In
the sixth episode of Otherworld, called “I am Woman, Hear
Me Roar,” and directed by Thomas Wright, the lost Sterling family finds itself
in scenic “Adore,” a fully-functioning matriarchy where men are second-class
citizens. The province was founded by a female
zone trooper named Livia, and is now maintained by strict gender “stratification laws.” Women are not allowed to set foot in grocery
stores or other shopping venues, as all such duties are now the exclusive
responsibility of male servants.
This
“conservative” town “resists compromise” on matters of sex,
we soon learn, and the Sterlings are deemed “progressives” for their gender equality beliefs. In relatively short order, Trace (Tony O’Dell)
is arrested by the Gender Patrol for parading about outside without his shirt
on. He is then taken to a weight room
and forcibly made to exercise by female officers. Then, finally, he is greased up (yes, greased up…) and put on the auction
block at the Gender Arcade. During the
auction, he shows off his muscular definition…
Female-dominated
societies have been the bread-and-butter of so many cult-tv programs across the
long decades, from Space: 1999 (“The Last Enemy,” “Devil’s Planet”) and The
Fantastic Journey (“Turnabout”) to Star Trek: The Next Generation (“Angel
On”) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (“Planet of the Amazon Women.”) Star Maidens (1975) is
actually an entire series dedicated to the premise.
My
problem with virtually all such episodes is the general lack of imagination
about what a female-dominated society might actually look like. Basically, in all these cult TV programs, the
women are just as brutal and sexist as men have been, in certain situations. In other words, the women in charge are
depicted as aping and mimicking stereotypical male qualities rather than
actually ruling as a female society might legitimately rule. I’m not saying that this sort of strong-arm,
bullying matriarchy isn’t possible, only that it somehow makes the premise seem
sillier and less realistic than it could be.
Just
once, I’d like to see a female-led society that isn’t based, seemingly, on some
silly male fantasy involving auction blocks, whips, cat-suits, and high-heeled
boots. Instead, I’d like to see a program
where the qualities of female leadership are identified and explored in a meaningful
way. But, of course, it never ceases to
be fun seeing gorgeous women in skin-tight outfits, dominating men, right? I suspect this adolescent fantasy is the
reason why Seven of Nine replaced the more three-dimensional Kes on Star
Trek: Voyager.
In
terms of Otherworld, the way that Hal (Sam Groom) acts in “I am Woman,
Hear Me Roar,” suggests that maybe he had this aggressive role-reversal
coming. When he meets a female leader,
he calls her a “charming lady” and
the condescension drips from his voice. Yikes.
In this throwaway moment, the episode reveals perhaps a bit more about
male-dominated society than intended. It’s an indication that the writers and
the actor can’t quite take the concept seriously.
There’s
a tremendous amount of amusing satirical material in “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar,”
from the “serious” school discussion in Adore of “the male problem,” to the magazine pages of Available Hunk magazine. But
still, there’s something less-than-satisfying and less real about this episode
and perhaps that makes it the weakest program of the series so far, a title
which I had previously reserved for last week’s “Village of the Motorpigs.”
In
short, this episode plays things tongue-in-cheek just a bit too much, as though
no one can quite take seriously the concept of a society where women pass and enforce
the laws. It’s just a wee bit off, even
if some of the jokes really stick their landings.
Between
the condescending actions of Hal and Kroll in “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar,”
perhaps it’s necessary indeed that “collective sisterhood” strike back hard in
this episode of Otherworld.
John, I like that you have included all the science-fiction series that came before regarding this OTHERWORLDS episode's subject matter in this blog post and previous ones[e.g. Planet Earth(1974)]. OTHERWORLDS is a series that had so much potential that was lost upon cancellation, but indirectly replicated a decade later in the SLIDERS series which had a few episodes examining this subject matter.
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