What are your thoughts on ARESIA?

[BeccaBlast]

Too bad she didn't tell Shayera -- whether it was religion, culture or her status -- sniping at Diana seemed to be one of the Hawk's main traits. I don't blame Diana for not wanting her back -- and it's a testimony to Amazon training that she didn't put the ginger's head through a wall, after what the Thangarians did to Diana.

[Dr. Hurt]

Too bad she didn't tell Shayera -- whether it was religion, culture or her status -- sniping at Diana seemed to be one of the Hawk's main traits. I don't blame Diana for not wanting her back -- and it's a testimony to Amazon training that she didn't put the ginger's head through a wall, after what the Thangarians did to Diana.

I sympathised with Shayera. She was sent as a spy and ended up loving earth and betraying her own people to do the right thing.

I can understand the JL not trusting her and all, but that doesnt mean she wasnt a hero.

[BeccaBlast]

Oh, agreed -- I thought the relationship between her and Diana AFTER she returned was resolved a little too quickly -- but the genuine dislike between the two was refreshing. I just don't like Diana being made the heavy in the pairing.

[Outside_85]

I thought, if I remember right, that William Messaner Loebs had done it in a clever way. Didn't Hippy get someone (maybe Hera or one of her own amazons) to do some kind of magical enchantment on Diana so that she would be on par power wise with the other amazons while she was on Themiscyria?

I might not be remembering this quite right as I haven't read those issues in quite a while. If that was the case, at least Diana would be competing in a fair contest while she was on the Island.

You are correct Hippolyta had Magala cast that enchantment on Diana when she was a little girl so she wouldnt grow up feeling different or superior to her sisters and the effect remained as soon as Diana touched the ground on Paradise Island. Added to that Hippolyta rigged the competition against Diana, by adding extra 'obstacles' to it and such.

John Byrne thought that it wasn't enough and added that Magala had been ordered to cast a siphoning spell on Diana and Artemis, that drained Diana and empowered Artemis as long as they were near each other (which contradicted WML because the Bana's participation in the Contest was against Hippolyta's initial wishes) but for some reason Magala couldn't tell if the spell was still active after Artemis returned from the grave (because she needed both women present before her).
So:
WML: Artemis won because she was that great an athlete and Diana had her mothers will against her
Byrne: Because Artemis was pointed out as an acceptable loss.

[DisneyBoy]

Didnt Hippolyta correct all that in the end, telling Arisia that the Amazons dont hate men?

Not quite. Hippy explained to her that her life had been saved by a man - the ship's captain who swam her body to shore and then died from exhaustion. He is the only man ever buried on Themyscira. A nice twist and an emotional one.

That said, I don't think they did a good enough job of establishing why there would be any man hate on Paradise Island on JL. So, the Queen was used and betrayed by Hades...what does that have to do with the Amazons as a culture? Or why they live in isolation? I understand that they couldn't really get explicit about Heracles and his men raping them all...but the Hades thing didn't really work as an alternative, because it didn't explain why anyone other than Hippolyta would be leery about men.

I probably would like Aresia more if she had a better costume. And her voice actress was a little wooden, if I recall...

Aresia was never a character in the comic -- hence the Harley Quinn analogy -- Harley was created by Paul Dini for the series and then brought into the comic when she proved to be so popular.

I meant that they created her from Fury, and I don't know much about the Fury character.

I am mystified that people always accept Hawkgirl's view of the Amazons as truthful

I looked more to Hippolyta's behaviors as indicators of the Amazon's views on men. Aresia was nuts, after all

[BeccaBlast]

Not quite. Hippy explained to her that her life had been saved by a man - the ship's captain who swam her body to shore and then died from exhaustion. He is the only man ever buried on Themyscira. A nice twist and an emotional one.

That said, I don't think they did a good enough job of establishing why there would be any man hate on Paradise Island on JL. So, the Queen was used and betrayed by Hades...what does that have to do with the Amazons as a culture? Or why they live in isolation? I understand that they couldn't really get explicit about Heracles and his men raping them all...but the Hades thing didn't really work as an alternative, because it didn't explain why anyone other than Hippolyta would be leery about men.

I probably would like Aresia more if she had a better costume. And her voice actress was a little wooden, if I recall...

I looked more to Hippolyta's behaviors as indicators of the Amazon's views on men. Aresia was nuts, after all

Hippolyta's hands were tied a little, though; Diana was banished for violating the gods' decree (traditionally Aphrodite's). This is said at the time, and made even more clear when Hippolyta revokes it in "The Balance" -- "if the gods don't like it, they can take it up with me."

Most of what we know of the affair with Hades comes from him -- never a good way to figure out what happened in a relationship -- especially from someone as unsavory as him. I like that they left it deliberately vague and ambiguous -- he lies and she refuses to discuss it.

The Onion has a site called the AV Club (avclub.com) -- which has been running recaps/reviews of JL (only the first season so far). Very clever, and some interesting stuff. The actress who played Aresia is Julie Bowen -- Clare of Modern Family. Maybe it was the material more than the performer?