Jool from Farscape
This is a rant in defence of Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis, aka Jool, from Farscape.
I don't know if this Jool-bashing is still going on, as I tend to avoid the fandom due to the crazy fanbrats I've encountered over the years - this rant is based on when I was active within the fandom a few years ago.
This rant is also based around Season 3 and 4 - she is introduced as a regular cast member in the former and leaves the show in the early episodes of the latter. As I have not yet seen the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, this rant will have nothing to do with that (although, admittedly, I have been spoiled for Jool's fate in PKW, but not her actual role, so no spoilers in the comments, please! :P).
Now, I know I am in the minority when I say that I like Jool. Okay, scratch that, I love Jool. I loved her from her very first episode. She's up there with Chiana and Scorpius as my favourite FS characters. However, while both Chi and Scorpy have both seen their fair share of bashing (something I may elaborate on in another post), I think that poor Jool has had to endure the worst of it, and from what I've seen she seems to be the most heavily bashed character in the series, next to Sikozu and Grayza.
From the moment Jool appeared, the majority of the fandom despised her. I'm not just talking about the moment she appeared on the show itself, I'm talking about when the first promo images of her were released. Fans got into a screaming uproar. "She shows too much cleavage!", "She has ugly hair!", "Her clothes are disgusting!", "OMG NOT ANOTHER FEMALE CHARACTER!! *insert misogynistic comment here*", "ZOMG WHAT IF SHE GETS IN THE WAY OF JOHN/AERYN?!" - these are just a few examples of the venom that was directed towards her (funnily enough, I have heard that Jool was originally intended to more of an Aeryn-esque character who may have had a romantic interest in John, but this was thankfully changed). Remember, this was before she had even appeared on the show. Things were not looking good for the poor girl. (Of course, I was one of the few who saw those images and thought "Wow! She looks really cool!".)
Then Jool appeared on the show, and the shit really hit the fan.
- She's a whiny, uncaring little bitch! - Okay, admittedly, during Jool's first episodes, she is depicted as an arrogant, whingey, selfish, sulky, bratty person. However, few realise that was the point. She was intentionally made to be somewhat unlikeable. She was introduced to the show in order to shake things up a bit, to shake up the little family unit on board Moya. Most of the other characters on the ship instantly disliked her - most notably Chiana, who snarks at her (and sometimes even punches her) on a regular basis. She initially cares little for the other characters, and just wants to get the hell off the ship.
However, another thing that fans tend to ignore is that Jool's character develops considerably over the course of the show. She develops friendships with the other characters - yes, even Chiana, who she seems to develop a sort of love/hate relationship with (one minute they're at each other's throats, the next minute they're dancing with/comforting one another - the first example of this is in the episode Losing Time, where Chiana is weakened after being possessed by a creature and Jool cradles her in her arms and strokes her hair), as well as a friendly rivalry. She also becomes very close to and eventually romantic with D'Argo - even though they both eventually conclude that their relationship wouldn't really work out - and they share a kiss when she leaves Moya's crew near the beginning of Season 4.
She becomes a lot more caring, too, as evidenced by the facts I mentioned above, and even admits her own faults at one point. I will elaborate on this a little later.
- She's weak and useless!/She's a coward! - She comes from a peaceful star system. Thus, she has very little knowledge of weapons and looks down on physical violence. This does not make her weak or useless. Besides, once again, we have a little thing called character development. As the show progresses, we see her brandish guns and even kick the ass of a Peacekeeper guard. Also, no way is she a coward - especially not towards the end of Season 3. She willingly heads aboard Scorpius' Command Carrier with the rest of the crew, in spite of the potential danger and the fact that she is very, very nervous. Hell, she even helps to defend D'Argo against a huge, muscular Peacekeeper who is brandishing a bloody great buzzsaw. Coward? I think not.
- She's stupid! - It is frequently acknowledged in the show that she has remarkable academic acheivements and is very intelligent - heck, many members of her species (Interion) have devoted themselves to the learning of knowledge, so I don't know where the Jool-haters get this "she's stupid" accusation from.
- She's a slut/whore! - She has worn outfits that show off her cleavage and midriff. This does not make her a "whore".
