Vid: Don't Call Me Baby (Women in 'The Vampire Diaries')
Title: Don't Call Me Baby
Music: solcofn mash up mix of 'Don't Call Me Baby' by Madison Avenue (with a contrasting snippet of mashed Eminem)
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Spoilers: all season's fair game!
Focus: Female power; Female agency in TVD
Summary: Appearances should not deceive you.
don't underestimate me boy / i'll make you sorry you were born
download: 4shared; sendspace
[view youtube here]
Vid Notes
I think it's really interesting that a 'verse that features frequent non-con as part of (perhaps an underpinning of) vampire culture can and does offer up such complicated, strong women. They're not all nice women, but then much of the series is cluttered with dubious judgment and murky choices. (That's why I like it!) Women can be, and are, victims. Sometimes even sexual victims. But men are victimized too, and the women of TVD are also predators and instigators. Urban fantasy of this kind can allow the writers to 'even the playing field', and it's another thing I like about TVD. If the safe space of women is being violated I want to see it happen to men too.
I opened the vid with the scenes of Damon and violence because I wanted to directly acknowledge that aspect of the show, and then confront the viewer with the images of female strength that balance it. It begins with Damon, our most proactive and powerful male character, as an actor & aggressor. It ends with a shot of a passive Damon, watching from the sidelines as a woman takes center stage.
I hope to display a compilation of women of different ages & races, human and supernatural, as examples of courage, emotional & mental strength, and physical strength. Elena, for instance, is a normal human who will never have Bonnie's kill-you-with-my-mind powers. But I think she's often amazing & brave, despite her limitations. The vamp hunters are pretty much outmatched, but their 'face' is a female sheriff who does the best she can with every situation & takes the lead with a non-nonsense heart of steel.
One image I especially like is the bloody spoon-- a stereotypically 'female' domestic implement, wielded as a weapon. Fredrick expects to be served, and Pearl deliberately uses this gender misconception to cushion her attack. I LOVE YOU VAMPIRE DIARIES. ♥ ♥
Another is when human Jenna turns away evil vamp!Logan without any personal knowledge of the supernatural, but just refuses entrance on the basis that she will not be condescended to & emotionally manipulated by her ex-boyfriend. (defeated by common sense!)
Re: Caroline (aka Person Mostly Not Appearing in this Video)
Though I don't dislike her character at all, I intentionally wanted to confine Caroline mostly to the prologue because my interpretation of the text has been that the characters of both Caroline & Matt have generally functioned on TVD as the Outsider POV and as examples of The Typical Human Victim. Caroline & Matt often are passive, reacting to traumatic events in Mystic Falls-- but I think that's a valuable role within the story, because they put a personal face on the consequences that befall every-day citizens of the town while our main characters engage in their power plays. It's not that I believe they have no use in the narrative, it's just that this video is centered on those people creating the waves that hit them.
I'd be interested to hear how successful people think I was with this vid. I know it's a bit long, so did it manage to keep your interest? Did it work for you?
Music: solcofn mash up mix of 'Don't Call Me Baby' by Madison Avenue (with a contrasting snippet of mashed Eminem)
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Spoilers: all season's fair game!
Focus: Female power; Female agency in TVD
Summary: Appearances should not deceive you.
don't underestimate me boy / i'll make you sorry you were born
download: 4shared; sendspace
Click to view[view youtube here]
Vid Notes
I think it's really interesting that a 'verse that features frequent non-con as part of (perhaps an underpinning of) vampire culture can and does offer up such complicated, strong women. They're not all nice women, but then much of the series is cluttered with dubious judgment and murky choices. (That's why I like it!) Women can be, and are, victims. Sometimes even sexual victims. But men are victimized too, and the women of TVD are also predators and instigators. Urban fantasy of this kind can allow the writers to 'even the playing field', and it's another thing I like about TVD. If the safe space of women is being violated I want to see it happen to men too.
I opened the vid with the scenes of Damon and violence because I wanted to directly acknowledge that aspect of the show, and then confront the viewer with the images of female strength that balance it. It begins with Damon, our most proactive and powerful male character, as an actor & aggressor. It ends with a shot of a passive Damon, watching from the sidelines as a woman takes center stage.
I hope to display a compilation of women of different ages & races, human and supernatural, as examples of courage, emotional & mental strength, and physical strength. Elena, for instance, is a normal human who will never have Bonnie's kill-you-with-my-mind powers. But I think she's often amazing & brave, despite her limitations. The vamp hunters are pretty much outmatched, but their 'face' is a female sheriff who does the best she can with every situation & takes the lead with a non-nonsense heart of steel.
One image I especially like is the bloody spoon-- a stereotypically 'female' domestic implement, wielded as a weapon. Fredrick expects to be served, and Pearl deliberately uses this gender misconception to cushion her attack. I LOVE YOU VAMPIRE DIARIES. ♥ ♥
Another is when human Jenna turns away evil vamp!Logan without any personal knowledge of the supernatural, but just refuses entrance on the basis that she will not be condescended to & emotionally manipulated by her ex-boyfriend. (defeated by common sense!)
Re: Caroline (aka Person Mostly Not Appearing in this Video)
Though I don't dislike her character at all, I intentionally wanted to confine Caroline mostly to the prologue because my interpretation of the text has been that the characters of both Caroline & Matt have generally functioned on TVD as the Outsider POV and as examples of The Typical Human Victim. Caroline & Matt often are passive, reacting to traumatic events in Mystic Falls-- but I think that's a valuable role within the story, because they put a personal face on the consequences that befall every-day citizens of the town while our main characters engage in their power plays. It's not that I believe they have no use in the narrative, it's just that this video is centered on those people creating the waves that hit them.
I'd be interested to hear how successful people think I was with this vid. I know it's a bit long, so did it manage to keep your interest? Did it work for you?