Dust Cast Five: Window Dressing

Dustdaughter here, welcome to the fifth episode of Dust Cast. This time, I'd like to talk about women and media. Or, How to eff up Misfits in six boring episodes. At this point Overman is not even trying to write for the women in the cast. And even Curtis isn't extended much privilege as a man. He's stuck with a bottom of the barrel gender swap power that effectively makes him one of the girls. We might as well face it, right now the main characters on Misfits are Rudy, Simon, and Seth. Women and men of color are just pretty window dressing on another show where only the white men matter. The same thing happened to Doctor Who this series. Amy Pond's character took a backseat for the Everyone Loves Rory show. Halfway through the season, many fans were saying that Amy didn't deserve Rory. I don't want to get into that argument either way but the point is, Amy as the Doctor's main companion is no longer the central focus for the audience. She is no longer our window into the Doctor's world: Rory is. Sci-fi Writers like Overman and Moffat may have women on their shows but if all they do is worry about relationships, if they never drive the narrative, what good are they? Why have them around if you give them nothing to do? But it's not just sci-fi writers. The same problem is showing up on NBC's Community. While the series prides itself on its diversity (and has many lines in-show where they pat themselves on the back), the only people who drive the action are the men. Jeff, Troy, Abed and even Pierce all have clear paths of growth and development that we see touched upon in episodes. Can the same be said for Shirley, Annie, and Britta? I don't think so. What's my point? I want to see women on TV who aren't defined by romantic relationships. I want to see women at the center of their own stories, embarking on their own thrilling adventures. And I want more writers in Hollywood to stop using women as window dressing for their male-centered messages. If you have feedback, you can leave it on dustdaughter.posterous.com or @dustdaughter on Twitter. Thanks for listening and stay awesome. Intro/Outro music is "Queen of Wonderland) by J*Davey feat. Thundercat