>On Tue, 18 Apr 1995, Doctor Enigma wrote:
>Emru Townsend wrote:
>> Actually, one of the first comments I made after seeing SWAT Kats was that
>> it's a very male show. Lots of hard hitting action, loudness, and machismo.
>> Anyone agree?
>Whether I agree will depend on whether the definition of "male" is
>"containing lots of hard-hitting action, loudness, and machismo." Last
>time I checked, women were permitted into the military and perform the
>same great service to our country in active combat as perform men.
News to me. I thought Congress had rejected attemps to allow women
into active combat. Regardless, I have to agree with Emru, though I
would call SWAT KATS a "boy" show instead of a "male" show. I dislike
shows produced and marketed for gender-specific audiences (get ready
for SAILOR MOON--the people behind this show have said they are going to
market it as a "girl" show, because "boy" shows like VR TROOPERS failed
to take off last season) and, unfortunately, SWAT KATS pretty much is
geared toward a 6- to 10-year-old male audience. This doesn't mean girls
don't watch it (a friend of mine once told me that her favorite show when
she was a kid as JOHNNY QUEST), but they're not the show's primary viewers.
>Ah, I know. I must be misinterpreting the post. In the SWAT Kats world,
>he means that only males are permitted to be public defenders. Oh, no,
>wait, that's not right--Felina Feral's there. Hm. I guess I'm just an
>idiot; I can't figure out what he really meant.
The Felina Feral character was pretty obviously added as an afterthought for
the second season. And even though I like the character, she pretty much
falls into one of the two stereotype female characters in "action" shows:
The Helpless Damsel or the Tough Gal. Felina is the latter, while Callie
is the former (though she acts like a Tough Gal, she's usually has to be
rescued by T-Bone and Razor). This is not a major complaint about SWAT
KATS. I don't expect a lot of deep characterization in a show like this--
just lots of nifty hardware and keen explosions. :) However, it would have
been even nicer if the writers had tried to get out of the standard boy-show
box they were into.
-Tim
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Received on Tue Apr 18 1995 - 11:04:11 PDT