Oh, Billy!

[gabrielleabelle]

queenofdenile asked for it, and I hadn't intended to do it for a while. But then the thoughts started circling my head, and I had to get them out to move on to other things.

So here. Let me dive into a bit of an exploration of the feminist text of Billy. This isn't an episode review, mind. I'm getting feminist here, so join me and put on your feminist goggles or feminist hat or feminist coat or whatever particular feminist adornment you need.

Let's establish some things first.

Billy's power, as explained in the episode, is that he's able to bring out men's "primordial misogyny". This gave me pause the first time I saw it, because I don't think misogyny is in any way natural. It's something learned, not innate. The phrasing threw me.

Now the writers may well have intended it to refer to some intrinsic trait that men share deep down. But let me offer an alternate interpretation of the line that I will use throughout this post.

First, let me use one of my crazy visual metaphors to illustrate. Let's pretend we're all fish (just...go with me, okay?). And we're in a big-ass aquarium. Full of water, naturally. Okey-dokey, we're the fish, the water's our culture. Now imagine someone squeezes a few drops of food coloring into the tank. The coloring diffuses and taints the entire tank given enough time. Soon, we're swimming in food coloring.

Can you see where this is going? Big hint: Food coloring = misogyny.

Misogyny taints the background of our culture. It's unavoidable. And absorption of that misogyny is, likewise, unavoidable.

In this way, "primordial misogyny" is referring to this misogyny ingrained in our culture, left over from the far more blatant misogyny of our past. "Primordial" refers to a beginning. Something that is the origin of its kind. The phrase is referring to the fact that our society was previously steeped in misogyny. As years have passed, we've become more progressive, but that misogyny - that originating misogyny - still lingers. Like the food coloring in the tank. You'd have to replace all the water to get rid of it.



This leads to the next establishing point, in that there are common beliefs that a lot of people buy into that seem innocuous at first glance. Don't hit women/girls. Women and children first. Protect women. Surely not bad things, right? Yet these ideas are rooted in misogynistic beliefs about women. Women are weak, incompetent, fragile. Women are property to be protected by their owners - the men.

Does a person who dutifully lives by the creed of not hitting women explicitly think about this? Likely not. But it's the subconscious counterpart to their externalized belief. And if they're prompted to unpack why they feel that someone shouldn't hit women, they'd probably end up at the conclusion that women are weaker than men and should be given careful consideration.

This means that sometimes deceptively "okay" beliefs can actually be indicative of more disturbing attitudes. The Victorian values that put women on pedestals to be cherished surely sounds good...until you dig in a bit and realize what was behind that thought.

Billy, in this episode, is able to tap into that flipside and turn about a person's subconscious misogyny. He externalizes it.

And...well, that's an awful long set-up, isn't it? But it's important to establish the framework I'll be using to look at the episode. Now let's just dive in.

The episode starts with Lilah (my one true love) and Gavin with Billy. Congressman Blim has arrived to retrieve his nephew. The themes start early. Blim acknowledges to Lilah that she's returned his nephew twice, but then directs the "thank you" to Gavin.

Lilah even makes a comment about this once Blim and Billy leaves: "Our pleasure in the sense that he had nothing to do with it."

Lilah's a great character to use for this episode. A woman in a ruthless corporate job. She has to work twice as hard as a man would to make it, and she's used to it. She's used to doing whatever's needed to come out on top.

Unbeknownst to Lilah, Gavin got all touchy with Billy, and his misogyny is apparently just below the surface as it comes out quickly. When Lilah speaks, Gavin chides her that "[he] wasn't finished". Lilah gets territorial and tells him to leave, and she gets this response:

Gavin: You *think?* Who told you, you could *think?* You know, why don't you try *listening* once in a while instead of constantly flapping that fat mouth of yours?

Once Lilah keeps talking, Gavin rather brutally assaults her.

Intro intro violin music homeless people Big Hero Angel moving on.

Wesley starts things out with a bit of paternalism.

Wesley: It's inspiring to see you like this. The initiative you've shown in training with Angel. Taking responsibility. I'm proud of you.

