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.

A couple of comments I guess, to generate discussion and a little thing about Chav culture.

Firstly, Kelly's hairstyle is often called a "Croydon Facelift". Basically because the severe pulling back of her hair gives the face a stretched look (like plastic surgery) and is favoured in the South London area (where Croydon is). Chavs generally have that kind of south london/essex "common" accent. Where common means lower class or uneducated. Weirdly, I never saw Alisha as middle class at all, because of her accent (although it's different to Kelly's). I'll have to watch again and re-evaluate. "Chavs" generally wear pretty expensive "label" sports wear such as Nike, Puma and stuff like Burberry. The girls often wear that sort of thing that Kelly wears - and I've seen it in the North country as well as the south. Chav is a relatively modern term really (well, it seems to me!)

It's weird to think that you think both girls are more disempowered than the boys. If I had to pick the most pathetic figure, it would DEFINITELY be Nathan. With his homelessness and the was he's victimised (by the Old/Young lady for sex, and by the baby). And of course he has a horrible ending! Killed then resurrected once he's been buried.

But yeah, although Alisha's power definitely victimises her too, I felt that Kelly definitely did grow throughout the series and ended up in a place where she was using her power. Poor Simon seemed the most victimised. But maybe because that's just because I'm easily swayed by his sad!face and remember him being Moritz in Spring Awakening? ;-)

[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 could probably write a whole other essay on how Simon's failure to fit into conventional masculinity (he's not physically strong, he's quiet, shy, sensitive, etc.) ends up sending him on a far darker path than either Curtis or Nathan in his quest to prove he's a "real man".

But my class was on females, so you know.

And as far as Nathan goes, yeah, some crap things happen to him, but none of the characters really have good lots in life. Heck, Kelly gets dumped by her fiance with little hesitation, she gets turned completely bald by that girl, none of the characters except Nathan really accept her for who she is, etc. And like Otemps said, Nathan's IMMORTAL. Having the power finally manifest itself after everyone's buried him is a cruel cosmic joke, but he'll likely get out of his grave, and immortality is way more useful a power than rape hands. But then, that's just my view of it.

[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!