Female Identity from Time Perspective in Whedon`s Dollhouse and Abram`s Lost - Essay Example

Female Identity from Time Perspective in Whedon`s “Dollhouse” and Abram`s “Lost” The concept of gender identity was always formed within the society because it was represented in contrast of male and female roles. With the society evolution gender identity has become more versatile, more profound, and complicated. Despite some stereotypical representation claiming that men should be brave, heroic, and powerful, the representation of women was evolving. Nowadays women do not need to be literally on the background of men and can calculate on respect and equality. However, portraying women in the system devoid of time frames makes gender identity blurred. In the recent TV dramas “Dollhouse” ad “Lost” time runs in a non-typical way: it either does not exist due to memory erasing or does not matter due to the crash of civilization. In these challenging circumstances gender identity is shaped in a different way: lacking temporal and social determination gender (feminine) identity becomes problematic and even unpredictable. Creating his “Dollhouse” Whedon aimed to raise an important philosophical question of the relationships between body representation and identity, and gender identity in particular. He author was always interested in overcoming stereotypical perception of women in his works, and this TV drama did not become an exception. The programs main assumption is that the individuals character can be literally extracted from the person`s body and saved as the information on hard drive. While the remaining hollow organism (which is perceived as a “doll” as it is devoid of any personality) can be “imprinted” with a new identity. This mechanism makes the main hero of the series - Echo – a person with no permanent inner self. That is why it leaves her in the space without time, as one of the major characteristic of time perception is development, growth, and change. The concept of such transformation creates a serious question whether a person devoid of identity, emotions and thoughts can be considered a woman, a human. The main character, the human being which was transformed into Echo, is the one who is real (whose name is different- Caroline) gets stuck in her body unable to make her soul and inner self evolve because her body is used as capsule for other identities. It is interesting the creators of the series realized that the absence of the character`s gradual development was the reason of popularity loss and that this why the series was cancelled. That is why it is possible to suggest that on some deeper level the lack of coherent identity was perceived by auditory as a repulsive phenomenon. The absence of personality, moreover, made the creator of the drama appeal to underlined sexuality of the characters and use body image as the main attraction. In the “Lost” drama Abrams uses different concept- loss of social identity and reinvention of the personality in physically challenging conditions. The heroes of the TV series found themselves in the circumstances when their bodies become their major objects of interest due to physiological needs (when you have to think all that time how to get food). For a modern civilized people landing on the desert island can be compared with starting a new life as a “tabula rasa”. It is necessary not only to reinvent oneself as a socially valuable person but as a woman or a man again. In American society, where roles of men and women have reached at least certain equality in term of career opportunities, relationships, and self-actualization, while all this become redundant when people find themselves in the world without civilization inhabited by literal physical enemies, mysteries, unknown creatures. The reality of “Lost” is really challenging: heroes aim to take advantage of each other with the help of cheating and lying, leadership is the main issue of debates, death is rather unstable concept because dead still remain conscious after being murdered, and times runs uncontrollably and incomprehensibly . However, there is one steady element on the island- it is power distribution among genders. Male are those who own the island and rule it, the ones with extraordinary abilities and supernatural powers, and they undoubtedly play the main roles in solving the islands riddles. While female can do something daring from time to time but each their effort is undermined by the predominance of the male characters wisdom and physical abilities, and the ladies own weak and delicate bodies. That is why Losts females anticipate patiently when the time will come and they will receive the chance to say or do anything, and this happens only if they are involved in romantic relationships or in a trouble. In spite of the fact that male and female heroes pass on in equivalent numbers, the reason of their deaths say much about their lives: while men die in a fight sacrificing their lives themselves for the benefit of community, women usually become victims and die involuntarily. The one part in which women in “Lost” declare some predominance is in the role of mothers; however, female characters are subordinated by more noticeable and controlling father figures. Moreover, their parenthood is normally limited to times of pregnancy and labor, the period which is depicted as the most threatening and dangerous. Subsequently, women are represented as a helpless class with serving only as the object for men. Therefore, construction of female identity in the conditions of pre-civilization occurs in the most trivial way with men taking domineering position and women remaining simple spectators of men`s actions. The only heroine that seems to stand equal to men is Kate but as soon as she gets involved into romantic relationships her role as a brave woman becomes less and less noticed. In the following dialogue from the episode called “The Hunting Party” she discusses the possibility to go to the jungles in search for a child along with the rest: KATE: [to Jack] You got a gun for me? JACK: You’re not coming. KATE: Excuse me? JACK: You’re not coming. Someone has to be here to take care of the button. KATE: So why should that person be me? I can track, carry a gun… JACK: You’re not coming! You’re staying. Alright Later it turns out that Jack refused Kate in order to keep her safe while his emotion and feelings to her prevent him from protecting her. The time in “Lost” runs in all possible ways but not