*sigh* Why am I still watching this show?

[castalia]

I really tire of how women are portrayed on this show. I was hoping Isabella and Kate would turn out to be kickass and interesting, but instead they're same old, same old.

This week's ep was pretty much the last straw for me, in re the show's hypocrisy. Instead of exploring the possibilities of having a woman be the Sheriff of Nottingham and how she might really do some good, all we're going to get is another silly villain who is thwarted every week by Robin Hood's same old tactics - sneak in wearing hoods, shoot a few arrows, and escape easily with guards running around yet never recognizing them in the hoods or lowering the castle gates. *sigh*

For one moment I was thrilled because instead of having Robin save her yet again, they let Isabella kill her rapist of a husband to whom she was sold by Guy. She escaped a life of torment and abuse and it should have been applauded.

Instead, Robin calls her a murderer. Ignore the fact that he's killed many, many people for less, especially in the second season of the show. He kills guards all the time without blinking. She kills in self defense - Thornton has been threatening her the entire ep and is about to force himself on her and kill her with his bare hands - yet she's a murderer in Robin's eyes. The double standard just pisses me off.

We have three women with large speaking parts in this episode yet it still manages to fail the Bechdel test. The stereotypical "man hater" is of course won over by Guy and the women are portrayed in a negative light because of their distrust for men, despite the fact that both have very good reasons to distrust men in general. Isabella is correct when she says Robin didn't offer a deal, he threatened her into agreeing and wanted everything his own way, but of course she's the villain for pointing it out. Meanwhile, Kate is too busy causing a love triangle between her, Robin, and Much (I guess Alan got over it?) and being jealous of Isabella. We could have had a female friendship for a change, but they were more interested in having a traditional I-hate-you-because-you're-flirting-with-the-man-I-love dynamic instead. Bored now.

Worse, yet again Guy shows a glimmer of humanity only once a woman dies b/c of him. Hurrah.

Seriously, the few moments of awesomeness whenever Prince John is around is barely enough to keep me watching. Toby Stephens, why are you so awesome?

Comments

[tygie-bard.livejournal.com]

I only watch it because Guy is so damn hot. (but I haven't seen Season 3 yet.) The show as a whole has never much impressed me.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, he is pretty hot. When he's not all whiny, that is.