Flame Princess and Patriarchal Culture In

FLAME PRINCESS AND PATRIARCHAL CULTURE

A Thesis Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for The Degree of Strata One

Nur Alawiyah 1111026000092

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENTS ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2016

ABSTRACT

Nur Alawiyah. Flame Princess and Patriarchal Culture in Adventure Time Animated Series, Thesis, English Letters Department, Faculty of Adab and Humanities, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta 2015.

Purpose of this research is to explain how Flame Princess, as a strong woman character in Adventure Time, animated series is shown and to reveal how patriarchal culture is presented. To examine mentioned problems, descriptive- qualitative is used as the method of research. This research explains how Flame Princess, as a main character of the nine episodes, is shown and how patriarchal culture is presented in the series. Feminist film theory is applied to answer both problems.

The result shows that Flame Princess is categorized as an ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary because she raises and struggles to be a new leader of Fire Kingdom. However, even though Flame Princess is shown as a strong and a leading female character, she always depends on male characters to help and support her which indicates that patriarchal culture presents in the series.

Keywords: feminism, feminist film theory, animated series, patriarchal culture.

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, do the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published and written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institution of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has made in the text.

Jakarta, November 2015

Nur Alawiyah

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious and the most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Beneficent, and the

Merciful, with His guidance and blessings, the writer is able to complete this research. Salutations and peace be upon our prophet Muhammad SAW, his family, and all of his followers.

First of all, the writer would like to dedicate this thesis to her parents; Husein

Shahab, and especially her mom, Syifa Shahab, in which without their support, she wouldn’t have been studying this far. Thank you for all the support, love, and affection that is given to her. The writer would also express her gratitude to her advisor, Mrs. Pita Merdeka M.A, and her two kids that are cheerful and cute. Thank you for the tutor, advice, time, and patience during this research, without those that you sacrificed, this research would have taken longer to complete.

Deepest gratitude is also addressed to those who has helped the writer in the process of completing her thesis as follows;

1. Dr. Syukron Kamil, M.Hum, the dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty

2. Drs. Saefuddin, M.Pd, the Head of English Letters Department

3. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum, the Secretary of English Letters Department,

4. All lecturers of English Letters Department. Thank you for the knowledge

that you have passed on sincerely.

5. Viraj Koshimkar, who is always available for her. Thank you for never

ending support, happiness, patience, and everything.

6. The writer’s siblings; Shirin, Ahmad, Imah, Afifah, and Ali.

7. The writer’s closest friends; Sarah, Dicha, Harli, Iwa, Maryanti, Nepo,

Uswa, Nung, Rego, Gladi, Jaisy, Ade. Thank you for support, memories,

and laughs that you all have given me throughout this time.

8. English Letters Department students, especially Literature and C class

member whose name cannot be mentioned one by one. Thank you for being

awesome friends. Thanks for the togetherness, happiness, time, and

memories that have been shared throughout these years.

Lastly, the writer hopes that this thesis can be useful, especially for the writer and the reader.

Jakarta, November 2015

The Writer

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1. Flame Princess’ description ...... 16

Table 2. Patriarchal culture ...... 19

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...... i

APPROVAL SHEET ...... ii

LEGALIZATION ...... iii

DECLARATION ...... iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... v

LIST OF TABLE ...... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... viii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

A. Background of the Study ...... 1

B. Focus of the Study ...... 6

C. Research Questions ...... 6

D. Significance of the Study ...... 6

E. Research Methodology ...... 6

1. Objective of the Research ...... 6

2. Method of the Research ...... 7

3. Technique of Data Analysis ...... 7

4. The Instrument of the Research ...... 7

5. Unit of Analysis ...... 8

F. Research Outline ...... 8

CHAPTER II. THEORITICAL DESCRIPTION ...... 9

A. Previous Research ...... 9

B. Feminist Film Theory ...... 10

viii

C. Patriarchal Culture ...... 13

CHAPTER III. DATA ANALYSIS ...... 16

A. Data Description ...... 16

B. Data Analysis ...... 22

1. Flame Princess Description ...... 22

2. Patriarchal Culture ...... 25

a. Male Domination ...... 25

b. Male Dependent ...... 32

CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ...... 46

A. Conclusions ...... 46

B. Suggestions ...... 47

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 48

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Cartoon or animated film is a type of show that was first made in 1908. The first animated film was released by Vintagraph with title Humorous Phases of

Funny Faces, created by a cartoonist James Stuart Blackton. The film is composed of series of scenes featuring letters, words and faces drawn by an “unseen” hand1.

The time when animation film was made without any sound is known as The Silent

Era. It only contained moving images and written words.

However, silent cartoon did not get good response from viewers due to animators concern only in animation; this include drawings and inconsistent use of cartoons balloon over the subject’s head to describe dialogue or action2. According to Dick Huemer (1989-1979), an animator of Mutt and Jeff, sound is the most important thing in animated cartoons.

First animated cartoon with sound was made in 1927, produced by

Fleischers. Song Car-Tunes, a series of “bouncing ball singalongs,” were synchronized to popular music by a revolutionary DeForest Phonofilm system3. A year later, Walt Disney made first cartoon with synchronized sound, Mickey

Mouse’s “Steamboat Willie.” Walt Disney gave huge contribution in cartoon world. He was the first person who suggested to put individual personality in

1 The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoon, 3rd ed., s.v. “A Nutshell History of The American Animated Cartoon.” p.1 2 Ibid, p. 2 3 Ibid, p. 3

animated cartoon characters. Therefore, from mid-1930s on, animated cartoon has contained story, personality of each character, voice, and background sound, which formed narration.

Narration in film is not narrated by a narrator, like it is in textual literature.

The absence of a narrative subject is to be compensated for by the construction of a “visual narrative instance” mediating the paradigms of overtly cinematographic devices (elements relating to camera, sound, editing), the mise-en-scène (arranging and composing the scene in front of the camera), and a distinctly filmic focalization4. Film analysis has traditionally privileged narrative5, which is why it is considered as a literary work. Literary works have been identified with reference to their relationship to human emotion (emotive theories: a literary work expresses, evokes, or defines emotions) or to 'reality' or 'the world' (theories of mimesis: a literary work mirrors reality, is a true representation of general nature, etc)6.

Anneke Smelik stated in Feminist Film Theory7 that feminism is a social movement that has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism. Cinema is taken by feminist to be a cultural practice representing myths about women and femininity, as well as about men and masculinity. Early feminist critics were directed to films produced by Hollywood where in most of films that they produced showed stereotyped women. Mulvey argued that in narrative cinema, woman plays

4 Narration in Film, http://wikis.sub.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/index.php/Narration_in_Film, accessed on 6 December 2014 5 Thomas Elsaesser & Warren Buckland, Studying Contemporary American Film: A Guide to Movie Analysis. (London: Arnold, 2002), p. 3 6 Stein Haugom Olsen, The End of Literary Theory. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), p.2 7 Pam Cook, The Cinema Book. (London: BFI, 2007), p. 491

‘traditional exhibitionistic role’– her body is held up as a passive erotic object for the gaze of male spectators, so that they can project their fantasies on to her8. In which later, she connotes woman as ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’. Because of the fact that most Hollywood films of the era were directed by men, Mulvey argues that, unconsciously, patriarchal culture has structured film form9.

It is not necessary that female character is shown as secondary character to prove the patriarchal culture in films, or where man is the main character.

