I am a big analyzer and observes, well over analyzer and observer is perhaps more descriptive. I focus and take mental notes on certain matters and issues on TV, mull them over and then write them here. One issue which I take particular note of is the characterization and handling of female characters. I am a feminist and observing those things is both interesting and highly frustrating.
The TV shows I write about here are both good and bad in my opinion when it comes to representing and portraying female characters. The topic of this post will be looking and gender representation on the NCIS franchise and specifically how the females are always a minority.
NCIS:LA - A show I love watching and laughing over but frustrates me regularly. NCIS:LA did not have the exact best track record of female characters in season 1. It was pretty much all male and testosterone.
Callen - the lone wolf male
Eric - the geek male
Sam - the navy male
Nate - the psychology male
Dom - the rookie male
Five males in all
and then flitting in the background
Kensi - the sole female swimming in an ocean of male agents
Hetty - the legendary matriarch.
This makes the gender ratio 5/7 which is terrible if you ask me. I have previously written about how Kensi felt underdeveloped and vapid as a character in the 1st season. I suspect that a part of it stemmed from the fact that there was so much focus on the male characters. Kensi seems to have been added only because they desperately needed a female character, not because of what she could add to the show as a character. The same goes for Hetty. As a result, their characters felt very unrealistic and thin for most of the first season. It was not until season 2 that the writers and producers caught on. Two male characters were thrown out. Secondly of all Nell Jones emerged. Not only did it balance more the genders but she was also from the beginning a realistic and well crafted character. I enjoyed her from the start and still do. Secondly Kensi emerged as a real character and became a force to be reckoned with and it added a lot to the show. Hetty rose from the ashes and became the wonderful character she is today. The female characters all came to the foreground of the show and it changed it for the better. As much as I enjoy the male characters I can only take so much of them only all the time. That is the reason why I watched entire season 2 first before I finished watching season 1. In my opinion, it is in season 2 that the show hit its stride character wise and it has continued since then.
Now the gender balance is 4/3 which is better. The female characters are still a minority but they are an integral part of the show and they have been developed extremely well. I for one enjoy them immensely, particularly how they are all portrayed as strong and a force to be reckoned with but still realistic. And I enjoy the fact that Hetty is their leader. They trust her and depend on her and her advise and it is refreshing to see a woman in the role of the leader and being a legend.
NCIS: Their track record of female characters is even worse. The female characters have never been more than 3 and always a minority. The gender balance has switched from 3/2, to 4/2 (season 1-2), to 4/3 (season 3-5), to 5/2 (season 6-9) to the current 6/2 (season 10). That means that there are currently whopping two female characters on NCIS. The rest is all males. So there is one quarter of females and three quarters of males.
And the list goes
Gibbs - the quiet, caffeine addicted marine
Tony - the movie-watching, humorous agent
Palmer - the autopsy gremlin
Ducky - the ever wise Scottish autopsy man
McGee - the nerdy agent
Vance - the intimidating leader
Females
Ziva - the female agent that is a force to be reckoned with
Abby - the happiest goth
And former Kate - the sarcastic agent
NCIS would therefore never win the female representation on TV award. But to be honest, this gender balance does not impact the show so much. The key lies in the fact that Ziva and Abby are extremely well developed and strong characters. They are an integral part of the show and have always been. The female characters have always been front and center on the show. It in parts makes of for the lack of female characters, they are given such attention, thought and space as characters and have always been consistently developed and portrayed. When watching old NCIS episodes I am always astounded by the strength of the female characters and how incredibly well they've been done. Ziva and Abby as characters have always been good, realistic, well-nuanced and at the front.
This is where NCIS and NCIS:LA differ in my opinion. It took NCIS:LA a while to get the stride of their female characters and how they should be portrayed. And realizing that the actresses they had could more than handle portraying great female characters. They have more than risen to the challenge in my opinion. The females seemed to be at the beginning like ornaments or objects that needed to be there out of necessity to appease people, not because they could add to the show. But as I've written that changed much and all for the better.
NCIS on the other hand hit its stride straight in the beginning and the female characters were strong and focused from the start. They were few but they were key characters and added greatly to the show. And that has continued to this day.
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