Women in the BBC's Version of Merlin
Behind this cut, I feel a need to express dissatisfaction with certain things about the series, like, y'know, its portrayal of women. So if you're all jazzed about Merlin, you might not want to read me criticizing your fannish love. But if you do read it, and you read something you don't like, you've been appropriately forewarned.
Also, there are spoilers for the events of season one, and some for casting in the upcoming season two. ETA: There are also spoilers for the BBC's latest version of Robin Hood in the comments.
I mean, sure, I know that fandom loves itself some Merlin, both the series and the character. I know that Arthurian legend itself is rife with women who are destructive whores that can't keep themselves faithful to their man, and cause the downfall of ALL OF CAMELOT because of it, since, really, we can't be laying the blame at the feet of the men who were really in power at the time. Nope. Not at all. Their behavior isn't the issue.
I know it's been worse, in Arthurian legend, ever since Tennyson came out with Idylls of the King (gosh, yay, Victorianism), but, really, if you go farther back, it's still pretty bad. I mean, we've got the evil that is Morgan La Fay, and Morguase, who was incestuous, and that heartless vixen Elaine of Astolat, not to mention Nimue, that evil temptress who locked Merlin away.
Arthurian legand is often a case of "blah blah, misogyny" if you take a look at the women's roles. Mind you, I have this thing where I love Arthurian legend anyway, but I do what I always do with my fandoms, and take the women's roles and just sort of-- Well, I rework them, and add layers of depth, not to mention I hunt through the text for tiny scraps of motivation that have nothing to do with men, and expand on those motivations so the women are more full-fledged characters, rather than ciphers who are motivators for male behavior.
The thing is, when I'd heard that the BBC was doing a revised Merlin, I was all kinds of excited. Anthony Stuart Head! As King Giles Uther! Other people whom I'd never heard of! As the other characters! The idea of reworking the mythology itself didn't bother me, at least, it didn't until I saw the show.
First off, seriously, I have a problem with Gwen being reworked as, not just a commoner, but a maid. I don't expect historical accuracy from the BBC (because, really, heir to the kingdom marrying a maid, right, whatever), but when they cast Angel Coulby as Gwen, they really should have reworked the role. Couldn't she have been a princess in disguise as a maid instead? Because, honestly, casting a black woman as a servant? Please no.
I love Gwen. I love Angel Coulby, and she is a damn good actor, and I hope to God that the role grows and expands, and we find out that she's been a princess in disguise for lo these many years. And that Leodegrance shows up looking for his daughter, who has been in hiding and sent away with the Royal Blacksmith for her own protection.
I feel like you can't say "yes, this is wrong, but, really, it's going to all end up okay because Gwen is going to be the queen some day!" Because they cast a black woman as a white woman's servant, and aren't there enough problematic gender and racial roles out there? Couldn't we take a look at Angel, say she's awesome for the role, and then re-write the role to remove the skeevy fail?
The next problem I have is that Morgana's magic is totally out of her control. She doesn't get to grow in power; she gets to have hysterical female visions that require her to be led away by soldiers and told to lay down and not worry her pretty little head over them, because the menfolk will take care of it. Not to mention that every time she opens her big mouth and expresses an opinion, she gets shut down, or even clapped in irons by her guardian, who, if you go by Arthurian legend, is also her stepfather. (I don't care that Uther apologized later for clapping her in irons. I'm mad that it happened in the first place.)
What does Merlin get for having magic and opinions? He gets Geoffrey of Monmouth as his mentor, and a near-sainted mother who loves and supports him, and the freaking white dragon giving him sage advice about his special destiny. Even though he's a common Welsh brat. Who, really, showed up one day in England, and got made manservant to the heir to the throne right away. Because he's got magic and uses it. He uses it secretly, yes, but Morgana also uses hers secretly. Or at least, it's inflicted on her secretly. So why is magic a reward to the male character, and why does it do a disservice to the female characters who have it?