Patriarchal culture in films can also be found in which female plays a role. However, in such films, when a woman is the central character, she is generally shown as confused, or helpless and in danger, or as a purely sexual being10.

In 2010, Cartoon Network aired a short animated cartoon series- 11 minutes long per episode- titled Adventure Time. The main storyline of this series is about adventure of Finn the human, and Jake the dog, his adoptive brother. From 156 episodes that are available, nine of them are shown from perspective of a female character whose name is Flame Princess, thus make the main character switched from Finn and Jake to Flame Princess. Flame Princess is one of many princesses on

Land of Ooo, but she is the only known princess who is able to invade other kingdom by herself.

At her first appearance in the series, she is shown imprisoned inside a lantern by her father, a king of Fire Kingdom. However, because of the failed

8 Shohini Chaudhuri, ed., Feminist Film Theorists (New York: Routledge, 2006) p. 35 9 Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” in Sue Thomson, ed., Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999) p. 58 10 Sharon Smith, “The Image Of Women In Film: Some Suggestions For Future Research,” in Sue Thomson, ed., Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999) p. 14-15

matchmaking, she is able to escape and free herself. Later in the story, she also manages to take over her father’s authority and become a new leader of Fire

Kingdom. Even though her appearance in this series portrayed her as a strong female character, she is naive, often seems confused, and always depend on male character to support, help, or either save her. From these reasons, the writer sees a patriarchal culture that is implicitly available in her case.

At her first appearance, she is shown to be imprisoned by her own father. This clearly shows that male has more power than female. Moreover, as the story goes,

Flame Princess happens to always depend on male figure to help and to support her.

She, being able to escape Fire Kingdom, happens because Jake comes to take her to meet Finn, who is brokenhearted at the time. Flame King releases Flame Princess to give her hand to Jake, but Jake immediately changes mind and left her. This opportunity is taken by Flame Princess to leave Fire Kingdom.

After she leaves Fire Kingdom, she starts to live by her own, but she relies on

Finn most of the time. During their relationship, Finn makes Flame Princess a house to live, help her fulfilling her needs, and often seen hanging out together. Their relationship goes well until the time Flame Princess is betrayed by Finn. The broken hearted Flame Princess leaves Finn and meet other characters; Princess Bubblegum and Cinnamon Bun.

When Flame Princess is sad because what happens to her relationship with

Finn, Flame Princess catches Princess Bubblegum spying over her. To explain this,

Princess Bubblegum says that she wants Flame Princess to be subject of her experiment. To convince her, she insists that is trying to help her controlling her

feelings (due to breaking up with Finn) by creating a scientific model that describes her complete elemental matrix, to make her able to isolate and suppress her violent feelings and no longer feel sad. Hearing this, Flame Princess agrees to be her

‘experiment’ subject.

As a subject of Princess Bubblegum’s experiment, Flame Princess is put and tied in a room. She is kept in a way that she will not be able to escape and leave the experiment. Fortunately for Flame Princess, the experiment is suspended because

Princess Bubblegum is called by Finn and Jake to help them. She then entrusted the experiment to Cinnamon Bun, her assistant, telling him not to let Flame Princess escape. Though Cinnamon Bun ignores Princess Bubblegum’s command, he rescues Flame Princess instead and invites her to his house. From this time on,

Cinnamon Bun becomes her friend, he stays with her and often time rescues her.

He even helps Flame Princess take over Fire Kingdom and overthrow Flame King.

Presence of male character together with Flame Princess shows that patriarchal culture is available in this series. As stated by Sharon Smith, even when a woman is the central character, she is generally shown as confused, or helpless and in danger. Flame Princess, even though she is able to become the leader of Fire

Kingdom, will not be able to go this far without help of other male characters namely Finn, Jake, and Cinnamon Bun.

As explained above, the writer believes that patriarchal culture is presented in Adventure Time animated series, especially in case of Flame Princess. Therefore, the writer is interested to do further research about how Flame Princess is shown in the series and how patriarchal culture is constructed.

B. Focus of the Study

In this research, the writer will focus on how Flame Princess is shown and how patriarchal culture is presented along the series. The writer will analyze Flame

Princess and male characters that are related to her to reveal the patriarchal culture that the series present.

C. Research Questions

As the explanation in background of the study, the writer has formed two questions:

1. How is Flame Princess described as a woman in Adventure Time animated

series?

2. How is patriarchal culture presented in Adventure Time animated series?

D. Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is to answer questions which are stated in research question. It also enhance the writer’s knowledge about feminist film theory and how it applies to films in general. The writer hopes that this research will increase reader’s knowledge about feminist film theory and how film is seen through feminist perspective. The writer also hopes that reader would do further research of Adventure Time animated series using different theoretical framework and different perspective.

E. Research Methodology

1. Objective of the Research

The objective of this research is to answer questions stated in research

questions; to describe how Flame Princess is shown in Adventure Time

animated series and to reveal patriarchal culture in the series.

2. Method of the Research

The method that is used in this research is descriptive-qualitative.

Descriptive research is a research which is done by describing and identifying

problems, in which the writer will explain, describe, and do character analysis

of Flame Princess. The writer will also do analysis of Flame Princess’

relationship with male characters in the series to reveal patriarchal society

that presents in the series. Qualitative research is a research which rely on

verbal and numeric data to support analysis.

The writer will use two sources of data for research; primary and

secondary source. Primary source of this research is nine episodes of

Adventure Time, in which Flame Princess is the main character, while

secondary source is any data which is related and support analysis of primary

source.

3. Technique of Data Analysis

Collected data will be analyzed using feminist film theory, in which

explain how woman is presented and how patriarchal culture dominates films.

This research will be started with data collection such as script and cut scenes

of Adventure Time animated series and analyze Flame Princess’ relationship

with male characters in the series.

4. The Instrument of the Research

The instrument of this research is the writer herself by watching 156

episodes, from 5 seasons of Adventure Time, and collecting data such as

script and screenshot of Adventure Time animated series, identify problems

to find out answers of research question stated.

5. Unit of Analysis

The unit of analysis in this research is Adventure Time animated series,

created by Pandleton Ward, and directed by Larry Leichilter. From total of

156 episodes of Adventure Time animated series, the writer uses nine episodes

which focuses on Flame Princess. Adventure Time animated series is

produced by Cartoon Network Studios and aired on Cartoon Network.

F. Research Outline

The writer designed this research by dividing it into four chapters;

Chapter One: Introduction, consists of background of the study, focus of the study, research questions, significance of study, and research methodology.

Chapter Two: Theoretical Description, consists of previous research and feminist film theory.

Chapter Three: Data Analysis, consists of data description and data analysis.

Chapter Four: Conclusion and Suggestion.

CHAPTER II

THE THEORITICAL DESCRIPTION

A. Previous Research

Up until this research is done, there is no research on Adventure Time animated series that the writer can find. However, there are some websites in which fans of the series made arguments of- such as gender issues which can be found in the series- and have inspired the writer to do further research.

Feminist issues in film has been around since the development of women’s studies in 1960’s and 1970’s. Even though feminist film theory is used to analyze

Hollywood movies at the era, it can also be applied to cartoon since cartoon is a type of cinema or film. A journal by Emma Bálint, an MA student at the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Szeged, with title "THE

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN WALT DISNEY'S PRODUCTIONS IN THE

STUDIO ERA" used Walt Disney’s animated cartoons as subject of the study. She used five Disney’s animated cartoons, namely Silly Symphonies series (1929-1939),

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and

Bambi (1942).

