The T&A Character
Apr. 28th, 2007 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusWhile I'm waiting for the next Supernatural episode I thought I'd ramble on about Teyla in Atlantis.
I keep hearing people talk about how unrealistic and flat Teyla's characterization is. At the same time I hear chatter about the actress being pregnant and how that's going to be written into the show. There is speculation about who they're going to have as the father -- will it be Ronon? John? A mysterious Athosian?
What I have to say about Teyla and her role in SGA is going to piss off many women, feminists and non-feminists alike, but this particular female role has been pissing off women for decades -- so why should we be any different?
I predict that Teyla will be impregnated through some sort of miraculous means, Ancient technology, Wraith beam, nano virus, you name it, because Teyla is the T&A* character. She exists solely as a blank female body for hormonal teenage boys to project their fantasies onto, like the women in Charlie's Angels back in the 80s. Nothing can disrupt the green screen. Hell, Charlie's Angels even gave the boys three women to choose from, in blond and two shades of brunette.
The T&A character is not allowed any flaws (except maybe a few cute ones) for this would force complexity into fantasy, spoiling it. Instead of imagining her naked and available, the fantasy would then have to come up with a scenario to deal with her personality. Fortunately, the garden variety T&A character doesn't have a personality, or at least no more than what you'd expect from an expensive call girl: charming perfection, where nothing can ripple that calm exterior, fitting the stereotype (whichever one she's supposed to be) perfectly.
The T&A character cannot have any romantic attachments, as this too destroys the fantasy: instead of imagining her naked and all for you, [insert name of teenage boy here], the fantasy would have to account for Ronon beating the shit out of you later, or John Sheppard having you fragged.
Thus, none of the male leads can be the father of Teyla's baby because that implies a serious committment (marriage or not), spoiling Teyla's T&A potential for good.
But, you say, Teyla has flirted with John and Ronon. And she's been attracted to an "anonymous off-screen Marine" and even been teased about it.
Of course. The girls in Charlie's Angels were always coming home from dates, too. The T&A character can't be too untouchable. There needs to be a whiff of sexuality, of availability. An off-screen romance is okay, because it could be you, [insert name of teenage boy] that she's dating. See how that works with the fantasy?
There isn't a chance that Teyla got knocked up by mistake -- whoopsie, Athosians don't use birth control. The T&A character has to be -- prepare for total disgust, ladies -- worthy and virtuous.
Yes, the T&A character has to walk the line between the virgin and the whore. Anything complicated and human, such as a mistake, spoils the fantasy. It turns her into a human being, forcing the fantasy to become more involved -- instead of Teyla naked and willing, you have to, um, be comforting her in her time of need. Um. Due to a problem she brought on herself which... oh, suddenly it's not just about sex anymore. You have ethics involved, you have to decide how you feel about this, and now you're picturing an entire relationship. Which isn't the point of the T&A character.
So Teyla will have to be completely blameless in this pregnancy, to the point of it practically being an immaculate conception. Therefore: accident with alien technology, anyone?
Finally, to maintain Teyla's prime T&A potential, the resulting baby has to be removed from the picture. Ascend. Taken by druids. In order to keep the fantasy easy to imagine, you can't have a kid hanging around because that means responsibility, and--and stuff, spoiling everything.
Mark my words. Teyla's characterization is lame for a reason, and I very much doubt the writers will change it.
*T&A: Tits and Ass.
I keep hearing people talk about how unrealistic and flat Teyla's characterization is. At the same time I hear chatter about the actress being pregnant and how that's going to be written into the show. There is speculation about who they're going to have as the father -- will it be Ronon? John? A mysterious Athosian?
What I have to say about Teyla and her role in SGA is going to piss off many women, feminists and non-feminists alike, but this particular female role has been pissing off women for decades -- so why should we be any different?
I predict that Teyla will be impregnated through some sort of miraculous means, Ancient technology, Wraith beam, nano virus, you name it, because Teyla is the T&A* character. She exists solely as a blank female body for hormonal teenage boys to project their fantasies onto, like the women in Charlie's Angels back in the 80s. Nothing can disrupt the green screen. Hell, Charlie's Angels even gave the boys three women to choose from, in blond and two shades of brunette.
