FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON

[upupa_epops]

Old news: lj is dead. Everyone is crazy busy, or they have other reasons not to be here. No one has time to read those huge meta posts we used to write once upon a time. But maybe we can all find ten minutes to do this:

FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON!

Comments

[kwritten]

tvd | Caroline's evolution through S4 - specifically the ways she deals (/doesn't deal) with her abuse from Damon in S1

[kwritten]

1/3 This sl fascinates me, and that's because of, not despite, the absence of 'teachable moments'. I don't think the show silences Caroline: I think it offers a nuanced and realistic portrayal of how such abuse is generally received. Specifically, I think the show uses compulsion in this instance as an effective and discomforting metaphor for rape culture.

In S1, Caroline literally does not know what has happened to her, and is thereby prevented from accessing the support theoretically offered to 'proper' victims. In S2, vampire 'consciousness-raising' gives her access to the reality of her abuse: she overpowers Damon ('I'm angrier!'); he tries and fails to silence (stake!) her; Stefan starts to identify with her (as opposed to using her as Damon-bait). It's interesting that this knowledge coincides with a period of alienation from her friends and boyfriend. It's also interesting that Damon, through his relationship with her mother, still has access to her house - and she is still visibly afraid of him, he is still keen to control

[kwritten]

2/3 I kind of love Forwood, both for its sex-positivity, and for its clear limitations. But Care gets nothing without a fight: her father rejects her new, empowered self, holds her to an impossible standard, and prefers her human state (which was really not-okay for her given Damon's ongoing influence) to any potential for positive vampirism - and her comprehensive Damon-smackdown is in his defense. After this, I don't think she fears Damon, but S3 brings Klaus into her unlife

[kwritten]

3/3 S4, to me, isn't a return to the theme, but a logical extension of it. I never expected Caroline to be 'allowed' (or at this stage, ready) to make a bald statement of fact about her abuse by Damon. I was pleasantly surprised that she was 'allowed' to be pissy about not feeling able to do so. It was realistic that she was happy to draw a thick line between Off!Stefan and On!Stefan - and the comparison isn't with how she views Damon, but how she views Elena, because she expects Elena to do the same for Stefan but not Damon. It's not that Care isn't the victim, but she sure isn't the only victim in that infamous conversation, or in how she treats Elena across the season. Which there is nothing wrong with, because Elena certainly does have the status to prevent Care being put on Klaus patrol all year (of course, so does Stefan).

Her whole attitude to Stefan-Elena-Damon and the sire bond is easy to read as an extended projection of her own retrospective feelings about that part of her human life. But just as Elena's transition

[pocochina]

I really agree with everything you've said here.

I think a lot of shows portray abuse as an arc, and create an expectation of social and personal resolution/salvation which is rarely met in life (to, ime, the detriment of the self-esteem of victims). I prefer to see a balance of growth and ongoing issues; I prefer to see the banality and multiplicity of this particular evil, and how everyone gets to choose whether to shelter it, or not?

Yes, exactly. Aspirational stories - where everyone believes the victim, where she gets to get revenge/kick her abuser out of her life and heal (however we might define that) - have a very important place. But I firmly believe those can't be the only stories. Because then we're just setting up yet another set of "acceptable victim" standards. Care's story of "how do young women experience this type of abuse" is also extremely important.