Gender Bending in Cowboy Bebop
WARNING: This article contains ENDING SPOILERS!!
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"Hey…how are men and women different?” – Spike, opening to Jupiter Jazz, Part I
I don’t know if the writers deliberately set out to have a little fun with “gender bending” in the series, but I figure they at least toyed around with imagery and audience expectations. I like to imagine the creative team sitting down and tossing around ideas, then suddenly struck with the notion of taking a huge, muscle-bound guy with a gruff voice and metal arm and putting him in an apron. It’s not the more usual cliche, so the audience wouldn’t be expecting it, right?
Right.
And when that brainstorm turned out to be kinda fun, they started wondering why it wouldn’t work as well with a female character–especially one who advertises her sexuality as blatantly as possible. Wheee! More fun ensues…and the end result? Faye gets lots of big gun action.
I don’t know if the writers deliberately set out to have a little fun with “gender bending” in the series, but I figure they at least toyed around with imagery and audience expectations. I like to imagine the creative team sitting down and tossing around ideas, then suddenly struck with the notion of taking a huge, muscle-bound guy with a gruff voice and metal arm and putting him in an apron. It’s not the more usual cliche, so the audience wouldn’t be expecting it, right?
Right.
And when that brainstorm turned out to be kinda fun, they started wondering why it wouldn’t work as well with a female character–especially one who advertises her sexuality as blatantly as possible. Wheee! More fun ensues…and the end result? Faye gets lots of big gun action.
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Realizing they’re on a creative roll, that madcap Team Bebop decides to create a major character of indeterminable sex, and, as the crowning glory, makes the hero of the story look like a vaguely incompetent slacker.
After all, that sort of stuff eventually leads to great zingers…
The first time I saw Jupiter Jazz, the shot with Faye holding the gun between her legs made me laugh. I mean, really…can phallic imagery get any more obvious without veering off into smuttiness? And it was especially funny since it was Faye, who’s all bare skin and huge boobs and about as girly as girly gets.
After all, that sort of stuff eventually leads to great zingers…
The first time I saw Jupiter Jazz, the shot with Faye holding the gun between her legs made me laugh. I mean, really…can phallic imagery get any more obvious without veering off into smuttiness? And it was especially funny since it was Faye, who’s all bare skin and huge boobs and about as girly as girly gets.
That deliberate focus on the gun and her legs can’t be accidental, coming as it does right after Gren’s shower scene revealed he wasn’t your average damsel-rescuing, saxophone-playing hottie.
On repeat viewings, I see that I should’ve picked up on to Gren’s secret, since he had feminine hands–long fingered with longish nails–but I wasn’t paying attention because I was pouting. See, he’d told Faye he wasn’t interested in women, and even though I should’ve known better than to take anything a Cowboy Bebop character says at face value, I was bumming for Faye’s sake and not looking at the details (which means I was soundly zinged at the shower scene.)
And speaking of repeat viewings, those looks Gren and Faye share, along with their mildly sexual flirtation, makes me wonder if Gren was entirely honest about not being interested in women. Maybe it was more a case of his “condition” made it too difficult to pursue relationships with women? I suppose having bigger breasts than your date would make things a tad awkward.
Gren’s sexual orientation doesn’t really matter, of course, but between the mixed signals and phallic symbolism and man-boobs, it’s just one of those scenes where I can’t decide what’s what. All I know is that my mouth dropped open when Gren walked out of the shower. Poor Faye; I really sympathized with her confusion as Gren, stark raving naked, backed her against the bathroom wall and gave her that sweet smile.
On repeat viewings, I see that I should’ve picked up on to Gren’s secret, since he had feminine hands–long fingered with longish nails–but I wasn’t paying attention because I was pouting. See, he’d told Faye he wasn’t interested in women, and even though I should’ve known better than to take anything a Cowboy Bebop character says at face value, I was bumming for Faye’s sake and not looking at the details (which means I was soundly zinged at the shower scene.)
And speaking of repeat viewings, those looks Gren and Faye share, along with their mildly sexual flirtation, makes me wonder if Gren was entirely honest about not being interested in women. Maybe it was more a case of his “condition” made it too difficult to pursue relationships with women? I suppose having bigger breasts than your date would make things a tad awkward.
Gren’s sexual orientation doesn’t really matter, of course, but between the mixed signals and phallic symbolism and man-boobs, it’s just one of those scenes where I can’t decide what’s what. All I know is that my mouth dropped open when Gren walked out of the shower. Poor Faye; I really sympathized with her confusion as Gren, stark raving naked, backed her against the bathroom wall and gave her that sweet smile.
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I love that scene. I consider it the most sexually charged moment in Cowboy Bebop…which, regretfully, still isn’t saying much. On the Bebop, sharing close quarters, are two attractive, powerful guys and a woman who wears next to nothing and radiates sex…and yet there’s never even a whiff of sexual awareness between Spike, Jet and Faye the way there is between Gren and Faye. Heck, even Vicious’ soft “you’re trembling” had more of a sexual bite to it than anything Spike or Jet ever said to Faye. The scene in Toys in the Attic, where Jet strips off his underwear and tosses them toward Faye, is funny as hell, but not at all sexual.
