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aphrodite_minePlease correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there is much/any meta being written about Misfits.
Today I watched my last episode.
Let me tell you why.
Misfits is a British program that airs on E4, starring some really talented young actors. The premise is fun: a group of teens enrolled in community service for various reasons are caught in a strange electrical storm and struck with super powers, that they soon discover and keep secret from the world. Eventually, the group come into contact with others who have been influenced by the storm, and engage in other adventures including keeping their powers secret from their probation workers.
In case spoilers are an issue for either of my flists, the rest of this will be under a cut. What follows are discussions of powers, episodic encounters and a description of what happens to the two main female characters, Alicia and Kelly, up to and including episode 2x5.
Today I watched my last episode.
Let me tell you why.
Misfits is a British program that airs on E4, starring some really talented young actors. The premise is fun: a group of teens enrolled in community service for various reasons are caught in a strange electrical storm and struck with super powers, that they soon discover and keep secret from the world. Eventually, the group come into contact with others who have been influenced by the storm, and engage in other adventures including keeping their powers secret from their probation workers.
In case spoilers are an issue for either of my flists, the rest of this will be under a cut. What follows are discussions of powers, episodic encounters and a description of what happens to the two main female characters, Alicia and Kelly, up to and including episode 2x5.
To spoil the entirety of season one and two, I will go ahead and list the powers of the group members by gender.
Boys:
- Curtis - The ability to move back and forth in time, often proactive, limited control
- Simon - The ability to become invisible, used proactively, control (at first this is a passive power, but at first Simon is a much more 'feminine' character, and shown to be a victim of his circumstances and surroundings); Simon also "becomes" Future!Simon, who no longer relies on his invisibility but uses ninja-like skills to rescue the team frequently
- Nathan - The ability to come back from the dead, proactive, no control; can see dead people, proactive, no control
Girls:
- Alicia - When touched, the toucher becomes overcome with violent lust, only once used proactively, otherwise a hindrance, no control
- Kelly - Telepath - used proactively often, no control (Kelly is the 'butch'er girl, curvy and busty, definitely on 'par' with the guys)
- Nikki - Teleportation - unable to be used proactively, limited control (this power was thrust upon her when she received the heart of a dead man who had the power)
So... just in the basic premise of the show, you'll notice that there is a pretty strong disconnect between how the men and women are allowed to function. The females tend to have powers that are abusive to themselves (overhearing sexually abusive thoughts, accidentally touching someone and 'making' them want to rape you) and out of control, while the men have powers that are useful (becoming invisible to break into a bank, turning back time to re-do a combat scenario, literally, coming back to life).
And that is just the main characters.
When it comes to week-to-week characters, there is a similar problem.
I'll run down the list of characters from the wikipedia page, to prove this point.
Males:
Tony, first probation worker, Hulk-like power, killed by Kelly
Finn, baby with the power to mentally manipulate - not significant in itself, but he is the child of a single mother seeking out a father with his powers
Vince, tattoos with his mind, tattoos affect mental state, control and proactive
Ollie, teleportation, has control - however when he dies and this power is passed on to Nikki, she cannot control it
Tim, believes he is living a video game, plot involves getting money from his boss, and abusing his former girlfriend (he substitutes Kelly, making her wear a wedding dress)
Bruno -- I will get to him.
Jessica's father, when a man gets close to his daughter, he is overcome with rage and kills them
Females:
Sally, fiance of Tony, in the wrong place at the wrong time, killed and then literally refrigerated by Simon
Ruth, power to appear young but is really 82, seduces Nathan, dies of natural causes (frequent disgut of old people)
Jodi, power to turn people bald (make people feel how she feels), has no control
Rachel, power to influence, uses it to encourage virtue - conservative clothing and disdain of sex, killed by Nathan (Individuality)
Lucy, power to shapeshift, uses it to 'seduce' Simon, has no control, causes her pain
Lily, ability to generate ice because of her intimacy issues, spontaneously combusts while not initiating sex with Nathan's brother, shown with Nathan's brother after death as his girlfriend -- or rather "I'm fucking her" despite the dubious nature of their deaths
And... I'll just let those facts speak for themselves.
On to episode 2x5, which requires a bit more explanation.
I love Kelly. She is a fierce bitch, and one of the few full-figured main characters on television to be given a sexual identity. She holds her own against anyone she comes in contact with. She is the reason I've stuck out this show for so long. So when she got a love interest in 2x5 who wasn't horrible looking, was actually a nice guy (and she can read minds, so she would know) I was getting excited.
I should have known better.
