CRITICAL ESSAY
FIRSTLY, I WANT TO INCLUDE A TRIGGER WARNING; in this essay I discuss television shows that tackle sensitive subjects such as derealization and abortion, etc. I do not mention any specific instances or describe any scenes, but the topics are mentioned.
Introduction:
For years, the manic pixie dream girl had taken over television screens and the media as a whole. The “manic Pixie dream girl” (MPDG) trope was television’s way of involving women on the screen, yet it lacked a lot of proper representation. The MPDG represented women as “whimsical, quirky, sometimes eccentric, fantasy woman who saves the male protagonist from himself,” (Maio, 2019). From this representation, women were never seen alone on television, rather they complimented their male counterparts in order to add depth to their storyline, as opposed to their own story and individuality. As a result, audience members, primarily feminists, demanded better representation of women on television, which resulted in the new and improved version of the manic pixie dream girl, the ‘It’ girl in distress. The ‘It’ girl trope became more popular and where women are finally given leading roles in television or films, yet the representation remains toxic and problematic. As her name implies, the ‘It’ girl in distress is presented to be a “bad girl” or the “cool girl” that does not care about how others view her, often as a result of trauma; she is a character built on trauma and solely that. In addition to her character being built solely in accordance to trauma, her character also often has bad coping mechanisms or is represented in a way that implies she deals with her trauma by partaking in unhealthy actions such as: smoking, doing drugs, excessive drinking and partying, etc. The ‘It’ girl trope then branches out into two alternate endings, first as “either the damsel in distress—fragile, weak, and in need of a hero to save her – or the villain of the story,” (Owens, 14). This essay will focus on the former, despite both depictions being problematic, and will explore the ‘It’ girl tropes’ relation to the male gaze, analyzing why the trope occurred as a result of male desires as opposed to female liberation, its effect on female audiences, and finally, it will briefly discuss why the problematic trope remains relevant in television despite its controversy, all whilst focusing on Maeve from Sex Education as the primary case study.
The ‘It’ girl in relation to the male gaze
The ‘It’ girl in distress trope is problematic for various reasons, all of which relate to its inaccuracy in its presentation of women. Firstly, the ‘It’ girl trope does is not created with the lens of the female gaze, rather the character of the ‘It’ remains heavily targeted at attracting male audiences, meaning it is created with the male gaze in mind. Female characters created with the male gaze are often more sexualized, are tied back to the stereotype that men are the protectors of women and/or are their saviors due to their superior strength. As Andrae states, “the male gaze is based on an asymmetry of visuality: the male is an unseen seer and the woman an object of surveillance, giving him a feeling of omnipotent power and shopaholic,” (120), which emphasizes the idea that the male gaze views female characters simply as trophies or prizes, rather than individual characters themselves. In contrast, the female gaze is “learning to see clearly for themselves, thus reconstructing traditional images of women,” (Bowers, 218) and representing “their complexity and power,” (Bowers, 217). This is not the case with characters under the ‘It’ girl trope, since these characters remain heavily sexualized and, in many cases, are not represented in a manner that shows their power and individualistic complexity.