I'm reminded of when McCain announced Palin as his VP candidate and explained that he was "proud" of her. Could you picture Obama telling everybody he's "proud" of Biden? Of course not. It's assumed that Biden, a man, is competent and able to succeed at politics. A woman, however, deserves special mention. And taking pride in a woman who's taking steps towards being equal is a way of taking some credit of mentorship or special assistance towards their accomplishment.

Wesley is proud of Cordelia because she's learning to fight. She's not his daughter. He has no reason to be "proud" of her.

Cordelia quickly turns this around.

Cordy: Well, it never hurts to be prepared.

Wesley: Hmm...I agree. We should all be battle ready. Every one of us.

But old thought patterns die hard.

Wesley: I was thinking, perhaps I'd enter into a similar training arrangement with our Fred.

Interesting language. "Our" Fred. Implying ownership of some kind. Innocuous on the surface, but we'll later see Billy bring out the disturbing flipside of what's behind this.

Then Cordy gets all visiony and sees a man attacking his wife in a convenience store. Catch is, it happened a week ago.

Wesley does his research thing and quickly comes back with all the info.

In an interesting exchange, Angel takes the crime scene photos away from Cordelia, telling her, "Maybe you shouldn't be looking at that." Paternalism much?

Cordy, still being awesome at this point, stops that nonsense.

Cordy: Tell that to the Powers. They already ran the THX version in my head, remember?

We get more info on the crime. The couple had been married for thirty years. No history of domestic violence. The man says she wouldn't listen to him, and that he was trying to get her to stop talking.

This reasoning (similar to Gavin's) is very interesting. Forgive me for not linking to sources on this, but I'm feeling very lazy and this post is extremely impromptu. But there are studies that show that women tend to talk less in mixed-sex conversations, but that people (men and women) perceive women as talking more. It's similar to the good ol' perception that in a classroom or group with equal numbers of women and men, people will perceive it as being overwhelmingly female.

In short: we, as a culture, aren't used to hearing women talk or seeing women participate. So when they do in increasingly equal numbers, it feels off. What's more, it feels like men are being drowned out. And in the case of this episode, it leads to rage and anger on the part of the man, who feels the woman is infringing on his turf.

Back to the show, Angel notices Billy in the surveillance pictures and puts two and two together (cookie for Angel!).

Angel goes to visit Lilah.

Lilah warns Angel away from Billy. He's untouchable, apparently. Nephew of a VIP, and the law won't mess with him.

Shall I get into entitlement? Yes, I shall.

Without getting too 101, male privilege brings with it entitlement: the belief that one is owed good things...as a man. This is especially prevalent for men in lofty social positions, such as politics. They believe they are owed money or women, and, more, they believe that they can't be punished for taking what they want.

Billy is the representation of this. Lilah says the law won't go near him. He has free reign. No social controls to stop him. And so he spreads his misogyny by bringing it out in others.

Even Lilah, the woman trying to make it in a man's world, initially refuses to do anything about him. Even when she's a victim of his. In a lot of ways, it echoes a rape victim's reluctance to press charges, especially when the perpetrator is well-known or in a position of social importance. The woman knows that the law will do nothing.

Now why do I love Lilah?

Lilah: I'm sorry, but this deep chivalric concern coming from the only man I know who *definitely* wants to kill me, is a bit much on a day like this.

Angel and the boys take a trip to the Blim estate then. Angel crashes in through the patio window and confronts Billy.

Billy: I have never hurt a woman in my life. I just like to watch.

Of course he hasn't hurt a woman. Misogyny, itself, doesn't hurt women. People acting out of misogynistic feelings hurt women. Billy is the misogyny who compels other people to act. And then he enjoys the show.

Then the cops come, a man and a woman officer. They're taking Billy in for questioning about a murder. Billy gets touchy with Sanchez, the male officer.

Of course, that touch sparks a later confrontation in the car.

Sanchez: Why're you going this way? I thought I told you to take Pico.

Woman cop: Relax, Sanchez. We'll get there.

Sanchez: Did you just tell me to relax? - You think you can talk to me like that?

