OMG LOOK!!! Women are, like, people, and, and, they can do stuff!
Yes, this. The overexcited tone is right on the money. He just seems so stunned by this realization that he can't see past it to realize that "kickass woman" can become just as much a problematic box as "sweet damsel in distress" or whatever else. Because the problem is not the description, but the existence of the box.
(Although thinking about it more, I may be unfair to Whedon here - no one could describe Kaylee from Firefly as kickass.)
I remember thinking about this when watching Whedon's Much Ado about Nothing. He followed Shakespeare's script - with some cuts, but I don't think he added anything - and the scene where Beatrice rages about her inability to protect her cousin Hero is a much stronger indictment of sexism than much of Whedon's work. Because she can't do anything. Unlike Buffy or River, the narrative can't give her special powers to overcome the fact that she's a) not allowed to challenge Claudio to a duel and b) would lose if she did, because she lacks the intensive fighting training that he surely has.
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Date: 2013-11-25 04:09 am (UTC)Yes, this. The overexcited tone is right on the money. He just seems so stunned by this realization that he can't see past it to realize that "kickass woman" can become just as much a problematic box as "sweet damsel in distress" or whatever else. Because the problem is not the description, but the existence of the box.
(Although thinking about it more, I may be unfair to Whedon here - no one could describe Kaylee from Firefly as kickass.)
I remember thinking about this when watching Whedon's Much Ado about Nothing. He followed Shakespeare's script - with some cuts, but I don't think he added anything - and the scene where Beatrice rages about her inability to protect her cousin Hero is a much stronger indictment of sexism than much of Whedon's work. Because she can't do anything. Unlike Buffy or River, the narrative can't give her special powers to overcome the fact that she's a) not allowed to challenge Claudio to a duel and b) would lose if she did, because she lacks the intensive fighting training that he surely has.