I know, I know…the crew of the Bebop was so dysfunctional that just communicating with each other had to be hard enough. Negotiating something as complicated as a sexual liaison would’ve been beyond their capabilities. Then again, Jet did spend a lot of time snipping wood, Spike spent a lot of time napping, and it seems Faye took a lot of showers…
I know, I know…the crew of the Bebop was so dysfunctional that just communicating with each other had to be hard enough. Negotiating something as complicated as a sexual liaison would’ve been beyond their capabilities. Then again, Jet did spend a lot of time snipping wood, Spike spent a lot of time napping, and it seems Faye took a lot of showers…
To be a little more serious for a moment, I thought Gren was a great character, and his whacked-out hormone problem just adds to the tragedy of his story. His chance encounter with Vicious not only ruined his nice, normal life but physically altered him in a way that was a constant reminder of how Vicious betrayed his trust. The photo mural in Gren’s apartment always makes me feel so sad: all that potential lost simply because he was a nice guy who tried to strike up a conversation with a lone wolf fellow soldier.
Okay, back to the subject.
How about that Jet Black, huh? The "mom" of the Bebop? Like uber-female Faye toting a gun, could the Bebop’s stand-in mom be any less effeminate? Jet’s a huge, muscle-bound guy with a gravelly voice and a macho attitude, all about honor and duty, and he admits he’s old-fashioned. Yet, again and again, there’s scenes of Jet cooking, Jet looking after his wayward crew, Jet mending Spike’s clothes (below, left) and, of course, nurturing his bonsai. While Faye’s off losing at the horse races and Spike’s losing the fish he’s trying to catch (Spike pretty much sucks at that whole “provider” thing), Jet’s hanging up the laundry and entertaining Ed with folktales.
Okay, back to the subject.
How about that Jet Black, huh? The "mom" of the Bebop? Like uber-female Faye toting a gun, could the Bebop’s stand-in mom be any less effeminate? Jet’s a huge, muscle-bound guy with a gravelly voice and a macho attitude, all about honor and duty, and he admits he’s old-fashioned. Yet, again and again, there’s scenes of Jet cooking, Jet looking after his wayward crew, Jet mending Spike’s clothes (below, left) and, of course, nurturing his bonsai. While Faye’s off losing at the horse races and Spike’s losing the fish he’s trying to catch (Spike pretty much sucks at that whole “provider” thing), Jet’s hanging up the laundry and entertaining Ed with folktales.
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Jet is often seen wearing an apron, that time-honored symbol of domesticity. The first time we meet him, he’s in an apron and cooking dinner. The only other character who wears an apron in Cowboy Bebop is Julia (in her more matronly guise.) Somehow, I can’t see Spike or Vicious ever donning an apron. If they had, Mao probably would’ve had ‘em shot…
Edited 03/19/04 to add: Thanks to Outis for emailing me with the reminder that Spike does, indeed, wear an apron! In Toys in the Attic, he’s Apron Man. I’m still not seeing Vicious in an apron, though…
Yup, Jet would’ve made some woman a great househusband, once she got past his quirks and his little issue with control and needing to take care of everything. Aw, that Jet was such a sweetie. The Black Dog was all bark and no bite–unless you were syndicate scum, in which case he’d just snap your neck. Eeep!
Edited 03/19/04 to add: Thanks to Outis for emailing me with the reminder that Spike does, indeed, wear an apron! In Toys in the Attic, he’s Apron Man. I’m still not seeing Vicious in an apron, though…
Yup, Jet would’ve made some woman a great househusband, once she got past his quirks and his little issue with control and needing to take care of everything. Aw, that Jet was such a sweetie. The Black Dog was all bark and no bite–unless you were syndicate scum, in which case he’d just snap your neck. Eeep!
Last, but not least, there’s Edward, the girl with a boy’s name. Despite being 13, she’s so asexual the Bebop crew doesn’t even know she is a girl until the end ofJamming With Edward, when Faye laughingly declares, “Hey…you’re a girl!” Ed’s own father can’t remember if Ed’s his son or daughter, and Ed does look strange in a dress and hair bows. Considering Ed’s peculiar upbringing, her peculiar genes (Dad’s a bona fide nutter), and her really peculiar behavior, having a boy’s name is probably her least bizarre character trait. Despite all that, though, I’ve always had the feeling she was the one who had the best chance of ending up living a normal life.
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Fortunately, things are a lot more straightforward when it comes to Spike and Vicious and Julia. Julia’s womanliness is never an issue; she may have no history and she may have that whole “madonna-whore” thing going on, but she’s always “quite a woman.” As for Spike and Vicious, they sure weren’t lacking in the testosterone area. In fact, they probably could’ve done with a whole lots less. Spike had that big ol’ gun, and Vicious had that big ol’ katana…but I guess if they hadn’t gone all alpha male over Julia or who was the “big dog” in the syndicate, there wouldn’t have been much of a story.
What “gender bending” there is (if any) on the show isn’t the least bit important, of course, it’s just a little side trip into one of the many aspects of Cowboy Bebop that always makes me go “hmmm.”
[by Michele].
What “gender bending” there is (if any) on the show isn’t the least bit important, of course, it’s just a little side trip into one of the many aspects of Cowboy Bebop that always makes me go “hmmm.”
[by Michele].
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