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scribblinlenoreI am home sick today with the sinus headache from hell--that I've had since freakin' Sunday. In the spirit of keeping my priorities straight (or crooked, as the case may be), I did drag myself out of bed to sign up for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
estrella30's car porn challenge. Hopefully, I will get my porn writing mojo back between now and the end of April when the story's due.
In the meantime, I'm using the three brain cells I have that don't hurt to write about that all-important subject: Television!
It's been on my mind lately how accustomed I am to seeing nothing but young, skinny, pretty people on TV. I know some of you guys out there watch more critically, with those issues in mind. But me? I'm brainwashed most of the time, never really stopping to think about it or question it. And, hey, it's not like I don't enjoy the young hotass. Look at how I slobber all over the J's.
But…occasionally I'll watch something that makes me go: Hey, why don't I see more of this? And here are a few of those instances I've had lately. Be warned that there are some mild spoilers for recent episodes.
I only started watching Boston Legal this season, so I have no idea what went on previously. But this season is really pretty amazing for how much it concentrates on characters who are over 40. I mean, take a look at the ages of the actors who appear in the opening credits:
William Shatner (75)
Rene Auberjonois (66)
Candace Bergen (60)
James Spader (46)
Mark Valley (42)
Julie Bowen (36)
Television has the annoying tendency to neuter the sexuality out of older people, especially women, or else turn it into a joke. So I continue to be amazed by how Boston Legal frames Shirley Schmidt, the character played by Candace Bergen. On the one hand, she's a partner in the firm, a tough opponent in the courtroom, and a person of principle. But she's also a woman, an attractive woman in fact (Candace Bergen looks FABULOUS at 60), and the story manages to make room for that, at the same time it takes her seriously as an individual and a professional.
In an ongoing storyline, her ex-husband (played by 61-year-old Tom Selleck, who is also looking fabulous for his age) is trying to woo her back. Their interactions are very flirtatious and sensual. You feel the sex in the air when they're together, can actually believe they have a rather tempestuous history. It's not unusual for a mature male actor like Selleck to be framed as sexy, but to be paired with a woman who's actually his age? You don't see that every day. Or, really, any day. And the thing is, they're hot together precisely because they're equals, in life experience, in professional achievement, in everything that matters. Neither of them is going to back down from anything, the power in the relationship is pretty much up for grabs, and that sends the sparks flying.
There's also a very interesting relationship between Shirley and Alan Shore, the character played by James Spader, and it underscores one of the other things that Boston Legal does really well, making characters sexy for their minds and their principles. You feel a definite attraction between Shirley and Alan. They have some rather flirtatious banter together. In one episode, Alan is defending a woman who went topless at a political demonstration, and he opens the conversation when he asks Shirley to be co-counsel by saying something to the effect, "I need to borrow your breasts." And then, there's the episode where Shirley asks Alan to help her get back some nude photographs that were taken of her when she was young. Alan does manage to buy them back, but chooses to keep them, promising Shirley that no one will ever see them but him. And she says (paraphrasing), "You're one of the only people I'd trust to keep that promise." At the heart of this attraction between them is mutual respect, for each other's professional abilities and just plain decency. It really stands out in a TV world of hotass-on-hotass, and is satisfying in a more deep and complex way. (Not, as I've mentioned before, that I have anything against hotass.)
Usually, I have no faith in David E. Kelly to write female characters. Ally McBeal has to be one of the most annoying cardboard cutouts of a woman ever to darken the TV screen. That she was hailed as a feminist icon when all she ever did was wander the streets, half starved, moping over some guy or the other was just maddening. But Shirley is a fully realized female character, a woman who can act her age and still be sexy, who can be both womanly and professional without any apparent sense of conflict. I don't know where all those TV commentators are who were trying to make Ally McBeal into something she wasn't, but they should be paying a lot more attention to this show.
As I said before, I'm so inured to the TV equation of skinny = sexy that I only ever really stop to think about it when I see an exception. That doesn't happen too often, but this season, there are actually TWO examples. Neither of the characters is billed in the opening credits, of course. We can't have TOO much progress. But still. They exist, and that makes me happy.
So first, Garcia on Criminal Minds. I always wonder if Garcia was originally intended to get as much air time as she does as a peripheral character, or if the people who make the show became enchanted (as I am) with the actress's spunky sparkle and just decided to run with it. Whatever the case, she's the only one of the three female characters on the show to give any sense of sensuality. Elle is the tough, thoughtful member of the team, and JJ is, I think, supposed to be kind of a tomboy, but just manages to seem like a coat of beige paint.
Garcia, on the other hand, gives great banter. She and Morgan have a wonderfully flirtatious rapport. Garcia dresses the sexiest of the three, emphasizing her curves, not trying to hide them. I HATE when shows deign to cast an actress who's not a size two and then feel compelled to make her the Chubby Girl. Credit to the people at Criminal Minds for not doing that with Garcia, for letting her be vivid, funny, smart, and sultry. In Garcia, we get to see a truth that television almost universally refuses to acknowledge, that being sexy is more complex than just how you look. It's this undefinable spark, a force of personality, a certain kind of confidence, sheer vital energy, and that's why Garcia is such a cool character.
