Xena's Feminine Mystique
by Marion Williams
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 63
Autumn 1999

Creating the Xenaverse

Xena COMBINES A MONTAGE of genres. It has been described by Ms magazine as "a delightfully schlock drama that often looks like Spartacus, American Gladiators and Mad Max all rolled into one".
Cheesy, slap-stick humour is woven into a tapestry of occult and mythological themes which draw us into a surreal world of heroic adventures. It is constructed in 'postmodern' filmic format, where postmodern means an aesthetic which emphasises the fragmentary nature of images, the appropriation of images from previously created images and their resistance to a single logical unity or subject position. In Xena we not only see fragmented representations of Greek and Roman mythology, but also a mismatched combination of cultural dress, language and history.

In the opening episode, "Sins of the Past", we hear Balkan women singing a chant with Bulgarian lyrics to what sound like Bulgarian Bagpipes and Eastern European drum rhythms. To this tune Xena travels to her home village of Amphipolis in ancient Greece. However, it is lush green countryside we see on screen.

Later, in the same episode, Xena, a Greek female warrior, uses Asian martial art moves on some villainous characters dressed in Northern European costumes whose leader is played by a Maori actor. Again, the time is ancient Greece but the dialogue is spoken in today's West Coast English. Adding to this montage, Xena is filmed in New Zealand.

Xena's story can only be understood in the context of her past; a past that we are not visually privy to, but which has left her with a deep legacy to be reckoned with. An on-line Xena devotee tells her story:
Tales of the Warrior Princess were told for years. She ravaged the Greek world as a bloodthirsty warlord, bent on nothing but evil. But she was not always such. She was once an ordinary young woman, who cared about her family and her village. But then a warlord named Cortese came, and laid waste to her home village of Amphipolis. Bent on preventing this from happening again, she embarked on a quest to keep all enemies of Amphipolis weak . . . But on one of her raids, she encountered a person that would forever change her life, and her outlook on it: Julius Caesar. After he betrayed her and subjected her to crucifixion she was rescued by a female warrior who helped her find healing. Xena then changed into a bloodthirsty killer.

For years, she travelled the world, wandering into many wars as a mercenary, then finally forming her own army to terrorise the peaceful Grecian countryside. On her journeys she met Lao Ma, a ruler of an Eastern faction who saved Xena from the king, and began to teach her some form of mysticism. She learnt the ability to move objects with the power of one's mind, and to harness the energy that flows around us all. Xena's first attempts were poor, and she was never able to utilise these powers until very recently. But it was a run-in with the noble Hercules, son of Zeus that diverted her from her evil ways, onto the path of righteousness. She has become a fighter for truth and justice, but she can never forgive herself for her past misdeeds.

It might also be noted that Xena's pillaging and plundering history took a dramatic turn when she rescued a baby and was abandoned by her troops. It is here at the 'turn around' that we are invited to participate.

To: Xena as 'Wish Fulfilment'

Marion Williams Marion Williams is a counsellor specialising in sexuality and gender, and director of Women's Ministries at Exodus, South Melbourne. She wishes to thank Xena-fan, Dr. Louise MacIntosh, for her kind input into this article. e-mail: Maz_Williams@iname.com