During their hookup, Kelly insists to Bruno that she's not a slag (it is, after all, their first 'date') but the music playing insists that she's getting slutty. Nice move, Misfits. Nice move Number One, that is.
The next time they see one another, Kelly is happy to see Bruno. After all, he's a nice guy and they seem to have good sexual chemistry.
Not so.
They're just starting to have sex a second time when things get rough. Really rough. The camera doesn't pan away. Bruno's face is... near terrifying. Kelly screams for him to get off of her, and, I suppose to his credit, he does.
Kelly goes from fierce and in charge to wounded and dejected.
Later on, Bruno begs to explain. She wouldn't want to be with him if she knew.
The rest of the episode plays on obvious visuals -- Bruno is on the run from the police, and is chased to the rooftop. There are helicoptors and gunshots. Bruno, as he dies, reverts to his prior form. The storm, it seems, turned this gorilla into a human.
He was merely giving in to his animal instinct.
And Kelly, brokenhearted at this brutality (on the behalf of the police) and this honesty (he loved her, after all, and only wanted to be human) forgives him. Kisses him on the gorilla-lips. The episode ends with his death and her sadness.
My favorite character was raped by a gorilla.
And that, Misfits, is why I will never be watching you again.
Boys:
- Curtis - The ability to move back and forth in time, often proactive, limited control
- Simon - The ability to become invisible, used proactively, control (at first this is a passive power, but at first Simon is a much more 'feminine' character, and shown to be a victim of his circumstances and surroundings); Simon also "becomes" Future!Simon, who no longer relies on his invisibility but uses ninja-like skills to rescue the team frequently
- Nathan - The ability to come back from the dead, proactive, no control; can see dead people, proactive, no control
Girls:
- Alicia - When touched, the toucher becomes overcome with violent lust, only once used proactively, otherwise a hindrance, no control
- Kelly - Telepath - used proactively often, no control (Kelly is the 'butch'er girl, curvy and busty, definitely on 'par' with the guys)
- Nikki - Teleportation - unable to be used proactively, limited control (this power was thrust upon her when she received the heart of a dead man who had the power)
So... just in the basic premise of the show, you'll notice that there is a pretty strong disconnect between how the men and women are allowed to function. The females tend to have powers that are abusive to themselves (overhearing sexually abusive thoughts, accidentally touching someone and 'making' them want to rape you) and out of control, while the men have powers that are useful (becoming invisible to break into a bank, turning back time to re-do a combat scenario, literally, coming back to life).
And that is just the main characters.
When it comes to week-to-week characters, there is a similar problem.
I'll run down the list of characters from the wikipedia page, to prove this point.
Males:
Tony, first probation worker, Hulk-like power, killed by Kelly
Finn, baby with the power to mentally manipulate - not significant in itself, but he is the child of a single mother seeking out a father with his powers
Vince, tattoos with his mind, tattoos affect mental state, control and proactive
Ollie, teleportation, has control - however when he dies and this power is passed on to Nikki, she cannot control it
Tim, believes he is living a video game, plot involves getting money from his boss, and abusing his former girlfriend (he substitutes Kelly, making her wear a wedding dress)
Bruno -- I will get to him.
Jessica's father, when a man gets close to his daughter, he is overcome with rage and kills them
Females:
Sally, fiance of Tony, in the wrong place at the wrong time, killed and then literally refrigerated by Simon
Ruth, power to appear young but is really 82, seduces Nathan, dies of natural causes (frequent disgut of old people)
Jodi, power to turn people bald (make people feel how she feels), has no control
Rachel, power to influence, uses it to encourage virtue - conservative clothing and disdain of sex, killed by Nathan (Individuality)
Lucy, power to shapeshift, uses it to 'seduce' Simon, has no control, causes her pain
Lily, ability to generate ice because of her intimacy issues, spontaneously combusts while not initiating sex with Nathan's brother, shown with Nathan's brother after death as his girlfriend -- or rather "I'm fucking her" despite the dubious nature of their deaths
And... I'll just let those facts speak for themselves.
On to episode 2x5, which requires a bit more explanation.
I love Kelly. She is a fierce bitch, and one of the few full-figured main characters on television to be given a sexual identity. She holds her own against anyone she comes in contact with. She is the reason I've stuck out this show for so long. So when she got a love interest in 2x5 who wasn't horrible looking, was actually a nice guy (and she can read minds, so she would know) I was getting excited.
I should have known better.
During their hookup, Kelly insists to Bruno that she's not a slag (it is, after all, their first 'date') but the music playing insists that she's getting slutty. Nice move, Misfits. Nice move Number One, that is.