The T&A character is not allowed any flaws (except maybe a few cute ones) for this would force complexity into fantasy, spoiling it. Instead of imagining her naked and available, the fantasy would then have to come up with a scenario to deal with her personality. Fortunately, the garden variety T&A character doesn't have a personality, or at least no more than what you'd expect from an expensive call girl: charming perfection, where nothing can ripple that calm exterior, fitting the stereotype (whichever one she's supposed to be) perfectly.
The T&A character cannot have any romantic attachments, as this too destroys the fantasy: instead of imagining her naked and all for you, [insert name of teenage boy here], the fantasy would have to account for Ronon beating the shit out of you later, or John Sheppard having you fragged.
Thus, none of the male leads can be the father of Teyla's baby because that implies a serious committment (marriage or not), spoiling Teyla's T&A potential for good.
But, you say, Teyla has flirted with John and Ronon. And she's been attracted to an "anonymous off-screen Marine" and even been teased about it.
Of course. The girls in Charlie's Angels were always coming home from dates, too. The T&A character can't be too untouchable. There needs to be a whiff of sexuality, of availability. An off-screen romance is okay, because it could be you, [insert name of teenage boy] that she's dating. See how that works with the fantasy?
There isn't a chance that Teyla got knocked up by mistake -- whoopsie, Athosians don't use birth control. The T&A character has to be -- prepare for total disgust, ladies -- worthy and virtuous.
Yes, the T&A character has to walk the line between the virgin and the whore. Anything complicated and human, such as a mistake, spoils the fantasy. It turns her into a human being, forcing the fantasy to become more involved -- instead of Teyla naked and willing, you have to, um, be comforting her in her time of need. Um. Due to a problem she brought on herself which... oh, suddenly it's not just about sex anymore. You have ethics involved, you have to decide how you feel about this, and now you're picturing an entire relationship. Which isn't the point of the T&A character.
So Teyla will have to be completely blameless in this pregnancy, to the point of it practically being an immaculate conception. Therefore: accident with alien technology, anyone?
Finally, to maintain Teyla's prime T&A potential, the resulting baby has to be removed from the picture. Ascend. Taken by druids. In order to keep the fantasy easy to imagine, you can't have a kid hanging around because that means responsibility, and--and stuff, spoiling everything.
Mark my words. Teyla's characterization is lame for a reason, and I very much doubt the writers will change it.
*T&A: Tits and Ass.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-29 03:15 am (UTC)I think it's going to happen pretty much exactly like that, but I actually do have one thing to add that's perhaps a little less annoying- and that's the fact that they never have "real" relationships on Stargate. None of the characters ever really get involved, unless it's with someone who's mostly offscreen. They draw out the UST because that's what tv writers *do*, and they don't do it with any kind of skill, but that's the way it is. If they didn't do it that way, Sam would have broken down and married Jack (and probably gotten a divorce ten minutes later) and Daniel would have slept with Vala for real (and killed her ten minutes later) and Teyla would be having sex with... whoever it is... already. Stargate doesn't do relationships. It doesn't have the setup for that particular brand of drama. It's mostly about the pseudo-science and the adventure and shooting things and blowing things up and OMG EVIL ALIENS, not about how those things affect the characters. That's the difference between Stargate and, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Which doesn't make the show bad- necessarily- just different.
But yeah. That aside, I have to agree with you about Teyla. No way they're going to even hint that she actually has sex with someone. Because that would be Wrong.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-29 04:29 am (UTC)Amazingly, this top rated show was cancelled only a couple years (two? three?) after they did it.
I'm not against the T&A character. She serves a certain purpose, just like Jack has to remain unmarried or the girls will be disappointed, and your typical comedy trope requires incredible plot devices (like Aliens Made Them Do It) to make that happy ending.
Stargate Atlantis is a sci-fi/fantasy show, following the comedy archetype more closely than the action/adventure/romance archetype. We can count on the incredible resolution with the happy ending more than we can count on a hero at the end with the smoking barrel.
So long as they do the fun of Atlantis well, I'm not going to expect more than they can deliver. As long as the show's still fun. My complaint is that Sam's been a joyless scene-killer since season eight.
I have my back-up fandoms locked in, just in case Sam's as bad as I fear.
Icarus