The
Edge of Sanity
A
movie, play and even television shows have a beginning which will
usually show what the conflict is, then toward the middle, how the
conflict will be taken care of and at the end, the conflict gets
resolved and everything is fine. This beings me to the topic of the
movie, “The Edge of Sanity”. This film would be classified in
the genres of action, romance, with some horror elements stuck in at
times. The film will set out to prove that Scotland has heroes that
the country and it's people can count on to feel safe and that they
can count on. It also goes to prove that vampires can be heroes, not
just the blood sucking villains they're usually portrayed as..
Finally, it also shows that there can be strong female roles in films
without the main heroine being just a sex pot, a weakling or being
killed off toward the end of a film.
In
the beginning we meet the main protagonist his name is Daniel
Christianson, and is portrayed by Marilyn Manson. Christianson who
happens to be a very powerful, eight hundred year old, vampire and
the secret weapon of a top secret organization only known as The
Black Dragon. His job is to simply protect the Scottish people from
the plague that is spreading throughout the country. The Black
Dragon organization is lead by Vlad Michaels, played by John Goodman,
he swore to help Scotland in the fight against the invasion of
vampires and their ghouls of the Scottish mafia run by Iseabail
Bruis, personated by Shirley Manson. Daniel Christianson would be
considered a modern day James Bond. The only difference is that
Christianson, was forced to work for Michaels against his will.
Christianson, like Bond, is thought of as “..an imperial hero, who
provided a way for Britishness to continue to be defined in
opposition to the 'dark' people of the world.” (Baron 136). The
darkness in this case being the Scottish mafia and the vampires and
ghouls it controls. Through this, Scotland realizes it has at least
one person it can count on, although he isn't completely trusted
because of his vampire nature.
Part
of the conflict Christianson faces is the death of his fiancee. As
he storms into an apartment building after fending off the ghouls
that surround the area, he finds his fiancee, and the heroine
Charlotte McKain, acted by Kate Beckinsale, murdered by the hands of
a rogue vampire. This leads to him killing the rogue vampire in a
psychotic rage. After the threat has been taken care of, he takes
McKain in the bathroom and begins bathing her in his blood. After
approximately fifteen years, she awakens. She then goes in search
of Chistainson. This moment, falls under the old romantic comedy
guidelines. Boy meets girl, where McKain and Christianson meet, fall
in love, and get engaged. Boy loses girl, this is the point where
McKain dies and later on, boy gets girl back when they reunite with
each other. While this isn't a romantic comedy, the previous
situation could be taken in any romance plot line.
After
awakening, she leaves the building, she beings taking out any
perceived threat that stands in her way with her only possession, a
bow, she picked up on her way out. At
the moment that she fires
an arrow into the ghoul standing in her way. It
gives Scotland and it's
people that they have
yet another hero that they can count on in
making sure they are safe. This also gives the audience the
impression that McKain
isn't just another pretty face. Before
her death, many people
would perceive McKain,
and others like her as “small, weak underdogs who must
transform themselves in important ways to overcome long odds to
succeed.” (Allison and Goethals). That's because she got murdered
because she couldn't protect herself in that instance. However, that
isn't the case, before she died, she was a member of the police
force, taking down men twice her size. She also has a passion for
sword play and archery. Furthermore, because she “..receive(d)
assistance from enchanted and unlikely source(s).” (Allison and
Goethals) she became a vampire, therefore becoming more powerful and
stronger than she was before.
The
feminism arguments come into play here. Simone De Beauvoir quotes
Aristotle, and states that, “'The female is a female by virtue, of
a certain lack of qualities, we should regard the female nature as
afflicted with a natural defectiveness.” (De Beauvoir). This puts
all women in the same circle as weaklings no matter what the
circumstance is. Charlotte McKain proves this wrong, for she can
hold her own. She is not lacking in any qualities that would be a
hindrance to anyone. De Beauvoir also argues that women have a
master/slave relationship with men (De Beauvoir). In the case, when
Daniel and Charlotte meet up again, there will be a master/slave
relationship of sorts, but it is not because she is a woman and he a
man. On the contrary, it is because she is his fledgeling and she
will need to learn, not because she is less than he is.
On
occasion Daniel will talk down to her, making it seem as though she
is inferior to him, goading her on and verbally abusing her. Phrases
like, “What do you know, you're a woman?”, or when he gets angry
or enraged and doesn't want to be bothered, “Know your place little
girl!”. This doesn't phase her at all though, because, as Fraser
describes feminism in this case, “This must involve argument and
contestation about which new descriptions will count and which women
will be empowered.” (Barker 249). She knows she's a strong women
and she won't let some over grown child make her feel like she isn't.
