The 100 Through The Eyes of Feminism and Psychoanalysis

In 2013 Kass Morgan has published her book ”The 100”. One year later, Jason Rothenberg decided to transform Kass Morgan’s book into a TV Series. That’s how, “the post-apocalyptic science fiction drama” (Source: web, Wikipedia: The 100) has been born. The first episode tv series was broadcast March 19, 2014, on The CW.

The action of the first season of the tv series is placed 97 years after a nuclear apocalypse. In order to ensure the mankind survival, „The Ark” (stuck to the Earth’s orbit) was formed. It was a station that housed over 2400 people, divided into another 12 stations. When the leaders Thelonious Jaha, Marcus Kane and Dr. Abby Griffin found out that The Ark can no longer protect them in space, they’ve tried to find a solution for surviving again. That’s why they decided to send a ship back to Earth in order to find out if it is habitable again if the radiations are gone. In that ship, they sent 100 prisoners, like Clarke Griffin, Bellamy and Octavia Blake, Jasper Collins, Monty Green, Raven Reyes, Finn Collins, John Murphy and Wells Jaha. The 100 kids that were sent back to Earth discovered a lot of things, that some part of the humanity has survived: the Grounders that were divided into clans, another grounder that was cannibals and Mountain Men ( they were living in Mount Weather) who were staying in the Mount before the apocalypse.

The action in the second season is placed into the Mount Weather or on Earth. After a lot of conflicts between the 100, a battle with the Grounders, 52 of them died. The ones that remained alive were taken to Mount Weather. Here, the Mountain Main wanted them to feel safe, like home, so they gave them food, clothes, a place to live and sleep. Still, Clarke was feeling that something wasn’t alright. Later on, she discovered that the Mountain Men were using their blood and one of some Grounders that they captured so that they can survive on the outside world because the radiation was able to kill them. Because on the Ark the life conditions were worsening, they decided to separate the stations again to try to come back to Earth. Some of them did it and the others lost their lives in the contact with the Atmosphere. In order to save the kids that were prisoners on Mount Weather, the people from the Ark made an alliance with the Grounders. In the third season, the people from The Ark have chosen a new leader, Pike and he decided to declare war to The Grounders. Jaha has found A.L.I.E, who was made by the 13 station on space. A.L.I.E is the one that created the nuclear apocalypse. Jaha is controlled by her and he’s the one that convinces the people from Arkadia( the name that the people from The Ark use now) and Polis ( the capital city of the Grounders).

In the end, Clarke has destroyed A.L.I.E. In the fourth season, the humankind confronts with a new problem: the planet will be hit by another wave of radiation stronger than the one from 97 years ago. Even if you came from the Sky or you are from the Earth, you’re body can’t handle this new wave of radiation so you’ll die. That’s the reason why The Grounders and the people from Arkadia will collaborate for finding a way to get of this alive. The solution that they found was transforming everybody into Nightbloods, but unfortunately, the plan failed. Jaha found a bunker that could offer salvation for 1200 people. Fights had started between the Grounders and the Sky people and at their end, 11 leaders of the clans lost their lives. Octavia is the one who won the fight and she decided that the bunker will be shared ( 100 people from each clan will live in it). A few kids from the 100 prisoners that came to Earth went back to the Ark and Clarke( who became a Nightblood) sacrificed herself and remained alone to face death by helping her friends to return back on the Ark.

From my point of view, one of the feminist characters in this tv series is Clare Griffin. From the moment when the ship with the 100 prisoners reached the ground, she proved that she’s smart, kind, trustworthy and determined. She and Bellamy had a fight with each other because they didn’t know who should be in charge on the ground. She always tried to treat the people equally no matter where they were from, she was concerned more with the needs of the ones around her. She even gave second chances to the ones that have done wrong things, like John Murphy. Clarke is the one that suggested that they need water and food in order to survive and they can obtain those only if they decide to work together. Because she’s the daughter of the doctor from the Ark, whose one of the leaders, the kids tend not to listen to her advice, but slowly when they realize that she’s right, she gained their respect. Even if she’s just 18 “she is courageous, artistic, fierce and incredibly smart for her age when it comes to political decisions, quickly gaining the utmost respect from her fellow delinquents.” By making a lot of sacrifices for assuring the welfare of the others she proved herself worthy to be called a leader. She stopped A.L.I.E and tried to find solutions for ensuring the humankind salvation.