I have no objection to Merlin getting all of those things. My problem is that Morgana gets treated like dirt for having magic, (not to mention opinions! how dare she!), and she doesn't get anything at all to indicate how special she is for having magic. Besides, it's all girly magic that doesn't actively affect the world. She can't throw fireballs.
Because fireballs, of course, are part and parcel of Teh Evil Woman, who is embodied in the form of the scarlet-clad, bare-armed seductress Nimueh.
Guys. Seriously. Nimueh and Uther used to be BFFs. Uther wanted an heir. Nimueh said, "Well, I can get you one of those, but the price is going to be a life for a life."
Uther, not thinking about all of this, said, "Sure! I need to get a son on my wife, Igraine, because certainly that is the most important thing my wife is for!" (Those of you who are going to argue historical accuracy here will have to then have hissyfits over all the historical inaccuracies in the series.)
When Igraine died, Uther got mad. But did he get mad at himself? Of course not. He got mad, not just at Nimueh, but at magic in general, and then he spent the next twenty years systematically hunting down and executing every magic user that he could find. Because he screwed up.
But wait. Our villain in the story in season one is portrayed as Nimueh? Really? You mean that the guy who started a war isn't being portrayed as anyone other than a father who loves his son and has some major character flaws? That fact that Nimueh popping up every now and again to try to assassinate the guy who's killing everyone she loves isn't understood and sympathized with?
Frankly, during season one, every time Nimueh showed up, I was rooting for her to clap Uther in chains, send Arthur and Merlin off into exile, and set Morgana and Gwen up to rule the kingdom together.
In the finale, when she set Merlin up to hear an offer of taking over together? I was still rooting for her. Honestly, Merlin shot her in the back (with a fireball) and killed her, when a) he made a bargain and then later wanted to break it, and b) she let him live and was walking away. He said no, and she burned his clothing and turned around to go. She was fine with an answer of no.
I'm supposed to like a guy who does this? I'm supposed to treat him as the hero of the story? No. I don't think so.
So I said I wasn't going to watch series two. I'm over it. I've had it up to here with series that treats female characters poorly.
Now out comes a casting information for season two from the BBC, and-- Just. Dude. Are they even aware of their fail?
There's a wide range of male guest stars. Some are villainous. Some are heroic. Lancelot even comes back! I guess traveling over from France isn't very difficult when your foster mother is the Lady of the Lake. (That part isn't a spoiler; that's out of Arthurian legend.)
There's only one female guest star listed: Sarah Parish (Mistresses, Cutting It) will play a disgusting troll masquerading as the beautiful Lady Catrina.
THAT'S RIGHT. The one female guest star that's confirmed for the next series, well, she's an ugly troll masquerading as a beautiful women. Because that didn't happen in the very first episode already, so why not start off the second season by introducing the exact same kind of female guest star as we had on the first?
Score. At least I know what to expect, and can confidently state that I have no desire to replicate the heartbreak of watching more female characters be portrayed badly, or shoved in a refrigerator, or, just, any of it.
I've got Leverage and H2O: Just Add Water, and I'm being enabled into Criminal Minds. There's Sanctuary, which can hit all my favorite Victorian fic tropes, and (mostly) avoids the problematic ones. There's In Plain Sight, with Mary Shannon in all her complexity.
Not even for magic and pretty women who are awesome and have chemistry (and are subtextually total girlfriends) will I be putting up with this.
Looking back, I see that I've unintentionally echoed some (many?) of the things that
thingswithwings said when she asked Did I tell you that I watched Merlin? Which I notice she got a lot of flak for, enough so that she turned off comment notifications and screened further incoming comments.
Right. So. I'm going to be screening comments too, in part because, oh God, I am so tired of the "stop harshing my squee" or the "if you're watching it for the female characters you're doing it wrong" arguments (*cough* sga_noticeboard female characters wank). I don't plan on keeping everything screened forever, but I won't be unscreening something if I feel like I'm being attacked or told I'm wrong simply for having a different opinion than the majority of the fandom.