This journal talks about how woman is represented in each of the cartoons.

The writer argues that none of the cartoons show an authentic representation of women, rather it depicts issue of male domination. Even strong women characters in these cartoons are in the category of stereotyped women with figures who accept their passive, submissive roles under the male-dominated world. Female characters in these cartoons are merely made for, as Mulvey connote as, “to-be-looked-at-

ness”. As a result, Emma Bálint argues that female characters in the era, when these cartoons were made, was created according to specific stereotypes defined and interpreted in a strict patriarchal hierarchy. The writer uses Elizabeth Bell’s stereotype classifications; young girls, who are innocent, beautiful and so submissive that they lose their significance in the narratives; the fairies and well- wishers, who, in the process of helping others, lose sight of personal goals or aims; and evil stepmothers and jealous spinsters, who are capable of carrying out crimes as typical femme fatales because they are independent, sexually charged and revengeful11.

In this research, the writer will also analyze female character in Adventure

Time animated series using feminist film theory. Flame Princess, a female character who is able to overthrow her father’s authority, always needs help of man to do any action. From this problem, the writer would like to reveal the patriarchal culture that implicitly presents in the series.

B. Feminist Film Theory

Anneke Smelik stated in Feminist Film Theory12 that feminism is a social movement that has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism. She also mentioned that,

Cinema is a cultural practice where myths about women and femininity, and men and masculinity, in short, myths about sexual difference are produced, reproduced, and represented.13

11 Emma Bálint, "THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN WALT DISNEY'S PRODUCTIONS IN THE STUDIO ERA." Americana E-Journal Of American Studies In Hungary IX. 2. Fall 2013. http://americanaejournal.hu/vol9no2/balint . Web. 3 March 2016 12 Pam Cook, The Cinema Book. (London: BFI, 2007), p. 491 13 Anneke Smelik, And The Mirror Cracked: Feminist Cinema and Film Theory, ST. (New York: MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 1998) p. 8

Due to many films produced by male, film, in which female character appears, is seen to be representing a patriarchal society where male is the main character and women is the ‘other’ than male. Feminist film theory is a way to see how woman is portrayed in film. Feminist film theory was born out of the lack of rounded representation of women in film where, in many films, women are shown as secondary character, or ‘other’ who live in the world dominated by men.

Molly Haskell, in her essay The Woman’s film, divided women in films into three category; extraordinary, ordinary, and ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary. Extraordinary women are the exceptions to the rule, the aristocrats of their sex14. In their actions, extraordinary women tend to act different than other women of the film generally shown; their point of view is singular and shows to be more powerful than any other women. However, despite her role of being extraordinary women, Molly argues that they are unpopular between majority of men and women.

Ordinary women are those whose options have been foreclosed by marriage or income, by children or age, who are, properly speaking, the subject of women's films at their lowest and largest common denominator. The heroines are defined negatively and collectively by their mutual limitations rather than by their talents or aspirations15. Lastly, ordinary women who turns into extraordinary women are women who begins as victims but rises through pain, obsession, or defiance to become mistress of her fate16. In this kind of films, other characters usually appear,

14 Molly Haskell, “The Woman’s Film” in Sue Thomson, ed., Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999) p. 23 15 Loc.cit. 16 Loc.cit.

mostly male, to offer the protagonist feeling or security or luxury. Molly Huskell also mentions that theme in women’s film can be reduced into four categories, often found overlapping or in combination of sacrifice, affliction, choice, and competition.

Feminists from time of Simone de Beauvoir had seen cinema as tool to demonstrate cultural Myth. Simone de Beauvoir argued that 'religions, traditions, language, tales, songs, movies, our material existences are viewed, and lived. And though '[r]epresentation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth' women, too, must inevitably see themselves through these representations17.

Women has never really been presented as a person who is separated from man’s control, even in film itself. Film express the fantasies and subconscious needs of their (mostly male) creators18. Even though there are also woman in films, Sharon

Smith argues in The Image of Women in Film: Some Suggestions For Future

Research, that most of the time woman characters are shown as confused, helpless and in danger, passive, or purely as sexual being.

In addition, there are also female character in films who is portrayed or shown as a strong and autonomous feminine. In patriarchal society, this type of female character is known as the vamp, or femme fatale. In the study of women’s characterization in early film by Serafina Bathrick, she confirms that in silent

17 Sue Thomson, ed., Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999) p. 10 18 Sharon Smith, “The Image Of Women In Film: Some Suggestions For Future Research,” in Sue Thomson, ed., Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999) p. 15

movies, the vamp was ‘‘posed as the True Woman’s opposite. She is dark, she is sexual, she is volatile, she is mobile, and, above all, she lives alone, outside the sphere of home and family.”19

C. Patriarchal Culture

Patriarchy is a social structural phenomenon in which males have the privilege of dominance over females, both visibly and subliminally20. The term patriarchy is originated from the Latin pater which means father and arch which means rule. Historically, more appropriate meaning of patriarchy is ‘rule of father’ putting father in the highest degree of a family, in other words men have more power. However, the phenomenon evolved over time where patriarchy does not only apply in the family, but also in society.

Patriarchal culture has been around for a long time which triggers women’s movement. The beginning of women’s movement was dated to the Secena Falls

Convention of July 1848 where Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were not allowed to share their opinion and were asked to sit behind curtain21. Since then, women have been struggling to get equal rights and not to be dominated by patriarchal society. Though, women’s struggle to avoid or erase patriarchal culture up until this moment has not yet done. Patriarchal culture is still dominating which can be seen through culture and media.

19 Carolyn L. Kitch, The Girl on the Magazine Cover: The Origins of Visual Stereotypes in American Mass Media. (Chapel Hill, NC: U of North Carolina P, 2001) p. 61 20 "Patriarchy." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 23 Mar. 2016 . 21 Sharon Smith, “The Image Of Women In Film: Some Suggestions For Future Research,” in Sue Thomson, ed., Feminist Film Theory: A Reader. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999) p. 8

In America, even though there are significant changes of women’s role in society, domination of men are still visible. In Hollywood movies, for example, most of hero or main characters are male. The study released by the Annenberg

School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California, examined the 100 top-grossing fictional films from 2012. Out of 4,475 speaking characters, only 28.4 percent of them were women — less than in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Across five years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012), 500 top-grossing films at the U.S. box office, and over 21,000 speaking characters, a new study by

USC Annenberg found that females represented less than one-third (28.4%) of all speaking characters in 2012 films22. This fact shows that patriarchal society still available in films which also affected by patriarchal culture in the society.

A journal by Taylor M. Chapman, Women in American Media: A Culture of

Misperception, stated that American culture is saturated with messages propagated by mass media23. Taylor M. Chapman stated in the journal that;

“While the media attempt to target every person, the level of exposure is dictated by gender, and the majority of harmful messages are focused more toward women.”

Media tends to make girls as inferior. Patriarchal culture in America through media is, as stated by Jean Kilbourne, that the body language of girls is usually passive, vulnerable, and very different from the body languages of boys and men. This perpetuates the idea of weakness in women.

22 Stacy L., Smith, et al. “Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films: Examining On-Screen Portrayals and Behind-the-Scenes Employment Patterns in Motion Pictures Released between 2007-2012.” Web. 13 June 2015 23 Taylor M. Chapman "Women in American Media: A Culture of Misperception." Student Pulse 3.07 (2011).

