Qualities of Mercy

[thedeadlyhook]

Went out for a bike ride today! Not a long one, admitted - muscles still wobbly from years sitting behind a desk - but nevertheless, I was out doing it... pedaling my way around the hell hills of San Francisco on a no-gears, no-frills, foot-brake-equipped "Simple" brand bicycle that bears a comfortingly suspicious resemblance to the Schwinn I used to ride as a kid, except that it's bigger and black, and doesn't have those streamers on the handlebars. (Or the flowered basket.) I do, however, have a brand-new sparkly pink helmet which I will appropriately festoon with girly Sailor Moon stickers as soon as I get the chance. Girl Powah! (pumps fist in air)

On that note...

I'd done a bit more thinking on something nazlan had mentioned, about a faction of current BtVS/Angel fandom that's been expressing the opinion that Dana the Vampire Mutilator was an example of female empowerment because she was "reclaiming her victimhood." Um.

Let me offer this as food for thought - a description of Saint Amalburga, a "beautiful and virtuous" Eighth Century (or possibly Seventh Century - reports conflict) German maiden lusted after by the Emperor Charlemagne. From The Saint-a-Day Guide by Sean Kelly and Rosemary Rogers:

Amalburga spurned his advances, cut off her magnificent locks, and left town. The lust-crazed tyrant pursued her, found her in a church, and brutally laid hands on her, causing the bruises against which she is yet invoked. Once more she escaped, crossing the river Schelde on the back of a large and accomodating sturgeon. She died a virgin. Among her domestic skills, it is recorded, was her ability to carry water in a sieve.

This entry neglects to mention that she also may have been a nun - a factoid turned up in a quick websearch (by the way, you can find your patron saint online either by name or by topic, a fun little exercise), but that's hardly key to the point I'd like to make here. Note that nowhere in this entry is it listed that Amalburga performed good deeds, or eased the suffering of the poor, or did anything Mother Theresa-like that we today might consider "saintly." She defended her virtue. There are a couple of miracles to confirm that this is a big deal. That's it.

Why I think this relates: Saints are, and always have been, folk heroes, the Robin Hoods and whatnots of their day. Saints are mentioned nowhere in scripture - they're a later, folklorish invention that reflects how the common folk perceived the messages of the Church, a lot like Touched by an Angel expresses how many average people feel about spirituality today. There's theory, and then there's practice. Church doctrine is theory. Saints were practice.

So the biggest lesson we can learn from Saints is that they reflected the attitudes of their time - not necessarily the time which they were said to have lived (especially given that what we know about many Saints is about as historically confirmable as the legend of King Arthur) - but the time during which they were popular and well-known, just like Seinfeld at the height of its popularity could have been said to reflect the attitudes of today. From Amalburga's story, we can postulate that during her period of popularity, a woman who got through life with her virtue intact was considered worthy of note. A hero.

So then, what to make of the attitudes of our time, where some would consider Dana to be a sort of "hero." How would her story read?

Dana suffered imprisonment and brutality by the hands of men, but was given great strength to escape her captors. She struck down all those who stood in her way, and caused men to fear her terrible vengeance.

Got it. Strong = Good? Vengeance = Good+?

TV these days is the source of modern folktales. BtVS and Angel are tales around the campfire we're telling each other. Through these stories, we see our own cultural ideas about morality reflected back at us. And in that light, I find the lesson of Dana to be a disturbing one. From every angle.

Comments

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I dig the lateral thinking! I suppose it's an improvement of sorts to canonize a young woman for fighting back against oppression rather than being nobly martyred, but it would be a more salutary moral lesson if she fought back against people who actually deserved it. Nonetheless, you're right that if people are moved to cheer for this character (shudder) then there must be some kind of significance to it, for good or ill.

And congrats on the bike-riding sortie!