History and the Immortal Female (or-
How do you solve a problem like Cassandra?)
(Disclaimer: The notion of immortality isn't mine. Some time back in the Paleolithic era, or thereabouts, the human mind evolved to the point where it could conceive of the notion of its own possible death, which set up the platform for the reciprocal concept-i.e., not dying. The context of immortality that I'm utilizing is that of the "Highlander" Immortal-which happens to belong to Panzer/Davis. As far as history goes, most of it isn't my notion either. So don't blame me.)
So, I decided to write an essay-about a fictional character from a t.v. show. I've written about stranger things, actually. But somewhere along the way, I began to think rather heavily on the pros and cons of the character of Cassandra, if only because she's a character who seems to provoke definite reactions-she has several detractors as well as some strong defenders. And she was in three episodes. Not bad. Not bad at all.
I began to wonder why she provokes a strong reaction, given only so much air time. I have one of those minds, I guess-I mean, I ponder. And I have chronic insomnia. But mostly, I'm a ponderer. And a fanfic writer. And a witch. And a feminist. So, I guess I have some strong reactions to the character, myself. So, I'm offering an essay in favor of a complicated character. I'm probably asking for it, by the way. Oh, well.
Let's start on what one sees in fanfiction in re-our girl. I think there are numerous examples out there of the "Cassandra goes mental" story. This has always kind of bothered me. She does not, simply put, strike me as a character who is "psycho" or unreasonable. And yet, time and again, she's put in the position of seeming like a raving hag out for revenge.
So let's go with that. Revenge.
What most people object to is the "vengeance factor." For those of you who have forgotten-Cassandra was Methos' slave-he owned her body and soul, after he and the rest of the Horsemen decimated her village, killing every single man, woman, and child she knew. My guess is that this sort of thing might tend to make a person a bit sore. She may have reasons to believe that people who kill great bunches of other people, and then enslave some other people, might not be great and wonderful folks to be around. After a time, she might even come to the belief that such people should not breathe the same air as decent people, who don't kill lots of other people, or enslave anybody. And, if she has a reason to believe that somebody like this is still alive, and still thinks that the killing and occasionally enslaving racket is a good deal-she might want to kill someone like that. So, perhaps her "vengeance" kick isn't altogether misguided, huh?
So, if she believes that people who are killers and manipulative enslavers of other people are very bad and should not exist-it's only natural that she-carrying a sword and having lived for awhile, should think about killing the bad people. Duncan MacLeod, for example, has lived for awhile and carries a sword-and he gets to kill bad people all the time. Methos has lived for a very long time and carries a sword-if not two-and he occasionally kills bad people-like Kristen, even if she was more psychotic/deluded than necessarily "bad" and hadn't even done anything to him personally-Methos does get to kill bad people. And nobody hates him for it.
But all Cassandra has to do is suggest she might be p. o.'d enough at Methos to take his head, and people get upset about her "vengeance thing." Why? Because Methos is such a sweetie?
Possibly. I'm sure Methos is a sweetie, in the sense that he hasn't been outright evil for a good long time-and of course, one wouldn't mind sinking one's teeth into him. And Hitler liked dogs, as an acquaintance of mine once said. That is to say, everybody has their really, really good moments, as well as moments that are not so good. Methos' not-so-good moments are kind of all Cassandra really has to go on, but let's spot you the notion that he has seriously changed over the last two thousand-plus years since she last laid eyes on him. Even so, she might be tempted to think, huge character-improvement or no, he might deserve to pay for past crimes. That's why there are some crimes that have no statute of limitations-you know, the notion that only blood can expiate blood crimes. They came up with that in the Bronze Age, as I hear it. The idea still has some currency today.
So-why is revenge wrong for Cassandra? I propose the reason may be-not because the fans are so pro-Methos, but because they are uncomfortable with the idea of her actually seeking it. After all, she had to enlist Duncan's help with Kantos (who, let's be honest, didn't exactly come off as the Antichrist, right?), but then she turns around and seems to be actively hunting Kronos (who, let's be honest, comes off as-yeah, see what I mean?). Where does she get off? She's obviously not the world's most gifted swordsperson-she fights like a damn girl. All she seems to have in her favor is the Voice-can we say, "one-trick pony?"
So-even with many fabulous reasons to want to seek revenge, one might be tempted to say-"But, daggone, Woman, you are not fighting in your weight class!"
And one might be wrong. Because I propose she has more than a few reasons to be absolutely right in thinking she's capable of seeking revenge, even against bad old Kronos, himself. And I think the reasons are as follows-1) She does fight like a girl. 2) She fights like a girl. And, oh, yeah, 3)--? She fights like a goddamn girl.
