These Precious Things: Part Five

THESE PRECIOUS THINGS

A Feminist Critique of the Magical Girl Archetype as Seen in 

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 

This is an analysis of the first season of the anime series, based on subtitles. I understand that this means it is being translated and some word meanings may change, so it is best to view this as a critique from my understanding of the story. That should go without saying, but sometimes people need to be reminded. Also, spoilers. If you don't like spoilers, do not continue reading.

The Emptiness of Duty

After the wishes are made, after their souls have been taken, what the Magical Girls are now left with is duty. They made the contract to fight the witches and to fight the familiars of the witches. Life still continues. The day to day mundane things are the same. But when a witch arrives, the Magical Girl must fight her and hopefully win.  She must gain the witch's Grief Seed so she can clean her own Soul Gem. This fight is all she has left.

Some of them handle it better than others. Mami fights and fights well, with a mostly positive attitude about things.  Of course, her wish was to save her own life during a car wreck, so she lacks the bitterness some of the other experience. Even still, she confesses to Madoka that she feels very, very lonely most of the time, and is happy to have more magical girls to help her.  Kyoko, who has been devastated by the consequences of her wish, adopts a cavalier perspective about her duties.  She does this to get Grief Seeds and for only that reason.   Nothing else matters.

In many ways, Kyoko has the most realistic and practical perspective on the situation.  Yes, she knows she has to fight and that it's hallow and meaningless, but at least there is some benefit to it.  Kyoko lives her life indulgently because she knows she could die at any moment. This is all she has left to her, so make the most of it.

The problem with the concept of duty is that it's just that . . . duty.  You do it because you're basically forced to or at least feel you're being forced to.  This isn't something you WANT to do. And when people don't want to do something, they tend to get resentful about it.  Eventually, they find ways around it.

Kyoko is also seen as bad and selfish because she lives for herself. Duty is not her priority. She is her priority. The others treat her like she's some kind of monster at first, because she is so self-motivated.

In the lives of young girls, self-motivated behaviors are discouraged. Girls who act this way are usually called selfish bitches and viewed as bad people. People want girls to be dutiful.  In fact, in some cultures, if girls are not dutiful, they can face mutilation and death. In other cultures, girls are mutilated to ensure they are dutiful. All in all, it is a matter of controlling them as much as possible.

This is because girls are viewed more as resources than as people. Potential mates. Potential breeders. Potential wives. All of these things are about OTHER people and what the girl can offer them, instead of the girl herself.  Who she is is less important than what she is.  Girls in all cultures get this from so many different people. Parents, friends, boyfriends, society in general.  Over and over again, it is pressed on them to due their duty.

As I said though, the tricky thing about duty is that it isn't something we want to do. If we wanted to do it, we wouldn't view it as a "duty." The problem with many of the duties that girls are asked to perform is that they involve emotional responses. No one can force an emotional response, so the girl is left with the choice of pretending to feel the emotion or just shutting down completely.  Neither of these options appeal to those forcing the duty.  This often makes things even worse.