The Feminist Filter: Inca Mummy Girl
Y'all know what this is! Let's do it!
Mission Statement:
This series is intended to outline the feminist text of each episode so as to provoke and encourage open discussion. It's not so much about making value judgments about events and/or characters but about analyzing the series from a feminist framework so as to see what patterns and themes emerge.
Rules:
1. If you do not consider yourself a feminist or do not see the point of dissecting a TV show from a feminist perspective, this is not the meta series for you. I don't mean this in a hostile way, however the intended audience of this series is feminists who want to turn a critical eye to the show.
2. This meta series is written well beyond a 101 level of feminism. If you are new to feminism, I ask that you please take a look at this blog for an introduction to concepts that will be discussed heavily here.
3. If you begin to feel yourself getting defensive on behalf of a character (or the show), take a break from commenting. The outlines as posted are not meant to condemn either the characters or the show, but to contextualize the dialogue and events within the patriarchal cultural in which they reside.
4. BtVS is a constructed media. The characters are not actual people but are written, dressed, and directed by a team of outsiders. Criticizing a character for, say, having sex could be a sexist insult or it could be a legitimate criticism of the writers who chose to go that route with the storyline. There are nuances here when discussing a television show, and I ask that everybody be careful about exactly what's being discussed. A couple helpful terms are Watsonian and Doylist. "Watsonian" indicates that the discussion is taking place within the Buffy universe as if the characters are real people. "Doylist" indicates that the discussion is focused on the construction of the narrative and, as such, deals with the decisions of the writers and/or producers.
5. The key goal here is open discussion. I'm not presenting you guys with any brilliant insights; I'm just laying out what's in the episode. Feel free to discuss or disagree with me and others. Also feel free to answer other commenter's questions. The comment section is an open floor.
2.04 Inca Mummy Girl
I. The Tallies
Criteria for Bechdel Check: The episode must have a) two women in it b) who talk to each other c) about something besides a man.
II. Agency
Criteria for Agency: Do the female characters a) exert power or influence over the plot b) through decisions based on their own characterization? Agency means more than providing information or support that helps the (usually male) characters resolve the conflict.
The Plot: An Incan mummy on tour is awoken and begins sucking the life out of people to continue existing. In the meantime, she strikes up a romance with Xander.
The Big Question:
If Buffy were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? No.
If Willow were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
If Cordelia were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
If the mummy were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? No.
If Joyce were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
III. The Feminist Fine-Toothed Comb
Criteria: Do any of the characters engage in sexist dialogue or action, whether overt or subtle? Does it receive an explicit rebuke or does it pass uncommented on? Further, what can be deduced from the various gendered comments that are made by the characters?
IV. Objectification Watch
V. Points to Consider
Mission Statement:
This series is intended to outline the feminist text of each episode so as to provoke and encourage open discussion. It's not so much about making value judgments about events and/or characters but about analyzing the series from a feminist framework so as to see what patterns and themes emerge.
Rules:
1. If you do not consider yourself a feminist or do not see the point of dissecting a TV show from a feminist perspective, this is not the meta series for you. I don't mean this in a hostile way, however the intended audience of this series is feminists who want to turn a critical eye to the show.
2. This meta series is written well beyond a 101 level of feminism. If you are new to feminism, I ask that you please take a look at this blog for an introduction to concepts that will be discussed heavily here.
3. If you begin to feel yourself getting defensive on behalf of a character (or the show), take a break from commenting. The outlines as posted are not meant to condemn either the characters or the show, but to contextualize the dialogue and events within the patriarchal cultural in which they reside.
4. BtVS is a constructed media. The characters are not actual people but are written, dressed, and directed by a team of outsiders. Criticizing a character for, say, having sex could be a sexist insult or it could be a legitimate criticism of the writers who chose to go that route with the storyline. There are nuances here when discussing a television show, and I ask that everybody be careful about exactly what's being discussed. A couple helpful terms are Watsonian and Doylist. "Watsonian" indicates that the discussion is taking place within the Buffy universe as if the characters are real people. "Doylist" indicates that the discussion is focused on the construction of the narrative and, as such, deals with the decisions of the writers and/or producers.
5. The key goal here is open discussion. I'm not presenting you guys with any brilliant insights; I'm just laying out what's in the episode. Feel free to discuss or disagree with me and others. Also feel free to answer other commenter's questions. The comment section is an open floor.
2.04 Inca Mummy Girl
I. The Tallies
Criteria for Bechdel Check: The episode must have a) two women in it b) who talk to each other c) about something besides a man.
- Bechdel Check: PASS on 11 counts
- Deaths:
Dead boys: 3
Dead girls: 1
II. Agency
Criteria for Agency: Do the female characters a) exert power or influence over the plot b) through decisions based on their own characterization? Agency means more than providing information or support that helps the (usually male) characters resolve the conflict.
The Plot: An Incan mummy on tour is awoken and begins sucking the life out of people to continue existing. In the meantime, she strikes up a romance with Xander.