As explained by Anneke Smelik that cinema or media represents myth. Myth about women for being passive, inferior, and weak. Women in media or cinema are women who are seen from men’s perspective, while it means nothing to women herself24. This patriarchal system aims to turn women into docile and complainant companion to men.

24 Anneke Smelik, And The Mirror Cracked: Feminist Cinema and Film Theory, ST. (New York: MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 1998) p. 9

CHAPTER III

DATA ANALYSIS

A. Data Description

Adventure Time (originally titled as Adventure Time with Finn and Jake) is an animation television series aired in 2010 by Cartoon Network. The series created by Pandleton Ward follows adventure of Finn the human and his adoptive brother,

Jake the dog. They both lived in the post-apocalyptic world named Land of Ooo.

Mainly the main character of this series is Finn and Jake, but there are some episodes in which tells only about Flame Princess and her life. There are nine episodes out of 156 that are available that presents story of Flame Princess, hence makes her the main character. She appears in episodes throughout season three to season six, namely Incendium, Hot to Touch, Burning Low, Ignition Points, Vault of Bones, Frost & Fire, Earth & Water, The Red Throne, and The Cooler.

This analysis is divided into two parts; description of Flame Princess as a woman and how patriarchal culture presents in the series. Data description of how

Flame Princess is shown in the series is as follows;

Table 1. Flame Princess’ description

Seasons & Description Evidences Episodes

She was shown examining her surrounding when she escaped Fire Kingdom for the first time. Season 3,

episode 26

Naive (Incendium, 2:11-2:40) Flame Princess: I understand now. You're a water elemental. Season 4, Finn: What?

Ordinary episode 1 Flame Princess: You're my opposite. You create water. woman (Hot to the Touch, 10:00)

Season 3,

episode 26 Passive (Incendium, 4:13) and in

danger. Season 5,

episode 32

(Earth & Water, 3:29)

Season 5,

episode 47

(The Red Throne, 6:52)

Flame Princess fell into the earth’s crust and became unconcious. Season 4,

episode 14

(Burning Low, 10:25)

Flame Princess healed Cinnamon Bun’s leg using her power. Season 5,

episode 32 Extraordinary Powerful woman (Earth & Water, 5:14)

She's an unstoppable force of Season 3, destruction. episode 26 (Incendium, 8:39)

This isn't about some petty love Season 4, triangle! Flame Princess is episode 14 physically unstable! (Burning Low, 8:44)

Season 5,

episode 47

(The Red Throne, 9:41)

Data description of patriarchal culture that presents in the series is shown in the table below.

Table 2. Patriarchal Culture

Patriarchal Culture Seasons & Episode Evidences

Season 3, episode 26

(Incendium, 4:13)

Male Domination Playtime's over, honey. Time to give Daddy his throne back. [as an aside] I've secretly arranged to Season 5, episode 47 make Don John (Flame Lord) my vizier and give him my daughter's hand in marriage. (The Red Throne, 1:46)

Jake! Jake! I had an awesome dream! Flame Princess was there; My body was on fire. I think it was inspired by Flame Princess battling Ice King yesterday! Season 5, episode 30 (Frost & Fire 2:23) Man, I need to have that dream again. I have to get Flame Princess to beat down Ice King again. (Frost & Fire, 2:50) Finn made fire hut for Flame Princess to live in.

(Burning Low, 0:33) Season 4, episode 14 Finn gave Flame Princess CPR

Male dependent when she was unconcious.

(Burning Low, 10:31) Cinnamon Bun and I staged a coup

Season 5, episode 32 and I overthrew my dad.

(Earth & Water, 9:48)

Cinnamon Bun rescued Flame Princess when she was weakened.

Season 5, episode 47 (The Red Throne, 2:40) Cinnamon Bun: You're wrong. Flame Princess may not be the most ruthless of all despots, but she is strong where it really

counts—in her heart. And that is good. (The Red Throne, 10:18) Cinnamon Bun rescued Flame Princess from cool air pocket when she is not aware.

Season 6, episode 22

(The Cooler, 3:20)

B. Data Analysis

1. Flame Princess Description

As stated by Molly Haskell in her essay The Woman’s Film, women in films can be categorized into three parts; ordinary, extraordinary, and ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary. In the case of Flame Princess, she is categorized as

an ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary. Ordinary women who turn into extraordinary women are women who begins as victims but rises through pain, obsession, or defiance.

Flame Princess is told having a great power since she was a baby; however, she is never told on how to control her power and has always been imprisoned.

Incendium is the first episode which feature Flame Princess together with Flame

King, Flambo, Fire Citizen, and Fire Kingdom. Flame Princess is shown being imprisoned by Flame King as the series starts, though Flame King directly mentions that his daughter is an unstoppable force of destruction;

Flame King : She's an unstoppable force of destruction. Ahhhh, nothing a psycho like you can't handle. Congratulations! [8:39–8:47]

After escaping Fire Kingdom, Flame Princess started to live alone in the outside world of Fire Kingdom. Since it is her first time being outside of Fire

Kingdom, Flame Princess does look confused. Her confusedness is shown in the

Image 1 Image 2 episode of Hot to the Touch where she examined flower and was surprised when she burnt it as she touched it (Image 1). She also learnt about water elemental, her opposite (Image 2).This scene shows Flame Princess’ inability to control her power as well as her ignorance about outside world. Her naivetes was also seen in the same

episode when Flame Princess encounters Finn for the first time, thinking that Finn was water elemental, her opposite, because he produced water (tears).

Flame Princess : I understand now. You're a water elemental. Finn : What? Flame Princess : You're my opposite. You create water. Finn : What, cry? No, I j-- Flame Princess : Yeah, you cry and cry all the time. Image 3 [9:59 – 10:12]

These evidences show that Flame Princess, according to Molly Haskell, in the beginning of her appearance of the series is an ordinary woman. As mentioned by Molly Haskell that ordinary women are heroines who are defined negatively and collectively. Flame Princess is defined as a naïve person. In the series, she began as a victim who was imprisoned by her father for 14 years. She was imprisoned and was released only because Flame King wanted her to marry to ‘prince’ Finn.

However, this attempt failed and caused Flame Princess to leave Fire Kingdom.

Her ability to escape Fire Kingdom ended her status of being passive as well as ordinary woman. The adventures that she faces after leaving Fire Kingdom is turning to be an extraordinary woman. Flame Princess raises along the story through pain, obsession, and defiance.

After escaping Fire Kingdom, Flame Princess starts to live by her own in the outside world. Her ignorance and naivetes help her understanding the world better.

Flame Princess has a powerful, unstable power which could be dangerous. This was mentioned by both Flame King, in Incendium, and Princess Bubblegum, in Burning

Low.

Flame King : She's an unstoppable force of destruction. [Incendium 8:39]

Princess Bubblegum : This isn't about some petty love triangle! Flame Princess is physically unstable! Her elemental matrix can't handle extreme romance! Glob, if Finn tries to kiss her, she'll burn so hot, she'll melt right through the planet's crust, down through the molten core, then she'll be thrown back and forth by gravity until she burns out the world from the inside!” [Burning Low 8:44]

To begin with, she is not aware of her power and could not control it that she almost burns whole world in Burning Low. As the story goes, she starts to learn to control her power. It shows in the episode of Earth & Water that she used her power to heal

Cinnamon Bun’s broken leg (image 4 and image 5).

