Yellowstone is a Misguided Lesson About What It Means to be a Strong Woman
Fans seem to be tired of femme fatale characters who do terrible things solely for the sake of remaining a femme fatale character.
Yellowstone has done a good job of developing its female anti-hero, Beth, over the course of its five seasons. However, what started out as a refreshing look at how female antagonists could behave ended up as a seemingly twisted illustration of how strong women should not be portrayed.
Beth is a very controversial character. The Yellowstone fandom has, to put it mildly, had mixed opinions of her from the very beginning of the show, with some people loving the way she navigates a man's world, being "the man most men will never be" (as her mother put it), while others begged to differ.
However, as series 5 brings back the same Beth, who doesn't seem to have changed at all, fans are starting to get tired of her being a "strong woman" just for the sake of it.
Many fans have accused the show of "pandering to a certain audience" by basically making everyone an "a-hole". Not only is Beth, among other characters, a horrible human being, she doesn't seem to grow at all, and it's so tiresome that people are almost starting to give up on the show.
"I'm planning to watch the rest, but I have to say I stopped after the scene with the 17 year old Beth in the bar. I just thought it was ridiculous that she'd be exactly like the 40 year old Beth. She's a hysterical character but it's being milked so hard that it's now a one-note thing. And this is only episode 1," Redditor newton302 admitted.
The worst thing about Beth is that she may be perceived as the embodiment of girl power and feminist ideas – something many observers say she is not. Moreover, Yellowstone is actually damaging to feminism, at least according to Motherly's Christine Organ. She slammed the show as something that "mischaracterises feminism as ruthless brutality" while also promoting toxic parenting (because seriously, a mother who justifies being "tough" on her daughter by "preparing" her for a men's world?)
Despite this, Yellowstone seems to be doing just fine in terms of viewership. The season premiere secured 12.1 million viewers – a figure that makes Yellowstone the top scripted series premiere of 2022, ahead of House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power.
It's a question of time whether it manages to live up to the standard, or the questionable characters will eventually ruin it for the viewers.