Woman cop: I'd talk to you with my finger, but I like both hands on the wheel while I'm driving.

Sanchez: Pull over.

Woman cop: What?

Sanchez: Pull over!

Woman cop: What's your problem?

Sanchez: I tell you what my problem is: I got a woman here that don't listen!

It starts with a woman not following a man's orders, then refusing to listen to him, then violence.

The Angel Boy Team are investigating the subsequent crash when Wesley gets a touch on Billy's blood.

Cordelia decides to take matters into her own hands, because she's still awesome at this point. Fred's left alone at the hotel momentarily until Wesley returns. He invites Fred to assist him with researching Billy's blood.

In the meantime, Cordy visits Lilah. She tries to convince Lilah to help.

Cordy: It's not the pain. It's the helplessness. The certainty that there is nothing you can do to stop it, that your life can be thrown away in an instant by someone else. He doesn't care. He'll beat you down until you stay down because he doesn't even *think* of you as alive. No woman should ever have to go through that, and no woman strong enough to wear the mantel of 'vicious bitch' would ever put up with it.

Ah...I have nothing to add, because Cordelia's line kinda speaks for itself. *loves Cordy*

Angel comes upon two guys talking about a recent assault. Their comments are interesting.

First dude: He seemed like such a levelheaded guy, you know? Always polite, with the 'yes, sir' and the 'thank you, sirs.' And to lose it like that, I didn't see it coming, did you?

Second dude: I got to say, I understand why he did it. I mean, there is a point, am I right? How many times do you feel like talking a fist to a customer?

The first dude echoes the sentiments you hear a lot when a man is accused of domestic violence or rape or assault on a woman of some kinda. He was always levelheaded. Always nice.

The second one, though, echoes another sentiment: being able to understand. Under the circumstances, after all, who wouldn't beat up an annoying bitch. Amirite, guys?

Second dude: That surprise you? Probably sitting in the back, nagging, telling him how to drive. You know the type.

Angel: Yeah. Probably had it coming to her, huh?

Second dude: I'm just saying...

Then we get a scene of a hip party in some big suite. And the background music, appropriately, is "Sunshine in a Bag" by the Gorillaz. In particular, the line: "Finally, someone let me out of my cage."

The cage being, of course, societal norms that disapprove of violence against women. The being inside the cage? Billy. Misogyny. Same thing.

We cut to Fred and Wesley making with the research.

Fred: So, however Billy is putting the mojo on people, the power seems to be in his blood. Which means it can also be in his sweat or his saliva or even his touch.

Wesley: Speaking of saliva, where is Cordelia?

Fred: What do you mean 'speaking of saliva?' How does saliva make you...

Wesley: It's a simple question. Where is Cordelia?

"Speaking of saliva"? Couple choices here. Choose one. Saliva = mouth = talking = Cordelia talks a lot. Or saliva = drool = hot women = Cordelia's fucking hot.

Wesley then goes on to interrogate Fred about Cordelia.

Here we start to get the flipside of Wesley's attitudes. His earlier pride in Cordelia, referring to Fred as "our" girl. This escalates into a patronizing display of intellectual dominance, as well as a threat to Fred: "Lie to me again - and we're going to have a problem."

Fred, rightly, tries to leave, but Wesley notices and questions her again. He starts to order her to sit down, which she does.

Wesley: Maybe Mommy and Daddy never explained to you that men - *grown* men - are wired a certain way. You can't be coming in here day after day waving it in my face like this.

Fred: What?

Wesley: You're practically daring me to take it. Is that what you want?

I'm sure I've discussed this before in some feminist post. The thought that women are oozing with sexual power that renders the poor menfolk hopeless. Therefore, it's necessary for women to cover themselves up so that men can better restrain themselves. It's a very Victorian idea that's still in existence today in more subtle form (usually having to do with blaming the victim of a rape for leading the guy on).

Wesley obviously hasn't been immune to this cultural message. We've gotten hints, in the past, that he is a womanizer (owning a pink motorcycle helmet and one time Angel mentioned being able to smell that Wesley had spent the night with a bottle blonde). Getting around with lots of women doesn't necessary lead to such attitudes, but it is a strong indicator of it. Someone more familiar with AtS canon could likely come up with more indications of this mindset prior to this episode.

