Representation in modern media is something that is as important as ever. We live in a period where diversity is able to flourish more so than ever before, where people of different walks of life are not only being recognized but represented in film, television, and literature. In the past, male characters and their stories have been the dominant focus in all of these art forms. In Arcane however, the mold is broken.
Arcane writes its women as human beings. They’re in positions where the emotion they feel and the situations they face are only meant to better them. They never fall flat at the fault of a man and the things that they do are never objectified or made out to be a show of their character as a whole. The poor actions they take influence the story and move it forward as opposed to strictly villainizing them. They’re never scorned or told that they can’t do something, they just act. They’re treated as regular people and their gender never plays into the equation even once.
Arcane is what representation is meant to be. Oftentimes people go overboard in their mission to represent and make amends. They end up with characters that women around the world look at and ultimately fail to relate to. It seems as if people fail to understand that women in the media want to see themselves, not some person focused entirely on being the best, beating a man, or defying every law to prove that their gender is superior. Arcane gives us women that don’t focus on their gender, they just focus on themselves. They’re not afraid to get dirty, scream, or fight. They just do it and who they are never comes into play because it’s not important to them.
Something as simple as giving female characters the power to be aggressive and move on their own is so important. Power is given to them but it is never considered a big deal and when emotion is felt it’s felt in a realistic way. The characters scream and are animated in a realistic way. Beauty standards don’t matter and because of this each character is unique and beautiful in their own way without forcing or making a show of it. This is what makes this show so important. It acts differently in a world where there is a single minded idea of what women want to see when they want to feel empowered. Arcane does a beautiful job of making its women real, not just characters.