The Big Question:
If Buffy were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? No.
If Willow were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
If Cordelia were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
If the mummy were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? No.
If Joyce were taken out of this episode, would events occur in much the same fashion? Yes.
- Decisive Buffy: Buffy leads the investigation, as usual. While she tends to take a back seat to Xander in this episode, she does put the pieces together that 'Ampata' is the mummy, and she gathers the troops to combat her.
- Decisive mummy: Obviously, the mummy drives the plot. She awakens and steals Ampata's identity. Then she chooses to continue killing to maintain her life and begin a romance with Xander. At the end, she makes the final decision to die rather than kill Xander.
III. The Feminist Fine-Toothed Comb
Criteria: Do any of the characters engage in sexist dialogue or action, whether overt or subtle? Does it receive an explicit rebuke or does it pass uncommented on? Further, what can be deduced from the various gendered comments that are made by the characters?
- Protagonists (Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Cordelia, and Joyce)
1. In Act One, Buffy is sulking because Giles refuses to let her go to the dance. Giles reminds her: "You have responsibilities that other girls do not."
The gendered reference ("girls" as opposed to "teenagers" or "students") emphasizes the relevance of Buffy's girlhood to the story in this episode and in the series, overall.
2. When Buffy realizes she's forgotten to pick up Ampata, Xander comments: "Uh-uh-uh, Buffy? Where are your priorities? Tracking down a mummifying killer or making time for some Latin lover whose stock in trade is the breakage of hearts?"
That's certainly a pack of ethnic stereotypes there. References to "Latin lovers" who are promiscuous and unfaithful. See Points to Consider for more on Xander's proprietary jealousy here.
Just one line later, he remarks: "Oh, yeah. Fall for the old 'let me translate that ancient seal for ya' come on. Tsh. D'ya know how many times I've used that?"
This is bringing up the cliche pick-up line and admonishing Buffy for "falling for it". It's a subtle form of slut-shaming in that it's going on the assumption that Buffy's going to give in to a man (a Latino man's) charms and preemptively chastising her for it.
3. Devon and Cordelia have an interesting exchange:
Cordelia: Devon, I told you I'd be at the dance tonight, but I am *not* one of your little groupies. I won't be all doe-eyed looking up at you, standing at the edge of the stage.
Devon: Got it.
Cordelia: So, I'll see you afterwards?
Devon: Sure. Where do you wanna meet?
Cordelia: I'll be standing at the edge of the stage.
Cordelia starts by explicitly rejecting the idea of conforming to subservient images of femininity - waiting for him at the edge of the stage. However, she then reveals that she will be waiting for him at the edge of the stage with a tone that suggests he should have known that. On the one hand, it seems like Cordelia's giving voice to girls who try to distance themselves from other girls. On the other, her actions continue to conform to traditional stereotypes.
4. When Xander picks Ampata up from Buffy's place, he throws out an oddly classist (and subtly racist) insult:
Buffy: And, uh, what culture are you?
Xander: I'm from the country of Leone. It's in Italy pretending to be Montana. (looks Buffy up and down) And where are you from? The country of White Trash?
He's referring to her dressed-down status as she's gonna be staying in to do Slayer stuff. However, by invoking the term "White Trash", he does a couple things. For one, by specifying White Trash, the implication in this term is that "Trash" is normally non-white (historically black). For another, he's criticizing her clothing as being "lower" class. This is interesting given Xander's own implied class status.
5. At the dance, Willow eyes the mummy girl and Xander. She comments: "I think I should've worn something sexy."
Xander and the mummy girl come over to her, then, and give her some half-hearted compliments on her costume:
Ampata: I-I love your costume. It's, it's very authentic.
Willow: Thanks.
Xander: Yeah, you look, um... snug.
Willow: That's what I was going for.
We're, again, getting the importance of being attractive for girls and women. Willow's costume is creative and authentic. The message she gets with its lackluster reception, though, is that showing intelligence and knowledge won't get you attention. She regrets not having worn something "sexy".
Of course, this is contrasted with Oz's complete enrapture at Willow's costume. Indeed, when Oz asks about her, Devon thinks he's referring to the mummy:
Oz: That girl. Who is she?
Devon thinks he means Ampata.
Devon: She's an exchange student. I think she's from South America.
Oz: No, not her. The Eskimo!
The girl that most society expects a guy to be interested in - the attractively-dressed mummy - doesn't get Oz's attention. Instead, he's drawn to Willow based on her costume.
6. Buffy and Giles are cluing in to the fact that 'Ampata' is the mummy. Buffy comments: "What kind of girl travels with a mummified corpse? And doesn't even pack a lipstick?"
Buffy's comment is very gender essentializing as she's, in essence, saying that all girls carry lipstick with them. Of course, this isn't true, but it does play to gender stereotypes.