Fred: This conversation is making me very uncomfortable.

Wesley: Oh, you're uncomfortable. That's rich! How do you think I feel? What do you think it's like for me with you smelling the way you do?

Fred: Wesley, please.

Wesley: You think you can taunt a man and get away with it? You brush up close, bat your eyes - and then when our backs are turned, you *laugh* at us.

Once Fred starts to explain how the conversation is making her feel, Wesley dismisses her concern and brings attention to his feelings. Of suffering. It's a fairly classic "What about the men???" objection to feminism right there. When women speak up about their feelings of living in a culture of misogyny, the conversation inevitability gets rerouted to men about how hurt they are.

The scene escalates to violence, and Fred runs upstairs.

Angel drops by the suite where the party had been and talks to Billy's cousin. Angel gets the news that Cordy had already dropped by.

Meanwhile, Wesley's hunting Fred.

Wesley: You can't come out into the open, can you? - No, you hide - you deceive. It's nothing new. It goes all the way back to Eve. - You and the serpent plotting behind our backs. - 'Here, honey, eat this. It's just an apple.' - That's the problem with your sex - you're all weak, and you're all dirty and you won't be satisfied until you've brought each and everyone of us out of the garden and down into the muck with you!

You know - and excuse the tangent - but I've been looking through some sites for Mens' Rights Activists. That particular movement, as it is today, appears to mainly be a stronghold for blatant misogyny and hatred towards all women. Wesley's little speech here? Not too far off from what I've seen actual men say on these sites. Kudos for accuracy.

At the airplane runway, Cordy's caught up to Billy. And she tazers him. Cause Cordy rocks.

Billy: I don't hate women. I mean, sure, you're all whores who sell yourselves for money and prestige, but men are just as bad. Maybe even worse. They're willing to throw away careers or families, or even lives for what's under your skirt!

Misogynists generally won't say they're misogynists. Because they don't think they are. They think their beliefs are justified and rooted in reality. As Billy says, he thinks he doesn't hate women. He just sees the truth about them. Course, the truth is that they're all whores, but it's not misogyny! Really!

What's more, Billy says that men are worse. Why? Because men give in to women. He doesn't hate men for being men. He hates men and their supposed weakness and servitude towards women. This is just a veiled form of misogyny, dressed up as misandry (much like most misandry is).

Angel interrupts Cordy before she kills Billy. Billy gets touchy with Angel, but it doesn't seem to taken with him. Cue big fight. Then bang!

Lilah kills the bastard.

Back at the hotel, Fred was able to knock out both Wesley and Gunn.

Happy ending, all.

Well, let's stop a bit and ponder a couple things. Angel being unaffected by Billy's touch puzzled me. And still puzzles me. The explanation he gives makes some sense, though.

Angel: Well, that thing that Billy brought out in others? - The hatred and anger...that's something I lost a long time ago.

The more time you spend in the world, the more you learn about other people, the less prejudice you become. Because basic human empathy eventually overcomes that stuff. Of course, Angel isn't human, and apparently this is something that he lost while he was soulless.

But the main thing that puzzles me is that Angel does have a paternalistic streak a mile wide. And, just like Wesley's, that's rooted in misogyny. We even get an example in this episode with Angel not wanting Cordelia to see the crime scene photos. And it could be argued that his determination to kill Billy himself - instead of allowing Cordy to do it - is a paternalistic act.

So the idea that Angel is free of misogyny doesn't follow for me considering that he still behaves in ways that indicate a misogynistic mindset.

Somebody smarter than me can probably work out an explanation for this, though.

The end of the episode has Wesley, though, totally broken by what happened. Billy's touch forced him to confront the feelings he has inside, something that will lead to great amounts of angst and douchebaggery later in the show.

And that's it. Actually, despite my few reservations, this is one of my favorite AtS episodes. I hope this makes some sense. The meta is largely unplanned, off the top of my head, which is always a recipe for mistakes and misunderstandings.

Feel free to share your thoughts. :)