I watched both seasons of the Netflix series Arcane recently. I had been a little hesitant to pick up the show due to the bad reputation of the League of Legends community and fanbase. Despite my initial doubts towards the series, Arcane turned out to be a positive surprise. One of the things that really caught my attention was the way women were represented, and I am going to be focusing on that in this article.
The story takes place in a fictional world, more specifically in a region that is divided into two cities called Piltover and Zaun. These two cities have divided more and more throughout time. Piltover has continued to develop and thrive; meanwhile, Zaun has become the dark contrary of Piltover. Zaun is a place known for being in poverty and the people living there struggle just to stay alive. Piltover on the other hand, is known for being the home for people in a much more privileged situation.
Vi and Jinx in the middle of an argument.
The main storyline follows two sisters, Violet (Vi) and Jinx, who grew up in Zaun and were tragically separated as children. Due to many unfortunate events and misunderstandings, Vi and Jinx (depending on the situation) are set out to either kill or save each other. It is really nice to see a series of this size have a complicated relationship between two sisters be one of the main focuses. The relationships women are shown to have in media are often limited to romantic relationships with men, so this storyline is very welcome and refreshing to see.
Arcane shows a lot of other complex relationships between women as well. Another central storyline is the romantic relationship between Vi and Caitlyn Kiramman, who is from Piltover and was born into a very wealthy and influential family. There is a lack of good lesbian representation in media as well, and it is nice that Arcane also shows romantic relationships between women. The relationship between Vi and Caitlyn also has a big role in the social commentary and class criticism that the show brings forth. Vi and Caitlyn have drastically different upbringings; Vi being from Zaun and Caitlyn from Piltover, the characters are in a juxtaposition with each other. This highlights the unfairness of the society we see in the story. Throughout the development of their relationship, both characters (but especially Caitlyn) also become more aware of how this unfairness is deeply rooted in the structures of their society.
Caitlyn was born into a family with a lot of power, and she herself becomes a very powerful character as well. She is a highly skilled fighter, and becomes the head of Piltover’s police force, which also gives her a lot of political power. Arcane shows a lot of women in general having powerful positions. For example, Mel Medarda is a political figure and a member of the council, which is the governing body of Piltover.
Caitlyn is a character with power and authority.
A lot of the characters go against stereotypical gender roles and representations often given to women in media. In Arcane women are generally not shown as weak and passive. They are not only given positions with a lot of power, but they also have authority and take active roles as leaders. For example, Ambessa Medarda, a Noxian general, and Caitlyn both control an army of people and are also respected as figures of authority. When it comes to physical strength, the female characters are shown to be just as strong as the male characters of the series. Ambessa, for instance, is also a character with ridiculous amounts of physical strength. This is also very clear when men and women are shown fighting side by side, the female characters are not left behind or put into situations where they would need to be saved by men.
Overall, when looking at the female representation seen in Arcane, the show does a really good job at writing complex female characters that have interesting stories. They are not reduced down to outdated stereotypes and instead are shown as powerful and independent. This is the case for most of the female characters in the series, which is very refreshing to see.
Basic information:
Title: Arcane
Released: 2021
Creators: Christian Linke, Alex Yee
Available on Netflix
Photos:
All photos are from the Netflix series Arcane
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