The Great: Making Stuffy History Sexy
For much of history, the story of Catherine the Great was high culture. Catherine the Great was a minor Prussian Royal born in 1729 who married the czar of Russia. She eventually forced him to abdicate the throne, and successfully ruled Russia for 34 years. (Solly, 2020). The few non-Russians who knew about her were academics or history buffs. However, that changed in 2020, when Hulu premiered The Great. The show is an ongoing period satire that follows Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great in her first years in the Russian court. Episodes are raunchy and irreverent, with dialogue peppered with shut the fuck up-s, shit-s, and eat pussy-s (Mcnamara). Suddenly, everyday people could discuss the issues plaguing 18th century Russia and the bratty czar. The show’s feminist take on Catherine the Great’s legacy makes it palatable to modern day audiences, making her part of popular culture. However, the show still enforces the same power structures Catherine the Great relied on to rule.
The Great is entertaining to feminist audiences because it is a rejection of the male gaze. Andi Ziesler, feminist auhtor, writes that the male gaze turns women “into an object—and most particularly an object of vision: a sight” (Ziesler, p. 7, 2008). The Great pushes back on this convention. In it, women are much more than objects of desire, they are depicted as smart and multifaceted. The show’s plot is driven by Catherine the Great’s interest in social reform. True to life, in the show she distributes printing presses, inoculates herself against smallpox, and corresponds with Voltaire. Other female characters are also depicted as complex. Catherine the Great frequently discusses issues with her aunt, maid, and even her husband’s lover (Mcnamara). These conversations pass the Bechdel Test, a measure of misrepresentation of women on screen, as they go beyond love interests, demonstrating the show’s realistic depiction of the female characters (Seth, 2020).
Even when The Great depicts women engaging in physical intimacy, it does so without the male gaze. Ziesler says that filmmakers can “flip the script” on the male gaze “with imagery that is unsettling in its confrontation of the looker” (Ziesler, p. 9, 2008). The Great achieves this “unsettling confrontation.” Watching the czar jackhammer into Catherine the Great while chatting with a friend feels alarming, as does watching the sleazy archbishop sexually assalt Catherine the Great to “assess” her virginity (Mcnamara). Catherine the Great is not reduced to an object within the series. Infact, she is depicted as so human that sometimes the viewer may want to look away.
The Great shows an authentic female experience because of its production team. The series’ executive producer, Marian Macgowan, runs the company that develops, finances, and produces the show (Talent Bio). Four women are part of the award winning six person writing team (Tran, 2021). Including women in the production team ensures that “the juiciest roles for women—the ones that garner them attention, accolades, and little gold men—would be something other than...‘hookers, victims, and doormats’” (Ziesler, p. 21, 2008). Fanning's role as Catherine the Great is dynamic and witty, undeniably “juicy. The actress has been met with success, nominated for both a Golden Globe and Emmy for her role in The Great (Nepales, 2021) (Moreau, 2020). The show itself is wildly popular, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series for both its first and second season (Great, The, 2022). It is clear that the show resonates with many viewers because Macgowan and the female writers are able to use their experiences as women to realistically portray Catherine the Great’s life.
While The Great brings Catherine the Great to a mass audience, the show does so through a standardized troupe. The show is part of a lineage of TV shows with girlboss narratives, from the Mary Tyler Moore Show to Grey’s anatomy. In these shows, pithy women are depicted in roles that are historically inaccessible to them, yet barriers to the female protagonist’s success are not fully explored. Philosophers Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno write that media “might think that an omnipresent authority had sifted the material and drawn up an official catalog of cultural commodities to provide a smooth supply of available mass-produced lines” (Horkheimer and Adorno, p. 7, 2005). This applies to The Great. With its hackneyed plot of effortless female empowerment, the viewer feels as if she is watching a slightly different version of a preexisting show. Horkeimer and Adorno also write that regarding media, “characteristic innovations are never anything more than improvements of mass reproduction” (Horkheimer and Adorno, p. 7, 2005). This also rings true for The Great; the setting of the show may be different than others that use the girlboss narrative, yet it simply builds off of these preexisting shows.
Although The Great comes off as an empowering tale of girlboss-ery, the show skirts around larger issues of inequality and reinforces society’s current power structure. The show paints Catherine the Great in a positive light, but ignores the more problematic aspects of her reign; inaction regarding enslaved surfs and attempts to expand Russia’s borders through colonization (Mcnamara). The show pacifies viewers by neglecting these relevant issues and encouraging them not to question leaders. Horkeimer and Adorno write that media “crushes their [viewers’] insubordination and makes them subserve the formula” which produces an unquestioning workforce (Horkeimer and Adorno, p. 3, 2005). The Great does this by depicting a wise ruler, diswading viewers from taking action against injustice imposed by those in power. A Marxist reading of The Great reveals it centers around the Russian monarchy, the base of Russian society. However, Catherine the Great herself is now a pop culture icon, and therefore part of the superstructure (Lewers, 2015). The Great, part of the superstructure, therefore reinforces today’s base, government officials, by teaching viewers to mindlessly trust leaders.
The Great makes Catherine the Great’s life story accessible to everyday viewers through its feminist take on history. Part of the show’s appeal is its rejection of the male gaze, thanks to its female production team. However, the show is part of a legacy of television shows that depict successful women, but neglect to depict the struggles these women overcame, and fail to motivate people to challenge overarching power structures.
Works Cited
Bui, H.-T. (2021). 'Better Call Saul', 'Ted Lasso', And 'The Great' Lead 2021 WGA Nominations .
Slash Film. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.slashfilm.com/579210/2021- wga-nominations/.
Great, The. Golden Globes. (2022, January 1). Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/great
Horkheimer, M., Adorno, T. W., & Blunden , A. (2005). In Dialectic of enlightenment (pp. 1–12). essay.
Lewers, M. (2015, April 6). Base and Superstructure [web log]. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/engl-090-02-spring2015/2015/04/06/base- and-superstructure/.
Mcnamara, T. (n.d.). The Great. whole.
Moreau, J. (2022, July 12). Emmys 2022: The Complete Nominations List. Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://variety.com/2022/tv/awards/emmys-nominations-list- 2022-1235313788/.
Nepales, R. (2021, January 1). Nominee profile 2022: Elle Fanning, "The great". Golden Globes. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.goldenglobes.com/articles/nominee-profile-2022-elle-fanning-great
Seth, R. (2020, July 15). Why Are Films Failing The Bechdel Test When TV Has Progressed? Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/the- bechdel-test.
Solly, M. (2020). The Story of Catherine the Great. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-catherine-great- 180974863/.
Talent Bio. Press Hulu. (2021, December 2). Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://press.hulu.com/shows/the-great/bios/marian-macgowen/
Zeisler, A. (2008). Pop and Circumstance: Why Pop Culture Matters. In Feminism and pop culture (pp. 1–21). essay, Seal Press.
Comments
Post a Comment