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| VaDAMN and his musket throwing bombs instead of shades |
Warning: Spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.
Fellow Musketdears, is it me or are
the four Parisian wranglers of the King’s guard really, terribly, UNBELIVEABLY
conspicuous in their covert operations?
I mean, right from the start when Aramis declared the Musketeer motto as
being “every man for himself” we had to have known a very distinct plan was a
brewing. I wonder – as Captain Treville
was straining his anger at Athos, Aramis, and Porthos – if the other musketeers
just thought, “oh my gawd, you guise are SO obvious about it.” No? Well,
if their charade with the Red Guard (Ha, an unintended rhyme; totes amaaaaaaaazing)
wasn’t enough when D’Artagnan is thrown in the chatelet with the villain of the
episode, Vadim, it is made apparent he is a “musketeer” – a claim painfully and
unconvincingly denied by the young chap – I mean, really dude? You couldn’t have made it any more obvious
you were a spy. Vadim most certainly
thought of you as the perfect trick the moment you opened your mouth, but hey a
young blood gotta do what a young blood gotta do to prove himself; this episode
is essentially D’Artagnan’s initiation to the seemingly elite club of the
King’s cowboys. But I digress from the
theme; total anarchy and hatred for the establishment and monarchy. A lot of this episode centers on the notion
of poverty vs. affluence, and one man’s greed, which also exposes something
about the construction of masculinity.
Vadim – or more like VaDAMN with
all his bombs and tricks – is an illusionist and a great orator, which makes
him a great emotional manipulator.
Appearing to be a leader of a resistance hell bent on destroying the
kingdom of France, Vadim’s plans for rebellion and war might seem to be part of
an intrinsic meaning, but the truth is he is nothing more than an average Joe
with too much pride. Often with men like
Vadim their followers crystallize them as heroes to a greater cause, but here
lies human error; in believing heroes exist Vadim is presented as a wise man
fighting for injustice. It’s a romantic
notion of a celestial meaning to man’s existence, but in reality Vadim doesn’t
care for equity. He doesn’t care for his
people. He is a greedy man that ventured
beyond the curtains of his king and found a thirst for opulence. In other words, he is a man that lusts for
power and money in much of the same way all men do king or no king.
Men
have always been defined by their wealth or their strength; greed and excess
rules the notion that dominance is an important male trait. If men cannot have what they desire by simply
asking for it they will use brute force to conquer what stands in their way,
and they will manipulate others to do their dirty work while their hands remain
clean. In this sense Vadim and King
Louis – despite being on opposite ends of the spectrum – are the same. There
are men fighting to reach the top and men who are fighting to remain at the
top. Neither exercise true logic to
create a nation with nonpartisanship. In
one scene plans to send a decoy to Easter mass are discussed, and the king
makes it clear that “common sense is for commoners” suggesting that enlightenment
is simply a theoretical farce. It is
also very crucial to point out that King Louis says he would not want to be
called a coward for breaking tradition in the face of danger. He must show “courage and leadership,” but
that too is a farce. Men, since the dawn
of patriarchal rule, have created impossible standards to follow, and the idea
that there is honor in complete stoic bravery within the context of war or
battle is daft and asinine.
In
matters relating to the impoverished, and among the testosterone filled
nonsense, the Queen pardons a few prisoners.
This act is a great indication of false hope of a nation embodied in the
naiveté of the Queen. What is important
to note is the compelling conversation between Treville and the Queen; when
Queen Anne suggests that all men need hope or be lost without it Treville is
quick in his response. The “gentle
nature” of the Queen, he says is a “sign of weakness” and that “some men are
just born bad.” The juxtaposition of the
two polar opposite notions is the difference imparted between war and peace. On one hand is the Queen’s ideal faith in the
goodness of people, and on the other hand – the hand of Treville – is the
reality of exhausted conflict of mankind.
One can also view this particular
scene telling of the distinct difference immediately placed on both gender
roles. The Queen – a woman – is
considered weak for her generosity and compassion and even hope in men while
the patriarchal society dehumanizes them and paints them as nothing more than
brute, ferine beasts that want to watch the world burn. As a feminist film and TV critic this is why
deconstructing masculinity is crucial to my work as much as deconstructing
femininity. Our society is not different from the universe
within our screens. We use and reuse
modern day ideologies to create entertainment.
It is a reflection of self, and to say this form of media is separate from
daily life is a lie we like to tell ourselves.
With society condoning this
reflection of self without much thought it is necessary as fangirls and fanboys
to be aware of what is acceptable norms and scripts of everyday life within our
favorite and often times problematic fandoms.
I do want it to be clear that it is okay to like something problematic
so long as you understand why it is problematic. In the show Musketeers, combat is an
honorable verb for men, and proving one’s worth in more aggressive ways is a
“gentleman’s” rite of passage. We have
already established D’Artagnan as an inexperienced farm boy keen on
demonstrating his place in the King’s guard, but his youthfulness is what separates
him from the rest of the men. In the
opening scene D’Artagnan is preparing to duel a red guard and Aramis asks him
“what is the vital thing to remember in a duel?
Honor is his response, but is swiftly reminded by Porthos that not
getting killed is the key. Poor D’Artagnan
replies in the simplest of ways, “I was raised to fight like a gentleman.” You could say this is what distinguishes the
boys from the men or the brutes from the civilized; that at a certain age young
men realize to be the victor you must utilize violence as a survival technique.
Honor is a lie men tell themselves to comfort their troubled minds.
In other aspects of the show –
apart from the theme – emerges the beginning of a love affair between Aramis
and Queen Anne. Upon saving her life
during the prison escape scene she invites him along with Porthos to the castle
to seemingly thank him. I was irked by
Queen Anne’s immediate dismissal of Porthos by asking him to give her and
Aramis a bit of “privacy” before she thanked him Aramis. I thought to myself, ‘why invite Porthos if
you’re just going to ignore him, and not even thank him too?’ I’m certain Porthos,
in this scene, was more of a plot device to remind the audience that the former
romance between Adele and Aramis is truly over when Porthos calls out
Aramis. Like I said in the first review,
Adele is barely a mention in the second episode, and sadly disappears from the
sight of the show altogether. And it
irritated me that Aramis played his usual Don Juan game by acting his one small
injury was still sore. The more I watch Aramis in action the more peeved I am
of his character. During the scene when
Treville was yelling at them Aramis shows off his arrogance by stating “I’ve
never been this unpopular before.” And
something about him being the romantic type.
The point is, Aramis is just starting to get on my nerves.
Thankfully, we have Constance
because this woman is what Tyrion Lannister is to Joffery – a good left hook –
Constance slapping Aramis not once but twice within this episode is simply the
best vindication of his cocky attitude ever.
This woman should be the fifth member of this band of musketeers because
she is braver than all four of them and because she has to put up with D’Artagnan’s
unsuspecting kiss (yet again) to escape Felix’s grip. She is ever so clam and perceptive.
My favorite scene is when Constance – defiant and audacious – stands in between
her husband and D’Artagnan. You can say
her love for D’Artagnan is the reason for her brave move, but her brazen sense
of self is more of an innate ability to do what’s right. Once again, she proves
to be the voice of reason in a world of unreasonable male figures.
Episode two was quite DA BOMB as
VaDAMN would have said if he could.
Until the next review, my Musketdears
-All for one and one for all
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