query

[tigriswolf]

How come in the Crow movies, it's the guy who comes back?  The woman is murdered, too, not to mention brutalized.  So why doesn't she crawl out of her grave and exact vengeance for herself?

Comments

[alieneyes.livejournal.com]

If you ever watched the tv show, there's a woman crow.

I saw it years ago. She's not the main character, but she does pop up in an episode or two. I don't remember what the tragedy was...I think she lost a child...something like that. Like I said, loooong time ago, thanks to the scifi channel.

[astrothsknot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but she still comes back for a very female reason, the loss of a child. I know that would strike a more recognisable chard in the viewers, but yet again, being female is all about kids. When do you ever see women coming back to avenge the death of a lover or comrade?

Society is still very antsy of female violence.

[alieneyes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it is a very maternal reason.

I did a quick google search to make sure her reason was what I remembered it to be and yeah, some dudes murdered her and her daughter. She came back to kill them.

Antsy about violence against women or women doing the violence?

Yes, all this talk of revenge and women reminds me of La Llorona, the woman who drowned her own children and her sorrow drives her to claim more children as a ghost.

Off the top of my head I'm trying to figure out some woman that comes back (defends/seeks vengeance for) for a lover/comrade, and the closest thing I can think of is Fiona Glenanne on Burn Notice. She's not a ghost or dead. But she's one of the more physical/violent characters on the show. And she'd burn the world down if it were trying to hurt Michael, her man.

But in terms of crossing the veil for love and revenge...yeah I got nothing.

[astrothsknot.livejournal.com]

We're still not comfortable with women being violent and haven't stopped objectifying women - look how many females die horribly or are tortured in fictional media compared to the number of males.

We've a long way to go before we truly shake off the gender roles.

[tigriswolf]

That show's in my queue.

[kc-anathema.livejournal.com]

The female Crow comes back to avenge her death, and it's only near the end of the comic that we find out that she was pregnant at the time, if I remember right. They're probably focused on male characters since guys by and large buy comics, especially the violent type of the Crow's ilk, and because the artist was working through the death of his girlfriend at the time.

[tigriswolf]

Oh, I didn't know about the RL stuff. That makes sense.

[ravenmoonsonata.livejournal.com]

That was actually one of my favorite comics. The female crow was in "Flesh & Blood" and in the new edition of "The Crow" had both the Bride/Groom Crows.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

I think you've hit upon something.

[tigriswolf]

It just struck me today, I'm not sure why.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

I hear a lot about gender politics in media on livejournal.

[desertcreature.livejournal.com]

Because it was all written by a man who lost his girlfriend IRL (or at least I believe that's the situation...I haven't watched any of it since high school).

Also, the usual male-centric crap normally found in the comic book world.

[tigriswolf]

I didn't know that about the original story, but it does make sense.

[astrothsknot.livejournal.com]

James O'Barr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O%27Barr)

[heeroluva.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of some research I recently read about a lack of strong female characters.

[tigriswolf]

It kinda bugs me.

[heeroluva.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. I agree. Very sad really. But that's how our society is. Might not be the best, but very hard to change it.

[pprfaith.livejournal.com]

Because getting revenge for yourself doesn't work nearly as well on a screen as getting it for someone else? Plus, violent women tend to scare people off rather than attract them the way men do. Pop psychology 101.

[tigriswolf]

Why?

[pprfaith.livejournal.com]

Why violent women have the greater shock factor?

Because evolution says men are warriors and women are gatherers. You expect a man to hit something when he gets angry, but not a woman. You expect a serial killer to be male, not female. When someone starts a physical fight, you assume it was a male who threw the first punch. Even if women do commit violence, it tends to be verbal, or time delayed. Poison, guns instead of knives. That kind of thing.

When a man and a woman walk into a room and threaten you, you automatically assume the man to be the greater physical danger, don't you?

And popular TV lives from shocking people on a surface level, but not on an animal/instinctive level because that's just gonna make them switch the TV off.

A-hem. I'm done rambling now. Please proceed and feel free to ignore me completely. :)

[rachelinga.livejournal.com]

Heteronormative patriarchy.

[tigriswolf]

Makes sense.