For instance, Maeve Wiley from Sex Education is a prime example of an ‘It’ girl that is made with the lens of the male gaze. Firstly, her character is played by actress Emma Mackey, who is a white actress that can be considered Eurocentrically beautiful. She is blonde, tall, very thin, and always well dressed and presentable, despite her character having the stereotype of “not caring” about what others think. Instead of diversifying the cast, the producers cast a Eurocentrically beautiful actress which is an aspect of the male gaze, as her beauty can attract male audiences. Furthermore, in comparison to other characters on the show, the ‘It’ girl, Maeve, who has been a main character throughout the series, is the character that most matches Eurocentric beauty features, further demonstrating the ‘It’ girl characters’ creation in terms of the male gaze. This is not the only show or instance where the casting of Eurocentrically beautiful actresses to play the ‘It’ girl occurs. On the show, Gossip Girl, Serena Van Der Woodsen, the ‘It’ girl of the show, is played by Blake Lively, another white, blonde, tall, and thin actress. Serena’s character was not only cast by an actress that met Eurocentric beauty standards, but her character is also oversexualized for a teenage character. In fact, in Gossip Girl generally, there is a lot of “objectification of women and naturalization and glamorization of porn culture present a narrow, stereotypical construction of femininity that sacrifices female agency for male pleasure,” (Weese, 45), yet in the case of the ‘It’ girl, Serena, she is even more hyper-sexualized than other characters such as Blair Waldorf or Jenny Humphry. Throughout the show, Serena is dressed more openly than the other female lead characters and her interactions with men around her are a lot more exaggerated, and less conservative, than all other female characters. This is not done in a way that empowers women either, since it does not encourage women to act on their own accord and in a manner that they are most comfortable/happy with. Rather, throughout the show, Serena is seen sacrificing aspects of her own individuality for male pleasure. Serena, from the start of her presence on the show, was shown to have battled with drugs and alcohol. Her bad coping mechanisms harmed her and those around her. However, she was still amongst the most glamorized characters on the show, which further indicates how this ‘It’ girl is presented through the lens of the male gaze
Furthermore, these characters remain closely linked to the male gaze because despite being main characters, the ‘It’ girls are still shown with some form of relationship or link to the “invisible boy”, which is the trope revolving around the nerdy, shy, or weird guy that is often unrecognized by his peers and colleagues, as a result of his quirks. The ‘It’ girl still gives male characters significance or relevance in one way or another, instead of standing alone. In the case of Sex Education, Maeve’s character and plot points revolve around her trauma and initially, she struggles to deal with it and is shown to have poor coping mechanisms. Yet, when the male character, Otis, enters her life, he begins to try to save her by being with her, walking her through traumatic experiences, and guiding her to a better place, while she slowly corrupts him and makes his experience more difficult, rather than also easing his trauma or bad experiences. This highlights two aspects that indicate the use of the male gaze in developing the ‘It’ girl trope: first, that female characters, regardless of their importance to the show or their background story, will be used to continue the ‘damsel in distress trope’ and that secondly, being around the ‘It’ girl allows the male character to gain visibility. Focusing on the first point, being around Maeve throughout the series made Otis noticeable to other characters and gave him significance amongst his peers. As a result of Maeve, other female characters began to notice Otis and take romantic or sexual interest in him as well. So, at the end of the day, Maeve’s characteristics (being outspoken, a ‘trouble maker’ that naturally draws peoples’ attention, her beauty, etc.) are used to bring attention to the ‘invisible boy’. This indicates the use of the male gaze, since it is a fascination with the asymmetry of visuality, where the female figure is the spectacle and the male figure a bystander to that, as Andrae previously stated. In other words, Maeve being the center of attention and dragging Otis into the spotlight with her further demonstrates the lens of the male gaze, because Maeve is being used as an accessory to highlight Otis’s character, rather than being a character that shines independently. Secondly, when Otis stood by Maeve during the time she went to get an abortion, it results in him looking like a hero after being displayed as ‘invisible’ and ‘shy’ throughout the series. As a result, Maeve also encourages Otis to open a clinic in Sex Education, since she realized he was able to help her during her traumatic moments through his extensive knowledge, and that he could help others too. Therefore, Maeve’s character and her trauma, in this case, were used to further develop Otis’ plotline and his significance in the television show. So, despite being a main character with a background story and history, Maeve’s character remains a key aspect in further developing her male counterparts, further indicating that the ‘It’ girl is still created with the lens of the male gaze. The damsel in distress trope is prominent here with the ‘It’ girl, yet it masks itself in a different shape, since Maeve is considered a main character and is painted as “independent”. The fact that the male character is guiding the ‘It’ girl to a better place whilst sacrificing himself for her is an example of the male gaze in the creation of the ‘It’ girl, as it corresponds with the patriarchal idea that men are more powerful than women, meaning they can take on more harm in order to protect the female character. The ‘It’ girl trope, similar to the MPDG trope, both suffer from this patriarchal idea; the female character cannot handle her own issues, and therefore must be saved by a male counterpart. This is a result of the reflection of “the way people fear those with power today, especially [when] those with power are female,” (Owens, 50), which is the ideology imbedded in the male gaze.
