Page - 112 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

112 | Alexander D. Ornella www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 99–122 and clothing. The so-called dog collar not only sets the (male) vicar body apart, but also represents the predominantly masculine and patriarchic institution, as I argued earlier. Yet the dog collar does not automatically put the person wear- ing it in a position of power; instead different people perform the “dog collar” in different ways. In S02/E02, Archdeacon Robert, Adam’s superior, visits the vicarage to let Adam know that a young female curate, Abigaile (Abi), will join St Saviour’s to support Adam. When Robert shows Adam a picture of Abigaile wearing a dog collar, what Robert says, how he says it, and his gestures express a feeling of superiority that is erotically charged. Robert is gay, and assuming he has no sexual interests in Abigaile, it seems that in this scene, it is a mixture of power, its symbols (the dog collar), and gender that excite and become a fetish. Robert: Abi is one of our bright stars, very able, very, very able, highly intelligent, ter- rific communicator, and a popular touch, I think she is really going to be able to help Adam out. … You can help her flourish, guide her (Robert wiggles his hips), enable her. The dog collar we see Abigaile wearing on the picture Robert shows Adam, however, does not seem to bestow the same institutional authority onto Abi- gaile as onto Adam and Robert. As a representative of the Church hierarchy, with his voluptuous insinuations Robert embodies the Church as a patriarchal and masculine institution (even though the Church is usually thought of in femi- nine terms, as the bride of Christ), as an institution that is concerned with itself and its power fetish and attempts to contain a possibly dangerous and disrup- tive clerical femininity which is seen as a threat to masculine ideas and patriar- chal structures. Adam seems to be completely oblivious to the sexual, patronizing under- tone of the conversation. His replies to Robert render visible how naturalized the male perspective has become. Rather than envisage a mutual relationship, Adam sees in Abigaile a tool to achieve his goals – or have someone achieve his goals for him: “This is great, I’ll be able to achieve a lot more than other priests, push through some more of my plans.” For Adam, Abi is an asset that will give him a competitive advantage over other (presumably male) priests rather than a younger colleague to be supported and to learn from. The mise-en-scène adds to the texture of the scene. The conversation could have happened anywhere in the parish but is set in the vicarage kitchen. Traditionally, the kitchen of a house- hold has been regarded as a feminine space inscribed with expectations about which gender ought to occupy that space for what purpose.44 The idea that the kitchen is a woman’s domain is also expressed when Archdeacon Robert, at the end of the conversation, almost naturally hands his coffee cup to Alex, 44 Cf. Swenson 2009.