Women and the Fans...

[gen-is-gone.livejournal.com]

So, it isn't Monday, but who's up for a little discussion anyway? Namely, about some of the women on our show. Now, I've been following recent ep discussion posts and I'm noticing a few strange similarities between fan reaction to Hotch's new jogging partner,(and now girlfriend) Beth and former co-star Ashley Seaver, played by Rachel Nichols. Now, before you get into the long rants about her physical similarities to JJ or her supposedly bland acting, hear me out: the abject hatred some fans felt toward her was disconcerting to say the least, and so I am upset (though not really surprised) to hear that new character Beth is getting the same treatment.

I'm honestly indifferent towards Beth because there isn't much to her character yet, but character development happens over time. Frankly, I'm tired of the witch hunts Criminal Minds' fanbase goes on every time a new (or not so new) female character gets introduced. I remember the discussion posts leading up to 100 and at least 50% of all of the Haley related comments saying that they hoped she'd die. And then she did, and the few who actually lacked the shame to cheer for a violent murder were subsequently shouted down. Now that it's been two years, people seem to like her more. And let us not forget Ashley and Jordan Todd, neither of whom got the chance to develop as characters because the (mostly female) fans pitched a dozen fits. And to rewind even farther, remember all the Elle fans (where have they gone I wonder...) complaining after her first introduction in 'The Last Word' that Emily was an Ice Bitch and a robot? You certainly won't see them around anymore. I wish that for once criminalxminds would shut up about female characters long enough to get to know them. Much though I adore Reid and all of the male cast, I'm noticing that the double standard we've all been accusing CBS of in regards to their not valuing women is surprisingly (and hypocritically) apparent within our own fanbase. Now, I know Will and Kevin still have quite the hatedom of their own, but they're mostly getting flack from over-the-top shippers, while Haley, Elle, Emily, Jordan, Ashley and Beth were at varying points treated with an appalling amount of suspicion and out right hatred. So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Want to rip my throat out? I'm not trying to come off as rude, I would love to better understand why so many people find fault with such seemingly innocuous women.

Comments

[nwjarvis.livejournal.com]

Well, while I definitely agree that new-character-hate seems to be a tradition, it's hardly confined to this fandom. I'm not sure how much of a double standard it is, though, mostly because we haven't really had many new male characters introduced - and Rossi certainly had plenty of his own anti-fans when he came on, and I remember a lot of posters who absolutely couldn't stand Will - he was just so obviously wrong for JJ. So I think it's hard to draw specific conclusions about whether the hating is directed toward female characters or toward all new characters.

That having been said, I'd like to comment on a few specifics:

I never saw Haley as the bad guy. I know, I know, she was giving "Our Hotch" grief, but who wouldn't be? Hotch was morphing from a loving husband and father who happened to work for the FBI into a obsessed driven FBI Agent who happened to have a wife and child. She was losing him to The Job, and she hated it, as who wouldn't have? It was like seeing him become an alcoholic; there was always going to be another case, and another one, and another one. Hotch had become Sir Bors, who chose to rescue the abducted maiden rather than his own brother. Even when offered the chance to run a White-Collar crime task force, he can't do it - he has to keep chasing the "monsters". We don't like to admit it to ourselves, but Hotch wasn't a very good husband.

I never quite "got" those who thought JJ was window dressing. My time in the world of Emergency Services may have made it easier to appreciate her, but I always saw her role as the "pivot point" of the team's function. Not only did she primarily choose the cases they took, once they were in the field she was generally at the center of everything, interfacing with the victims and/or their families, local law enforcement, and working the media (which is an art in itself) as well as steering the team where they needed to go. She was Hotch's right arm, taking care of the details so he could concentrate on catching the bad guys. I think the scripts suffer from not having her - or someone - in that role.

Seaver - well, I really had nothing against the actress but I thought her whole presence was strange. We've been told over and over about how "elite" the BAU team is - and they are - so it was just ridiculous to put a brand new academy graduate into the mix. Her so-called "special insight" into serial killers was in no way a substitute for experience. And in RL, don't even THINK about applying to the BAU if you don't have a post-grad degree or two. I understand that there's such a thing as "suspension of disbelief", but this was just too far out there to be even a little believable. And while TPTB may deny it, it's just hard to swallow that she wasn't deliberately made to look superficially like JJ - they even changed the red hair she had previously to blonde and put it in a style almost identical to JJs. As I said, I have nothing against the actress but Seaver's presence was so jarring it was very hard for me to accept her as a character.

I know Jordan was temporary, but I thought she did just fine. She painted a good picture of what it's like to gamely try to do a job you're not suited for. She butted heads with Morgan, sure, but she should have. In my book, Morgan stuck his nose in where it didn't belong - Jordan misspoke, but Morgan (trying to play the Big Damn Hero) compounded matters by making her look like an idiot in front of the detective; he needed to be slapped down, and I think it's to her credit that she wasn't afraid to do it.

(Continued...)

[scotchsour.livejournal.com]

JJ was good at the original job and she made sense in my head as media liaison so that's why I can't understand her being a profiler and Garcia has now the job (sorry but makes no sense in my head). I have a feeling this is more a writer change (bad) than realistic development which she's goes back to that job (good).