McKain won't back down either, as she more often than not calls him
out on what he's saying. The witty retorts catching him off guard,
making him realize the reason he fell in love with her in the first
place.
This
point in the film, she follows his aura until she stops in front of
The Black Dragon headquarters and reunites with Daniel. As I pointed
out earlier this is the last part of the romantic equation, and they
are both happy to be in each others company again. McKain gets
introduced to Michaels, and after a quick briefing to the situation
at hand, McKain and Christianson start training. He is surprised at
how strong she is, and he knows he doesn't have to worry about her
safety. He realized that, while she was for the brief moment, she
will not be the damsel in distress anymore. The situation of the
damsel in distress is “a classic example of a passive character
defined by the actions of another, and this is precisely the fate
that waits in store for many supposedly-strong female characters:
despite all their muscle, their stubborn temperament, their bow, and
their bravery, they end up incapacitated or jailed by some guy, and
then just wait around until they're rescued by another.”
(Legomenon).
This is
what typically happens to a strong female character, so that when it
is shown that she's about to do something heroic, she gets knocked
down a peg and gets captured. However, in McKain's case, this will
never be a problem. For every mission they go on, she holds her own
like any man, and in some cases. She proves to be better than men,
and in this instance, unlike other strong female characters in the
media and pop culture, such as Vasquez from “Aliens”, and Sarah
Conner in “Terminator 2”, and the tough female character from
“Resident Evil” she won't be so easy to just kill off.
Coming
back from their training, Michaels gives them the news that a new
threat is imminent and that Iseabail Bruis is planning another
attack. This time however, it's different, they are informed that the
attack is on the Vatican. Daniel is sent to take care of the
vampires and ghouls that she has generically modified to spread an
infection turning everyone into ghouls in Rome. Michaels was going
to send Charlotte to Rome with
him, but Daniel comes to her defense, and tells him to let her go
take care of Bruis herself. Michaels agrees and
sends them their separate ways, after several days of dispatching the
threat in Scotland, and destroying Iseabail. Charlotte is sent to
help Daniel in Rome, when she arrives, the place is in shambles.
She
tracks down Christianson and gives him the update that Bruis has been
exterminated, he is pleased with this news and they begin fighting
together. Several hours pass, and the threat is generally wiped out
there too. She only to notice several minutes too late that he has
lost a lot of blood during the battle. In his weakened state, he
can't seem to go on much longer. She does the only thing she can
thing of to do to help him in the situation at hand. In one last
grand romantic gesture, without crying, without any emotion but
caring, she lets him drink from her, and that gives him enough
strength to carry on, at least for that moment. In the situation at
hand, this is the complete opposite of what usually happens in media
and pop culture with strong female roles. Usually it is the man
saving the woman because the writers of films always, no matter how
physically or mentally strong they are. They have to break down in
some way to be down graded into this weak shell that their gender
always has to fall into.
After
the battle has been won, and there is no other threat Daniel's wounds
don't heal like they used to. He explained to her that it took a
majority of his power to take care of most of the hoards before she
got there, he is weaker, from the loss of blood and his vamperic
powers, closer to death now and he starts slipping away before he is
gone. He disappears for several years after this incident happened,
finally reappearing after forty years, to see Charlotte heading The
Black Dragons now.
This is the first time in movies that the strong female character
doesn't die because of some motherly instinct that wasn't there
before, manifested itself up at some random moment, causing the
heroin's death. This is also the first time that the strong female
protagonist tries to save or saves the male protagonist from demise
or death making the man look weak for once.
This
also goes to show that vampires can be the heroes as well, not just
psychotic blood sucking monsters that do not possess the ability of
being on the side of good. Whether or not they are fighting their
own kind, or another threat, vampires are heroes that can protect
their country. Furthermore, females can be strong willed women, who
do not have to get captured all the time and always be the ones to
die and that even the most powerful vampires are capable of love.
Works
Cited
Allison,
Scott T. and Goethals, George R. “Heroes:
What They Do and Why We Need Them”. The Heroic
Leadership Dynamic - Part 1. 23
Oct. 2013.
Web. 25 Oct. 2013. http://blog.richmond.edu/heroes/
Barker,
Chris. Cultural Studies Theory and Practice. London:
Sage. 2012. Print.
Baron,
Cynthia. Dr No: Bonding Britishness to racial sovereignty. PDF
file.
De
Beauvoir, Simone. “Introduction” to The Second Sex.
1949. Print.
Legomenon,
Hapaxius. “Stars, Beetles, and Fools”. Writing
Strong Women, Part
II: Independence in Action. 21
Aug. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
http://starsbeetlesandfools.blogspot.com/2013/08/writing-strong-women-part-ii.html