Sadly, the season finale of Yellowjackets has come and gone, which means my Friday nights are no longer reserved for clutching my comforter while watching the newest episode. If you don’t know, Yellowjackets follows a high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashed in the middle of the woods. This survival story becomes something very strange and extremely dark.
Blood. Secrets. Forest God? Still not really sure on that one, but what is truly clear is this: lots of cannibalism. And while the gore and chaos are at the front, Yellowjackets somehow gives this vibe of… feminism?
Definitely not in the “girl power!” way, where no hair braiding, affirmations, or “perfect” solidarity is occuring. It is more so a feminism that came from crowning an antler queen and eating one another to survive. Brutal. Honest. But, honest. The female characters are far from perfect, but extremely raw, flawed, and very complex. They aren’t defined by the terms victims or heroes that made it out- they are human.
Let’s look at Misty. Young Misty is extremely awkward, and really she just wants to be seen as the group. She wants to feel important, and when she does start to feel that way, she makes it permanent by smashing the flight recorder so the team can’t be rescued. But, don’t worry, she also preps human meat for dinner so they all survive. She is extremely unsettling, but she is loyal. She doesn’t fit inside a box, she is a contradiction, like most people are.
But this show isn’t only driven by its characters, but also by its diversity. We see a wide range of racial, ethnic, and economic identities, as well as different sexual orientations and mental health journeys. These girls demonstrate survival, connection, clashing, and growing. However, it all boils down to the question: how do we survive and propset when we are just so different?
And the answer? Nothing can be done by yourself. Yellowjakcets is about longing for community, connection, and shared experience (even if these experiences are very weird). There is this strange parallel between their bond to the wilderness, and how girls in the real world are taught to stick together- to walk each other home, look out for each other at parties, and even in life. The Yellowjakcets’ idea of “sticking together” may not be all that relatable and involve some sort of mask and sacrifice, but the sentiment still carries.
The creators of Yellowjackets envisioned a world where women were not survivors, but they ruled. It is dark, messy, and quite honestly the complete opposite of a utopia. But, within this space, gender roles are completely dismantled, and the idea of femininity is thrown into the burning cabin (haha do you get it). These women become cult leaders and members, hunters, caretakers, and much more.
So, Yellowjackets really does show feminism, in a very peculiar way. It recognizes a woman’s capacity for everything- love, violence, leadership, and more. It shows us what women can do when pushed to the edge, and the power that comes with this newfound solidarity, even if it is chaotic.