Blog 9: Prospectus

Dr. Horrible’s Sing a Long Blog makes an untraditional statement about how gender influences the iconic roles of the villain and the hero. By redefining these roles beyond the black and white concepts of good and bad, Joss Whedon claims that the social pressures associated with masculinity inherently predisposition males to villainy. He makes this argument in two ways: by presenting the audience with two examples of the dangers of masculinity and showing how inherently feminine characteristics more adequately fulfill heroism.

Specifically, Whedon’s depiction of Captain Hammer, the show’s proclaimed superhero, demonstrates that society’s traditional view of masculinity is incompatible with what it means to be a true hero. Captain Hammer is muscular, attractive, and dominant. To Whedon, this makes him brutish and arrogant; his saves the girl from danger then treats her poorly and is overwhelmingly self-absorbed. In the end, these masculine characteristics make him the true villain; he ends up killing the innocent girl as the result of his dim-wittedness and desire for violence.

Unlike Captain Hammer, Billy (Dr, Horrible’s quite normal and un-horrific other side) is slight and largely unsuccessful. Socially, he’s an adolescent who doesn’t know how to deal with adult issues that include peer pressure, romantic relationships, and establishing a successful career. He goes from being a nice guy in the wrong career to a truly twisted individual. This shows how the pressure to conform to traditional criteria of masculinity can drive well-intentioned individuals to evil decisions.

 In contrast, the female lead of the show is undoubtedly feminine; Penny is charitable, small, and delicate. She is subordinate to the leadership of Captain Hammer in their relationship, but only to the point of becoming aware of his faults. She decides to help those that can’t help themselves, and remains uncorrupted until she dies at the end. Surely, Penny is the hero of the story- a role that the men of the story weren’t able to fulfill.

The worth to what the show is arguing is not one of complete role-reversal, but the challenge of how society associates gender with such bold statements of good and evil. Superman is just that; a man. He is a hero because he uses his strength and courage to be successful. Whedon is pointing out that true heroes work towards the success of others and use their strength and courage to withstand tribulation, not to impart it. He says that our stereotypes of masculinity can push one to villainy, and that the writers of popular comics may just have had it wrong. I’ve observed that he’s right. Men often make decisions in the real-world for the for the sake of their own manliness that result in aggression and crime.

Is Whedon right? Are men predisposed to crime and aggression? What about the genders makes it easier to associate females with altruism?