The scene I am analyzing is from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It showed one of the main characters, a female Terminator, awkwardly interacting with some high school girls in the bathroom at school. The television show marks the first time a female Terminator is depicted who is not evil. In the scene, the female Terminator (who is impersonating a high school student), is in the bathroom at school listening to some other girls talking in front of the mirror while putting on make-up. She gets pulled into the conversation and unintentionally offends one of the girls. Both of them then confront her and one even calls her an offensive name. Since she is not in fact human and had had limited experience interacting socially with high school girls, she does not comprehend why the girl is angry.
In the second part of the scene, everyone leaves the bathroom except Cameron (the female Terminator) and a blonde girl crying in one of the stalls. The girl is in hysterics about an incident that occurred in the hallway, and tries to relate to Cameron about the situation. Cameron attempts to console the girl by offering her some make-up left behind by the first two girls, but the blonde girl clearly thinks her offering is lacking. Her knowledge had not prepared her to deal with a human that is displaying such strong emotions, so she reaches out to the girl the only way she knows how. From the blonde girl's perspective, Cameron comes off as emotionally impaired and very slow to catch onto her state of distress. When Cameron says, "You're upset.", the girl is almost shocked at such a blase statement describing her crying and emotionally-charged dialogue. She finds Cameron's offering of make-up to be seriously lacking as an attempt to make her feel better. Her body language tells us that she thinks this behavior is ridiculous and not fitting to the situation. From Cameron's perspective, she is drawing on the interactions between the other two girls to figure out what to say in this situation.
Within this scene, the behavior of a typical high school girl is stereotyped. The most obvious portrayals of this type of character are the first two girls Cameron encounters in the bathroom. They speak in slang (referring to the make-up as "tight), and are very concerned with the way they look. This is evident from the fact that they are spending their short amount of time before class to run to the bathroom and apply make-up. This stereotype is not necessarily an offensive one, but it does tend to pigeon-hole all high school girls as being concerned with their physical appearance. The portrayal also makes them seem "bitchy"; the two girls are poised and ready to attack Cameron when she tells the one girl that her dress makes her look fat.
Cameron's lack of appropriate social responses stems from the fact that she is not human, and thus lacks the essential gender role characteristics that we learn as children. When she is asked, "Does this make me look fat?", she has no experience to draw from that might let her know that when a girl of woman asks this question, the appropriate response is "No." in order to avoid hurt feelings. She instead seriously considers the question and gives what she finds to be a truthful answer.
Power plays an important role in this scene, despite the fact that the girls Cameron interacts with have no idea that she is any different from them. Cameron comes away with the upper hand after talking with the first two girls (one of whom she insults). The girls expect that by teaming up together to confront her she will be intimidated and hopefully understand the faux pas she made by telling the girl she looked fat. Instead, Cameron stands her ground and appears to intimidate them instead. When the friend asks, "What are you looking at??", Cameron coolly responds, "I'm looking at you.". This confident response seems to scare off the other girls, and clearly exerts Cameron's power over them. Even in a situation where her social actions are inappropriate, she still manages to intimidate the girls she interacts with.
The end of the scene shows Cameron waiting for John in the hallway at school. He has taken on the responsibility of helping her learn how to act more "human" in her social interactions so as not to give away her identity as a robot from the future. She tells him that she is a "bitch-whore", and says it so casually that it is clear to the viewer that she has no grasp of the meaning of the words. (Earlier on in the scene she says to the girl who calls her that, "I don't understand.") She then tells John that she made a new friend, referring to the blonde girl in the bathroom. It is clear that John wonders if she did or said anything insensitive to the crying girl in the bathroom. The casual way in which she recounts her interactions are puzzling to John, who is trying his best to educate a non-human on how to act as a human would - with emotions. Her encounters are also evidence to him that she needs a lot more work in order to fully pass as a human.