- She's a crazy stalker! - Okay, apparently this accusation came about when Jool accidentally sabotages D'Argo's ship. When he becomes enraged at her, she explains that she knows she screwed up (and even admits for the first time that she knows she can be "difficult"), but she was only exploring his ship to try and find out more about him, as she had developed a liking for him. This softens D'Argo's rage somewhat, and the two become a lot closer after that. How this makes her a lunatic stalker, I have no idea. She was just curious.
- She's nothing but a replacment for Zhaan! - Jool's introduction into the show was badly-timed, yes - I don't know whether this was intentional on the writers' behalf or not - she makes her first appearance in the same two-parter where Zhaan dies. Yes, she does take up the same "scientist" sort of role that was taken by Zhaan during her time on Moya. This does not neccessarily reduce her to little more than a two-dimensional "replacement".
- She split up D'Argo and Chiana! - This accusation MAKES NO SENSE. D'Argo ended his relationship with Chiana after she slept with his son, Jothee. Jool doesn't even fucking appear on the show until after D'Argo finds out about Chiana and Jothee's betrayal. D'Argo and Jool may kiss at one point, but that isn't until Season 4, for Christ's sake, and is at a point where D'Argo and Chiana haven't yet got back together. How, then, could she have possibly been the cause of their relationship going down the drain?!
- She has an irritating scream! - She does scream a lot, yes. I personally think, however, that her scream is awesome. Come on, she can actually melt metal with it, how kickass is that?
- Why the hell does she have an Australian accent?! - The show was made in Australia. Most of the actors are Australian. Several other characters (guest characters, but nonetheless, they still count) have sported Australian accents. Why pick on Jool for it? Also, what the hell does her accent have to do with anything?
- I hate her clothes/hair! - And this matters how?
- I hate her and I wish they'd killed her off in her first episodes!/I wish she's succeeded in killing herself in Eat Me! Her suicide attempt was the only good thing about the episode! - Too bad. I personally think that Jool brought a fantastic shake-up to the show. I love her fiesty nature, I found her little temper tantrums hilarious, she was capable of making me laugh with her wittiness and sarcasm, and, although it was a little rushed, I did like the way her character developed as the show progressed. I can understand why so many people disliked her, I really do, but all of this "she needs to die" venom really does get to me.
Come on, show the poor Interion some love!
I don't know if this Jool-bashing is still going on, as I tend to avoid the fandom due to the crazy fanbrats I've encountered over the years - this rant is based on when I was active within the fandom a few years ago.
This rant is also based around Season 3 and 4 - she is introduced as a regular cast member in the former and leaves the show in the early episodes of the latter. As I have not yet seen the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, this rant will have nothing to do with that (although, admittedly, I have been spoiled for Jool's fate in PKW, but not her actual role, so no spoilers in the comments, please! :P).
Now, I know I am in the minority when I say that I like Jool. Okay, scratch that, I love Jool. I loved her from her very first episode. She's up there with Chiana and Scorpius as my favourite FS characters. However, while both Chi and Scorpy have both seen their fair share of bashing (something I may elaborate on in another post), I think that poor Jool has had to endure the worst of it, and from what I've seen she seems to be the most heavily bashed character in the series, next to Sikozu and Grayza.
From the moment Jool appeared, the majority of the fandom despised her. I'm not just talking about the moment she appeared on the show itself, I'm talking about when the first promo images of her were released. Fans got into a screaming uproar. "She shows too much cleavage!", "She has ugly hair!", "Her clothes are disgusting!", "OMG NOT ANOTHER FEMALE CHARACTER!! *insert misogynistic comment here*", "ZOMG WHAT IF SHE GETS IN THE WAY OF JOHN/AERYN?!" - these are just a few examples of the venom that was directed towards her (funnily enough, I have heard that Jool was originally intended to more of an Aeryn-esque character who may have had a romantic interest in John, but this was thankfully changed). Remember, this was before she had even appeared on the show. Things were not looking good for the poor girl. (Of course, I was one of the few who saw those images and thought "Wow! She looks really cool!".)
Then Jool appeared on the show, and the shit really hit the fan.
- She's a whiny, uncaring little bitch! - Okay, admittedly, during Jool's first episodes, she is depicted as an arrogant, whingey, selfish, sulky, bratty person. However, few realise that was the point. She was intentionally made to be somewhat unlikeable. She was introduced to the show in order to shake things up a bit, to shake up the little family unit on board Moya. Most of the other characters on the ship instantly disliked her - most notably Chiana, who snarks at her (and sometimes even punches her) on a regular basis. She initially cares little for the other characters, and just wants to get the hell off the ship.
