We love the women fandom hates: Day 1
DEB MORGAN: Why her flaws make her awesome!
Alright, so I decided to start off my first day of Deb love with a list of the most common complaints I see and hear the most of fandom. My aim is to analyse these comments and why I think they're all so completely wrong :)
1. She's so foul mouthed and swears too much. It's so annoying!
Deb's foul mouth is definitely one of the reasons why I love her so. I think it's because foul, dirty language is so often associated with masculinity, and it's extremely rare to see a woman use so much profanity on TV and be completely comfortable with it. I love Deb's sense of humour and her creativity with bad language. She has so many hilarious one liners and I love that so many of them give the show some much needed comic relief. I mean, where would we be if there hadn't been anyone to call Lila "a gross, English, titty vampire?" HA! I honestly wouldn't have Deb any other way. Her foul mouth is part of the tough exterior she puts up as a front to hide what a softy she really is inside.
2. She's stupid, a bad detective and relies on Dexter way too much.
I don't understand it when people say this. Yeah, Deb was definitely very inexperienced, insecure and unsure of herself when the show started - but she tried so damn hard. She would stay up all night just to work on a profile. She was the one who found the Ice Truck in 1x02 ("Crocodile") and got re-assigned to Homicide on her own steam. Also, the reason why so many of her theories and plans so often were made to look stupid or silly on the show at the start was because Dexter would lie to and trick her in order to stop her from figuring out the truth about the Ice Truck Killer.
Throughout the series, Deb has definitely become a better detective - mostly because she's so ambitious and works so hard. She made detective because of her success with the Skinner Case. She received major acclaim for the Barrel Girls Case in Season 5. The Deb of Season 1 would not have been able to do that, which goes to show just how much she's grown. And that's saying a lot, seeing what a lot she's had to go through - Rudy, Lundy, getting shot - she's so damn strong and pushes through all of it like a trooper.
3. She's ugly and looks like a man.
That's by far the most annoying complaint, ever. It's so rude. I love Jennifer's build. It's tomboyish yet athletic and healthy. She's skinny, but it's the body of someone who obviously works out a lot and is very sporty (which fits into Deb's character completely). I really appreciate that the show cast someone who doesn't look impossibly beautiful or like a supermodel - it's a refreshing change and makes Deb much more relatable as a character, in my opinion.
What it all boils down to is that Deb is allowed to be flawed in a way that a lot of male characters on TV are. She swears, she smokes, she's sexually aggressive (handcuff scene with Gabriel definitely had to do with her Rudy issues, but man it was hot!) she's ambitious, she drinks, she's inappropriate, socially awkward, and has poor people skills. And that's awesome. What makes it more awesome is that she's not made out to be ashamed of her femininity or her 'girly' side - the show has done a great job of balancing out that side of her character with her tomboyishness. I think this is also to do hugely with Jennifer Carpenter - she brings all these nuances to her peformance that are so subtle yet at the same time make such an impact. Deb has crushes on guys and falls hard, she has girly moments like squealing over Rudy's proposal, flirting with Lundy, going all gooey and squeeing when she finds out Rita's pregnant. She chooses Rita's engagement ring for Dexter. She never compromises herself for any relationship - there's never any angst about "Oh he'll never love me because I swear too much and because I don't act like a girl" which is super. In fact on her first date with Lundy, she tells him flat out that swearing is "just the way she talks" and that "he'll have to get used to it" if he wants to be with her. Most of all, underneath all the rudeness and toughness, Deb has a huge heart. She's the quintessential 'rogue with a heart of gold', basically - except that the trope's been reversed because in this case it's played by a woman instead of a guy :D
Well, that's Day 1. I will probably be dedicating Day 2 to Betty Draper, but there'll be way more of Deb's awesomeness on this blog next week :D