Dear Reader,
This is the first post in a series examining how HBO limited series The Regime treats women, power, and (most importantly) women in power, using the website TV Tropes and other literary criticism as our guide.
Here’s a brief recap of the fundamental tropes I expect to show up in The Regime, and one in particular that I hope doesn’t appear.
(Back)Grounding Tropes
Men Are Generic, Women Are Special: Consider this the free space on your BINGO card. No one would bat an eye if The Regime were about a male dictator—and admit it, “male dictator” sounds redundant. One has to specify “female dictator.”
Ruritania: A stereotypical, nebulously situated Eastern European or Balkans nation. Originally referred to a Central European backwater; The Regime is filmed in part in Vienna, Austria. Also the title of an episode in the last series of The Crown that deals with the seemingly useless archaic roles and titles in the royal household.
The Woman-Hating Trope That Needs A Name
Competent woman meets man. Competent woman loses competence (and/or virginity, throne, self-respect). Woman is destroyed by love.
I looked hard for this one, but could not find a name that fit it. Of course, there’s the obviously-named, and similar, Love Makes You Dumb and the more cynical Lust Makes You Dumb, along with Love Makes You Crazy. But none of these have a sexist edge.
If I were to give a “less than academic” name to this trope, it would be this:
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