Okay, that came off a little repetitive. But I think I want to make the point: we have to realize by now that women who want to last in a world where the combat is hand-to-hand and sword-to-sword, where they will generally be on the losing side of the tale of the tape, and where they have to take any edge they can possibly get in a fight-may well take certain natural advantages. Cassandra is, whatever we may think of her swordplay ability-not a pushover. She has survived over three thousand years. She may have spent some time on Holy Ground, she may have gotten men to defend her on occasion, she may have made ample use of the unique mind-control skill she has-but she has to have faced men in combat on some occasions, and would have discovered a few things.
One of these things is that men will underestimate her. No, really-if you're a woman, you know they do this. Not just in a fight-in lots of situations. And it isn't blind machismo on the part of men-or at least, I don't think it is. It's the whole image women are stuck with as the "weaker sex." It's almost a given. She will be presumed to be weaker, less skilled, and generally incompetent compared to the much better male opponent. Even if it's sort of true-it probably isn't going to be as true as the guy supposes. And an assumption of an easy victory is a definite mistake. Thus, it's one she can take advantage of.
Another thing is-well, the obvious thing. She is a woman. Case closed. A good-looking woman. And men are very visually-stimulated creatures. I'm not saying men can't put aside their libidos in a life-or-death situation. I'm sure they can. The question is-do they? Particularly a guy like Kronos. One might not be too wrong in presuming that in certain circumstances, he may tend to operate largely from the libido, as opposed to-something more useful. And from the double-entendres he threw out during the battle, I think the little head was every bit as engaged as the big one. Men are also not noted for their multi-tasking skills. While I don't think it might have been overwhelmingly successful in this case, I'm sure she has used more than the Voice to distract them in cases like this. (More on this observation, later.)
The last thing-a female advantage-is viciousness. Although the aphorism runs, "The female is the deadlier of the species"-culturally, it isn't generally accepted, because culturally, it isn't generally true. Women are nurturers. Women are talkers. Women are huggers. They watch "Oprah". They read romance novels. They're into sharing, and cooperating, and "getting in touch with their feelings." They are more inclined to mass e-mails shaped like angels. They bake.
They can also knee testes, rake eyes, break noses, and use incredibly chaotic and unexpected brutal force if they know how. Key word-unexpected. It is a bit more unexpected coming from someone who very likely also can order little umbrella drinks without worrying about looking like a pouf.
In other words-she isn't necessarily short on skills. She simply has a different set of skills to work with. It isn't inferior-simply different. She is the oldest female Immortal we've been presented with, and I imagine she has every reason to be proud of that. History, lest we forget, has not been a paradise for the daughters of Eve. A quick look at the facts will show you it can't have been easy for Cassandra. She seems to have survived on her own through a history where woman have often had to be dependent on their tribes, their families, their fathers, their husbands.
(Here, forgive me while I deviate. I do that-deviate. It's a left-hand thing-my right brain takes over and thoroughly derails my train of linear thought. But I will get back to the argument-honest. But you can't help but take note of this-the witch of Donan Woods could well have been the charcoal queen of Toledo under other circumstances-at the same time that our girl was looking out for the welfare of her Highland foundling, the European continent was smoking merrily with the fires of numerous auto da fe's. And beheading-there was another favored way of getting rid of witches. Right up there with drowning and death by torture. Not only was it rough being female-she went through some of the most evil periods of religious intolerance apparently not giving up the old ways in any respect. There's moxie.)
But, revenge aside-and I tend to see revenge itself as being fairly negative, as far as motives go-I think the more surprising thing is the rather regular depiction of her as not being sane. I will not venture to say that it's unlikely that she survived as long as she has with a screw loose-after all, three out of Four Horseman seem to have worn down the threading on their nuts some time ago, and they have definitely set some endurance records. I will, however, venture to say that very little in the way she was depicted in the episodes themselves gives one reason to believe that she's mentally disturbed. On the contrary-she displays humor, wit, self-assurance, the ability to adapt in the modern world (like the cute little private eye over crystal ball bit in "Prophecy"), and, despite some of the sexual hang-ups some writers have wanted to suggest-she doesn't seem to have any problems in that area, either, as scenes with Duncan make pretty abundantly clear. And so, this leads up to the discussion of-everyone's favorite-the "Cassie-Ho" phenomenon.
I, for one, don't get it, but then again, my two OFC's both carry the nickname "The Whore" for the rather obvious reason of actually being whores. Cassandra does not appear to have been, or at least, it isn't canon that she has been, in any respects, a prostitute, either of the temple hetaera variety, or the more common, modern day, "Hey sailor, buy me a drink?" variety.
