Really great day to not only be losing Kelli Giddish/Amanda Rollins, but real swell day to find out the current SVU showrunner has past predatory behavior from other shows he’s worked on. This was mainly aimed at crew members, but it wouldn’t surprise me if any allegations come out from other actors.
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ok it’s been days and though this is not the most aggravating thing about 11x03 of CF (which honestly, INSANELY, says a lot about how awful this episode was) it’s still worth being discussed so here is my hot take of an essay on why Sylvie’s monologue in this episode was absolute bullshit writing.
putting everything under the cut as always, just to clean up your dashboards. I hope you’re ready for some intellectually vocalized anger :))))
So listen. I get it. The “this job, this life… it forges you in steel” line is really cool. It’s a pretty fucking badass line, everyone can see that. But thematically, Sylvie’s monologue of an explanation for why she’s truly— no seriously— okay with her breakup with Matt is not only extremely out of character for her, but also brings up an issue I have had with the way the writers room, and One Chicago in general, writes female characters.
Sylvie uses the anecdote of the female stabbing victim who died by her side in season 6 to explain to Violet why the breakup isn’t affecting her as openly as expected. She says that when it happened, she cried in her car for days because she had a hard time dealing with it, but now she’s stronger than that. That statement in and of itself is completely antithetical to Sylvie Brett as a character. (And boy if you could see the utter fury with which I say that out loud.)
The story is fine, if she hadn’t already used it four seasons ago as a reason why Matt should seek help and open up about his feelings as opposed to pushing everyone out and internalizing it. That behaviour is what she condemned in season 7, because she regretted not having opened up and let others in to see that emotion. Now, in season 11, she all but embraces it. What she once used as a story to promote healthy emotional vulnerability is now being used to help her push her feelings down even further.
Which brings me to my larger thesis on the Chicago Fire writers: that these writers have no clue how to break free from their own unhealthy masculine ideas of strength to be able to write what real strength is. Because to me, claiming that Sylvie (in season 6) crying in her car was weak sends the message that crying itself is not a strong thing to do. That she somehow needed thicker skin.
I am well aware of the horrid nature of being a first responder. I know a thick skin is needed. But that still does not completely negate the sometimes therapeutic and healing value of having a good cry. Letting your emotions come out in whatever form they take in a moment, that is always a healthy thing. If you let an emotion exist as it is in a moment, whether it be crying or screaming into an open field or just straight taking a nap, it becomes easier to let it go. You’ve sat with the feeling, you know what it is and you’ve let yourself feel it wholly, and now you’re picking yourself up and trying to be happy again. You are not supposed to let a feeling consume you or make you scared, but you also aren’t suppoed to completely numb yourself to a feeling. There is a balance to be had.
So now you have Sylvie, saying she’s stronger than a version of herself who would cry when she felt sad (because wow, how terrifying would that have been). An extremely important relationship for her has ended— one she thought was it for her, the happy ending, the last relationship she thought she’d ever need— and she is refusing to shed a single tear. That is really disheartening, because women are often berated for being emotional and vulnerable, and now this development in Sylvie only enforces the idea that being an emotional, feeling, crying human being is somehow a sign of weakness. An error. A flaw. It is none of these things. Crying in healthy doses and being affected in moderation by the work you do and the things you experience is not only normal, but in itself a strong thing to do. Make no mistake: it is extremely brave to let yourself feel strong, raw emotions.
This is the same problem I had with Gabby Dawson. Now I promise with all my heart this is not “shit on Gabby Dawson” hour. I’m not trashing her character, I’m just pointing out something that bothered me with the way she was written. We are introduced to her in season 1 and immediately she is established as a total badass. She’s one of the boys, basically: she can match their speed and strength, she’s tough, cool, doesn’t take their digs personally, responds to things with anger first before sadness, doesn’t like relying on anyone. And as much as I loved that, I find that sometimes the writers overdid it wayyyyyy too much. Whether you like it or not, Gabby Dawson exemplified every trait of toxic masculinity: disregard for the rules and for authority being seen as badass, rarely cried when handling tough calls, an acute aversion to depending on anyone or anything. She was rewarded for it. She was the strong female character only because she was like the men.
Men have an idea in their heads of what it means to be strong, or to be a man, which almost always involves some sort of concealing of emotions. No crying, no honesty, no vulnerability with people you are close to. Just bear it all “like a real man would.” Stoicism is worshipped, placed on a pedestal and regarded as the ultimate show of strength. It is bullshit, and it bothers me when women show strength and emotion simultaneously and are then punished for it. It bothers me when men try and impose these very ideas onto women as well. Why should Sylvie Brett be seen as any weaker than the rest of her coworkers for letting herself feel sad and cry when she needed to cry? Why should a woman like her be seen as in need of some toughening up if she can cry that hard in her car and still go to work the next day with her head completely in the game? Why is what we consider femininity constantly mocked and undermined and seen as incompatible with strength?
Women? We are strong in our own ways. Our emotional openness is a pièce de résistance in today’s patriarchal society. We know it is a mark of strength. That is a fact.
Sylvie Brett has always been strong. She has been as strong when crying in Matt’s arms or embracing “femininity” by bringing flowers into the firehouse as she has been when she’s had a gun held to her head. This is non-negotiable, and the writers can never take that from me.
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