7. Very much open to interpretation, but near the end of Act Three, Xander catches up to the mummy to see what's wrong. She says that she doesn't deserve him. Xander's response: "What, you think you don't deserve me? Man, I love you!"
While there are likely character-specific reasons for Xander's line, it also falls along traditional gender roles that a girl/woman should defer to the man as an inferior. By presenting the appearance of having a low self-esteem relative to her appraisal of Xander, the mummy strokes his ego. Xander, for his part, doesn't contradict her assertion.
8. In the final scene between Buffy and Xander, Buffy invokes the "just a girl" phrase in reference to the mummy:
Buffy: She was gypped. She was just a girl, and she had her life taken away from her.
They stop and look at each other.
Buffy: I remember how I felt when I heard the prophecy that I was gonna die. I wasn't exactly obsessed with doing the right thing.
While that is interesting, it is also notable that Buffy uses the term "gypped", which is a reference to Gypsies being thieves. This is especially problematic given the later treatment of Jenny, an actual Roma character.
- Antagonists (Mummy Girl)
1. The mummy girl details the duty of the Inca Princess to Buffy in Act Three. She notes: "Who knows what she had to give up to fulfill her duty to others? What chance at love?"
It's, perhaps, disheartening that the first thing she brings up is that the Inca Princess missed out on love. This falls right along gender stereotypes that girls and women prioritize romance above all else. The idea that a young girl sacrifices her life apparently isn't notable because she might miss out on learning new things, making discoveries, inventing stuff, or anything like that. It's because she missed her chance at romance.
- The Rest (the guide, the bodyguard, Devon, and Oz)
1. In the teaser, the museum guide introduces the mummy: "Five hundred years ago, the Incan people chose a beautiful teenage girl to become their princess."
Notice the mention of her beauty. Even in contexts where appearance isn't relevant, a woman's looks will typically be commented on.
2. Following up on that thought, we get a conversation between Oz and Devon about Cordelia:
Devon: Oz, man! What do you think?
Oz: Of what?
Devon: Cordelia, man!
Oz: She's a wonderland tour.
Devon: You gotta admit, the girl is hot!
Oz: Yeah, she's a hot girl.
Devon: Let me guess: not your type? What does a girl have to do to impress you?
Oz: Well, it involves a feathered boa and a theme to 'A Summer Place'. I can't discuss it here.
Devon: You're too picky, man. Do you know how many girls you could have? You're lead guitar, Oz. It's currency!
Oz: I'm not picky. You're just impressed by any pretty girl that can walk and talk.
Devon: She doesn't have to talk.
At first, we get the affirmation of the importance of a girls' attractiveness by Devon, as well as establishing Oz as the atypical teenage boy in that that doesn't "impress" him. We also get a reference to dating as economics with Devon noting that being lead guitar is "currency". The "sex as trade" model ultimately disadvantages women, and yet it is continually perpetuated and reinforced through our media.
Again, Oz sets himself apart by not buying into what Devon is selling. To further hammer home that Devon is the average guy, he comments that a girl "doesn't have to talk". Again, what's important is how a girl looks. Not her intelligence, humor, personality, etc.
IV. Objectification Watch
- In a stroke of irony, perhaps, we are presented a male-gaze shot of eskimo!Willow through Oz's viewpoint.
V. Points to Consider
- Xander is very opposed to Buffy hosting an exchange student when they believe it will be a boy. It calls back to his proprietary jealousy over Buffy in S1's Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, and it shows a distrust of any male/female interactions. Willow shows a similar jealousy, though more subdued, when the mummy appears as a girl.
- At the beginning, Cordelia makes a lot of noise about ensuring that her exchange student will be an attractive boy. What do we make of this reverse objectification, coupled with her indifference to Sven when he actually arrives? Is the objectification of boys and men, as shown by Cordelia the resident gender role enforcer, as problematic as its reverse on the macro level? How does it contrast to the objectification of girls, specifically of the mummy girl in this episode?
- The mummy girl is one of the first (and few) women of color to feature in a BtVS episode. She's portrayed sympathetically, even though she is the villain. What ethnic stereotypes - if any - do they use in presenting the mummy? Is her portrayal problematic from a racial/ethnic perspective? What about the superficial use of Inca culture in this episode?
- The self-sacrificial nature of the Inca Princess is highlighted through conversations between the mummy and Buffy. This ties into traditional gender stereotypes of women putting others' needs ahead of their own. In Act Three, the mummy comments to Buffy: "You are always thinking of others before yourself. You remind me of someone from very long ago: the Inca Princess."
The word, "sacrifice" is used by Buffy earlier in the episode, of course: "I know this one! Slaying entails certain sacrifices, blah, blah, bity blah, I'm so stuffy, gimme a scone."
We're getting some more commentary on the Slayer and sacrifice. How do we work gender into this equation? What do we make of the fact that the mummy sacrificed herself at the end again, this time out of love for Xander? What stereotypes does this play into? How does it relate to Buffy as the Slayer?