Roar: Why Amelia Gets Back On A Shelf
Warning! SPOILERS for Roar.
Roar season 1, episode 3 “The Woman Who Was Kept On The Shelf” ends with the story's trophy wife protagonist Amelia simply relocating to a different shelf, making it the only episode that doesn't really end happily. Roar, Apple TV+'s series of eight feminist fables, is based on the book Roar by Cecelia Ahern, a collection of 30 short stories about women's struggles. Although the series depends heavily on magic realism, the stories in Roar are ultimately grounded in social realities, and this can be observed in what happens to Amelia.
Amelia is a woman who was raised competing in child beauty pageants. Later, Amelia becomes a professional runway model – until she gets swept off her feet by the man of her dreams, whom she marries. However, Amelia's husband then builds a shelf to turn Amelia into a literal trophy wife, a life that satisfies Amelia at first but ultimately robs her of independence and free will. Eventually, Amelia destroys the shelf and leaves her husband.
Related: Every Song In Apple TV+'s Roar
Roar's third episode ends with Amelia climbing onto another shelf to promote a beauty brand that bears her name, inferring that she built the business on her own. This ending is an example of how Roar subverts feminist messages in modern media and entertainment. By building her own shelf to sit on – despite having just destroyed the one that was built by her husband – Amelia shows that the process of becoming a strong, independent woman doesn't just happen overnight. In fact, the one year gap between Amelia's two shelves is an example of the long-term effects of internalized misogyny, the subconscious projection and acceptance of sexist ideas by women. Throughout her entire life, Amelia has
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