linearly. The story is built mostly with the help of flashbacks on the examples of which it is possible to see how heroes looked like in normal life. On the island the time reminds the sense of time in schizophrenic and that is why the perception of reality becomes somehow schizophrenic. Comparing previous lives of the heroes and present it is possible to notice the degradation of female identities to pre-civilized world when from the subjects they have become certain objects and spectators. However, in both dramas the perception of gender is controversial. For the characters of ‘Dollhouse” the time has stopped because they do not evolve and their viewing themselves as male and female has become conditional. Gender is first of all appearance as all dolls look immaculate, while the other characteristics of femininity and masculinity are customized according to the clients` preferences. In one of the episode the doll is transformed into a woman who “enjoys outdoor hiking, knows how to shoot a gun because she has four brothers”. That is how female peculiarities are shaped within the world where there are no identities. Literally any person can be anyone else (except for oneself). This coincides with the theory regarding gender determinations formulated in the end of XX century. According to the queer theory formulated by Foucault in the 1990s sex and gender are rather socially constructed than inherited or predetermined biologically. That is why the creation of masculine or feminine identity is determined by a number of factors such as social pressures, traditions, conforming, linguistic and symbolic codes and so on. So according to the theorists of queer theory, sex is stipulated socially, and even on biological level there is a possibility of mixed sex (Foucault, 1978). Therefore, social determination of gender depends significantly on the époque of narration: several centuries ago women were absolutely deprived of the basic rights while today in most developed countries women have a possibility to be as successful as men. While the world of future pictures by Whedon demonstrates the blurring of the boundaries between male and female and construction of these attributes absolutely artificially. Moreover, it is possible to suggest that blurring of time perception makes transformation of genders possible. However, in the “Dollhouse” dolls are usually kept I their initial gender and racial roles, there were experiments suggesting switching male to female identities. In “Dollhouse” the idea of gender construction is regarded in a more futuristic and thus literal way. Gender identity is represented as something totally constructed and modified up to the smallest details. According to Butler, “acts, gestures, and desire produce the effect of an internal core or substance” but “such acts, gestures, enactments, generally constructed, are performative in the sense that the essence oridentity that they otherwise purport to express are fabrications manufactured and sustained through corporeal signs and other discursive means” (136). So “Dollhouse” shows how even constructed personalities act in the borders of gender perception imposed by society. It is worth noticing that when “dolls” wait for their next engagement in their “Dollhouse” they act as sexless zombies reminding children in their inability to take care of themselves. This concept of return to childhood when gender roles were not determined strictly and were learnt quite clearly allows understanding that gender aspect of identity is the concept of adult world dependent on the époque mostly. Moreover, it is children who are often characterized as those devoid of sense of time: they rarely remember their past and cannot imagine future, and live only in present moment. And if there is no time for people who do not change and do not feel themselves human, therefore, gender identity is either not formed or formed as it is shown in the drama according to the customers` orders. The concept of memory erasure is central for the whole series as only erasing of memories allows Rossum Corporation run its business. It is often underlined that presence of memories would create inevitable internal conflicts within the dolls therefore refusing them in possibility to have past the corporation makes them inhumane robots, making their every day - a first day. The only power of Echo is her ability to recall certain episodes from her real life and subsequent engagements. Though experiencing and acknowledging her past Echo (Caroline) receives opportunity to form her future in her own way. So Whedon empowers her female character with the ability to sense the linear time and literally to compare past with present. The typical feminine role of a helpless victim which was supposed to be realized with the help of Echo becomes redundant. And in the end of the first season in the episode “Briar Rose” Whedon challenges this stereotype of a “sleeping beauty” who is unaware of what is going on in the world. He even includes the scene in which Ballard literally opens the box where Echo is sleeping. However, it turs out that Ballard creates an illusion of a woman in need himself and wants to fit in the role of a noble prince. In the end of the episode nevertheless he realizes that common gender roles do not work in “Dollhouse”. Therefore, the authors of both “Lost” and “Dollhouse” made unintentional (or intentional”) assumption proving queer theory and showing that sex and gender are not biological but rather social concepts as society exists within development, change is compulsory element of it. In the “Dollhouse” people lack past due to malicious manipulations of the corporation and simply do not need represent themselves in terms of gender between engagements while during engagements they become “dolls” and let the customers play with the list of qualities they possess. This futuristic interpretation of gender roles suggest that femininity or masculinity is the set of characteristics adjusted upon request. The heroes in “Lost at the same time find themselves in pre-civilized society with schizophrenic perception of time and it turns out that women become objectified and their role diminishes in such conditions to the pre-historical role of a mother and a spectator in a man`s world. Works Cited Butler, J. Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. 1990 London: Routledge. Foucault, M.The History of Sexuality Vol. I, 1978: An Introduction, Harmondsworth: Penguin Read More