Magical girls: like Al Qaeda, in a way.
Sep. 5th, 2011 02:32 pmThere are moments when I think that Gen Urobuchi is every bit as surprised and aghast at fandom's reaction to Madoka Magica (specifically, in reading it as some sort of empowering feminist thing) as I am.
Just in case it Urobuchi saying "but it's supposed to be tragic, not empowering!" over and over again in interviews isn't enough, though, there's this lovely little wordbomb that he dropped in an interview with the Asahi Shinbun on August 30th:
MAGICAL GIRLS: LIKE AL-QAEDA, IN A WAY.
I'm going to quote a friend on dreamwidth about this interview, because even though her post is flocked and I feel terrible for breaking the flock here, I just can't articulate my reaction to the Asahi Shinbun interview any better than she already did, so here goes:
As usual, yes, you can project a feminist reading onto an anti-feminist text. There's nothing wrong with that. But Madoka fandom's curious insistence that the series was intended as a feminist statement by the creators despite the creators themselves continuing to insist otherwise is, frankly, FUCKING AMAZING to me. It continues to be amazing to be especially in light of this latest interview.
When I watched Madoka that is basically exactly what I took away from it. I didn't see an empowering feminist story. I saw a lot of otaku-pleasing moe bullshit wrapped around a grimdark-for-the-sake-of-grimdark storyline that ultimately climaxed in an ending that very clearly had been broadcast from the very beginning of the series. And I saw all of that before I actually started looking into what Urobuchi et al had said about their intent behind the creation of the series. I'm not saying any of this to be smug or claim that I have some ~deeper understanding~ of the series than anybody else. It's just that I thought that the message of the series was pretty clear from the beginning - Madoka may be a lot of things, but subtle it is not - and I'm still sitting here nearly half a year later enormously confused as to how such a huge (and hugely defensive!) fandom sprang up around this show and the entwined concepts that it was a) a deconstruction of the magical girl genre or b) intended to be feminist in any way shape or form whatsoever.
Just in case it Urobuchi saying "but it's supposed to be tragic, not empowering!" over and over again in interviews isn't enough, though, there's this lovely little wordbomb that he dropped in an interview with the Asahi Shinbun on August 30th:
Asahi: Madoka Magica is an original story. Where did the idea come from?
Urobuchi: I received a request to write a bloody story where magical girls appear, and then drop out one by one.
Asahi: Magical girls, who are full of hope and who strive to save the people, soon suffer from hatred and jealousy, which turn them into the enemy witches. The change from good to evil left an emotional impact.
Urobuchi: For example, Al-Qaeda brought down the Twin Towers due to their self-righteousness. Justice for some people is an evil for others. Good intentions, kindness, and hope will not necessarily make people happy.
MAGICAL GIRLS: LIKE AL-QAEDA, IN A WAY.
I'm going to quote a friend on dreamwidth about this interview, because even though her post is flocked and I feel terrible for breaking the flock here, I just can't articulate my reaction to the Asahi Shinbun interview any better than she already did, so here goes:
Madoka is not a feminist work. It is a work designed to punish its female protagonists for caring and to blame them for their beliefs; everything in it was written with murder in its eyes. This is what it was written to do by its author. Claiming it as empowering to girls and/or women is in direct contradiction to the creator's aims. THIS IS NOT NEGOTIABLE, THIS IS A FACT.
As usual, yes, you can project a feminist reading onto an anti-feminist text. There's nothing wrong with that. But Madoka fandom's curious insistence that the series was intended as a feminist statement by the creators despite the creators themselves continuing to insist otherwise is, frankly, FUCKING AMAZING to me. It continues to be amazing to be especially in light of this latest interview.
When I watched Madoka that is basically exactly what I took away from it. I didn't see an empowering feminist story. I saw a lot of otaku-pleasing moe bullshit wrapped around a grimdark-for-the-sake-of-grimdark storyline that ultimately climaxed in an ending that very clearly had been broadcast from the very beginning of the series. And I saw all of that before I actually started looking into what Urobuchi et al had said about their intent behind the creation of the series. I'm not saying any of this to be smug or claim that I have some ~deeper understanding~ of the series than anybody else. It's just that I thought that the message of the series was pretty clear from the beginning - Madoka may be a lot of things, but subtle it is not - and I'm still sitting here nearly half a year later enormously confused as to how such a huge (and hugely defensive!) fandom sprang up around this show and the entwined concepts that it was a) a deconstruction of the magical girl genre or b) intended to be feminist in any way shape or form whatsoever.
