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“Castle” helps us adjust to a new America, with women on top

Larry Kummer, Editor

Summary: The tv show “Castle” prepares us for a New America, as Kate Beckett grows larger and Richard Castle becomes smaller. As women’s education levels increasingly surpass men’s, incomes and status of women will follow. Gender roles will have to adjust, radically. This is the essence of Feminism. Hollywood helps us adapt by showing possible futures, which we can discuss — and prepare for — like the long decay of Castle from alpha to beta, and his failed attempt to reverse it. We’ll see more such stories in the future, on screen and in real life. Post your thoughts in the comments.  Warning: season 7 spoilers galore!

“Oh, wow. You’re engaged to a douche.”
— Rogan O’Leary (Beckett’s husband),  speaking to her about Castle

Sensing his weakness, Beckett’s abuses Castle in S01E01

Contents

  1. The mystery resolved!
  2. From the start Beckett saw weakness
  3. Over time Castle grew smaller
  4. Other posts about “Castle”
  5. Other posts about women

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(1)  The mystery resolved!

At the end of season 6 Castle had an epiphany. Beckett’s serial deceits (details here) culminated with her “forgetting” that she was married (exquisite from the woman who mocked Castle’s two divorces by saying “I’m a one and done girl”). He saw his evolution from the ruggedly handsome, rebellious, action hero of Season One into a beta. Castle realizes that he shares Rogan’s contempt at what he’s become.

The show ends with a cliff-hanger: Castle kidnapped while driving to his wedding. In the opener of season 7 Castle has amnesia, but the NYPD detectives discover who arranged the kidnapping. The answer is exactly as I predicted. {Transcript from Series Monitor}

In S07E02 Castle tracks down a man who knows what happened, and so learns the source of his amnesia: “… you were the one who asked to forget.” The mystery for season 7: what did he want to forget, and why?

Here’s my guess. Each of us has the capacity for self renewal. Castle has forged new versions of himself, from high school prankster to millionaire novelist to A-team detective.  At the end of season 6 he decided to make a clean break with his old life, using his incredible Rolodex of contacts to arrange the faking of his death — and a rebirth. But he lost his nerve, asked for the memory of all this to be erased, and then blindly fled to await his return to Beckett. Renewal is difficult, and painful — too much for the man he’d become.

Let’s review why Castle decided to bail on his life, and what happened after he returned to it. Reminder: spoilers!

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Beckett humiliates Castle in “Hedge Fund Homeboys”

From the start Beckett saw weakness

Castle is praised for its gender equality. See the photos at the top and to the right. Imagine this reversed, Castle so lightly inflicting pain on Beckett. Publicly.

What kind of man accepts this? It’s very beta. It’s behavior of a sub.

In this we see Beckett’s insight and strength that she so quickly sensed the weakness in Castle, and boldly exploited it to manipulate him.

Over time Castle grew smaller

(a)  He’s a writer; she’s a cop. He’s proud of his skill at Scrabble. She beats him at it, twice, in “Law and Boarder” (S06E21). Skill by skill, she proves herself his superior.

(b)  Castle was a good shot. From “Home Is Where the Heart Stops (S01E07; from Series Monitor):

Hero of the show

Later, he’s a bad shot. From “The Human Factor” (S05E23; from Series Monitor):

Update, another example: in S07E07 “Once Upon a Time in the West” Castle was in a shoot-out with the bad guy — but fumbles the gun. Beckett saves Castle by shooting the gun out of the bad guy’s hand.

(c)  Once back with Beckett, Castle continues his decay in Season 7, as in S0702 (from Series Monitor). Pitifully, he begs permission to travel, gaining permission — but only with his daughter along as a minder. How many men would sink so low?

(d)  We learn that if they had never met, Beckett’s career would have been a bigger success — while Castle’s would have crashed and burned (failure as an author, then losing his money in bad investments). What a crushing blow to his ego! Ashamed of this knowledge, lied to conceal it from Beckett and quickly marries her. Imagine the conversation if he had told her the truth.

No wonder there are rumors that Nathan Fillion will leave after this season.

Other posts in this series about “Castle”

Castle gives us a mirror in which we can see ourselves, skillfully constructed by the best producers, actors, and technicians in Hollywood.

  1. Spoilers for “Castle”: explaining the finale & season 7. It’s a metaphor for America.
  2. What we do here. Why it’s unpopular. And our new theme.
  3. What the TV show “Castle” teaches us about America, and ourselves, — About our myths
  4. The TV show “Castle” challenges us to see our changing values. Most fans decline, horrified.
  5. “Castle” shows us marriage in America, a fault line between our past & future
  6. “Castle” shows us a dark vision of Romance in America
  7. Richard Castle shows us the dark reality of justice in 21st C America
  8. “Castle” shows that many of us don’t defend New America because we don’t like it
  9. The bitter fruits of our alienation from America — more lessons from “Castle”

For More Information

Other posts about women in society:

  1. The Real Revolution in Military Affairs (it’s not what you think), 14 November 2005
  2. Women dominating the ranks of college graduates – What’s the effect on America?, 7 July 2009
  3. A better answer to “why women outperform men in college?”, 8 July 2009
  4. Women as soldiers – an update, 25 August 2009
  5. Update: women on top of men, 27 October 2009

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