Frankly, it pissed me off. For one thing it painted everything in the toon as a "regression" of the progress made door Buffy in how women are depicted on television, down to how the Winchesters use guns because they are a symbol of masculinity. What I learned from the essay is that some people seem incapable of viewing women on televisie as anything other than a representative of their sex. Jo Harvelle, for example, isn't a character she's a symbol for women everywhere. Her flaws and the things that happen to her then become a statement on women everywhere. So basically what they're saying is that a male character can be flawed and still represent men accurately, but a female character with flaws is an inaccurate representation of women. Right. Because women are perfect. Give me a break! door viewing all female characters as "feminine" role models and claiming that their "weaknesses" toon how men denigrate women, they're saying that in order to be a feminine role model u can't be real, u have to be perfect. door placing Jo(for example) on a pedestal and comparing her to characters such as Buffy, they're robbing her of what makes her Jo and not Buffy. They're robbing her of her ability to be an individual character. She's a young, inexperienced hunter- not a super powered girl charged with the protection of the world. Another thing that's pointed out is how gruesomely the women on the toon die. Hello!?! Everyone on this toon dies a gruesome death.
Anyway, the essay got me to thinking about women on the show. And it's true, there have been some "damsels in distress"- but there's also been some men in distress too. Just because women can scream better than men doesn't mean men don't piss themselves when they're scared. And most of these people in distress are civilians. To expect them (man of woman) to comport themselves with the skill and bravery of an experienced hunter is ridiculous.
Which brings me to Jamie. I've heard her referred to as a "Damsel in Distress"- which is not at all the impression I got from this episode. In fact, I even made a pick asking if people thought she'd eventually become a hunter. I can easily see that potential in her and she continues to be one of my favourite minor characters featured in only one episode.
In order to understand how Jamie is far from a DiD(Damsel in Distress) we need to examine exactly how layered this episode is. Monster Movie is black and white, right? Wrong. It's all shades of gray. Nothing in this episode is what it seems to be.
Dean starts the episode off door saying he's looking vooruit, voorwaarts to a simple, straight forward, black and white case. He's tired of shades of gray. So he's eager to swoop in and save the dag door beheading some vampires. Well, of course it's not that simple. It turns out they're not dealing with vampires but a shapeshifter. A shapeshifter who is both monster and victim.
When the truth is revealed to Jamie that they are hunting an actual monster, she immediately realizes that her first impression of them was correct- they aren't federal agents. And when she sees that they are just two guys traveling the country hunting monsters, she doesn't romanticize it. She cuts right to the hart-, hart of the matter- telling Dean his life must suck. She sees past the glamorous heroics to what their life really is all about- sacrifice. And her startling insight affects Dean, prompting him to open up to her and reveal something important. Something she takes to heart. He tells her that the past few years he's lost his sense of purpose, doubted the merit of his life. But because of a "near death" experience he's been tentatively renewed. He cautiously asserts that what he does saves people and therefore his life must have real purpose, his sacrifices mean something and he might be important in the grand scheme of things.
They're interrupted door Jamie's friend Lucy. Once again Jamie shows good character door not telling her friend to take a hike and maintaining control of her "relationship" with Dean door inviting Lucy to have a drink with them. She's not some simpering girl desperate to rip her clothes off and toon her "gratitude" to the hero. She praises Dean's fighting skills even though he didn't actually do much fighting and the shapeshifter escaped. Does that make her a DiD? No, that just makes her a sensitive person who sees beyond Dean's swagger to the insecurity underneath. She let him be the hero because it makes him feel like his life's worth living.
Then Dean recognizes that they've been drugged but Jamie doesn't- she just passes out. Does this make her a DiD? No, it makes her a trusting friend. Why would she ever think that Lucy would drug her? And so the monster captures both Jamie and Dean. Now they both need rescuing.
Jamie wakes up in "Dracula's lair". She's visibly frightened and she tells her captor that she just wants to go home. Does this make her a DiD? No, it makes her a person who's out of their element- kidnapped door a monster who's been pretending to be her friend and now demanding that she play some kind of weird game with him. I'd want to go home pagina too. When she thinks she hears someone outside, she calls out to Dean for help. Does this make her a DiD? No, it makes her unarmed and unprepared to kill a shapeshifter on her own. She very intelligently calls out- letting whoever's out there know where she is and that she needs help. She's struck down and knocked unconscious door the monster. Does this make her a DiD? No, it makes her someone struck door a preternaturally strong creature.
Perhaps they're forming their opinion from the episode's epilogue, where the hero is proud that everything ended happily ever after. The monster was ganked and the hero got the girl. Jamie even thanks them for saving her.
Nothing is what it seems in this episode- as evidenced door the vraag mark that follows "The End", asking the audience to vraag what they just watched. Did they see a black and white episode about a Beautiful Damsel in Distress saved from an Evil Monster door Handsome Heroes? of did they see an episode full of shades of gray, where the handsome heroes are rescued both physically and emotionally from a pitiable monster door the beautiful damsel in distress?
I have no trouble imagining Jamie eventually becoming a hunter. Now that her eyes have been opened to the possibility of monsters she'll take things even less on face value. I don't picture her just jumping in, but she'd be meer suspicious of the unusual and if she encountered another monster I have no doubt that she'd take action and do what needed to be done to save people. The vraag mark at the end could also signify the vraag of whether of not this is the end of Jamie's story of the beginning?
What's just as interesting as Jamie's status as heroine of the episode, is the fans inability to recognize it. Are we so fooled door the pretty blonde in the silky white dress with the sweet smile that we can't see beyond that? If Jamie is the hero of the story, then that makes Dean the damsel in distress. Can the fans not accept that? Do we need Dean to be the hero as desperately as he needs it himself? door calling Jamie the damsel in distress are the fans doing what Jamie herself did? Letting Dean be the hero?
Which brings me full circle. Was Jamie written off the toon because she was a potential "Buffy"? Did she threaten Dean's status as hero? I don't think so. She illustrated his need to be a hero but she didn't make him any less of a hero door being one herself. And the reason it's unlikely that she'll make another appearance on the toon is simply because there's no room for extraneous characters of characters who draw too much attention away from the central plot. This isn't a toon about male/female relationships. It's a toon about the relationship between two brothers. And that is why so many characters(both male and female) are either killed of written off the show. Besides, why should Jamie of Jo tag along behind the Winchesters when they've got lives of their own to lead?
