OK, I’m gonna chat a bit about Buffy, Insatiable, and comic books. Yes, I know, bear with me.
The really tired plot of #Insatiable reminded me more of the revenge fantasy of Carrie than the redemption fantasies (w. the “revenge” more subtle) of male-centered superhero stories, where the marginalized outsider gains great powers (Captain America, Spider-Man, etc)
Note the classic Superman dynamic: Clark Kent is an unassuming geek, and Lois must learn to love him to “deserve” Superman. I can’t immediately think of versions of this dynamic with the genders reversed.
Buffy, for instance, is marginalized by powers and the responsibilities that complicate her life. But prior to becoming the Slayer, she is living a swell existence. She’s not Peter Parker or frail Steve Rogers.
It’s important to note that Whedon not-so-subtly depicts Buffy as shallow before her powers marginalize her and “force” her to hang out with the school librarian and dorks (one of whom is Whedon’s admitted author substitute)
Weirdly, Buffy’s own powers become Xander’s “spider bite,” it’s what changes his life in a positive way so that he’s fighting bad guys alongside the idealized woman of his dreams.
But at this point in time, it seems so weird that Insatiable would be tell a story that at least on the surface recalls the regressive revenge fantasies of the past.
Women are so overtly into superheroes and the fantasy genre. A fat girl as the lead in a Harry Potter type series or a fat girl as the Doctor’s new companion, etc... all ways in which a marginalized person can escape an oppressive life.
But what is key about redemption stories like this, as opposed to tragic revenge fantasies, is that the hero learns to love herself. She was special all along.
Hey, she now has magic powers or super strength or can travel through time, but it’s who she’s always been that allows her to meet these new challenges.
We tell this basic story repeatedly about young men. We rarely do about young women, especially fat women. It’s a shame.