Image 5 Image 6

In the same episode, Flame Princess overthrows her father’s authority and become a new leader of Fire Kingdom

(Image 6). During her rule as a new leader of Fire Kingdom, she always faces problems. In The Red Throne episode,

Flame Princess was overthrown by Don Image 4

John, the Flame Lord, who imprisoned Flame Princess and gave back Flame King’s authority. However, with help of Cinnamon Bun, she was able to take it back and became a leader of Fire Kingdom for second time.

Flame Princess does not instantly get her title as a new leader of Fire

Kingdom, instead she has to overthrow Fire King first. Her obsession to become a new leader of Fire Kingdom is also triggered after she experiences betrayal and intimidation. As told by Molly Haskell, an extraordinary woman is a woman who raises through pain and obsession. Therefore, Flame Princess is categorized as an ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary.

Even though Flame Princess is categorized as ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary, along the story she is always seen to be confused and in danger. She does rises through pain and defiance throughout the series, but she is always helped and supported by male characters during the process. This problem indicates that patriarchal culture is actually available in the series implicitly The writer will analyze mentioned problems deeper in the next section to reveal patriarchal culture that presents in Adventure Time animated series from Flame Princess’ case.

2. Patriarchal Culture

Patriarchal culture is a social structural phenomenon in which males have the privilege of dominance over females, both visibly and subliminally25. As stated in data analysis, there are two kinds of patriarchy that is implicitly presents in

Adventure Time animated series.

a. Male Domination

In the episode of Incendiun, Flame Princess is shown being imprisoned by her Fire King. In this episode, Flame King is shown that he has full control over his

25 "Patriarchy." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 23 Mar. 2016 .

daughter. It is shown from his action of imprisoning Flame Princess in lantern and that he is the one who choose partner for her, he also demands for gifts in exchange over her daughter as can be seen in the following dialogue;

Flame King : Bold words, but know you that my daughter is a rare jewel. She cannot be wooed by just any ragamuffin prince! Jake : Umm.... Oh, Prince Finn is AWESOME! Flame People : [Chattering] An awesome prince?! That's the best kind! Flame King : Silence, my molten mommas. [Walks closer to Jake] We are perplexed. If you are a baron true, where is your gift? This common practice among visiting dignitaries. Flame People : [Chattering] Yeah, a gift! Where is the gift?! Flambo : [Whispers] You're blowin' it, bromite. Jake : [Smiles] A gift?! Sire, Prince Finn sent, uh... three gifts! [4:51 – 5:39]

In episode of Earth & Water, the reason why Flame King imprisoned Flame princess is revealed. A messenger came to Flame King bringing the word that his offspring would be more powerful than he could ever dreamed of. Not wanting to have anyone more powerful than him, he asked the messenger to perish Flame

Princess in the outside world.

Messenger : The word! The word! Flame King : What's the word? Messenger : The word is your newborn baby will have greater powers than you'll ever dream of. Flame King : Uh... have my baby sent into the wilderness of the outside world to perish.” [5:41 – 5:55]

However, this attempt failed because Princes Bubblegum found Flame Princess wandering in jungle causing a great fire. Thinking that Flame Princess must have been wandered off, she went to Fire Kingdom to return her. When she wanted to return Flame Princess, Flame King denied that he had a daughter. As in the dialogue between Flame King and Princess Bubblegum;

Princess Bubblegum : Flame King? Flame King : What do you want, princess of the Gum World? Princess Bubblegum : I found your lost daughter. Flame King : I-I don't remember losing anything. [6:47 – 6:55]

He eventually confessed his real reason of perishing Flame Princess in outside world. He was afraid that her daughter would overpower him in future due to her possibility of having greater power.

Flame King : Okay, you got me. I had her sent to wander in the woods. I was in fear of being usurped. Come on. [6:57]

As result, Flame King imprisoned Flame Princess inside lantern since then (Image

7).

Image 7 The fear that Flame King has over Flame princess is explained in psychoanalysis feminist film theory. Flame King admits that he “was in fear of being usurped” and to eliminate the fear, he imprisoned Flame Princes so that she will not be able to do anything and is always under his control.

This shows that Flame King is having castration anxiety. Due to her ‘lack’ of a penis, woman evokes the unpleasurable threat of castration. This castration anxiety is related to the child’s original trauma of discovering the mother does not have a penis; consequently, according to Freudian theory, the child assumes she is castrated26. As stated in previous chapter, to devote the fear male character needs

26 Shohini Chaudhuri, Feminist Film Theorists (New York: Routledge, 2006) p. 35

punish her. In this series, Flame King punishes Flame princess by imprisoning her for 14 years. He also admitted to Flame Princess the reason why he imprisoned her in this dialogue in episode of Earth & Water when Flame Princess imprisoned

Flame King as revenge once she overthrew him.

Flame King : [from inside lantern] Right, can you believe this nonsense? Once I get outta here, I'm gonna ground you for real. No snacks, no friends, no popular music. Flame Princess : You never let me have any of those things! You were a selfish king and a bad parent! Flame King : But I did it for you, honey—for you not to overthrow me like you just did. [10:03 – 10:24]

Another prove of male domination that happens to Flame Princess which is done by Flame King is that Flame King choose life partner for Flame Princess without her consent. It first happens in Incendium where he released Flame Princes to be given to ‘prince’ Finn. The second time happens in the episode of The Red

Throne where he was willing to give her to the hand of person who could to save him and return his throne. At the time when Flame Princess overthrow Flame

King’s authority and put her inside lantern, Flame King promises Flame Lord to give her daughter’s hand if he can save him.

Image 8 Image 9 Flame King : [happily] Oh, here he comes! Flame Princess : No! Flame King : [laughs evilly] Yes! Playtime's over, honey. Time to give Daddy his throne back. [as an aside] I've secretly arranged to make Don John (Flame Lord) my vizier and give him my daughter's hand in marriage.

[1:46 – 02:01] Don John, the Flame Lord, other than wanting to marry Flame Princess also believed that Flame Princess was not evil enough to be leader of Fire Kingdom. As he claimed in the following dialogue;

Flame Lord : [breaks down the front door] Flame Princess! Flame Princess : Don John—the Flame Lord! Flame Lord : I fear you're not evil enough to rule the kingdom. [1:12 – 1:20]

The actions that Flame Princess experienced as a new leader of Fire Kingdom who is woman shows that as a female leader she is not accepted. Male characters in the series namely Flame King and Flame Lord, do not want to let her authority to be taken by a person who is weaker than them. They are also shown to be more powerful than Flame Princess, even though in the end Flame Princess is able to take over Fire Kingdom for second time.

Flame Princess is also seen as object by her boyfriend, Finn, which indicates male domination in the series. Since the episode of Burning Low until Vault to

Bones, Flame Princess and Finn were dating. Their relationship ended in the episode of Frost & Fire when Flame

Princess learnt that she was betrayed by

Finn. In this episode, Flame princes is Image 10 also seen as an object by Finn. It started when Flame Princess and Finn were having picnic outside tree fort. Their togetherness was interrupted by Ice King who was passing by and started to ridicule her because she was hugging a log. Getting offended, Flame Princess beat Ice King up witnessed by Finn. Later at night, Finn

had a dream of Fire Princess shooting fire at him. The next morning, Finn told Jake about his dream, saying what he experienced in dream felt good.

