There was a point when watching Utena where I thought it wasn't as queer or as subversive of gender norms as its imagery or characters implied. Characters would push against the boundaries of gender norms and heteronormativity, and yet the narrative would inevitably force them back into rather stifling gendered roles. Overt homosexuality was seemingly punished (Touga even lectures Nanami about how important it is to be straight and that she should never do gay shit), and the characters would be coerced by the narrative into restrictive gender roles. I was wrong- Utena is a story that asks questions about gender, queerness, and the nature of power and liberation, but it know that these questions aren't simple, and it forgoes a straightforward story of girl power or gay liberation in favor of showing something more challenging. The characters of Utena play a game of duels to gain power, and play the role of prince to take possession of a bride. Several girls take on the role of the prince or duelist for the purpose of the game, and the Black Rose arc features an aborted attempt to make a boy into the new rose bride, but the roles themselves can never be challenged.
Utena's goal throughout the show is to become a prince, because she wants be strong, brave, and compassionate, like the prince who saved her from her sorrow when her parents died. Was this a good idea? Did she actually understand what a prince was? The male characters all seek to become princes too, but as they ascend their hierarchy, they are indoctrinated into a very different idea of what being a prince means. By degrees, they seek to become like Akio- the only real prince in the show, the man who started the dueling game to entice people with the promise of power but rigs its rules for his own purposes. His kind demeanor and charm is a facade that he uses to manipulate those around him and prey on women and girls, including his own sister. Princedom is not about being the savior or liberator Utena imagines it is- it's about exercising power, and conversely, a princess is one for whom power is exercised upon.
Ultimately, Utena can never liberate Anthy or anyone else by becoming a prince, for inhabiting that role only allows her to play by the rules of Akio's rigged game. The end of the show finds her stabbed in the back by Anthy, who bluntly tells her that she could never really be a prince because she's a girl. She act in the role to a point, but the role itself is inherently gendered-no one other than Akio can win the dueling game, and this is doubly true for women. To be the savior she's determined to be, Utena has to become something else- in the movie, the thing she becomes that enables her to rescue Anthy and break out of the trap of the setting is a vehicle of liberation.
Just wanted to rant a bit about Utena. Also, here's another thing I wrote about it a few days ago in a mega, hard CW for SA, CSA
spoiler
Don't remember the exact episode, but on reflection the most devastating scene in Revolutionary Girl Utena is when the "camera," in an iris-lens effect, just holds on her face. We see hints that she's naked, while she chides herself and Akio for spending too much time "playing," then starts planning dinner. She goes through every possibility of what to do with a piece of salmon she needs to eat before it goes bad; she is both dissociating from what has just happened, and playacting as an adult woman by showing off how she cooks for herself. One of the most powerful depictions of grooming and CSA I've ever seen.
Much like David Lynch uses deliberate artificiality to contrast with and highlight the dark themes his stories, Revolutionary Girl Utena's theatricality serves the theme of the effects of abuse that runs throughout. The characters act out roles in their lives, sometimes playing to people's expectations, or playing their expectations of themselves, or modeling behavior (frequently abusive behavior) that's been done to them. This is all complemented by the surreal, stage play-like style of the show. Their school is a stage, the characters act out a fairy tale plot of duels for a princess, but their pain is very real. The third arc, with the revelation of Akio as the ultimate villain, explores the way adults manipulate and exploit children for their own ends- which is may be the ultimate source of trauma for all the characters. The use of a surreal story and imagery to explore these subjects reminds me strongly of David Lynch, particularly Twin Peaks, and especially Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Suffer with me, comrade.
