PHOEME: THE EMACIATION OF A ONCE GREAT CHARACTER

[vandergraafk]

"I'm sorry: as Phoebe physically emaciated herself in front of us, her character was equally stripped of vibrancy. Oh, there were times when she seemed to come out of it: The Bare Witch Project, leading the charge against the Avatars, helping the new Seer gain mortality, attempting to civilize Christy. Compare that, though, with the oodles of time spent on chasing men, chasing sperm, and chasing visions of her offspring and we are left with a character who defines her personality solely through the men in her life. Yech! I can't believe I wrote that when it was Phoebe herself who violently reacted against such sexist crap! Alas, Phoebe became captive to her own crusade! Phoeme lives. Phoebe died!"

Alas, vandergraafk underestimated the power of the defenders of Phoebe who proclaimed that he had been guilty of Phoebe-bashing. In defense, vandergraafk wrote:

"I guess there's a fine line between Phoebe bashing and bemoaning the paucity of development the writers bestowed upon a once great, energetic character. As I indicated above, there were plenty of opportunities to resuscitate and develop further Phoebe's character. None of this was really ever grasped by the writers.

Imagine, if you will, what a Season 9 would have looked like if all of the sisters had come back and Billie had begun the process of redeeming herself. I, for one, would have loved to have had Phoebe shoulder the main burden in redeeming Billie. Teaching Billie the craft from a different perspective - one less devoted to magical potions, fighting demons and (ab)using her powers and more focused on what it means to have such powers, what the responsibilities are, and what protecting innocents is all about. To me, this would have brought the show full circle. After all, it was Phoebe, adventure-seeker and unencumbered by obligations, who chose to open the Book of Shadows and embrace the Charmed Ones' destiny. Why shouldn't she have been the one to pass along their knowledge to Billie and review steps and missteps that the sisters had experienced along the way towards acquiring that knowledge?

But, I can just see it! More obsession with Coop and babies. Or, suppose we had been left hanging at the end of Season 8 - Coop or no Coop. Maybe she gets the hots for some other hunk! Who knows? To me, that would have been a phenomenal waste of the essence of Phoebe!"

[Scott]

Whether Phoebe remained true to character in Charmed or whether the original character of Phoebe evolved into two contradictory characters - PhoeBE and PhoeME - is open to debate. Having recently become aware of certain shared characteristics between Carrie, a writer from Sex in the City, and Phoebe, advice columnist for the Bay Mirror, I was merely try to ascertain when such a character as PhoeME first surfaced. Since I believe that the PhoeME character, if it exists, was loosely based on Carrie from Sex in the City, then perhaps it all began with the Fifth Halliwell, the episode when Phoebe began her career as an advice columnist by helping out an innocent, the original advice columnist for the Bay Mirror. If indeed this is true, then a whole new spin on the meaning of Fifth Halliwell can be ascertained. Whereas before it was assumed that the fifth Halliwell referred to Paige since she was the odd sister out i.e., the one not married, perhaps we are truly meant to see the split in Phoebe's character as the fifth Halliwell. As the seasons wear on, the split within Phoebe will continue to grow. At times, PhoeBE will appear. At other times, PhoeME will dominate. The five Halliwells, then, are Prue, Piper, Paige, PhoeBE and PhoeME. Since neither Cole nor Leo are Halliwells, perhaps this is truly so. Or, maybe I'm just being the fifth wheel here!

[Scott]

Here's a stab at an operational definition of PhoeME:

PhoeME: A self-absorbed witch whose focus wanders from protecting Innocents to pursuing her own goals of sexual satisfaction and hottie infatuation that may or may not lead her to achieve the child that she has fixated on every since seeing her in a premonition. The greater good gives way to getting some, from seemingly any available male in the vicinity, at the expense of her own self-confidence and self-esteem.