With any luck, I'm just being overly paranoid.
Also, there are spoilers for the events of season one, and some for casting in the upcoming season two. ETA: There are also spoilers for the BBC's latest version of Robin Hood in the comments.
I mean, sure, I know that fandom loves itself some Merlin, both the series and the character. I know that Arthurian legend itself is rife with women who are destructive whores that can't keep themselves faithful to their man, and cause the downfall of ALL OF CAMELOT because of it, since, really, we can't be laying the blame at the feet of the men who were really in power at the time. Nope. Not at all. Their behavior isn't the issue.
I know it's been worse, in Arthurian legend, ever since Tennyson came out with Idylls of the King (gosh, yay, Victorianism), but, really, if you go farther back, it's still pretty bad. I mean, we've got the evil that is Morgan La Fay, and Morguase, who was incestuous, and that heartless vixen Elaine of Astolat, not to mention Nimue, that evil temptress who locked Merlin away.
Arthurian legand is often a case of "blah blah, misogyny" if you take a look at the women's roles. Mind you, I have this thing where I love Arthurian legend anyway, but I do what I always do with my fandoms, and take the women's roles and just sort of-- Well, I rework them, and add layers of depth, not to mention I hunt through the text for tiny scraps of motivation that have nothing to do with men, and expand on those motivations so the women are more full-fledged characters, rather than ciphers who are motivators for male behavior.
The thing is, when I'd heard that the BBC was doing a revised Merlin, I was all kinds of excited. Anthony Stuart Head! As King Giles Uther! Other people whom I'd never heard of! As the other characters! The idea of reworking the mythology itself didn't bother me, at least, it didn't until I saw the show.
First off, seriously, I have a problem with Gwen being reworked as, not just a commoner, but a maid. I don't expect historical accuracy from the BBC (because, really, heir to the kingdom marrying a maid, right, whatever), but when they cast Angel Coulby as Gwen, they really should have reworked the role. Couldn't she have been a princess in disguise as a maid instead? Because, honestly, casting a black woman as a servant? Please no.
I love Gwen. I love Angel Coulby, and she is a damn good actor, and I hope to God that the role grows and expands, and we find out that she's been a princess in disguise for lo these many years. And that Leodegrance shows up looking for his daughter, who has been in hiding and sent away with the Royal Blacksmith for her own protection.
I feel like you can't say "yes, this is wrong, but, really, it's going to all end up okay because Gwen is going to be the queen some day!" Because they cast a black woman as a white woman's servant, and aren't there enough problematic gender and racial roles out there? Couldn't we take a look at Angel, say she's awesome for the role, and then re-write the role to remove the skeevy fail?
The next problem I have is that Morgana's magic is totally out of her control. She doesn't get to grow in power; she gets to have hysterical female visions that require her to be led away by soldiers and told to lay down and not worry her pretty little head over them, because the menfolk will take care of it. Not to mention that every time she opens her big mouth and expresses an opinion, she gets shut down, or even clapped in irons by her guardian, who, if you go by Arthurian legend, is also her stepfather. (I don't care that Uther apologized later for clapping her in irons. I'm mad that it happened in the first place.)
What does Merlin get for having magic and opinions? He gets Geoffrey of Monmouth as his mentor, and a near-sainted mother who loves and supports him, and the freaking white dragon giving him sage advice about his special destiny. Even though he's a common Welsh brat. Who, really, showed up one day in England, and got made manservant to the heir to the throne right away. Because he's got magic and uses it. He uses it secretly, yes, but Morgana also uses hers secretly. Or at least, it's inflicted on her secretly. So why is magic a reward to the male character, and why does it do a disservice to the female characters who have it?
I have no objection to Merlin getting all of those things. My problem is that Morgana gets treated like dirt for having magic, (not to mention opinions! how dare she!), and she doesn't get anything at all to indicate how special she is for having magic. Besides, it's all girly magic that doesn't actively affect the world. She can't throw fireballs.
