![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
fengi posted on his journal last week about Penny's lack of any real oomph. Whedon is known for being a feminist and writing incredibly nuanced and strong female characters. Which is why Penny seems to have struck a real chord out there on the interweb. Unlike Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer, Penny is being discussed in more depth than either one of them.
I've put a great deal of thought into this. Been reading reactions and articles online. I wasn't concerned about Penny's lack of strength initially, I thought for sure that Joss had some secret mission in store for her. After seeing the third act I was angry. I didn't want her to die. I thought she was sweet and kind and the only character who had no ulterior motives. She didn't use either Dr. Horrible or Capt Hammer. She just wanted a new homeless shelter so that she could help people.
And then it was easy to get angry at Joss. Seriously Joss? You just created this woman who was a throw-away. She existed simply to advance the plot line between the two men in her life. She is merely a prize to be won. A pawn for her men to fight over. But this is true. This happens. There are women who fall for the seeming Hero and become simply pawns in their masculine games. (this does not always happen of course but it does happen.)
But is she simply a pawn? See the more I thought about it, and even hooked my computer up to my television to watch it a few more times, I realized just because you don't get to see it fleshed out more fully in the three Acts, Penny is strong.
In Act 3 she turns away from Captain Hammer of her own volition. She doesn't need any man to see that this man, this Hero, is nothing of the sort. If you also notice while Dr. Horrible is seemingly having the difficulty of actually killing his nemesis, it appears that she is going to go and talk Dr. Horrible down. It's only when the Freeze Ray malfunctions and Captain Hammer gets the Death Ray and goes all Manly Man on Dr. Horrible that Penny is killed.
But here's the thing...Not all women are outwardly strong. But just because it isn't painted a neon blinking sign doesn't mean it isn't there. Like I said earlier, she is the only one who affects any real social change. Yes Captain Hammer is the signature they needed to get the go-ahead but isn't that even like life even so? It isn't until a handsome white man champions a cause that it gets any real support?
And in the end? Because of Penny's death, pointless though it seemed initially, both of the men in her life are undeniably altered. They are changed by Penny and, for good or ill, they are different people than they started off as.
Although her ending lines still bug me a bit, I consider it this way. Captain Hammer is supposed to be the hero in the story. He is the one who's supposed to save the day. But he doesn't. He proves himself to be a selfish coward in the end. And can you honestly blame her for wanting the hero to be the hero?
So yes. Penny is used as a real prize in a pissing contest but just because that is so doesn't mean that she didn't have strength, it means that the men who purported to love her were directly responsible for her death. It means that, much of the time, it is the sweet, kind, innocent girls who get hurt the worst.
and that's my two sense.
Tags: dr. horrible
Past
electric blue lawn chair
yiptastic
stoked!