Finn : Jake! Jake! I had an awesome dream! Flame Princess was there; My body was on fire. I think it was inspired by Flame Princess battling Ice King yesterday! [2:23]

Finn even had monologue, in which he talked to himself that he wanted to have same dream again by making Flame Princess and Ice King fought.

Finn : [in his thoughts] Man, I need to have that dream again. I have to get Flame Princess to beat down Ice King again. [2:50]

Finn’s utterance of having awesome dream of Flame Princess and wanting to have same dream again by making both Flame Princess and Ice King fight, suggest that Finn sees Flame Princess as an object. Catherine MacKinnon developed theory of sexuality, in which she said that sexual objectification of women is where women are viewed and treated as objects for satisfying men’s desires27. “I had an awesome dream!” shows that Finn got satisfied by the dream he gets; and “Man, I need to have that dream again” indicates that Finn sees Flame Princess as a sexual objectification. His conclusion of “I have to get Flame Princess to beat down Ice

King again” makes him treat Flame Princess as object, in order to fulfill his desire.

To satisfy his desire, Finn made an insulting letters addressed to Flame

Princess and Ice King (Image 11 and Image 12). While delivering the letter, he told

Flame Princess that Ice King made it and told Ice King that Flame Princess made it.

27 Mikkola, Mari, "Feminist Perspectives on Sex and Gender", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/feminism-gender/), accessed on June 9th 2015

Image 12 Image 11

Getting enraged by the letters, both of them met in Ice Kingdom and started to fight.

Eager to watch the fight, Finn spectated both of them from distance.

However, the fight went worse than Finn’s expectation. As an attempt to stop the fight, Finn rescued injured Ice King and Gunther, his penguin, thinking that he could explain what was happening to Flame Princess afterwards. While carrying him on his back to take them out of destroyed Ice Kingdom, Flame Princess mistook it as Ice King whom she thought was trying to run away from her (Image 24). As she shot fireball, she realized that it was Finn who was carrying Ice King on his back. She realized that she could have hurt Finn with her fire balls, she went to meet

Finn to apologize. However, Finn declined her apology and started to confess that it was him who make them fight. His explanation is as follows;

Finn : No, princess. I'm the one who's sorry. [drops Ice King] Ice King hasn't been picking fights with you, it's...it's been me all along. Ice King : [annoyed] What? Flame Princess : So, you wrote that letter? Finn : Yes, but look, it's just like, I had this dream and it was because of that fight you had. It was weird, but I also liked it. But it was important because the Cosmic Owl was [Flame Princess decides Finn's words have no meaning, and all she hears is wah for every syllable for a couple of seconds.] So I had to get you to beat up Ice King- [10:18 – 10:45]

Flame Princess was surprised as she learnt that it was Finn who made them fight. Feeling betrayed, she did not want to hear Finn’s explanation. During this scene, while Finn was explaining the reason why he did this; however, Finn’s words had no meaning to her. All that she heard that time was ‘wah’ sound that came out of Finn’s mouth. In the middle of Finn’s explanation, Flame Princess stopped him and said:

Flame Princess : Shh. I should have known. That letter said things in it that only you would know. Personal things, Finn. And you used them against me. I thought you were the one person I could… I need some time alone. [10:46]

Image 25

This scene ended relationship of Finn and Flame Princess. Flame Princess left Finn without even listening to what he had to say. Since then, Flame Princess felt betrayed by her most trusted person.

Even though Flame Princess, as mentioned earlier, is able to escape in

Incendium and is able to overthrow Flame King twice; in the episode of Earth &

Water and The Red Throne, she is always saved and always seem to be in a company of male characters. This makes her character to be male dependent.

b. Male Dependent

Flame Princess is shown being imprisoned by Flame King in the episode of

Incendium, however she is able to escape and leave Fire Kingdom. In this episode,

Flame Princess was able to get out of her lantern because Flame King wanted to give Flame Princess to Jake, who wanted to find new love interest for Finn.

However, Jake changed his mind suddenly as Flame King mentioned that Flame

Princess was evil. Jake said that he no longer liked her right in front of Flame

Princess and ran away, left her enraged.

Jake [Fake Finn] : You know, on second thought, ...we're not really each other's types. Flame Princess : We're... what? Jake [Fake Finn] : I changed my mind. I don't like you. [9:12 – 9:20]

Being enraged, Flame Princess chased Jake who was trying to run away from her.

This opportunity is taken by Flame Princess to forever leave Fire Kingdom because she hated being imprisoned. This scene also somehow shows that without Jake who came to take Flame Princess away, she would not be able to escape.

In the episode of Hot to the Touch, Finn managed to take Flame Princess’ trust. Flame Princess was saying that they could not be together because they would keep hurting each other due to her being fire elemental and Finn being water elemental. However, Finn answered by saying that he would defy nature for her which made her feel better. She finally Image 13 shows her trust to Finn by hugging him (Image 13), making Finn the first person that she trusts outside of the Fire Kingdom. Since then, Flame Princess and Finn often seen hanging out together. In later episodes, Finn and Jake are always with her that makes Flame Princess is depending on them.

In episode of Burning Low, Finn made fire hut for Flame Princess to live in.

Without Finn, Flame Princess would not be having a place to live. As the story goes,

Princess Bubblegum always seem to stop Finn to meet Flame Princess. Both Flame

Princess and Finn were deep in love that they kissed in other in this episode. It turned out that Flame Princess could not handle extreme romance as stated by

Princess Bubblegum;

Princess Bubblegum: What are you..? This isn't about some [crumbles the paper] petty love triangle! Flame Princess is physically unstable! [Explains] Her elemental matrix can't handle extreme romance! Glob, if Finn tries to kiss her, she'll burn so hot, she'll melt right through the planet's crust, down through the molten core, then she'll be thrown back and forth by gravity until she burns out the world from the inside! [08:43 – 09:08]

Princess Bubblegum never had chance to tell Finn about this. Later in the story, oblivious Finn kissed Flame Princess which caused Flame Princess to burn very brightly (Image 14), explode, start burning a hole through the Earth's crust, and fell into the center of earth (Image 15).

Image 15 Image 14

Image 17 Image 16 Flame Princess lost her consciousness as she fell through the hole. She was helpless and in danger, she needed help or else she would die. Immediately, without

thinking any further, Finn jumped into the hole to save Flame Princess (Image 16 and Image 17). As attempt to keep her alive, Finn did Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (Image 18).

Image 18 As soon as Flame Princess gained consciousness, Jake pulled both Finn and Flame

Princess out of the hole (Image 19). In this episode, Flame Princess is shown being helpless and in danger which later is saved by both Finn and Jake.

Image 19

This episode shows how Flame Princess is helpless and in danger. Not being able to control her power, Flame Princess caused a massive danger which can cause earth to explode. Even though she has power, she is shown to be inferior and weaker than Jake and Finn who are able to help her. In this episode, Flame Princess depends on Finn and Jake as she gets her fire hut from Finn. She is also helped and rescued by Finn and Jake from trouble that she causes.

Other than being rescued, Flame Princess always seek for help or advice from Finn whenever she is having problem or confused. In Ignition Point, Flame

Princess confessed to Finn that she felt sad because she left her scented candles in

Fire Kingdom. In response, Jake told her that she could just go back to Fire

Kingdom to take it in which Flame Princess refused. To please Flame Princess, Finn offered help in which Flame Princess agreed.

