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EP. REVIEW: Maria the Virgin Witch

Are you guys missing the fact that Bernard had no idea of commissioning the rape of Maria until he learned that doing so would strip her of her powers? To him this is just a means to a very convenient end -- although the guy is a total bastard there is no reason to believe that he was doing it for the prurient purpose.

A thought just occurred to me and I'm wondering if it has already been explained in the show and I missed it. It has clearly been established that Maria will lose the ability to do magic if she loses her virginity. But she's the only witch subject to this penalty, correct? Viv seems to have sex and she's can still use magic.

I'd be surprised if the show doesn't address this (if it hasn't already).

Blood- wrote:

I'd be surprised if the show doesn't address this (if it hasn't already).

My assumption was that this was just a special condition placed on her by God/Michael.

When a person has committed rape, however, the first thing we do is shut down our ability to empathize with them. They become inhumanly evil, so their crime can be isolated rather than addressed.

This was part of the point I was making when I said it was "transactional rape." I don't think the fact that it is transactional somehow makes it better thematically. In fact I think it kind of exacerbates the issue of objectification in many ways to make it transactional.

Really, was I the only one who saw the damn valkyries? Really?

The fact there is a transaction doesn't really make it a case of "objectification" in terms of how the show is presenting the situation. Definitely not in the sexual sense. In context, it's much more important that the would-be victim has in fact been treated as a person by the narrative all along and the would-be culprit is also a fallible human being, capable of both good and evil, whose own views aren't that laser-focused on committing the act, despite his admitted ambitions and understandable grudge.

It makes it more objectifying because making her rape into a transaction does much more to take away her personhood.

If someone commits a non-transactional rape, they are doing it because, like we said before, they are just extremely evil or twisted, or maybe insane. The action becomes a commentary on the despicable nature and lack of humanity of the rapist.

However, when it becomes transactional, it becomes a more direct commentary on the perceived lack of personhood of the victim. Here, we have a man of God and another dude entering into a transaction, logically deciding how and when she will be raped, as if she is just some piece of meat being traded in the market. The story doesn't specifically make either of these men out to be evil, they are just doing shady business. That's how it is being portrayed. I do think that does more to take away Maria's personhood.

The action becomes a commentary on the despicable nature and lack of humanity of the rapist.

However, when it becomes transactional, it becomes a more direct commentary on the perceived lack of personhood of the victim. Here, we have a man of God and another dude entering into a transaction, logically deciding how and when she will be raped, as if she is just some piece of meat being traded in the market.

The story doesn't specifically make either of these men out to be evil, they are just doing shady business.

jroa wrote:

The fact there is a transaction doesn't really make it a case of "objectification" in terms of how the show is presenting the situation. Definitely not in the sexual sense. In context, it's much more important that the would-be victim has in fact been treated as a person by the narrative all along and the would-be culprit is also a fallible human being, capable of both good and evil, whose own views aren't that laser-focused on committing the act, despite his admitted ambitions and understandable grudge.

It makes it more objectifying because making her rape into a transaction does much more to take away her personhood.

If someone commits a non-transactional rape, they are doing it because, like we said before, they are just extremely evil or twisted, or maybe insane. The action becomes a commentary on the despicable nature and lack of humanity of the rapist.

However, when it becomes transactional, it becomes a more direct commentary on the perceived lack of personhood of the victim. Here, we have a man of God and another dude entering into a transaction, logically deciding how and when she will be raped, as if she is just some piece of meat being traded in the market. The story doesn't specifically make either of these men out to be evil, they are just doing shady business. That's how it is being portrayed. I do think that does more to take away Maria's personhood.

The "conversion" of Martha' felt rather shoddily done. The whole scene feels a bit rushed for a major development in what's been a significant plot-thread of the series. She was getting medicine from Person A, which helps her, then she gets medicine from Person B, which apparently helps her as well, so she's quite happy to believe Person A was evil when she's told so? There's probably a logic in there somewhere and the scene could definitely have been made to work, but the rather cursory treatment in episode 8 just didn't convince me.