Sexy, sweet, and brainless are not terms normally reserved for the leading man of a show. But in Outlander, a Starz period drama set in 18th c. Scotland, a hunky ginger guy plays the eye candy role usually reserved for a pretty supporting actress.
Outlander (based on a series of novels by Diana Gabaldon) is the story of Claire Randall, a vacationing nurse who touches a standing stone while in the Scottish Highlands and accidentally time travels from her 1940’s life back into 18th-century. It’s a turbulent era, with the British struggling to control Scottish clans and bring its people to submission. Unable to figure out how to return to her own time and husband, Claire eventually marries Jamie Fraser for protection, escaping the clutches of the depraved English.
It is after their marriage that the Frasers’ love story unfolds. Jamie strides over the hills and dales, smiting down evil doers that trouble and attack Claire. He shines best when he’s wielding a sword and a rapier, taking orders, and/or romping in bed. He is there to serve and protect and make other women a touch jealous (or madly jealous) over Claire’s good luck. Jamie is a reversal of the Brainless Beauty with a Heart of Gold trope so often played by women on screen; this time the trope is fashioned into a romantic fantasy accessible and desirable to women.
Jamie’s roots lie deep within the world of romance novels. The whole point of Jamie is not to be Claire’s intellectual equal but to be her right hand man. And he does the job exceedingly well. Claire is the independent queen of her life and Jamie is the brawn to her brains, getting her out scrapes and explaining the simple laws of this time and its land so she can survive. He explains that in this era every man rules like a king over his wife and family. But this outlook does not work with Claire because she will brook no other rule than her own. After a few brushes with death, Claire slowly realizes she must follow Jamie’s instructions if she wants to live in a foreign and violent world. But instead of ruling over her, Jamie becomes her translator, her bridge to understanding and surviving a savage time.
Every episode of Outlander centers on Claire. Her decisions and actions push the episodes along. Background storylines about powerful characters are also told but they are only presented in as far as they ultimately effect Claire’s fate. Everyone either aids or hinders her. And since Claire is the center and everything shown affects her, it is through her gaze, the female gaze, that the story unfolds.
Jamie is her great aid but never the focus. Instead, he is what men have long demanded from women—an assistant for living. And he’s a loving assistant. His actions are marked not by petulance but love and admiration. In many scenes, Jamie and Claire talk and listen to one another. Whatever Claire tells him, Jamie believes her—he even believes she comes from the future and never doubts her. While his belief is nothing short of a miracle, it’s also the turning of a gender normative. Most women’s roles on TV shows and film center on listening, comforting, and believing distressed men. But in Outlander it is Jamie who listens, comforts, and believes in Claire.
Whatever myriad background storylines are afoot, filling out characters and making them multi-dimensional, the story always turns back to its main protagonist, Claire Fraser, an independent and strong woman. By keeping Claire in the center rather than Jamie, Outlander shouldn’t be breaking ground. And yet it is.
Straight white men and their stories dominate current television shows and there’s much work to be done to overcome this trend; Outlander is one step in the right direction. Its success proves that a female protagonist at the center of the show with a male sidekick can bring in millions of viewers. Here’s hoping it marks the beginning of a trend: high-profile television telling woman-centered stories. Today, it’s big news. In the future, Outlander’s success could help it become the norm.
Catherine Eaton is a contributor to The Stake. Catherine is a writer living in a western suburb of Chicago. She blogs over at sparrowpost.com and enjoys foraging around the neighborhood in her spare time.
Great piece, Cat. This show really has broken so many boundaries in television (male nudity, breastfeeding to name a few) but if it paves the way for shows that center around strong female protagonists that would be the greatest victory of all.
“paves the way for shows that center around strong female protagonists”? It hardly does that - starting w/Star Trek:Voyager in 1995, Ron’s Battlestar Galactica, then “Bones”, “In Plain Sight”, “Covert Affairs”, and several others (basically all of my favourite shows ), over the previous 20 years there have been no shortage of female protagonists on TV (as opposed to film, where there’s been hardly ANY).
Now if it had been optioned for TV back when when it was first published, that would be different. In 1990 whilst there were several ensemble casts that included women, there were only TWO (Golden Girls, Roseanne) that had female leads, and they were both comedies! Besides, I doubt Dr. G’s books would have EVER made it past the network censors :-P
The only point with which I disagree, is the thought of JAMMF being “Sexy, sweet, and brainless”. He is NOT brainless - he is a classically-educated British nobleman, fluent in several languages, well-read, and very intelligent. What I like best about him is that despite being SO much smarter and better educated than just about everyone around him, he doesn’t condescend to them. When Claire arrives on the scene, he respects her, prizes (not disdains) her intelligence, and does everything he can to protect her (largely from the results of her own ill-advised actions) to the point of his own destruction.
While there have definitely been female protagonists, and Jamie is a well-educated nobleman *on paper*, I’d say that the way his character plays out on screen in Outlander is still dead center in the “Adoring Love Interest/Sidekick” role. That, in particular, is the thing we’ve never seen much of on television…
Totally different serie but I always felt the same way about the character Carlos Fonnegra (played by Victor Webster) in Continuum. He is the handsome, loyal, naive not-too-bright male sidekick to our smart female hero Kiera Cameron (played by Rachel Nichols). I found that rather refreshing.
I haven’t watched Continuum but now I’m intrigued. Thanks for pointing out the similarity.
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