The ‘It’ Girls’ Impact on Audiences
Secondly, “this stereotyping of women is problematic because the entire female experience cannot be fit into neat little categories; everyone wants to see themselves represented fairly, so inclusivity is needed to create connections,” (Owens, 6). The repetitive use of the ‘It’ girl trope, as well as its former equivalent, the MPDG, is problematic because it depicts women in a singular narrative, rather than giving women, all of which are unique and have their own stories, circumstances, and ideas, their representation. This becomes problematic, because having singular narratives that are not inclusive for all women and girls can impact their mental health negatively. Fundamentally, the ‘It’ girl character trope is the same across various television shows. The ‘It’ girl, as previously mentioned, is a leading character that is defined by her traumatic background, which makes her mysterious and appealing to male viewers, she has bad coping mechanisms, is reckless in her behavior, has an attitude or temper, is selfish, and as a result she harms those around her, and is sometimes perceived as a damsel in distress awaiting a male character to save her. Due to these specific characteristics, ‘It’ girl characters across different television shows and movies lack diversity and intersectionality. Intersectionality, specifically in the case of television, is important because it help “determine how they [the characters] measure up to dominant values related to those identities, as well as to the experiences of real people who identify with them,” (Kearney, 155). This means that the presence of intersectionality in characters on television is important in order to better help audiences relate to the characters and feel represented. Yet, in the case of many ‘It’ girls, that is not the case, since they are all similar. For instance, Serena and Maeve’s characters are very similar, where both characters are cisgender, white, heterosexual, same age (teenagers), yet they only differ in class. Intersectionality has four main components (Kearney, 155), and by having the same identities repeated across various television shows, the ‘It’ girl trope misses out on most of these components, resulting in less representation for more diverse groups of people.
Furthermore, the ‘It’ girl trope in itself is problematic due to the way this character copes with her issues and feelings. Audiences often relate to or idolize the ‘It’ girl character due to her being a main character or having gone through something traumatic, that some audience members may have experienced themselves. The issue comes after, for various reasons. Firstly, it is due to the way the ‘It’ girl is shown to deal with her issues and feelings. Often times, the ‘It’ girls have unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as smoking, excessive drinking, aggression, etc. When audiences relate to the trauma characters face, they are even more vulnerable to using them as a guide to how to deal with their own trauma, because audiences are vulnerable and can be influenced by the characters they see on television. According to David Morley, “readers are always already formed, shaped by subjects, by the ideological discourses which have operated on them prior to their encounter with the text in question,” (20), meaning that audiences shape their judgement and ideals according to the pre-existing content they see, whether on television or outside of it. In the case of television, the repetition of the ‘It’ girl trope reinforces her bad habits to her audience, since they become desensitized to her actions. When audiences see the same trope repeatedly, their ideological discourse changes and adapts to this character, therefore normalizing it and being influenced by it. On the other hand, in the case of influence from outside of television, audiences that already relate to the ‘It’ girl as a result of shared trauma will be even more easily influenced by this repeating trope, since they already have a similar ideological discourse prior to being exposed to the next. The pre-existing connection audiences can have with the text increases their attraction to the serial and therefore can increase the influence the television show has on the audience. In Andrejevic’s paper, Watching Television Without Pity: The Productivity of Online Fans, Andrejevic found that audiences are more likely to watch a show according to their emotional connection to it: “I might end up watching much more TV, simply because of the stronger connection I would feel,” (30). Morley also adds that the meaning of the text will be interpreted differently depending on the background, knowledge, and past experiences of an individual (20), which further indicates that the audience’s understanding and relation to the character is dependent on their independent background. So, the audience member with a pre-existing connection to the text will connect to the character more easily and potentially understand the ‘It’ girls’ actions as the correct coping mechanisms that would help relieve their shared trauma, as there is already a deeper connection between the audience member and the character as a result of their emotional connection.
