The premise of Burn Notice is that Michael Weston, a spy, finds himself not only out of a job but also cut off from all his resources because he has been “burned,” made to look so bad that he has become untouchable. Therefore, the main plot is him attempting to uncover who was behind the burn notice and why. Michael’s ultimate goal is to reverse it, but until then he is stranded in Miami with only Fiona, Sam, and his mother to help. In the meantime he takes on small “jobs” in which he utilizes his entire prowess as a spy to help his otherwise helpless “clients.”
Fiona possesses a strong character that comes complete with multiple skills sets that enable her to take care of herself. She is a step away from that superficial token girl whose purpose is to embody femininity while emphasizing male masculinity. She has her own character, backstory, and life and these are largely separate from those of the main male characters. Fiona’s role in the show typically involves her carrying out favors and tasks vital to make the jobs Michael takes succeed. Therefore she is a critical and powerful part of his life and also a representation of a woman with agency.
At the same time that it makes advances in terms of gender representation, Burn Notice ultimately fails to depart from what has become the traditional narrative structure where the story and action are still primarily lead and controlled by males. This can be witnessed through Michael’s narrations and the presence of the male gaze. Both are indicative of the certain type of narrative structure that exists above all for male pleasure.
In every episode Michael gives a periodic, explanatory voiceover for the actions undertaken by the characters. He takes on the role of an instructor who talks to the audience as if they were students in a Spying 101 course, providing them with the knowledge a spy would have of certain events and actions. Michael typically narrates over his own actions, but it is important to note that he also narrates over scenes in which he is not present in person. Instead his presence is denoted through his voice. This places him in the position of an overseeing, omnipresent god for Michael has the knowledge of what Fiona, Sam, and he do and why they do it. He is the one that makes it clear to the audience what is going on; without his input it is assumed the viewers would be unable to understand. The picture would be incomplete without the context and knowledge he has to offer. His voice is also a constructive element, placing the story’s events into his perspective and presenting it as the truth. The audience is guided to understand the events through Michael’s own construction of them. While the audience retains the agency to renegotiate or resist what they are told by Michael, the fact still remains that his positioning renders him dominant over all the other characters, even himself. It even gives him dominance over the audience members, who are presumed to not know what he is teaching to them. He therefore indirectly takes ownership and control of the actions that are described. Fiona might carry out an actions but his narration makes that action Michael’s own.
In this episode there is an instance in which Michael’s narration serves to undercut the image of an empowered woman. Fiona proves that women are capable of handling a leadership position because she is in charge of this week’s job and handles it just as well as Michael does in other episodes. She also proves competent and resourceful when it comes protecting herself. For example, Fiona remains calm when her cover is in danger of being blown. While she is relying on two men, Sam and Michael, to get her out of the situation by faking a passport page, she also takes her own initiative in case their actions fail. But we could not know that she was taking such initiative without Michael’s narration. Fiona offers to refill the bad guys’ drinks while Michael and Sam are working on keeping her cover from being ruined. In offering to refill their drinks, she gains possession of a bottle of alcohol. Michael explains that: “There’s no saying ‘I’m sorry’ in the field. So if it feels like a gamble’s about to come up short, put on a smile and try to get your hands on a weapon without anyone noticing.” Fiona has a bottle and can use it as a weapon if the situation necessitates it. Michael is critical to understanding that Fiona has the skills to save her own life. It is not her action alone that convinces the audience of her competency; it is Michael’s narration, and therefore Michael himself who is responsible. In this instance we need the man to understand that Fiona is empowered. We are not able to tell in this situation that she is competent without the man’s input, without his knowledge.
Another component of the traditional narrative structure is that of the male gaze. One can thus take the presence of this gaze as evidence of such a narrative structure. In Burn Notice the male gaze manifests seemingly objectively for it usually is not carried out by any character and is instead found in the shots of women’s bodies that are intermixed among shots of scenery. These montages are used as transitions between scenes in every episode of the show and while not all of them have these images of women in them, the majority of them do. In this way women are objectified and placed in the same category as “scenery.” They literally become scenery for the viewer. In addition, the gaze is often used to guide the camera to the main characters. The shot generally starts following the path of a walking woman, dressed to show off her body, and moves with her until it reaches the main character. This shot does not always show all of her body, keeping her faceless and nameless. An example of this type of gaze is witnessed in “Good Intentions,” where Sam and Fiona are meeting a man for information on a potential job. The scene starts following a walking woman stops when it reaches the main characters and the man. This man then proceeds to gaze at that woman and others who walk by. In this way women are cinematic tools for the camera.
To be fair, the show is set in Miami, where the sun shines brightly. One can expect to see women clad in bikini’s when in that climate. What is not explained by the climate is why the camera lens blatantly focuses upon women’s bodies and uses them either as scenery or as tools for introducing parts of the story.
While Burn Notice makes an important change by having Fiona as a main character, its inability to tell a story outside the existing narrative structure means this show also carries messages inimical to gender equality. Reinforcing the lessened agency of a female in comparison to a male and the image of a woman as a pleasure object undercut more genuine representations of women. It is important to recognize what kind of structure a show exists within in order to be able to resist its messages and realize what kind of influence it can have on passive viewers. A viewer must be able to realize that negative images of women are being propagated by traditional narrative structures in order to hold any hope of ever challenging these representations of women.