Flame Princess : [Looks downed] Yeah... It's just the air smells bad from your magic tricks, and now I feel sad. [Looks at Finn and Jake] I left all my scented candles at the castle. They'd really cut through the magic stink. Jake : Just go back to the Fire Kingdom and get 'em. Problem solved. Flame Princess : [Sighs] [Then stands up] Then I'll have to see my dad. I'm still mad at him for imprisoning me in that lantern. So UNFAIR! [Screams with anger] Finn: Uh, we can go get 'em. Flame Princess : [Returns to her normal form.] [Pleasant voice] Really? That would be really nice [01:09 – 1:35] In Vault to Bones, Flame Princess was confused whether she was evil or good because often times Flame Princess caught Flame King whispering “evil, evil, evil” every time she was not aware.

Flame Princess : Ugh, he's so annoying. Jake : Well, I was just trying to help. Flame Princess : Oh, not you, Jake, my dad. I always catch him whispering stuff in my ear while I'm not paying attention. He keeps saying I'm evil. [Finn stands up on the table.] Finn : Whoa, you best not be believing that whack bunk. I bet he's trying to make your life bad, so you'll think you're evil. But you're really not! Flame Princess : How can I know for sure? Finn : Dungeons. Flame Princess : What? Finn : Let's have a good time in a dungeon or something, that always clears my head that reminds me what's what. Flame Princess : And that will make me good? Finn : No, that will show you not to worry so much, because you're already good in here. [pointing on heart] [01:25 – 02:02]

She mentioning “How can I know for sure?” and “That will make me good?” shows her uncertainty. In this scene, Finn convinced her that she is good at heart.

He also took Flame Princess to dungeon which cheered her up as she said in the dialogue where she thanked Finn;

Flame Princess : Thanks for taking me out Finn. [03:09]

Flame Princess always listen to Finn’s advice which makes her character/passive and Finn/active. Even when they were in dungeon, Finn told Flame Princess what to do.Flame Princess did not feel comfortable about being told what to do, but she questioned her feeling for being evil.

Flame Princess : Finn, I'm not having any fun. Finn : [Stops running] What? Why? Flame Princess : Well, you keep wanting me to do things your way. But I don't like doing things your way. Is that because I am evil? [8:19 – 8:29]

Her state of uncertainty was answered by Finn. He denied Flame Princess by letting her do things in her way.

Finn : What? No, wait, that's... no! Uhh, hey, you know what? Let's do things your way. Flame Princess : Really? Finn : Yeah. I've been acting an uncouth lout, m'lady. [Throws torch in the water] Okay, so there's a door over there. What do you wanna do? [8:30 – 8:43]

Flame Princess’ passiveness who always ask Finn for advice shows how she is under patriarchal culture. Flame Princess always relies on what Finn says to her and is depending on Finn to do things.

Even though Flame Princess’ relationship with Finn ended in the episode of

Frost & Fire, Flame Princess did not stand alone. In fact, she found other male

character to whom she can depend on. In the episode of Earth & Water, Flame

Princess is seen sitting alone in forest and murmuring. She keeps questions herself without knowing the answer.

Flame Princess : Uh! It's so confusing! [A spider-like creature lowers itself on its silk near Flame Princess.] Flame Princess : Hmm? [to creature] I thought Finn was a stand-up guy, you know? But he basically betrayed me. [Spider creature shakes his head sympathetically.] Flame Princess: Why do people even have secrets? [Her heat radiation intensifies and the spider hurriedly scrambles up its silk.] Flame Princess : It's like that in the Fire Kingdom, too. Everyone is all deceitful and Shakespeare. But out here doesn't seem any different. [scribbling sounds are heard] Why do I have to feel like this? [02:13 – 2:36] During this time, Princess Bubblegum appeared and offered her a help. A help that she mentioned was a research that she claimed will help Flame Princess to control her emotion and understand herself better by creating a scientific model that described her complete elemental matrix. In other words, to isolate and suppress

Flame Princess's feelings. Thinking that this could help her answer her questions and made her feel better, she agreed to be Princess Bubblegum’s experiment.

The experiment that Princess Bubblegum initiated was done in a way that

Flame Princess would not be able to escape herself (Image 27). She was kept alone in a room with hands and body tied down. Also, it had only 40% chance of success as Princess Bubblegum said in this dialogue:

Flame Princess : This is going to help me understand myself? Princess Bubblegum : There's a 40% chance we'll be able to identify and isolate your chemical components—and yes, understand you in a very scientific way. [3:37 – 3:49]

For second time, after the episode of Incendium, Flame Princess is shown imprisoned and helpless. She cannot escape without help.

Image 20 Fortunately, Cinnamon Bun promptly opened the door and started conversation with Flame Princess where she admitted that she was sad and confused

(Image 21). In the conversation,

Cinnamon Bun also mentioned that

Princess Bubblegum is bad. He then invited Flame Princess to his house. Image 21 Cinnamon Bun: [laughs] Hello. Flame Princess: Hello. Cinnamon Bun: You look sad. Flame Princess: Yeah, but mostly I'm confused. Cinnamon Bun: Ha, me too. Flame Princess: Really? Cinnamon Bun: Yeah. Bubblegum is bad. Flame Princess: She is?! Cinnamon Bun: I don't know. Wanna pet my dog?! He lives at my house. [04:43 – 04:57]

From this scene, Cinnamon Bun is clearly shown that he is helping her. He failed the experiment and invited Flame Princess to his house. He even asked if she wanted to pet his dog as an attempt to cheer her up. From this time on, Cinnamon

Bun becomes the male character that Flame Princess depends on.

At Cinnamon Bun’s house, Cinnamon Bun accidentally broke his leg. At this time

Flame Princess cured his leg using her power. Fascinated that Flame Princess helped him, he mentioned that she is his friend which led to conversation below;

Cinnamon Bun: [gasps] [shakes his leg] We're friends. Flame Princess: Yeah, I really get you, but sometimes friends are hard to understand. Sometimes you think you know them, but you find out they're just playing mind games. Cinnamon Bun: Is the princess your friend? Flame Princess: I don't know. Cinnamon Bun: Yeah, because why did she lock you up in jail when you were a little baby? That was a weird friend thing. [05:18 – 5:38]

Cinnamon Bun made Flame Princess realized that Princess Bubblegum was the one who initiated her to be imprisoned, hence she is bad. In this case, the writer assumes that Cinnamon Bun somehow helped her to escape. Cinnamon Bun actions of taking

Flame Princess away will give great impact as the story goes.

Cinnamon Bun’s answer in this conversation left Flame Princess in shock.

She was angered by the fact that people was hiding something from her; no one was being honest except Cinnamon Bun. She also asked Cinnamon Bun whether or not everyone is hiding something. Cinnamon Bun said that “It’s fun to hide.”

Flame Princess : [stands up] [groans in frustration] Is everybody in this world hiding something? Cinnamon Bun : It's fun to hide. Flame Princess : You're all right. Why can't everybody be honest like you?. [7:18 – 7:28]

Flame Princess agreed to Cinnamon Bun’s answer by saying “You’re all right.”

From the conversation that she had with Cinnamon Bun where he told about

Princess Bubblegum and her past and what his thoughts about something, she saw honesty in Cinnamon Bun because he told Flame Princess everything as it is.

Conversation that Flame Princess had with Cinnamon Bun triggers her to overthrow

Flame King and to become a new leader

of Fire Kingdom. By the end of this

episode, Flame Princess is shown to be a

new leader of Fire Kingdom and she

mentioned that Cinnamon Bun helped Image 22 her to overthrow her father.

