ESSAY

            Netflix has become a major production company, responsible for many of the most watched and trending shows. Women on Netflix shows are increasingly taking part in main roles, being multidimensional and being substantial in ways different than by only being beautiful, sexy and desirable. Yet, in many but not all shows, female characters are still made alluring by things that are external to them, like giving them a traumatic past, ignoring the fact that women can be interesting in their own character and have dreams and goals even if they have not endured a traumatic past. This is even clearer when comparing male characters to women’s. The former seem to be here to protect and be there for the latter. Most of the time, male characters do not possess any significant or unusual past that has made them who they are. These shows mostly take place in the U.S., produced and directed by American citizens where women have gained more rights throughout the years and are not as shackled by a man’s world as they are in different parts of the world, such as Lebanon. The law in Lebanon is not in favor of women and they still are constrained by a very patriarchal system, and this is reflected in Lebanese TV shows as well. In this essay, I will compare the notion of “‘It’ girl in distress” to the portrayal of women on Lebanese shows.

            To start, female characters on Netflix Originals shows are oftentimes characterized by traumatic pasts. On Stranger Things, for example, Eleven the main character was experimented on in a lab for having special powers, where she was subjected to very cruel treatment. Mike, another main character, is drawn to help and protect her as he falls in love with her. He doesn’t have any peculiar or traumatic past, nor do any of his male friends. It was not enough for Eleven to have special powers and a protective and courageous personality trait, she needed to be broken in some kind of way. In another series, the Witcher, Yennefer has a very rough childhood because she was a hunchback, making her an outcast in her society. She was also constantly beaten up by her parents. She eventually got accepted to a sorceress school, harnessing all the rage she had accumulated over the years, to become a very powerful witch. Her physical deformities were also magically removed and she became a very beautiful woman. Here, we can also see that her main drive and interesting thing about her is her traumatic past, something that is very external to her. Would she have been less interesting without it? While Geralt of Rivia’s (the male protagonist of the show)  past is somewhat discussed, it is not nearly as significant as his own physical power when he goes on quests to kill monsters.

            In both these shows, similar to many others, female protagonists are portrayed as very powerful and courageous women, have many screen time, are multidimensional and in one case independent, but all this power they possess is fueled by and originating from something that is external to them (their traumatic past), with little attention given to the woman’s desire to self-actualize (rather than to seek revenge or protect) and to the strength she can posses simply by virtue of being a woman. Is this empowering to the female audience? Do they feel like they have agency?

To link this concept to a closer environment, Lebanese TV shows are featuring more independent and strong women, previously shown as weak and abused, or beautiful and supportive of their men. They are not, however, featuring the “It girl in distress” as frequently as Netflix Originals do. The context in Lebanon is very different from that in the United States. It is clear that the new generation of Lebanese women are more independent, take on higher paid jobs and positions, but they are constantly clashing with the older generations and more conservative and religious members of the society. This fight that Lebanese women take on is frequently portrayed on television, more so than their traumatic past. In Khamseh w Noss, a TV show that aired on many Lebanese and Arab channels, Bayan, the main character, is a charitable and independent doctor. She marries Ghemar, whose patriarchal and hegemonic self is concealed as he courts her. An otherwise independent and working woman, Bayan becomes stuck in this marriage with an unfaithful and dominating man, with no help from the law to escape, and her goal throughout this program is to escape this patriarchal system. In another TV show, Al-Hayba, and this is exclusive to season one, the main character Alia living in Canada, visits her family-in-law with her young child after her husband dies. Her husband’s family is a very conservative and powerful family in rural Lebanon. They want Alia to marry her deceased husband’s brother, Jabal, and stay in Lebanon. They hold her captive until she eventually agrees to marry him, against her will. This program also portrays a modern woman who tries to fight and escape a patriarchal system that disregards the woman’s own desires and goals and forces her to accept a path that a man sets for her. This is similar in Ma Fiyi, another TV show, where the female protagonist tries to fight her family’s restrictions to marry the man she loves because they don’t like him. They also push her to marry a man who is very possessive and wants her to quit her job and stay at home.

These three instances all portray the Lebanese woman’s struggle for independence and free will in a very patriarchal and man dominated world. These women don’t have any specific, traumatic past and their strength comes from their own need and desire to free themselves. Their strength comes from within and not all Lebanese women are trying to fight this system, as is also shown in many television programs; they have accepted it.

While I do believe that Lebanese TV shows are very much influenced by those produced in the United States, and are consequently encouraged and motivated to portray women in an empowering light, Lebanese shows have instances where women are alluring because of their defiance to the dominant status quo, and not because they had been traumatized in the past, nor simply because they are beautiful and desirable. One American TV show that successfully gives agency to a female character is Mad Men. Peggy Olson doesn’t have a notable past, she also does not possess the conventional, beautiful body and face; she is simply a very ambitious woman who wants to succeed and gain respect in her field of work. Nevertheless, her storyline is no less interesting and captivating. She is relatable and empowering to many ordinary women who are facing these same issues in their lives.