The Community-Centered Cult Television Heroine, 1995-2007
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English English, Department of 2010 "Just a Girl": The Community-Centered Cult Television Heroine, 1995-2007 Tamy Burnett University of Nebraska at Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, and the Visual Studies Commons Burnett, Tamy, ""Just a Girl": The Community-Centered Cult Television Heroine, 1995-2007" (2010). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English. 27. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss/27 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. “JUST A GIRL”: THE COMMUNITY-CENTERED CULT TELEVISION HEROINE, 1995-2007 by Tamy Burnett A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: English (Specialization: Women‟s and Gender Studies) Under the Supervision of Professor Kwakiutl L. Dreher Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2010 “JUST A GIRL”: THE COMMUNITY-CENTERED CULT TELEVISION HEROINE, 1995-2007 Tamy Burnett, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2010 Adviser: Kwakiutl L. Dreher Found in the most recent group of cult heroines on television, community- centered cult heroines share two key characteristics. The first is their youth and the related coming-of-age narratives that result. The second is their emphasis on communal heroic action that challenges traditional understandings of the hero and previous constructions of the cult heroine on television. Through close readings of Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dark Angel, and Veronica Mars, this project engages feminist theories of community and heroism alongside critical approaches to genre and narrative technique, identity performance theory, and visual media critique to explore the community-centered cult heroine and her rewriting of previous heroic archetypes. While much scholarship has examined the ways in which cult heroines of the late twentieth century revise Western heroic archetypes, this dissertation provides necessary expansion of this conversation with a consideration of how the heroine‟s youth and ties to her community influence and shape her heroic identity. The first chapter explores Xena: Warrior Princess‟ use of an intergenerational mentorship model of activism and the series‟ redefinition of community through a rejection of a heteronormative paradigm. The second chapter examines Buffy the Vampire Slayer‟s use of interdependent metaphor and coming-of-age narratives, leading to the creation of a global activist community. The third chapter compares the cult heroines of Firefly and Dark Angel, positing a symbiotic model of heroism in which the community functions like a family. The fourth chapter investigates the detective noir series Veronica Mars and how it presents a collaborative/ally model of heroism. Together, these visions of communal action offer several models for feminist approaches to activism. iv Copyright 2010, Tamy Burnett v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS No writing is done in a vacuum, and this project is no exception. Like the heroines I study, my work here is dependent on the contributions of a community of individuals who supported and encouraged me throughout this process. This dissertation would not have been possible without them. I am especially indebted to my adviser, Dr. Kwakiutl Dreher, and the other members of my graduate committee, Drs. Maureen Honey, Joy Ritchie, Gwendolyn Foster, and Carole Levin, for their wisdom and guidance throughout this process. Their thoughtful and helpful feedback made this project what it is, and their insights will be instrumental in future revisions and expansions of these ideas. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work with this unique and talented group of women, as well as other colleagues in the English Department and the Women‟s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I am also thankful for those professors and graduate students at other institutions who inspired me and gave me feedback on various conference papers that were precursors to dissertation chapters. I am particularly grateful to the attendees of the annual Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations Conference, especially the participants in the Science Fiction and Fantasy area, and the presenters and attendees of the bi-annual Slayage Conference on the Works of Joss Whedon. The example and encouragement provided by these individuals inspired my commitment to pursuing critical television scholarship. vi On a more personal level, I am also grateful to my friends and family: to Dr. AmiJo Comeford for her knowledgeable critique and unfailing support; to Amber Harris Leichner for her tireless reading of drafts and always thoughtful feedback; to Kris Gandara for her helpful comments; to Regina Shields for her constant encouragement; to Dr. Richard Jussel, my undergraduate honors adviser, for his faith in my abilities in English studies; and to my parents, Loren and Sondra Burnett, for giving me a love of story alongside their unwavering confidence in me and my talents. I offer a heartfelt “Thank you!” to all these individuals and to everyone who has aided my intellectual journey and growth as a scholar. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..…1 Chapter One: “That‟s What She… Said”: Lesbian (Sub)text and the Rejection of a Heteronormative Community Paradigm in Xena: Warrior Princess…..…………………….…………………..35 Chapter Two: From “We Survived” to “We Changed the World”: The Interdependence of Metaphor and Coming-of-Age Moments for Community Development in Buffy the Vampire Slayer…………………………………………………………….…..…77 Chapter Three: “My Turn”: Symbiotic Exchanges between Heroine and Family-Community in Firefly and Dark Angel……………………..…...…116 Chapter Four: “Are We Working Together Now?”: Collaborative Activism and Questions of Genre in Veronica Mar…………………..……..…157 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...191 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….200 1 INTRODUCTION I am eight years old, and it is the late 1980s. Outside rain beats ruthlessly on the windows; inside I announce, not for the first time, my boredom. In exasperation my mother finally suggests, “Why don‟t you read a book?” I walk down the long hall into the cool, dry storeroom of our basement where a box of hand-me-down books is tucked away. I forage for a book that will keep my interest, and decide on a detective mystery. I burrow back against the rocking chair and begin to read about a clever girl sleuth in search of an old clock. The book‟s heroine is adventurous and feisty. I like her immediately. She finds the clock but not before she escapes danger brought by scheming and jealous relatives. The clock restores an inheritance that has been unjustly stolen from deserving heirs. The girl detective‟s work brings order to her community and does what conventional authorities cannot. Although my eight-year-old mind does not have the words to name her such, in Nancy Drew I find my first feminist icon. Fast forward fourteen years to 2001. One night in early November while channel surfing, I stumble upon an episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My curiosity piqued by advertisements for a special musical episode, I become more comfortable on my sofa. I am captivated by the genre-blending fantasy/horror/fairy- tale/musical mystery of a refined, zoot-suited demon who has come to town. This demon has the power to make everyone sing and dance at odd hours and in the strangest of places. As his victims dance, they reveal their deepest secrets; sometimes these revelations are accompanied by a passion so great, the dancer literally burns up and is 2 consumed by it. As I watch the heroine and her friends uncover the villain‟s identity and motives, I am drawn in by this community made up of individuals who clearly are invested in communal togetherness, but who are also torn apart by their own fears and insecurities. Yet, when stakes are highest, they come together and “beat the bad guy” (“Once More With Feeling”). By the time the episode ends on an ensemble song asking, “Where do we go from here?” I, too, want to know where this group is going and where they have come from. I seek out old and new episodes of Buffy, quickly finding a figure vastly different from Nancy Drew and yet strikingly similar in her skills and abilities that enable her to bring order to her community. Subsequently, I revisit television series I had previously ignored and seek out new ones featuring similar heroines: I discover the genetically-engineered teenage protagonist of Dark Angel, the traumatized girl/weapon of Firefly, and the sassy girl detective star of Veronica Mars, before eventually meeting the woman warrior that created space for this group of heroic figures to emerge at the turn of the century—the title character of Xena: Warrior Princess . All of these confident, strong, and fearless heroines join my internal