The second issue is linked to the audiences watching the series who have not experienced similar traumas. Some audience members don’t relate to the trauma that characters have gone through. Here, it is important to emphasize that the issue is not with representing trauma, as that is very important for audiences to feel like they are not alone. That being said, the issue is that every ‘It’ girl seems to have ties to trauma and bad coping mechanism and due to the repetitive nature of this trope, it makes it seem that the only way to be noticed or recognized as an individual or “main character” is by having trauma or mental illness yourself. Now, a lot of stories in tropes in television are repeated, but none of them are as problematic as the ‘It’ girl. As Kozloff states in his narrative theory discussion, “each given storyline may be formulaic, but the ways in which it combines with, parallels, contrasts, or comments upon another storyline may add interest and complexity,” (57), meaning that the stories are similar but it is the small differences that make stories interesting. Yet, the repetition of the ‘It’ girl and her constant association with negative or harmful behavior is what makes this trope dangerous, unlike other repeated narratives in television. In other words, the repetitive nature of this trope is not only harmful in its ability to influence those who already share ideological discourse with it, but also in its ability to create new ideological discourse, even with those who do not have the shared trauma. If women and girls who are not mentally ill or traumatized continuously watch such tropes, they might begin to believe that their lives and experiences are irrelevant, unimportant, or that it makes them less special, a “side character” in their own life, if you will. This could result in insecurity and self-doubt, which leads to mental health issues. It could also influence such people to follow the self-destructive actions of the characters in order to appear “special” like the characters, which also is an issue, since these actions do not lead to a sustainable lifestyle, and could also trigger mental health issues for these women and younger audiences.
The impact of repetitive exposure of the ‘It’ girl through the second screen on audiences.
Furthermore, serials’ influence on audiences is more likely to occur due to social media and personal devices’ new connection with television. It is inevitable for audiences to be impacted by the actions of such characters and series, as a result of the use of the second screen. The second screen is “television-related use of smartphones and tablets,” (Stauff, 124), which increases the audience’s exposure to television content without having to watch television. The second screen, especially in the 21st century, follows audiences everywhere, since a vast majority, especially younger and more impressionable audiences have social media accounts that they use regularly. As a result, it becomes very difficult to avoid conversations about such shows, which increases exposure to the ‘It’ girl trope. Therefore, the repetitive nature of the ‘It’ girl trope on television, and the increased exposure to television content even whilst not watching television can be problematic, because it both spreads and deepens a new ideological discourse that does not accurately represent audiences and has bad habits or ideas. Since the ‘It’ girl trope is problematic, then problematic actions and ideologies are carried through into society and influencing these audiences. Similarly, the rise of streaming platforms, such as Netflix, that allow audiences to view content whenever they please contribute to the dilemma of the widespread trope, the ‘It’ girl. Streaming platforms allow audiences to binge, which is “defined by being autonomously scheduled and only excessive relative to a norm is difficult to pin down,” (Jenner, 307), meaning that binging various from one audience member to the next, but generally means the freedom to view any content whenever an audience member pleases. This increases exposure because streaming services allow fans to consume content on their own time, giving them the freedom to re-watch episodes or re-wind scenes when they please. Therefore, due to the widespread use of technology that accompanies television and audiences’ ability to “binge”, the ‘It’ girl trope is as influential as ever, which is problematic, since it spreads harmful ideologies.