I'd like to think it was because we kind of expect it. Four Horsemen. Thus, Whore of Babylon. Gotta be one. Fits the myth. But it isn't so. I could make a case for a parallel between Cassandra and another image from Revelations…but I won't go there because I highly doubt the writers of the show were being as resolutely myth-crazy as I am. I think there must be some other reason for the impression, but it doesn't seem to be wholly out of her actions-relative to any other female character ever depicted, she is basically a "nice girl," positing a world where all women can be divided into the camps of "nice girls" and "sluts." But if we posit such a world-where does Amanda fall in? If "Cassie-Ho"-then Amanda--? Let us state for the record, Amanda herself insists she was "never cheap."
It has been suggested that there is something "naughty" about the nude bathing and the kiss from "Prophecy." As with anything, I suppose interpretations can be made. But I don't believe there was ever any kind of "Hey, kid, check me out!" business about the bath (on the contrary, I do believe she was more or less stumbled upon, and she may have been aware of it, but ignored it with good grace-classy on her part) nor do I think there was anything "sexy" about the kiss, or at least, not in a weird way. The young MacLeod was of the right age for noticing girls-he had clearly already noticed Deborah Campbell. He noticed Cassandra, too, I think in the way a young man might notice a rather good-looking substitute teacher. The way she treated his attraction was probably a rather good way-not discouraging, but rather, nurturing. If we appreciate the chivalrous yet lusty man, let's give credit to some early inspiration, huh? Nothing at all weird happened, and he was past his four hundredth birthday when she finally checked the kit that came with his tartan.
As far as "ho-like" behavior in regards to the Bronze Age, I think we can safely say-get real. When one is informed that one lives so long as one pleases a man-one pleases! This isn't being a whore-this is merely failing to be suicidal. You can't blame a girl for that.
And so, if her actions aren't the actions of a tramp, per se, why the term, "Cassie-Ho"? Her incidental "significant past" with both MacLeod and Methos? Maybe, the fact that "Ho" is a uniquely female epithet? And she's a unique female?
You betcha life. She is perceived as manipulative because of the Voice and the way she seems to have maneuvered MacLeod both into the Kantos situation and into the Horsemen situation (like Methos being in trouble wouldn't have gotten his attention, and like he didn't have unfinished business with Melvin Koren, but I digress). It might be thought that she has made use of her "feminine wiles" to accomplish her goals as well-that she plays at being the "damsel in distress" when she is more in control than she appears.
My take on all that is-so? As promised, I'm coming back to the notion of what is a "female advantage"-her very femininity. In her long life, she has had to make the most of any advantage she could claim for her very survival. Manipulating a man's very natural protective instinct is certainly her prerogative. As modern women, we might find this notion outside of our "comfort zone"-it is not a feminist thing to do. Feminism is a very recent concept. Survival is a very old concept. She's very old. Do the math. We may need to presume her "comfort zone" is a bit broader than ours and that, in her shoes, we'd want to be every bit as comfortable. If manipulating men to survive makes one a "ho"-I wouldn't mind being Vixen-Ho, so long as I was alive.
If she isn't a "ho", isn't a "nutjob", and isn't crazed by revenge, or at least, not in an unjustified way-why do we get the picture of her that we do? My guess, and this is just a guess, is that it has to do with the culture we find ourselves in. Okay, I know that's not just harsh-but "huge." What I'm saying, if you missed the implication, is that the bashing of a character came from something not "inside the show", but "outside the show." But like I said, I'm a ponderer. And a fanfic writer. And a witch. And a feminist. And perhaps this combination has made me a bit too sensitive to the phenomenon-but here goes-
She is an archetype. The witch. She represents the undifferentiated chaos of chthonic nature and the moral ambiguity of matriarchal culture. When I'm not being a Lit. major and talk normal like everybody else-that means-she gets typecast as a "wicked witch." And that means she needs to be overthrown by "Snow White"-the usual Mary Sue scenario. To get out the hip-waders and go further (yep-I said hip-waders, as I fear I'm probably up Crud Crick without a poodle), the motivation for the Mary Sue is more than likely a form of Electra complex-Methos being the usual person needing protection, and the Mary Sue almost invariably being very young.
(Uh, forget I said that last bit. My own OFC is a total couch-case where older men are concerned, but at least she has the sense to like Cassandra. Or be afraid of her. Genevieve is not very forthcoming on the subject, and I don't blame her. Being a fanfic character is hard enough on her as it is without my psychoanalyzing her.)
Ah-well-enough of my ranting. Long story short, I think Cassandra gets a tough break because of sexism-and worst of all, it's a case of sexism generally directed at a female character, by female fans. And I think it's mostly undeserved, but what am I gonna do?
Hopefully-try to encourage others to write the character as honestly as they can. It's all I can do.