Whoosh! Issue 56 - May 2001

MYTHING IN ACTION:
RE- ENVISIONING MALE MYTH/ HISTORY IN THE XENAVERSE


Page 2

Notes

Note 01
Tillotson, K. "Xena: Ode to a Grecian Warrior Princess with guts, wits, awesome moves, and a cult following." STAR TRIBUNE, Lexus 12 Jan. 1997.
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Note 02
These topics are discussed at length in scholarly literature; however, there is little in terms of discussing this series. Fans and TV critics conduct most discussions and most of this discussion is on the Internet. WHOOSH, the online journal of "Xena Studies" publishes papers (some of which are heavily footnoted and many of which seem like papers for college courses) that range from fluff to very scholarly analyses. WHOOSH is also a good source for statistical information concerning Nielsen ratings, worldwide syndication ratings, and transcripts of each episode—with extensive commentary and production credits.
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Note 03
Jeff Lundrigan, "Xena, Lyre Lyre Hearts of Fire Review: Kick Out the Jams, Brothers and Sisters" IGN SCI FI. Online magazine (January 2000): 2
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Note 04
Correspondence from Steven Sears, May 10, 2000.
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Note 05
Susan Isaacs, BRAVE DAMES AND WIMPETTES: WHAT WOMEN ARE REALLY DOING ON PAGE AND SCREEN (New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1999), 131.
Isaacs gives Xena brave dame status, but found it necessary to disassociate herself from anything resembling fan appreciation when she made mention that "the show is so campy, amateurish and ineptly written that it is barely watchable".
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Note 06
Thomas Schatz outlines the four stages of a genre: 1) Experimental, 2) Classic, 3) Refinement, and 4) Baroque, in which the genre becomes mannerist and self-reflexive, and embellishments, becomes the substance of the work. Since most of the genres that the series pulls from are in their Baroque stage, it seems that because of this and by virtue of their conglomeration, XENA is almost impossible to place in one specific genre. In light of this, I use the term "transcend" to illustrate how it hovers above these genres, while still borrowing from them time to time.
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Note 07
Henry Nash Smith, VIRGIN LAND: THE AMERICAN WEST AS SYMBOL AND MYTH (London: Harvard University Press, 1950): 113-115.
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Note 08
Maxine Hong Kingston, THE WOMAN WARRIOR: MEMOIRS OF A GIRLHOOD AMONG GHOSTS (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976): 44-45.
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Note 09
Perhaps they fight in memory of their husbands?
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Note 10
Kingston, 45.
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Note 11
There have not been many women warriors on television, however, in recent years BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (TV, 1997-present) and RAVEN HAWK (TV, 1996) have added to a relatively short list that included Xena and Wonder Woman. The development of Xena's character beyond the necessities of each episode (i.e. beyond two dimensions) has pushed the envelope of the warrior woman tradition. Wonder Woman seems to be the only other warrior that has not been running from the undead/immortal for an entire series, but her character is not as fleshed out as Xena's.
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Note 12
Joanne Morreale, "Xena: Warrior Princess as Feminist Camp" JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE 32 (Fall 1998): 79-86.
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Note 13
Ibid., 80.
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Note 14
Steven Sears and Rob Tapert, THE DELIVERER. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 50: October 1997).
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Note 15
Bernard Grun, THE TIMETABLES OF HISTORY, (New York: Simon and Schuster Press, 1991).
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Note 16
Mary K. DeShazer, "Rejecting Necrophilia: Ntosake Shange and the Warrior Re-Visioned" in MAKING A SPECTACLE: FEMINIST ESSAYS ON CONTEMPORARY WOMEN'S THEATRE, ed. Lynda Hart (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1989): 86-90.
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Note 17
Such as Joxer's pink negligée in Adam Armus and Nora Kaye Foster, FINS, FEMMES AND GEMS. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 64: April 1998)
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Note 18
Marleen Barr, ALIEN TO FEMININITY: SPECULATIVE FICTION AND FEMINIST THEORY (New York: Greenwood Press, 1987): 83-100.
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Note 19
Ibid., 83-100.
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Note 20
Jimmie Reeves, Mark C Rogers, and Michael Epstein, "Rewriting Popularity: The Cult Files" DENY ALL KNOWLEDGE: READING THE X-FILES (New York: Syracuse University Press): 33.
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Note 21
Jenny Wolmark, ALIENS AND OTHERS: SCIENCE FICTION, FEMINISM AND POSTMODERNISM (Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1994): 55.
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Note 22
Karen Pusateri, "XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS: An Analytical Review" WHOOSH ONLINE EDITION (Sept 1996) 1-4.
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Note 23
The only episode to take a story and shift focus to the female character is BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS (12/112). This episode tells the story of the Trojan War by concentrating on Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships. MS. MAGAZINE lauded the episode for its feminist dialogue. Xena asks Helen what she wants to do, and Helen responds with "No one's ever asked me that before". However, this is only one episode, and therefore I did not feel there was enough evidence to consider this a third major approach to subverting male myth/history.
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Note 24
Xena has been crucified and left to die twice at Caesar's request. The second time she did indeed die. However, in the Xenaverse, there is always a god or higher power to get mortals out of those annoying trappings of death. Viewers, however, endure their own excruciating torture by writers, who find these ends of season cliffhangers so very amusing.
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Note 25
Grun, TIMETABLES OF HISTORY, 1991.
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Note 26
It could be argued that since the history of the Eastern world is less familiar to those in the West, it is more easily amended or transformed by a series such as XENA that attempts to subvert male myth and history. XENA's audience is primarily Western, though the series boasts syndication in over 88 countries worldwide.
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Note 27
This episode is also interesting in that Khan was in the service of two (literal) ghosts from Xena's past. An evil pair, brother and sister, were killed by Xena in past episodes, and they were now ghosts intent on revenge. The remarkable thing about the ghosts was that they were one in the same. These were not two distinct ghosts, but visually represented as a woman with a man on her back, or vice versa. The depiction of evil in male and female forms simultaneously is worth examining, though not in this paper.
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Note 28
Ghengis perhaps?
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Note 29
Sherman Lee, A HISTORY OF FAR EASTERN ART,(New York: Harry Abrams Inc., 1994) : 59
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Note 30
See http://www.people.virginia.edu/~pm9k/pop/kali.html for a traditional representation of Kali.
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Note 31
David is an historical figure, while the story has obvious mythic qualities.
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Bibliography