Flame Princess : Pretty good. Cinnamon Bun and I staged a coup and I overthrew my dad. [9:48]

Even though it is not shown how Flame Princess overthrow Fire Kingdom, Flame

Princess statement, “Cinnamon Bun and I staged a coup and I overthrew my dad” shows that Cinnamon Bun was there to support and help her. She also made a new rule in Fire Kingdom that everyone is demanded to be honest.

Flame Princess : That is the new way in the Fire Kingdom. Total honesty is the law of the land—no secrets. [9:56]

Her trust issue which raised because Finn and Princess Bubblegum’s betrayal affect how she rules Fire Kingdom. It is also influenced by Cinnamon Bun who was being total honest to her and made her realize that honesty was something that she sought.

Patriarchal culture appears in this episode because Flame Princess is shown having problem and confused. Her problems and confusedness is later solved by

Cinnamon Bun. Even though Princess Bubblegum is offering help to make her not to feel bad, it is Cinnamon Bun who does that. Cinnamon Bun takes Flame Princess out of the experiment, where she would have been trapped if Cinnamon Bun was not there, and tells her that Princess Bubblegum is bad. He is also there to help

Flame Princess overthrow Flame King and become new leader of Fire Kingdom.

Flame Princess is also addressed as “new king” by guards of Fire Kingdom when

Finn and Princess Bubblegum visited Fire Kingdom rather than princess.

Flame Guard: Well, why didn't you just say so? Right this way, friends. [leads them inside] There you go… the new Flame King. [9:39]

It shows that it is only king who can be addressed as leader in Fire Kingdom. Even after Flame Princess has overthrown Flame King and become new leader of Fire Kingdom, in two episodes later, she always has problems within her

Kingdom. While having problems, she always seek advice and help from other characters. Since Earth & Water, Flame Princess has become new leader of Fire

Kingdom. Even though she is overthrown in next episode, The Red Throne, she manages to take it back.

In The Red Throne, Flame Princess is stopped by Don John, the Flame Lord.

He mentioned that Flame Princess was not evil enough to rule Fire Kingdom.

Don John: I fear you're not evil enough to rule the kingdom. [01:16]

He then hypnotized all Fire Citizen; commanded them to free Flame King. At the same time, Flame Princess was weakened by poison that had been given to her earlier. Seeing this, Cinnamon Bun came with his fire wolf to save Flame Princess

(Image 23). Flame Princess wanted to return to Fire Kingdom to help people who Image 23 were hypnotized, but Cinnamon Bun

convinced her that they needed help to be able to save Fire Kingdom in which she listened. They both escaped and asked Finn for help.

However, Finn failed to help Flame Princess as they are caught and imprisoned together (Image 24). Meanwhile Cinnamon Bun was shown beating

hypnotized guards and obtained a key.

In the end of the episode, Cinnamon

Bun came to rescue Flame Princess and

Finn while Flame Lord and Flame King

Image 24 were having fight using his key. At the same time, Flame King knocked Flame Lord out which caused people to be dehypnotized. When Fire Citizen came to their consciousness, Cinnamon Bun used this opportunity to tell them that Flame King caused all the chaos and that he brainwashed them.

Female Flame Person : Huh? What happened? Male Flame Person : Should—should we keep attacking? Cinnamon Bun : Stop! You were all brainwashed... by him! [points to Flame King] [09:35]

Enraged, they seized the king and Flame Lord. Flame Princess, with help of

Cinnamon Bun, retrieved Fire Kingdom. She put Flame King and Flame Lord inside lantern when she used to be kept. Even then, Flame King still ridiculed her for being ‘softie’ and berated Fire Citizen for choosing her over himself. This time again, Cinnamon Bun stood for her by saying;

Cinnamon Bun: You're wrong. Flame Princess may not be the most ruthless of all despots, but she is strong where it really counts—in her heart. And that is good. [10:18]

These scenes from this episode shows how Cinnamon Bun is always available for her to help her escape. He even stands for Flame Princess when Fire Citizen are doubting her power. He is the person who convinced Fire Citizen that Flame

Princess is a good person and Flame King is not.

In the episode of The Cooler, Cinnamon Bun rescued Flame Princess from cool air pocket which appeared next to her when she was not aware (Image 25).

In The Cooler, Fire Kingdom appeared to be extinguished. It keeps producing col air pocket which is also the reason Image 25 why Fire Kingdom is extinguished. Cool air pocket is capable of extinguishing fire, which means it is capable to kill Flame Princess.

In this episode, Flame Princess is again faced with problem. As mentioned earlier, she is not only hated by previous ruler of Fire Kingdom, but also Princess

Bubblegum. Patriarchal culture that appears in this episode is that Flame Princess is always rescued by Cinnamon Bun. As an addition, presence of Princess

Bubblegum also shows patriarchal culture where female is shown as the vamp, or femme fatale. Princess Bubblegum, throughout her confrontation with Flame

Princess, always seen as a wicked person. She also lives alone and shows an autonomous feminine as she never uses help of any male character.

Throughout nine episodes of Adventure Time animated series, Flame Princess is seen as a female character who shows some changes in herself. In the beginning, she is a female character who is shown being imprisoned and is naïve even after

she escapes. However, as the story goes, she starts to learn about her surrounding hence makes her character changes from ordinary woman into extraordinary.

Patriarchal culture in films show female character as a weak, confused, always in danger, and needs help of male character, in other word they always depend on male characters. The findings in this research shows that patriarchal culture is presented in the series because Flame Princess, even though she is seen as a strong woman, always depend on male characters to help and support her.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions

In this research, the writer uses feminist film theory to analyze Adventure

Time animated series to reveal how Flame Princess is shown as a female character and how patriarchal culture presents in the series. Feminist film theory argues that in many films, women are those who live in a world dominated by men. Even though the main character is a female, they are always shown as those who are passive, in danger, or helpless. There are three categories of women in film according to Molly Haskell, those are ordinary woman, extraordinary woman, and ordinary woman who turns extraordinary. Flame Princess falls into category of ordinary woman who turns into extraordinary because she raises through pain and defiance to be able to overthrow Flame King and become a new leader of Fire

Kingdom.

Though during the process of her change and being able to invade Fire

Kingdom, Flame Princess is always seen to be depending on male characters. As a female main character, she is always shown confused and in danger which triggers help of male character. According to feminist film theory where women are always seen to be in danger and depends on male characters, this animated series does present patriarchal culture. However, having the fact that patriarchal culture presents in the series, she is able to be a new leader of Fire Kingdom that makes her an extraordinary woman. As a conclusion, even though patriarchal culture presents in the series, even though Flame Princess is shown confused, in danger and always

depend on male character, she is still be able to learn about herself, show up, and become a new leader of Fire Kingdom. As the only known princes who ever invade other kingdom in the Land of Ooo, Flame Princess shows she is able to be a strong female lead character.

B. Suggestions

Adventure Time is an animated series that was released in 2010 and is still under production until this research is done. Due to many episodes, various characters, and unique storyline, the writer is sure that this animated series can be analyzed using other literary theories that are available.

Flame Princess is one of many princesses in the Land of Ooo, therefore feminist theory can be applied to other princesses as well for further research.

Another character such as Ice King can also be analyzed using psychoanalysis theory because he is presented as a weird and strange person compared to other characters in the series

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