Analysis on why the ‘It’ girl is still Common in Production
Despite all the controversy over the repetitive use of the ‘It’ girl, it is not a surprise that Netflix continuously uses this trope. Netflix and other streaming services aim to create; therefore, they continue to reproduce the tropes and series that gain most traction and result in the biggest amount of profit, and the ‘It’ girl trope was successful. As a result of years without strong female leads, when Netflix released shows such as Sex Education, audiences were quickly to praise them for their characters Maeve and Amy, as both characters were leads on the show, and had represented individuals that went through difficult and traumatic events, such as sexual assault. In fact, on Twitter, Instagram, and various other social media platforms, audiences began to develop a strong fandom or fan base, since it was able to emotionally impact those who had suffered in ways similar to the characters in Sex Education. As previously explored using Adrejevic’s paper, audiences are more likely to enjoy and watch a show more, as a result of the emotional connection they have with the characters, which is the case with shows that talk about sensitive topics such as mental health and trauma.
Besides the profit producers gain from people directly streaming their show, these fan interactions online further increase their profit, resulting in the continuation of such tropes. For instance, when fans speak about the plot or characters online, praising it, it prompts more audiences to further stream the television show. In fact, producers encourage consumers “to make the investment of time and energy it takes to be an interactive consumer responsible for his or her own viewing and consumption practices and experiences,” (Adrejevic, 30), and such interactions have been very successful with television shows containing the ‘It’ girl trope for various reasons. For instance, in Sex Education, a show that has female leads and characters that generally endured hardships that were once a taboo to show on television results in strong fandoms, fan interactions, and loyalty, since audiences feel represented and heard. When fans have an emotional connection to the plot line or characters, they will be more likely continue to watch the television show AND interact with it online. This benefits the continuation of such tropes, because it results in a lot of profit. The interactions fans have online result in a lot of profit for various reasons. Firstly, due to the internet’s interconnected nature, it allows for new audiences to be exposed to the posts of the fan base of television shows, potentially prompting them to start the show themselves. Some fans or audiences even go as far as producing their own art or writings based off the series, and by sharing it online, it results in even more exposure for the series. In brief, it is free marketing. Secondly, the interactions in fandoms results in an even bigger emotional connection to the television show, as fandoms are similar to small “families” or “circles” linked by the series; it also gives fans people to further discuss these television shows with. As a result, the emotional connection grows further, prompting the fans to invest more into the series, such as buying merchandise, purchasing tickets for meet and greets, etc. All of these interactions result in greater profit for the producers and is an indication for their success, therefore prompting them to continue to reproduce such tropes in order to ensure success in future projects. Finally, producers also sometimes use the feedback they see online to better cater to their audiences, which is a free service, instead of them hiring people to watch their shows and give them feedback.
Furthermore, when they see positive feedback online, producers are prompted to repeat the same tropes to ensure that they are still profiting. So, producers continuously renew this trope on Netflix and on other streaming platforms or television channels because it has proven to bring in immense profit. Not only are they profiting from the streaming services, but they also profit through the commodification of the emotionally vulnerable and attached audiences. The ‘It’ girl trope has cultivated a loyal audience through emotions, result in the commedia toon of these audiences, since the audiences begin to provide free marketing, help each other connect further with the series which results in more dedication to be involved in the fandom and with the actors or producers, and finally provides free feedback and advice for improvement for the producers, all of which gives them more profit.
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite the ‘It’ girl in distress trope being a step up from its previous representation, the MPDG, it remains highly problematic. Not only is the trope created with the lens of the male gaze, where despite the female characters now being amongst the main cast, they remain characters used for objectification by audiences. But, the female characters remain entities by which male characters can further their plots, storylines, and development. The ‘It’ girl in distress trope is also incredibly harmful due to its lack of representation and its repetitive nature of spreading harmful and self-sabotaging ideologies to its audiences that are emotionally vulnerable to the trauma of the ‘It’ girl. That being said, it is the same emotionally vulnerable audience and their connection to the texts that keep the trope alive and reoccurring, since the loyalty of the fans of these characters and shows result in a lot of profit for the industry, which motivates producers to continue to recreate such shows.
