Damsels Un-distressed Scoring Complex Women in HBO’s Westworld: The Maze (2016)
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Abstract
In the HBO series Westworld: The Maze (2016), two female characters, the “hosts” (androids) Dolores and Maeve, are not only compelling characters with whom the viewers engage with, they also subvert gender-bound tropes pervasive in the Western genre. This article will examine the role of the soundtrack in the construction and evolution of complex female characters in Westworld, giving due attention to Ramin Djawadi’s original compositions and how they interact with his piano arrangements of contemporary rock songs. Additionally, this article elucidates how the music constructs gender as a repeated, performed process by drawing on Judith Butler’s theories of gender performativity. Beyond adding musical interest to the series, this article argues that the score sonically manifests the complex negotiations of gender and power that underlie Westworld’s first season.
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