I think that Cameron is challenging the typical high school female stereotype by portraying a powerful female character. In addition, her social abilities as a female high school student are challenged: she is placed into a situation where there is a specific desired response, but because of her lack of experience socializing with members of the group she is expected to blend in with, she fails to notice that her reaction is undesirable. She possesses all the physical qualities that are very feminine and clearly define her as a woman (long hair, soft features, thin, age-appropriate clothing), but lacks inner qualities that reflect that norm for women in our society, such as kindness, consideration, eagerness to please, empathy, and compassion.
In the second part of the scene, everyone leaves the bathroom except Cameron (the female Terminator) and a blonde girl crying in one of the stalls. The girl is in hysterics about an incident that occurred in the hallway, and tries to relate to Cameron about the situation. Cameron attempts to console the girl by offering her some make-up left behind by the first two girls, but the blonde girl clearly thinks her offering is lacking. Her knowledge had not prepared her to deal with a human that is displaying such strong emotions, so she reaches out to the girl the only way she knows how. From the blonde girl's perspective, Cameron comes off as emotionally impaired and very slow to catch onto her state of distress. When Cameron says, "You're upset.", the girl is almost shocked at such a blase statement describing her crying and emotionally-charged dialogue. She finds Cameron's offering of make-up to be seriously lacking as an attempt to make her feel better. Her body language tells us that she thinks this behavior is ridiculous and not fitting to the situation. From Cameron's perspective, she is drawing on the interactions between the other two girls to figure out what to say in this situation.
Within this scene, the behavior of a typical high school girl is stereotyped. The most obvious portrayals of this type of character are the first two girls Cameron encounters in the bathroom. They speak in slang (referring to the make-up as "tight), and are very concerned with the way they look. This is evident from the fact that they are spending their short amount of time before class to run to the bathroom and apply make-up. This stereotype is not necessarily an offensive one, but it does tend to pigeon-hole all high school girls as being concerned with their physical appearance. The portrayal also makes them seem "bitchy"; the two girls are poised and ready to attack Cameron when she tells the one girl that her dress makes her look fat.
Cameron's lack of appropriate social responses stems from the fact that she is not human, and thus lacks the essential gender role characteristics that we learn as children. When she is asked, "Does this make me look fat?", she has no experience to draw from that might let her know that when a girl of woman asks this question, the appropriate response is "No." in order to avoid hurt feelings. She instead seriously considers the question and gives what she finds to be a truthful answer.
Power plays an important role in this scene, despite the fact that the girls Cameron interacts with have no idea that she is any different from them. Cameron comes away with the upper hand after talking with the first two girls (one of whom she insults). The girls expect that by teaming up together to confront her she will be intimidated and hopefully understand the faux pas she made by telling the girl she looked fat. Instead, Cameron stands her ground and appears to intimidate them instead. When the friend asks, "What are you looking at??", Cameron coolly responds, "I'm looking at you.". This confident response seems to scare off the other girls, and clearly exerts Cameron's power over them. Even in a situation where her social actions are inappropriate, she still manages to intimidate the girls she interacts with.
The end of the scene shows Cameron waiting for John in the hallway at school. He has taken on the responsibility of helping her learn how to act more "human" in her social interactions so as not to give away her identity as a robot from the future. She tells him that she is a "bitch-whore", and says it so casually that it is clear to the viewer that she has no grasp of the meaning of the words. (Earlier on in the scene she says to the girl who calls her that, "I don't understand.") She then tells John that she made a new friend, referring to the blonde girl in the bathroom. It is clear that John wonders if she did or said anything insensitive to the crying girl in the bathroom. The casual way in which she recounts her interactions are puzzling to John, who is trying his best to educate a non-human on how to act as a human would - with emotions. Her encounters are also evidence to him that she needs a lot more work in order to fully pass as a human.
I think that Cameron is challenging the typical high school female stereotype by portraying a powerful female character. In addition, her social abilities as a female high school student are challenged: she is placed into a situation where there is a specific desired response, but because of her lack of experience socializing with members of the group she is expected to blend in with, she fails to notice that her reaction is undesirable. She possesses all the physical qualities that are very feminine and clearly define her as a woman (long hair, soft features, thin, age-appropriate clothing), but lacks inner qualities that reflect that norm for women in our society, such as kindness, consideration, eagerness to please, empathy, and compassion.
