Autonomous Rebels Of The Patriarchy: The Troubled Fates Of Lyra and Ms. Coulter
Philip Pullman’s series His Dark Materials is renowned and scorned alike for its criticisms of potentially toxic societal conventions, including things such as social class struggles, the manipulation of religion, and other varied means of discrimination. Aside from the apparent racial clashes, another commonly portrayed method of discrimination in the books is sexism, and the path to overcoming it. Pullman’s novels portray a chiefly patriarchal society, but it is important to note that both the protagonist and antagonist are indeed female, and what effect this has on the book – especially considering the fact they are both portrayed as autonomous leaders.
With regards to the traditional western society, autonomous leaders are most valued, because they stereotypically represent a force of undeniable and often unquestioned power. The autonomous leadership style is, as defined by Gilligan: Competencies and Visions, one in which “the leader characteristically is one who acts or is delegated to act for others” (191). Its counterpart is interdependency, which is where the individual takes feedback from a group into account when coming to a decision. According to this study, autonomous leadership is more common in males while women follow more interdependent styles. Therefore, Pullman’s choice to give his two lead women a more traditionally masculine leadership method is significant.
Ms. Coulter is a prime example of strong, autonomous female leadership; she is a sweet, dainty woman on the outside, which she uses to her advantage. She manages to manipulate the magisterium’s fear of Dust under a facade of daintiness and elegance which convinces them to trust her – and reeks of, as Lyra notes, “the smell of glamour” when it comes to her confidence and lavish lifestyle (210). Ms. Coulter truly exemplifies the female stereotype, although keeps her wits about her so that she can, siren-like, get precisely what she’s after. Indeed, she manages to coax children into her open arms despite her foul intentions, as, stated by guest at a (in the film, nonexistent) party, “what child could resist her?” (263). Her demeanor creates a false sense of security which allows those around her to let their guard down and do a significant amount of damage and gain autonomy while living up to societal expectations of [weaponized] femininity. She bends societal norms to her will to carve a name for herself and assert her dominance.
In the movie rendition, however, Ms. Coulter’s leadership is much less apparent. She is hardly given screen time devoid of a crowd of surrounding male figures, and seems to be much more a part of the system than the one spearheading her own mission. Ms. Coulter is still shown in the film to be knowledgeable and witty, flaunting her facts about the north and King Ragnar’s mentality before Lyra as a means of enticing her; nevertheless, she is portrayed much more provocatively. During her entrance to the College, Ms. Coulter wears much more suggestive attire than depicted in the book and appears to flirt her way into the scholars’ arms as a means of coaxing them into relinquishing Lyra to her. To put it more simply, the movie depiction of Ms. Coulter represents the feminine stereotype of sexual appeal versus feigned innocence and charisma, which in many regards is much more sexist than the former. This portrayal weakens the movie’s validity on the subject of leadership with the implication that Ms. Coulter is only able to win over Jordan College by taking advantage of men’s lust, and while perhaps effective is not a positive message to female viewers.
Lyra, conversely, rebels against the system. She has been noted early on into the books as refusing to act proper, favoring the company of boys, and wreaking havoc on the Scholars of Jordan, who have “more important things to do than attend to the affections of a half-wild, half civilized girl” (59). Lyra is considered by many as unladylike, and efforts are made by those around her to acknowledge this as some form of flaw on her part – efforts which evidently fail in the end. Lyra utilizes autonomous leadership by using her strength and intellect, and scarcely takes the input of others except her own daemon (which, in the context of the book, is not much different than conversing with herself). She is a formidable opponent for Ms. Coulter and the magisterium, and shows prowess in her abilities to stifle Iofur (named Ragnar in the film) by convincing him that she is Iorek’s daemon. While unapologetically unapproachable by many means, Lyra knows precisely what she needs to do in order to achieve her goals, and goes out to do it – a message which hopefully empowers young women to do the same.
The movie rendition of Lyra is, much like their take on Ms. Coulter, much less impactful; she is given all information required for her to complete her mission by Ms. Coulter, The Master of Jordan, or her Uncle Asriel, and merely needs to string it together (examples of this are but not limited to Ragnar’s desire for a daemon, the information on panserbjorne, and the fixing form of one’s daemon). The inquisitive nature of Lyra as portrayed in the book is almost nonexistent on the big screen, and puts a damper on her autonomy as she more or less follows what she is told without question.
The movie rendition of The Golden Compass is, especially when compared to the book, deeply dissatisfying with its portrayal of leadership. The film took two strong independent women and objectified them, or merely forced them further into the laws of an undeniably patriarchal society. Without explicitly depicted rebellion of the system which was quite apparent in the novel, the movie paints the world as difficult, if not impossible, to overcome gendered stereotypes, with very few ways for a women to lead in that society. The movie does not depict strong female leadership, and sends a message of submission to its female viewers – one which should not be encouraged.
Works Cited
Lyons, Nona P., Jane Forbes Saltonstall, And Trudy J. Hanmer. “Competencies and Visions.”
Gilligan, Carol, et al. Making Connections: the Relational Worlds of Adolescent Girls at Emma Willard School. Harvard University Press, 1990.
Pullman, Philip, and Chin Wong. The Golden Compass. Muses, 2002.
