Misfits paper: Femininity and Female Disempowerment in Misfits

[da_phoenix13]

So I'm dead tired right now, and seriously about to pass out, but I just finished my final paper for my female superheroes class, talking about the portrayal of the female characters in Misfits and how they are ultimately more disempowered than any of the male characters. There are a bunch of citations in here that I just don't feel like taking out

Comments

[idioticonion]

Ooo, okay, this is completely fascinating. Absolutely brilliant and I enjoyed reading every word

[otempora42]

Poor Simon seemed the most victimised.

Simon's victimized because of his quiet and introverted personality. His power doesn't cause him to be victimized - in fact, he uses his powers to victimize others (spy on Alisha and Kelly in the changing room, enter Sally's home without her knowledge). And, again, Nathan is disempowered in his personal life, but his powers did save him from death - given enough time, he could get out of his grave. Neither of their powers actually make them weaker, whereas Alisha's definitely does.

[idioticonion]

Playing devil's advocate for a moment. Simon's power are horrible. they turn him MORE introverted and MORE alienated than he was before. They accentuate his pain, make real the feeling that he's cut off from the rest of humanity. They cause him to go all creeper, which furthers his disconnection from his peers.

So in that way, I'd say that his powers make him victimize himself.

Also, he's terribly victimised by whats-her-name - the probation officer lady. YES he eventually kills her, but that's a product of his powers and the deep disconnect he's feeling.

[da_phoenix13]

God, I completely disagree with you about Simon. Yes, he was the most victimized before he got his powers, because blonde boy bullied him and he was shy and no one ever listened to him, and this came out in the fact that he was granted invisibility (they said somewhere that the characters' powers enhance portions of their personalities that they don't really like). It doesn't take him long to use his power of invisibility to victimize others, spying on the girls and turning invisible to intimidate Sally right before he kills her (which was an accident, but you know). He also starts using Kelly's power to his advantage, thinking things rather than saying them out loud so he knows she'll hear him. I see Simon as one of the darker characters, because he has so little hesitation at doing evil and covering up his wrongdoings -- it was his idea to bury the bodies in concrete, thus ensuring they'd never be found, and he keeps Sally in a freezer so he can finally be alone with her, not even telling his "friends" that she's even dead. Hell, I

[idioticonion]

you know what this needs? A table with all the bad things that happened to each character in each episode, to work out who would win.

Go on, you know your inner geek wants to. ;-)

And you had to use that icon of Simon, didn't you?

[da_phoenix13]

Don't encourage my inner geek! She's been enabled enough by this class as it is. ;)

And yes, yes I did. And I'd do it again, I tell you. Mwahaha!