But, maybe because she’s young or because of the loss of her father, she also took bad decisions. Together with Bellamy, they exposed the people from Mount Weather to radiation, causing their deaths. As a consequence, they’ve lost Jasper trust, because he was in love with a Mountain girl. She received the name Wanda for killing the Mountain Men from the Grounders.

After seeing the way in which the people from the ground respect and listen to Clarke the leaders from the Ark decided that the young ones should take the lead here, on Earth. Also, Clarke came out as bisexual on this tv series. She had a relationship in the first season with Finn, in the third one with Lexa, the commander of the Grounders and in the fourth one with Niylah. And, in the end, she decided to sacrifice herself in order to help her friends survive, by staying behind. Still, she managed to survive because of her Nightblood blood.

By being a strong character, one that fights for the things that she believed in, by showing kindness, by treating the people around her equally and by not being afraid to love even somebody of the same sex, Clarke Griffin represents a feminist character. From my point of view, another feminist character could be Raven Reyes. After she built a special ship with Abby’s help, she went on Earth without the consent of the Leaders from The Ark. One of the reasons why she wanted to go on Earth desperately was that The Ark lost contact with the ship of the 100 prisoners and two, her boyfriend, Finn Collins was on that ship, because of her. She landed safely on Earth and made possible the communication with The Ark. She made weapons for the 100. In a way or another, Raven has some personality traits similar to Clarke’s. She’s also strong, smart, determined. In very occasions, she expressed exactly what she was feeling. Sometimes, she was violent but like Clarke, she also sacrifices herself in order to help her friends survive. Not taking into account her physical pain, she works diligently for solutions to save the humankind. On season four, after several strokes, she was on the point to let herself die, alone on the bunker. But, she found the strength to continue fighting and that’s how she repaired the rocket that brought back to spare her friends and her when the wave of radiation hit the Earth. She was never afraid to express her feelings, her thoughts. Raven is strong, especially mentally and can survive even by herself.

From a psychoanalytic point of view, in this tv series, we can find a few concepts of psychoanalysis like latency, ambivalence and Free Association. This concept can be used to describe the state of Clarke Griffin when she realized what she had done by killing the Mountain Men. In order to save her friends and loved ones, she has chosen to expose the people and children, who kept them prisoners on Mount Weather, to radiation. She took the decision together with Bellamy by saying “I bear it, so they don’t have to.” ( Season 2, Episode 16: “Blood Must Have Blood (Part 2)”, Clarke Griffin to Bellamy when they opened the door and allowed the radiation to enter into Mount Weather) and right after that, she wasn’t able to understand the consequences of her acts. She felt nothing. But, after a while, she realized what she has done, that she has the blood of her friends and of the other people in her hands. Clarke couldn’t find peace any longer and decided to leave her camp, to live by herself, as sort of a punishment.

Another concept can be considered ambivalence and it can be applied to the character John Murphy. I had different feelings about him on this four seasons. In the beginning, I really hated him. He was a violent person, he was doing things in order to harm the others, he was selfish. Later on, I found out why he was this kind of man: he lost his father, who has stolen medicine for him when he was a kid and got sick ( he committed a crime on the Ark, so he was executed) and his mother blamed him for his father death all her life. On the last two seasons of the tv series, he changed. He tried to help the people around him, he tried to obtain their forgiveness, he has stolen medicine to help a girl, a Grounder who was affected by radiation and he learned to love through Emori. Beginning from this moments, I started to see him from another light.

And, the other concept that can be met into The 100 is Free Association and it can be applied to the character Octavia Blake. On The Ark the people respected a policy: a family could have only one child. Her mother hid her second pregnancy, and after she was born she had to live in a compartment under the floor. Years later, she was found by the authorities and locked up in the prison of the Ark. She was sent to Earth with the others 99 prisoners and here, she becomes free. So, she decided to do everything she wasn’t allowed to do on the Ark: to love, to fight, to think, to hope. She wasn’t afraid to express her opinions, her thoughts. Octavia is a courageous, beautiful, bold woman.

The TV Series The 100 tells the story of humanity who fights for survival. Through the innovative ideas, strong characters who always struggle, this TV Series has highlighted the problems faced by the today’s society: violence, fear of failure, the repression of homosexuality, fear of talking freely and so on.