Because fireballs, of course, are part and parcel of Teh Evil Woman, who is embodied in the form of the scarlet-clad, bare-armed seductress Nimueh.
Guys. Seriously. Nimueh and Uther used to be BFFs. Uther wanted an heir. Nimueh said, "Well, I can get you one of those, but the price is going to be a life for a life."
Uther, not thinking about all of this, said, "Sure! I need to get a son on my wife, Igraine, because certainly that is the most important thing my wife is for!" (Those of you who are going to argue historical accuracy here will have to then have hissyfits over all the historical inaccuracies in the series.)
When Igraine died, Uther got mad. But did he get mad at himself? Of course not. He got mad, not just at Nimueh, but at magic in general, and then he spent the next twenty years systematically hunting down and executing every magic user that he could find. Because he screwed up.
But wait. Our villain in the story in season one is portrayed as Nimueh? Really? You mean that the guy who started a war isn't being portrayed as anyone other than a father who loves his son and has some major character flaws? That fact that Nimueh popping up every now and again to try to assassinate the guy who's killing everyone she loves isn't understood and sympathized with?
Frankly, during season one, every time Nimueh showed up, I was rooting for her to clap Uther in chains, send Arthur and Merlin off into exile, and set Morgana and Gwen up to rule the kingdom together.
In the finale, when she set Merlin up to hear an offer of taking over together? I was still rooting for her. Honestly, Merlin shot her in the back (with a fireball) and killed her, when a) he made a bargain and then later wanted to break it, and b) she let him live and was walking away. He said no, and she burned his clothing and turned around to go. She was fine with an answer of no.
I'm supposed to like a guy who does this? I'm supposed to treat him as the hero of the story? No. I don't think so.
So I said I wasn't going to watch series two. I'm over it. I've had it up to here with series that treats female characters poorly.
Now out comes a casting information for season two from the BBC, and-- Just. Dude. Are they even aware of their fail?
There's a wide range of male guest stars. Some are villainous. Some are heroic. Lancelot even comes back! I guess traveling over from France isn't very difficult when your foster mother is the Lady of the Lake. (That part isn't a spoiler; that's out of Arthurian legend.)
There's only one female guest star listed: Sarah Parish (Mistresses, Cutting It) will play a disgusting troll masquerading as the beautiful Lady Catrina.
THAT'S RIGHT. The one female guest star that's confirmed for the next series, well, she's an ugly troll masquerading as a beautiful women. Because that didn't happen in the very first episode already, so why not start off the second season by introducing the exact same kind of female guest star as we had on the first?
Score. At least I know what to expect, and can confidently state that I have no desire to replicate the heartbreak of watching more female characters be portrayed badly, or shoved in a refrigerator, or, just, any of it.
I've got Leverage and H2O: Just Add Water, and I'm being enabled into Criminal Minds. There's Sanctuary, which can hit all my favorite Victorian fic tropes, and (mostly) avoids the problematic ones. There's In Plain Sight, with Mary Shannon in all her complexity.
Not even for magic and pretty women who are awesome and have chemistry (and are subtextually total girlfriends) will I be putting up with this.
Looking back, I see that I've unintentionally echoed some (many?) of the things that
thingswithwings said when she asked Did I tell you that I watched Merlin? Which I notice she got a lot of flak for, enough so that she turned off comment notifications and screened further incoming comments.
Right. So. I'm going to be screening comments too, in part because, oh God, I am so tired of the "stop harshing my squee" or the "if you're watching it for the female characters you're doing it wrong" arguments (*cough* sga_noticeboard female characters wank). I don't plan on keeping everything screened forever, but I won't be unscreening something if I feel like I'm being attacked or told I'm wrong simply for having a different opinion than the majority of the fandom.
With any luck, I'm just being overly paranoid.