The next time they see one another, Kelly is happy to see Bruno. After all, he's a nice guy and they seem to have good sexual chemistry.
Not so.
They're just starting to have sex a second time when things get rough. Really rough. The camera doesn't pan away. Bruno's face is... near terrifying. Kelly screams for him to get off of her, and, I suppose to his credit, he does.
Kelly goes from fierce and in charge to wounded and dejected.
Later on, Bruno begs to explain. She wouldn't want to be with him if she knew.
The rest of the episode plays on obvious visuals -- Bruno is on the run from the police, and is chased to the rooftop. There are helicoptors and gunshots. Bruno, as he dies, reverts to his prior form. The storm, it seems, turned this gorilla into a human.
He was merely giving in to his animal instinct.
And Kelly, brokenhearted at this brutality (on the behalf of the police) and this honesty (he loved her, after all, and only wanted to be human) forgives him. Kisses him on the gorilla-lips. The episode ends with his death and her sadness.
My favorite character was raped by a gorilla.
And that, Misfits, is why I will never be watching you again.
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Part 1
My Alisha-centric meta: "Feel free to check out my tits, yeah?" --> http://goddess09807.livejournal.com/20815.html#cutid1
You are right, Misfits treatment of it's female characters has been problematic at best. And there have been several times when watching it that I've had to turn off my inner feminist otherwise I'd just scream in rage. However, I don't agree with some of the points you've made here.
First, how are you defining proactive? Because Nathan's power is incredibly passive at this point. He is immortal and can see dead people. These are not actions that he takes but rather just things that are.
Secondly, I would say that Kelly's control of her power is either on par with Simon's at this point or she's a close second to him in terms of control. Other than Simon (and Alisha's brief exploration in episode 1x03) she is the only other character to use her power at will. She still can't block the occasional errant thought but she can read people's mind at will now. She is also the only character to have been called a superhero in the show. Of course this was jokingly in the Nathan steals a baby episode, but still. Her power has also been one of the ones most consistently used to further the plot and story-lines.
I'm confused by you defining Nikki's power as "unable to be used proactively." She definitely has very little control over it but it is very proactive. One, it is triggered every time she thinks extensively about a person. First with Ollie, her donor, then twice more with Curtis. She's already shown more mastery over it compared to Ollie who could teleport at will but only a few feet if that. She can travel large distances and her power is not location specific.
I absolutely agree with you that Alisha's power is abusive towards her, and all of the links I've supplied above get into that.
I don't think you're giving the recurring female characters their due.
Sally wasn't a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What happened to her was beyond fucked up, I'm not going to argue that. But she was actively investigating and manipulating in order to find the truth about her fiancée's disappearance/murder. Hers is not a passive storyline. And even in the scenes leading to her death puts up quite a fight.
Lucy exerts incredible control over her characters, actually the most we've seen out of any characters thus far. Able to transform at will and multiple times in a short amount of time. And as was noted in the main comm, her transformation looks just as painful as Simon's.
It is never clarified why Lily has her power so your speculation that it is due to her intimacy issues is just that, speculation. She causes the explosion due to a combination of two factors. The drugs reversing her power and the already demonstrated fact that she has no control over her powers.
And you left out Jessica, who is actually one of the better drawn female characters when not viewing her through shipping lenses. Jessica tells Nathan to piss of when she catches him leering at her in the locker-room. When she's flirting with the random red-shirt in the community center and he pushes it further than she is comfortable she makes her displeasure known and removes herself from the situation, causing him to call her a prick tease. She initiates all of the physical contact between her and Simon. And when she tells him she is a virgin, she thinks he might "think she's a freak" but she doesn't apologize for her sexual choices or seem ashamed of them And after the sex act with Simon she seems content and happy with the choices she's made. Her father's storyline IS in credibly misogynistic but Jessica herself is refreshingly proactive especially given that she is a shy personality.
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I think that Lily DOES explain her power, however. Or someone does?
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I am really sorry if you feel attacked or as if people are just disagreeing with you for no reason or invalidating your feelings.
I very much appreciate your attempt at producing meta and I do think you've sparked a discussion that is very much worth having.
However, when you create and post meta, and invite others to discuss it, (especially when making the type of accusations that you do in this post) you have to do your research first. You have to be able to show exactly where your conclusions are coming from, what part of the source material supports your theory, etc.
Because the nature of meta is dissection and discussion and you have to be able to back up your points with more than just how you feel about the episodes/show.
Thank you for this post though and the ensuing discussion.
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