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rainwatersparkI think I'd meant to post about this show at some point, but totally forgot.
First of all, the premise really objectifies Jane Doe. A woman with amnesia who's found totally naked and is valued because of her whole-body tattoos? Yeah, that's not objectification at all. Moreover, if you really wanted the premise of an amnesiac with important tattoos all over their body...logically, why wouldn't you have John Doe instead of Jane Doe? You can show more of a John Doe's tattoos than you can with a Jane Doe. (Seriously, Blindspot would've been 100x better with John Doe and with female Agent Weller.)
Secondly, Jane Doe is almost always shown as vulnerable and emotional because of her amnesia, which is not how a male character in the same situation is typically treated (see Jason Bourne as a counterpoint). I'm not saying Jane Doe's reactions are unrealistic or overly emotional, but I am wary (and have been, for a long time) of the fact that there is a clear gendered dimension to how Jane's reactions are portrayed, which reinforces the idea that women = emotional, men = stoic.
Finally, a trailer that I saw for season 2 really made me feel uneasy. I wasn't sure whether the shots were from season 2 or the season 1 finale, but there were a lot of shots of Jane Doe being tortured, and ugh, the violence against a female character felt so gratuitously brutal.
Basically, Blindspot is extremely iffy in its treatment of its female lead.
First of all, the premise really objectifies Jane Doe. A woman with amnesia who's found totally naked and is valued because of her whole-body tattoos? Yeah, that's not objectification at all. Moreover, if you really wanted the premise of an amnesiac with important tattoos all over their body...logically, why wouldn't you have John Doe instead of Jane Doe? You can show more of a John Doe's tattoos than you can with a Jane Doe. (Seriously, Blindspot would've been 100x better with John Doe and with female Agent Weller.)
Secondly, Jane Doe is almost always shown as vulnerable and emotional because of her amnesia, which is not how a male character in the same situation is typically treated (see Jason Bourne as a counterpoint). I'm not saying Jane Doe's reactions are unrealistic or overly emotional, but I am wary (and have been, for a long time) of the fact that there is a clear gendered dimension to how Jane's reactions are portrayed, which reinforces the idea that women = emotional, men = stoic.
Finally, a trailer that I saw for season 2 really made me feel uneasy. I wasn't sure whether the shots were from season 2 or the season 1 finale, but there were a lot of shots of Jane Doe being tortured, and ugh, the violence against a female character felt so gratuitously brutal.
Basically, Blindspot is extremely iffy in its treatment of its female lead.
