I shall persist with Dexter then.
I can be cranky at Penny Wong, despite also having a little crush on her! If she’s secretly negotiating for same-sex marriage with the Greens, though, I totally forgive her.
“Criminal Minds” was one of the few crime shows I didn’t find horribly misogynist – they were very careful not to victim-blame, the female characters got stories as often and as prominently as the male characters, and stock storylines were distributed without regard to gender – but the last season was much worse in all ways and now they’re sacking two of the three regular female actors. “True Blood” varies wildly, from awesome and groundbreaking to tired and moderately homophobic. This season has been particularly bad for gendered violence for some reason.
Politically correct vampires? Hmm, well, there’s Angel, Brad Pitt in Interview with a vampire, and Vampire Bill (although he’s been slipping lately), i.e. the boring, less attractive ones. People used to say in the 70s that women fantasised about being raped (remember Diane Keaton in Play it Again Sam). Now that rape is a lot more real to most of us, now that we all know what it’s about because victims tell us, there’s no way we would even tolerate that suggestion. And I find it very hard to understand why anyone ever felt that way. But sexist violent vampires are still up for grabs, I reckon, because they’ll never become a reality. Especially if they look like Eric Northman.
I haven’t seen True Blood, but I have watched (and enjoyed) Dexter.
As an earlier commenter pointed out, I think that Deb brings some balance to the misogyny that some of the other cops on the force represent. I also don’t have a problem with misogyny being displayed in media, depending on how it is handled. Without Deb’s voice, though, I would definitely have a problem with the way the sex workers’ deaths are viewed.
I do find myself slightly uneasy with Dexter’s relationship with Rita. I know that the show has provided a lot of back story and context to make Rita’s vulnerability plausible, but the way their relationship unfolds (and continues to unfold in the second season, which is as far as I’ve seen), is problematic in ways I haven’t fully analyzed yet.
Feminists are people?
Ack! What next?
Mothers?
My brain esplode!
psssst… I have watched 13 cycles of America’s Next Top Model and I have subscribed, it’s true, to Martha Stewart’s Living.
I really love Deb, in “Dexter.” Take note of people who describe her as “whiny.” They tend to also not like “women singers” because of their “shrill voices” or whatever. Most of the time, Deb feels very authentic. She is a human being, flawed and vulnerable, strong and smart, capable. She protects herself AND OTHERS (including her love interest at one point, minor spoiler) but also needs protecting and rescuing at times, as all humans do.
Rita does get more fleshed out, and comes into her own, including standing up for herself in the relationship with Dexter and being more present and demanding more from him.
I think it’s easy for people to see the show Dexter as glorifying violence and murder, but I think it can help us look at ourselves and see what is and isn’t acceptable. Why is it bad when THIS person murders, but not THAT person? Why is THIS life more special than THAT life? Why should THIS person be nurtured and not THAT person? What are the flaws in “the system”? How are “bad” people protected by good, and how are “good” people protected by bad? It has the potential to raise questions… as does good vampire fiction!
Interesting to hear from you all that Rita develops through the series because at the moment I see her as a symptom of the madonna-whore complex going on in the show. Ordinarily she wouldn’t be madonna-ish enough to be Dexter’s love interest – single mother of two trying to escape violent ex-partner, but given their intense celibacy she has been kind of re-invented as the virgin damsel in distress.
I have to say that this discussion has increased my interest in watching Dexter.
I’m with Brigid Keely. While I get where you are coming from blue milk, and definitely do not think that the show is perfect – what they do with their women characters is commendable. I love that Deb is a well-rounded character who swears like a trucker, but is also socially awkward. LaGuerta is an awesome portrayal of an ambitious woman in male-dominated workplace – without turning her into the cold, hard, bitch stereotype. Sure – she does questionable things to maintain her position – but it’s not portrayed as easy… and Rita as a character fills out considerably during the last season currently available…
I think one of the things I enjoy is that the women aren’t all the same – and – they have private lives. So often, if a woman is successful professionally, we are led to assume that they don’t have an unprofessional life.
Don’t get your hopes too high about Rita. In the most recent series her character is reduced to a plot-device shrew who exists solely to make demands of Dexter that get in the way of his secret vocation.
Can’t comment on vampires… simply not interested… but I :can: comment on Penny Wong. I first heard of her when I was a little grad in the public service, in a certain portfolio where she happened to be the shadow minister. Other lefties would huddle together during Senate Estimates and coo about Ms Wong demolishing our briefs. (Our Senate Estimates briefs, that is.)
So how can I not forgive her, with that lasting memory in mind?
Perhaps Penny Wong is playing the game so she’ll get her crack at being Prime Minister. Then she can do what she wants. And all will be forgiven.
Penny Wong’s a senator – she’d need to move to the lower house to be PM.
Both Dexter and True Blood do pass the Bechdel test! Though it’s pretty clear Twilight doesn’t, not that anyone was talking about Twilight, but, you know, vampires and all.
My love of vampire cinema all started with Buffy, and now I’m a sucker for the stuff, implications be damned. I wouldn’t exactly call it a guilty pleasure, but I’m flexible in my willingness to overlook some misogyny in exchange for vampy entertainment.
I have to admit to loving True Blood. I wrote a post about it (although it was mostly discussing season 1 – I haven’t seen season 3) that gave it credit for poking fun at the madonna/whore complex. I still stand by that, I think that’s exactly what season 1 did. It exposed as ridiculous the notion that some women can be judged deserving of violence and others not, on the basis of how they choose to conduct their private sexual lives. Here’s the link if you’re interested: http://www.gappytales.com/2010/05/true-blood.html
Having said all that, I think that magazine cover’s horrible.
One of my very favourite scenes from Dexter is here. (Subplot spoiler, ep 3×12.) Bechdelicious.
i’m in on the penny wong crush club. in her interveiw on the abc election coverage she hinted that there was a lively cabinet discussion on the emission trading scheme; i’m willing to believe she didn’t win the debate although she very graciously declined to comment any further
I LIKE ALL OF THE ABOVE.
I like True Blood because you just don’t see that stuff on television. I like Dexter for the same reason. We love/hate the protagonist, such ethics at play. BUT, although it’s fantasy tv, there is powerful things for men and women in this fantasy. I find Deb’s acting so annoying, however, but I like her character because usually women on telly don’t swear and aren’t curious, and frankly that’s why I’m like in real life.
You’ve said everything that’s needed to be said about Penny Wong. But why won’t she get married to me?
That “Learning not to trust” link is definitely worth reading, but does include spoilers of seasons 1 & 2.
The main point for me was that none of the women in the show (Deb, Rita and Laguerta) are shown as being unreasonable in their actions. So often on TV motivations for women are shown as superficial or black and white (ambitious, naive, lack of intelligence or jealousy).
In Dexter the women take the situations as they see it (understandably not assuming that someone they love and respect is a serial killer). They analyse what they see against realistic life experience and act accordingly.
This is a major complaint against Sookie in True Blood. While she seems to be analytical and pragmatic, everything seems to come back to “but I lurrve you Bill”.
Penny Wong got me on side completely by looking so exhausted and rumpled towards the end of that disasterous climate change conference last year (earlier this year? Time, she go mooshy). I remember thinking this was someone who was not there to put a public spin on something already decided, but who had clearly been slogging it out for days. Made the same-sex marriage statements all the more disappointing (is it time to lobby the Greens on that?).