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Gothic Girls Gone Wild: Riverdale’s Recrafting of Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge
For
decades, the Archie comics have
depicted the fictional world of Riverdale and while doing so explicitly and
implicitly addressed era-relevant social issues. Two characters have consistently
been at the forefront of transgressive interests since their first appearances
in 1941 and 1942: Betty Cooper, sweet girl-next-door, and Veronica Lodge, privileged
debutante. These characters have been reinvented and freshly envisioned in the CW’s
series, Riverdale. The world
surrounding Archie Andrews, already dynamic as it has been developed over an
extended period of time via multiplatform storytelling, has been updated, intensified,
and othered. This multilayered amplification of setting provides an effective
backdrop for the revitalized Archie characters
but also complicates the understanding of the degree to which Betty and
Veronica have been recrafted in a way that makes them currently relevant when
situated in the conversations and politics of this #metoo era.
Intergenerational
family dysfunction, secret societies, predatory men, marginalized women—all are
classic elements of gothic fiction and all are present in CW’s Riverdale. Deconstructing the strategic
and central role of setting in Riverdale
provides a fuller opportunity to evaluate the influence of these tropes on the
characterizations of Betty and Veronica. Have the characters truly been
recrafted in ways that acknowledge the changing roles of heroines in present popular
culture? Or has their potential been undervalued and they been used as tropes
themselves? Once the impact of the gothic setting is identified and
disconnected from the overall narrative, an isolated assessment of the
depictions of Betty and Veronica is accomplished.
Throughout
the decades, Betty and Veronica have always been central characters and social
activists involved in gender politics. Their new depiction honors that
tradition. Despite, or perhaps because of, being a broadcast television show, Riverdale intersects with mainstream
popular culture. As part of that culture, the series represents the interests
and concerns of its audience. Are the CW’s modernized versions of Betty and
Veronica fully actualized meaningfully transgressive characters? Or are they
foils to showcase the boundary-crossing actions and attitudes of others? An
analysis of the translations of Betty and Veronica from the pages of comics to
the screens of televisions affords an opportunity to examine the ways in which
they have and have not been recrafted to reflect and inform on present
attitudes of gender politics, such as commodification of sexuality and gender
performativity, as well as consider to what degree these heroines have been
fully respected as heroines with unique voices.
Note: This is an abstract for a work in progress.
Note: This is an abstract for a work in progress.
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