Social media is a big influence in our life, right? Right, obviously you're reading a blog, which is a media that is pretty social. But, the media I want to talk about today is television, specifically a little program called Castle on ABC.
I like Castle for many reasons. First off, the character the show is based off of is this fun writer dude. I want to be just like him! A famous writer (or just a writer will do) and someone who can easily keep in touch with his inner kid and unleash his creativity. And it's a murder-mystery show, which is one of my favorite genres of television.
Now, Castle, the character, has a deal with the city and is allowed to tag along with Detective Beckett while she solves murder cases to seek inspiration and such for his murder-mystery novels. Detective Beckett is who I want to talk about right now. She's a feminists dream come true.
Beckett is hella strong. Hella. She just owns every room she walks in because she has this grand dominance about herself. It's not her yelling at people, it's simply that she is Beckett and is confident. People know she's in power by how she acts. She's calm in every situation and can lead people with a genuine ease.
She's smart, I mean you have to in order to be one of New York's best detectives. She doesn't flaunt her smarts by being mean and loud. Like, do you ever see shows where the woman is smarter than everyone else typically and she just shouts and gets frustrated at them for being dumb? That's not Beckett. She works well with people and just informs them of her knowledge and they let her in on their own to help solve the case.
Beckett is aggressive. When she needs to she will be rough. She'll demand information out of suspects with as much for as necessary. She isn't afraid to run into action. She will stand up for what she believes in, even if it has dire consequences.
She's honorable. She's been searching for the justice her murdered mother deserves for years and refused to stop until she succeeded. She will always stand up for those she loves with a selflessness that can only be found in a very few strong people.
And the best part, Beckett in no way can be classified as a bitch. She is just this great detective who does her job very well. And she does it with a little help too.
There's Castle, of course. He's very nice. A single man with a daughter who is fun-loving and compassionate. I like the way he kind of balances his personality. Early in the show he was this lavish writer with money to burn and woman to make swoon. But he's evolved. He's not the most serious person and defies this idea that all men are either mindless or the dominant role.
That's not true with Richard Castle. Beckett very often keeps him in his place on the team, he's important to the team, but Beckett is the leader and he knows it. And he's a family man, he's not distant from his daughter, they actually have this wonderful relationship that most parents dream of. They're open with each other and still play laser tag together.
Lanie, like Beckett. She's the independent and smart medical examiner on the show. She's a lot like Beckett in ways that she's a leader in a male-dominated field but acts like a normal human and not a dramatic woman role.
Then there's the pair of Esposito and Ryan. These two best friends are great. Esposito is this very big masculine macho man. He's muscle and hard working, and a bit of a ladies man. Ryan is smaller, he's married and a new daddy! Some might say he's "softer" than Esposito and maybe more feminine, but I like Ryan just the way he is. He lives his own life and is just as good a detective as any member of the team. Like normal people, these two have their strengths and weakness.
Ryan strength is the books, research and such, but that doesn't mean that he never leaves his desk. And just because Espositos is obviously very strong and a real fighter doesn't mean he spends his free time at the gym waiting to get the call to chase a bad guy down the street and take him down. Both can be seen doing their equal share of these jobs. Ryan will go out on the field and Esposito can be seen sitting at a desk buried in papers researching and working his brain.
A pretty recent change is in captains at the police station. It was a man who everyone was familiar with, he had their back and supported their outlandish ideas because he trusted them as much as they trusted him. Now, this brave man is gone. And to fill his shoes is Captain Victoria Gates.
When she first came everyone HATED her. She was this obscenely aggressive woman who stuck to the rule book and let nothing happen. She even threatened to take away Castle's right to be a part of the team, even though at this point he'd become a key member. But then we started to see a softer side of Captain Gates and she loosened up. She started to become a part of the family like the past Captain. Captain Gates is a very strong woman, she's still strict and defensive, but it's for the better. She stopped looking like a mindless robot and became more human.
The great thing about this show is that the characters are human they aren't overly this and overly that, they're balanced. They don't stick to stereotypes and show the proper emotion when the time is right. They have individual personalities and fit together like a nice family. There is no dumb-nut and smart-mouth, just equals in their own individual ways.
