The walking dead TV show Essay Example

The walking dead TV show Paper However, her character’s strength is effectively compromised by her childish and immature behavior when interacting with Glenn. She consistently toys with his emotions, and shifts from warm to hostile in the blink of an eye. Maggie wants Glenn when he is emotionally unavailable, yet scorns his efforts when he tries to develop a relationship with her. From ruining Glenn’s clothing to making rude jokes at his expense, Maggie is downright cruel to Glenn at times. Her hot-and-cold attitude towards Glenn enforces the stereotype of women as being selfish and immature in relationships. We will write a custom essay sample on The walking dead TV show specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The walking dead TV show specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The walking dead TV show specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Not surprisingly, the writers of â€Å"The Walking Dead† made sure to portray women as particularly immature when interacting with other women. They depict Lori as a generally unpleasant woman who doesn’t hesitate to lash out at other females on a consistent basis. Lori also becomes Andrea’s main critic, claiming that Andrea’s is not contributing to the group. Lori and Maggie also do not get along. Following a trip to the drug store in which Glenn and Maggie almost died, Maggie lashes out at Lori and claims that her selfish actions are jeopardizing other peoples’ lives. In stark contrast to the mature, reliable men who populate the series, the women in â€Å"The Walking Dead† are consistently shown as immature and selfish. The Stereotypical Unable-to-Deal-with-Grief Female The final negative stereotype given the women in â€Å"The Walking Dead† is the inability to effectively cope with pressure or grief. This weakness was particularly acute when women face the death or injury of a loved one. For example, when Amy dies, Andrea demonstrates no ability to cope with her sister’s death, choosing instead to be withdrawn and emotionally distant from the group. Similarly, when Carl, Lori’s son, becomes serious injured, Lori openly concludes that he would be better off dead. However, the writers save their most offensive depictions for Carol Peletier. Carol Peletier is one of the rare characters in â€Å"The Walking Dead† who actually benefits from the zombie apocalypse. Before the apocalypse, and for a short time thereafter, Carol was a passive victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, Ed. To the writers’ credit, Ed is portrayed as a fundamentally despicable human being. In almost every scene in which he is featured, Ed is either beating Carol or emotionally abusing her. It is also hinted to that Sophia, Carol and Ed’s daughter, is a victim of Ed’s abusive nature. Fortunately for Carol and Sophia, Ed does not survive very long and perishes in a zombie attack. Once Carol is emancipated from Ed, the writers understandably depict her as passive, skittish, and generally inactive within the group. One thing that she is passionate about, however, is her daughter, Sophia. Unfortunately, toward the beginning of Season 2, Sophia is lost in the woods after being chased by a rogue zombie. Carol initially blames herself for Sophie’s disappearance, but she soon turns her anger on Rick. However, the writers make sure the viewers see Rick as a victim of Carol’s irrationality. Although Rick did nothing wrong (he directed Sophia to hide in a small crevice and not move until help came while he courageously drew the zombie away), Carol inexplicably blames him nevertheless. Once Sophia disappears, the writers portray Carol as completely shattered and unable to cope with this loss. Carol essentially shuts down, spending all of her time crying in the group’s RV and avoiding interaction with any of the group members. Even though the group maintains optimism that they will find Sophia, Carol remains depressed. Eventually, the writers allow Carol to slowly adjust to the loss of Sophia. However, they make sure Carol’s progress is limited. Indeed, apart from crying, the only tasks Carol can do are cleaning the RV and cooking a dinner for the group. Apart from these two events, Carol is entirely useless as the writers apparently believe women would be in a worldwide tragedy. As a final blow to women, once Carol discovers that Sophia has been turned into a zombie, and after Carol witnesses her daughter’s death, the writers make sure Carol becomes dependent on a man (Daryl), since they apparently believe that women have no ability to deal with loss. The writers show Carol making virtually no attempt at contributing to the group outside of doing domestic tasks. In sum, the writers make sure Carol becomes nothing more than the stereotypical unable-to-deal-with-grief female. Final