However, another thing that fans tend to ignore is that Jool's character develops considerably over the course of the show. She develops friendships with the other characters - yes, even Chiana, who she seems to develop a sort of love/hate relationship with (one minute they're at each other's throats, the next minute they're dancing with/comforting one another - the first example of this is in the episode Losing Time, where Chiana is weakened after being possessed by a creature and Jool cradles her in her arms and strokes her hair), as well as a friendly rivalry. She also becomes very close to and eventually romantic with D'Argo - even though they both eventually conclude that their relationship wouldn't really work out - and they share a kiss when she leaves Moya's crew near the beginning of Season 4.
She becomes a lot more caring, too, as evidenced by the facts I mentioned above, and even admits her own faults at one point. I will elaborate on this a little later.
- She's weak and useless!/She's a coward! - She comes from a peaceful star system. Thus, she has very little knowledge of weapons and looks down on physical violence. This does not make her weak or useless. Besides, once again, we have a little thing called character development. As the show progresses, we see her brandish guns and even kick the ass of a Peacekeeper guard. Also, no way is she a coward - especially not towards the end of Season 3. She willingly heads aboard Scorpius' Command Carrier with the rest of the crew, in spite of the potential danger and the fact that she is very, very nervous. Hell, she even helps to defend D'Argo against a huge, muscular Peacekeeper who is brandishing a bloody great buzzsaw. Coward? I think not.
- She's stupid! - It is frequently acknowledged in the show that she has remarkable academic acheivements and is very intelligent - heck, many members of her species (Interion) have devoted themselves to the learning of knowledge, so I don't know where the Jool-haters get this "she's stupid" accusation from.
- She's a slut/whore! - She has worn outfits that show off her cleavage and midriff. This does not make her a "whore".
- She's a crazy stalker! - Okay, apparently this accusation came about when Jool accidentally sabotages D'Argo's ship. When he becomes enraged at her, she explains that she knows she screwed up (and even admits for the first time that she knows she can be "difficult"), but she was only exploring his ship to try and find out more about him, as she had developed a liking for him. This softens D'Argo's rage somewhat, and the two become a lot closer after that. How this makes her a lunatic stalker, I have no idea. She was just curious.
- She's nothing but a replacment for Zhaan! - Jool's introduction into the show was badly-timed, yes - I don't know whether this was intentional on the writers' behalf or not - she makes her first appearance in the same two-parter where Zhaan dies. Yes, she does take up the same "scientist" sort of role that was taken by Zhaan during her time on Moya. This does not neccessarily reduce her to little more than a two-dimensional "replacement".
- She split up D'Argo and Chiana! - This accusation MAKES NO SENSE. D'Argo ended his relationship with Chiana after she slept with his son, Jothee. Jool doesn't even fucking appear on the show until after D'Argo finds out about Chiana and Jothee's betrayal. D'Argo and Jool may kiss at one point, but that isn't until Season 4, for Christ's sake, and is at a point where D'Argo and Chiana haven't yet got back together. How, then, could she have possibly been the cause of their relationship going down the drain?!
- She has an irritating scream! - She does scream a lot, yes. I personally think, however, that her scream is awesome. Come on, she can actually melt metal with it, how kickass is that?
- Why the hell does she have an Australian accent?! - The show was made in Australia. Most of the actors are Australian. Several other characters (guest characters, but nonetheless, they still count) have sported Australian accents. Why pick on Jool for it? Also, what the hell does her accent have to do with anything?
- I hate her clothes/hair! - And this matters how?
- I hate her and I wish they'd killed her off in her first episodes!/I wish she's succeeded in killing herself in Eat Me! Her suicide attempt was the only good thing about the episode! - Too bad. I personally think that Jool brought a fantastic shake-up to the show. I love her fiesty nature, I found her little temper tantrums hilarious, she was capable of making me laugh with her wittiness and sarcasm, and, although it was a little rushed, I did like the way her character developed as the show progressed. I can understand why so many people disliked her, I really do, but all of this "she needs to die" venom really does get to me.
Come on, show the poor Interion some love!