More Thoguhts on Cerebus
Immediately after my last post, I hit the first of what I assume will be many scenes that are a little hard to swallow in Cerebus. I was well aware going in of Sim's somewhat controversial views on feminism, but, to date, the book had actually been pretty interesting as far as its thoughts on theology and politcs and such, but this sequence was certainly a little off-putting.
(There are going to be some significant spoilers ahead, if A) anyone is reading this and B) cares)
So, the sequence in question involves Cerebus, in his capacity as Pope, interrogating his former advisor Astoria (who has just killed the other Pope). She has a long history of manipulating Cerebus in a variety of ways, but usually in a non-sexual fashion. This time, she offers to have sex with Cerebus. He hesitates, and she takes the opportunity to gloat that he can't as he's married and, despite his overall amoral pursuit of money and power, he is still an orthodox Tarimite and cannot have sex outside of marriage. This sets Cerebus off and, as an infallible Pope, annuls his previous marriage and marries Astoria, then proceeds to gag and rape her.
It's a rough scene to read. Part of it is, of course, that I tend to identify with Cerebus and his overall sense of misanthropy, and I'm damn sure there is no amount of gloating that could get me to rape anyone. I certainly get Sim's explanation (at least the one he's giving now) about the idea behind the scene. If infallibility is granted upon you, there's not really anything to keep you from doing anything you want. Cerebus is effectively immune from all judgement - either on a temporal legal level or in a larger spiritual sense. It's even more all-encompassing a free pass than the "if the President does it, it must be legal" line of thinking.
Still, it's an odd narrative choice to make your protagonist a rapist. (It's worth pointing out here that Sim, to his credit, definitively refers to this as rape and expressed dismay that the bulk of his letters were of the "she was asking for it" variety) I know Cerebus isn't supposed to be a role model, but there are those of us for whom rape is a much less forgiveable offense than baby killing (which is always good for a laugh).
Regardless, it does provide for some interesting characterization. Astoria's taunting (which certainly seems to have been accurate) does highlight Cerebus' inability to move beyond the fairly simple logic of Orthodox Tarimism (which is to say "Roman Catholicism"). Despite all his professed desire for gold, power, and revenge, he's still bound by an arbitrary set of rules that really no longer applies to him. Even after the rape, he certainly seems to feel uncomfortable about his actions. Neither character discusses what happened afterwards, though I expect it to become a significant issue down the road.
So, rough to read, but an interesting choice.
(There are going to be some significant spoilers ahead, if A) anyone is reading this and B) cares)
So, the sequence in question involves Cerebus, in his capacity as Pope, interrogating his former advisor Astoria (who has just killed the other Pope). She has a long history of manipulating Cerebus in a variety of ways, but usually in a non-sexual fashion. This time, she offers to have sex with Cerebus. He hesitates, and she takes the opportunity to gloat that he can't as he's married and, despite his overall amoral pursuit of money and power, he is still an orthodox Tarimite and cannot have sex outside of marriage. This sets Cerebus off and, as an infallible Pope, annuls his previous marriage and marries Astoria, then proceeds to gag and rape her.
It's a rough scene to read. Part of it is, of course, that I tend to identify with Cerebus and his overall sense of misanthropy, and I'm damn sure there is no amount of gloating that could get me to rape anyone. I certainly get Sim's explanation (at least the one he's giving now) about the idea behind the scene. If infallibility is granted upon you, there's not really anything to keep you from doing anything you want. Cerebus is effectively immune from all judgement - either on a temporal legal level or in a larger spiritual sense. It's even more all-encompassing a free pass than the "if the President does it, it must be legal" line of thinking.
Still, it's an odd narrative choice to make your protagonist a rapist. (It's worth pointing out here that Sim, to his credit, definitively refers to this as rape and expressed dismay that the bulk of his letters were of the "she was asking for it" variety) I know Cerebus isn't supposed to be a role model, but there are those of us for whom rape is a much less forgiveable offense than baby killing (which is always good for a laugh).
Regardless, it does provide for some interesting characterization. Astoria's taunting (which certainly seems to have been accurate) does highlight Cerebus' inability to move beyond the fairly simple logic of Orthodox Tarimism (which is to say "Roman Catholicism"). Despite all his professed desire for gold, power, and revenge, he's still bound by an arbitrary set of rules that really no longer applies to him. Even after the rape, he certainly seems to feel uncomfortable about his actions. Neither character discusses what happened afterwards, though I expect it to become a significant issue down the road.
So, rough to read, but an interesting choice.
posted by padgett at
6:15 PM
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