Primary Sources

Armus, Adam and Nora K. Foster, FINS, FEMMES AND GEMS. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 64, April 1998).

Maney, Patricia, IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 24, July 1996).

Sears, Steven, THE DELIVERER. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 50, October 1997).

Sears, Steven and Rob Tapert, BACK IN THE BOTTLE. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 97, November 1999).

Sears, Steven and Rob Tapert, DESTINY. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 36, January 1997).

Stewart, RJ, THE WAY. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 84, February 1999).

Stewart, RJ, IDES OF MARCH. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 89, May 1999).

Stewart, RJ, A DAY IN THE LIFE. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 39, February 1997).

Stewart, RJ, ATHENS ACADEMY OF PERFORMING BARDS. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 13, January 1996).

Stewart, RJ and Steven Sears, ATHENS ACADEMY OF PERFORMING BARDS. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 13, January 1996).

Stewart, RJ and Rob Tapert, THE DEBT I. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 52, November 1997).

Stewart, RJ and Rob Tapert, THE DEBT II. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 53, November 1997).

Winter, Terence. THE GIANT KILLER. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (Episode 27, October 1996).

Secondary Sources

Bacon-Smith, Camille. ENTERPRISING WOMEN: TELEVISION, FANDOM AND THE CREATION OF POPULAR MYTH. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.

Baehr, Helen and Gillian Dyer, eds. BOXED IN: WOMEN AND TELEVISION. New York: Pandora, 1987.

Barr, Marleen. ALIEN TO FEMININITY: SPECULATIVE FICTION AND FEMINIST THEORY. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.

Deshazer , Mary K. "Rejecting Necrophilia: Ntozake Shange and the Warrior Re-Visioned." MAKING A SPECTACLE: FEMINIST ESSAYS ON CONTEMPORARY WOMEN'S THEATRE. Lynda Hart, ed. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1989).

Donawerth, Jane L. and Carol A. Kolmerton, eds. UTOPIAN AND SCIENCE FICTION BY WOMEN: WORLDS OF DIFFERENCE. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1994.

Green, Phillip. CRACKS IN THE PEDESTAL: IDEOLOGY AND GENDER IN HOLLYWOOD. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1998.

Grun, Bernard, ed. THE TIMETABLES OF HISTORY. New York: Simon and Schuster Press, 1991.

Isaacs, Susan. BRAVE DAMES AND WIMPETTES: WHAT WOMEN ARE REALLY DOING ON PAGE AND SCREEN. New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1999.

Kingston, Maxine Hong. THE WOMAN WARRIOR: MEMOIRS OF A GIRLHOOD AMONG GHOSTS. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976.

Lee, Sherman. A HISTORY OF FAR EASTERN ART. New York: Harry Abrams Inc., 1994.

Lundrigan, Jeff. "Xena: Lyre, Lyre Hearts on Fire Review - Kick Out the Jams Brothers and Sisters," IGN SCI FI. Online Edition, January 2000.

Meister, Melissa. "Xena: Warrior Princess Through the Lenses of Feminism" WHOOSH! ONLINE EDITION, Issue 10, 1997: 1-3.

Morreale, Joanne. "Xena: Warrior Princess as Feminist Camp." JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE 32i (Fall 1998): 79-86.

Nelson, Rhonda. "The Female Hero, Duality of Gender, and Postmodern Feminism in Xena: Warrior Princess." Whoosh. Online Edition, Issue 13, 1997: 1-18.

Pusateri, Karen. "Xena: Warrior Princess: An Analytical Review." Whoosh. Online Edition, Issue 1, 1996: 1-4.

Reeves, Jimmie, Mark C. Rogers and Michael Epstein, "Rewriting Popularity: The Cult Files." DENY ALL KNOWLEDGE: READING THE X-FILES. David Lavery, Angela Hague and Marla Cartwright, eds. (New York: Syracuse University Press).

Sheperd, Simon. AMAZONS AND WARRIOR WOMEN: VARIETIES OF FEMINISM IN 17TH CENTURY DRAMA. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981.

Shinn, Thelma. WORLDS WITHIN WOMEN: MYTH AND MYTHMAKING IN FANTASTIC LITERATURE BY WOMEN. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986.

Smith, Henry Nash. VIRGIN LAND: THE AMERICAN WEST AS SYMBOL AND MYTH. London: Harvard University Press, 1950.

Tillotson, K. "Xena: Ode to a Grecian Warrior Princess with Guts, Wits, Awesome Moves and a Cult Following." STAR TRIBUNE, Lexus 12 Jan. 1997.

Wolmark, Jenny. ALIENS AND OTHERS: SCIENCE FICTION, FEMINISM AND POSTMODERNISM. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1994.


Biography

A woman of mystery Sandra Falero

A woman of mystery.

 






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