Thoughts Although â€Å"The Walking Dead† is an entertaining and riveting drama, it suffers from a quite obvious case of sexism. The main female characters are written to be weak, hysterical, immature, and unstable, especially in crisis. This negative portrayal of women in â€Å"The Walking Dead† is unfortunate because the series had the potential of changing the historically negative depiction of women in media. It has long been argued that crises bring out the best and worst in us, accenting our strengths while at the same time exploiting our weaknesses. â€Å"The Walking Dead† is, by definition, the embodiment of crisis, as mankind is facing extinction. However, instead of using this ultimate crisis to recast women, the writers of â€Å"The Walking Dead† embraced historical stereotypes, in two general, consistent ways. First, the women in â€Å"The Walking Dead† are shown to be extremely emotional. This tendency to fall apart at the drop of the pin serves as the main reason that the men generally tend to leave the women out of decision-making and other stressful situations. The men go so far as to justify their actions by claiming that â€Å"the women do not want to be involved anyway. † And their reaction isn’t entirely unjustifiable. Almost all of the main females aren’t capable of handling stress; Lori is portrayed to be very difficult to get along and too headstrong, Carol is too emotionally damaged following Sophia’s situation, Andrea is not knowledgeable enough and emotionally stable, and Maggie is not mature enough. Additionally, all of the women are shown â€Å"giving up† and quitting at one point or another over the course of the series. Even Maggie, who is made out to be one of the strongest most capable women, suffers a breakdown during the final zombie battle and survives only with Glenn’s assistance. Shane, Rick, and Daryl suffer similar character trials, but none of them every throw up their hands and give up completely. This seems to be a reaction reserved for female roles. Overall, these generalizations are in line with many assumptions that males hold about women, and further the perception that although women may occasionally show signs of strength, they are not consistently stable enough to weather long periods of conflict and stress. Second, â€Å"The Walking Dead† asserts that the main obstacle facing women today are females themselves. The women in the series have a very difficult time interacting and getting along with each other. Andrea faces constant disapproval from Lori on her attempts to better herself, and most of the female camp members seem to shun Maggie, viewing and treating her as an outsider. To me, this is a sneaky, yet very damaging way of undermining female power. Asserting that women are the ones who are limiting themselves, men absolve themselves of any responsibility. The majority of anti-feminist events in â€Å"The Walking Dead† occur without the influence of men and the blame is instead placed on the shoulders of the females. Notwithstanding the disappointment I’ve felt in seeing how the writers of â€Å"The Walking Dead† have chosen to portray women, I remain somewhat hopeful that they will reverse course. The very last scenes of Season 2 revealed a hooded character wielding a katana and leading two armless zombies. Although this is not revealed explicitly to the audience, this character is Michonne, a female warrior who is quite popular within the comic book series [9]. I am hopeful that in introducing Michonne, the writers will use her as a catalyst for a more reasonable and positive portrayal of women in the series. Figure 1: Michonne (Danai Gurira) Bibliography Goldberg, Lesley. The Walking Dead Season 2 Premiere Shatters Basic Cable Ratings Records. The Hollywood Reporter. N. p. , 10/17/2011. Web. 29 Jun 2012. The Walking Dead: Season 1. Metacritic. CBS, 12/07/10. Web. 29 June 2012. http://www. metacritic. com/tv/the-walking-dead. The Walking Dead: Season 2. Metacritic. CBS, 10/04/11. Web. 29 June 2012. http://www. metacritic. com/tv/the-walking-dead/season-2. Nunn, Gary. â€Å"The Feminisation of Madness is Crazy. † The Guardian. N. p. , 3/8/12. Web. 17 Aug 2012 Relher, Andrea. 2011 Golden Globes nominations. Zap2it. Tribune Media Service, 12/14/10. Web. 29 Jun 2012. AMC Garners Six WGA Award Nominations . The Futon Critic. N. p. , 12/08/10. Web. 29 Jun 2012. Don, Katherine. Bringing Up Baby: Pregnancy (and Zombies) Are Scary on The Walking Dead. bitchmedia. N. p. , 11/23/11. Web. 29 Jun 2012. Ocasio, Anthony. ‘The Walking Dead’ Producer Responds To ‘Annoying Lori’ Critics. ScreenRant. N. p. , 3/12/12. Web. 29 Jun 2012. The 10 Worst Moms on TV. Yahoo. com. Yahoo, 5/11/12. Web. 29 Jun 2012. Ross, Dalton. The Walking Dead: Exclusive first look at Danai Gurira as fan favorite Michonne. Entertainment Weekly. N. p. , 5/23/12. Web. 29 Jun 2012.