Intentionality, or Ava!!!
Last night, I watched the fourth to last episode of FX’s Justified. Justified is a modern day Western, a real display of American masculinity. I’ve always been fairly impressed with the way that Justified presents its female characters; though there are certainly less of them than there are male characters, they are often extremely capable, smart, and great with guns. (spoilers here) In the most recent episode, I think Justified really elevated itself to its full feminist potential. In the words of showrunner Graham Yost, “To a degree, we wanted to distract people with the [seemingly main plot of the season] Raylan versus Boyd and not have them realize that the story was really about Ava, and that she was going to do something that was going to confound them both. The story would then be about getting Ava and who’s going to get her first.” This female character who has always been powerful but tertiary is more than taking charge of her own destiny; she’s on the run with ten million dollars and all the potential in the world. All of a sudden, this show about men chasing men who are angry about other men is all about a woman. (The possibility of this being the Season of Ava was teased in a trailer, but it had been starting to seem unlikely that the show would follow through.) (end spoilers)
I want to give Yost and his team credit for that. Because they did it; they deserve it. But I’m wary. Yost kind of broke my heart last year when he talked about the rumors that a recurring character, Tim, was gay. Yost said “FX was interested in being pro-social and in having an openly gay character. ...Our problem with trying to make that work is that it was something we were seeking out and we don’t do earnest well. It smacks a little bit of self-importance.” Oof. A Big Gay Plotline, with Tim coming out and seeking the acceptance of his fellow US Marshals, would be completely atonal with the show, absolutely. But the idea that a throwaway line about sleeping with some dude would make the show into a pinnacle of self-righteousness stings pretty hard, and makes it seem as if Yost doesn’t necessarily understand the significance of representation.
Which brings us back to Ava. How Yost talked about Tim’s possible queer sexuality makes me think that perhaps his intention with Ava wasn’t to achieve a great moment for women on TV, but simply to tell a great story. And that’s not a bad intention to have-- in fact, if all your representation cylinders are firing but your stories ones are flailing, you could wind up going the way of Looking. And if it happens to be that your great story involves a complex female character kicking ass, as Ava’s story did last episode, then spectacular. But I wonder how we can bridge the gap between people thinking that story and representation are mutually exclusive. A queer storyline does not have to be a big huge deal and change the tone of the show. And a female character taking the lead doesn’t have feel like a fancy feminist moment-- if it’s done well, it should just be the thing that’s right for the story. Do you think it’s possible to talk about these things in such a way that people who are all about story realize that wider and better representations can aid these stories? Do you think it’s possible to talk about these things in such a way that people who are all about representation realize that without story, it’s just not good TV?