I have this fear that somebody at the network is going to decide that the actress who plays Garcia either needs to go on a diet or has to be booted from the show. But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy watching her bad self just as much as I can.
The other example is Dr. Torres on Grey's Anatomy, who is just, dude, smokin' hot. I don't have quite as much to say about this, because I've only seen the last three episodes. But I was struck by the scene in the most recent episode where Dr. Torres is examining the stalker woman and George is trying to get her to give him another chance, and Dr. Torres says, "When a hot chick gives you her number, you call." And then Meredith comes in, and it sets up an obvious comparison. In the usual TV logic, skinnier = better, but not here. Dr. Torres has this sexy confidence, while Meredith is dithering and kind of whey-faced, and you really go away thinking, "Yeah, George, call the hot chick." And when he finally does, you cheer.
So that's it, all I got. My three functioning brain cells are tired now, and I'm thinking it's time for a nap.
estrella30's car porn challenge. Hopefully, I will get my porn writing mojo back between now and the end of April when the story's due. In the meantime, I'm using the three brain cells I have that don't hurt to write about that all-important subject: Television!
It's been on my mind lately how accustomed I am to seeing nothing but young, skinny, pretty people on TV. I know some of you guys out there watch more critically, with those issues in mind. But me? I'm brainwashed most of the time, never really stopping to think about it or question it. And, hey, it's not like I don't enjoy the young hotass. Look at how I slobber all over the J's.
But…occasionally I'll watch something that makes me go: Hey, why don't I see more of this? And here are a few of those instances I've had lately. Be warned that there are some mild spoilers for recent episodes.
I only started watching Boston Legal this season, so I have no idea what went on previously. But this season is really pretty amazing for how much it concentrates on characters who are over 40. I mean, take a look at the ages of the actors who appear in the opening credits:
William Shatner (75)
Rene Auberjonois (66)
Candace Bergen (60)
James Spader (46)
Mark Valley (42)
Julie Bowen (36)
Television has the annoying tendency to neuter the sexuality out of older people, especially women, or else turn it into a joke. So I continue to be amazed by how Boston Legal frames Shirley Schmidt, the character played by Candace Bergen. On the one hand, she's a partner in the firm, a tough opponent in the courtroom, and a person of principle. But she's also a woman, an attractive woman in fact (Candace Bergen looks FABULOUS at 60), and the story manages to make room for that, at the same time it takes her seriously as an individual and a professional.
In an ongoing storyline, her ex-husband (played by 61-year-old Tom Selleck, who is also looking fabulous for his age) is trying to woo her back. Their interactions are very flirtatious and sensual. You feel the sex in the air when they're together, can actually believe they have a rather tempestuous history. It's not unusual for a mature male actor like Selleck to be framed as sexy, but to be paired with a woman who's actually his age? You don't see that every day. Or, really, any day. And the thing is, they're hot together precisely because they're equals, in life experience, in professional achievement, in everything that matters. Neither of them is going to back down from anything, the power in the relationship is pretty much up for grabs, and that sends the sparks flying.
There's also a very interesting relationship between Shirley and Alan Shore, the character played by James Spader, and it underscores one of the other things that Boston Legal does really well, making characters sexy for their minds and their principles. You feel a definite attraction between Shirley and Alan. They have some rather flirtatious banter together. In one episode, Alan is defending a woman who went topless at a political demonstration, and he opens the conversation when he asks Shirley to be co-counsel by saying something to the effect, "I need to borrow your breasts." And then, there's the episode where Shirley asks Alan to help her get back some nude photographs that were taken of her when she was young. Alan does manage to buy them back, but chooses to keep them, promising Shirley that no one will ever see them but him. And she says (paraphrasing), "You're one of the only people I'd trust to keep that promise." At the heart of this attraction between them is mutual respect, for each other's professional abilities and just plain decency. It really stands out in a TV world of hotass-on-hotass, and is satisfying in a more deep and complex way. (Not, as I've mentioned before, that I have anything against hotass.)
Usually, I have no faith in David E. Kelly to write female characters. Ally McBeal has to be one of the most annoying cardboard cutouts of a woman ever to darken the TV screen. That she was hailed as a feminist icon when all she ever did was wander the streets, half starved, moping over some guy or the other was just maddening. But Shirley is a fully realized female character, a woman who can act her age and still be sexy, who can be both womanly and professional without any apparent sense of conflict. I don't know where all those TV commentators are who were trying to make Ally McBeal into something she wasn't, but they should be paying a lot more attention to this show.
As I said before, I'm so inured to the TV equation of skinny = sexy that I only ever really stop to think about it when I see an exception. That doesn't happen too often, but this season, there are actually TWO examples. Neither of the characters is billed in the opening credits, of course. We can't have TOO much progress. But still. They exist, and that makes me happy.
So first, Garcia on Criminal Minds. I always wonder if Garcia was originally intended to get as much air time as she does as a peripheral character, or if the people who make the show became enchanted (as I am) with the actress's spunky sparkle and just decided to run with it. Whatever the case, she's the only one of the three female characters on the show to give any sense of sensuality. Elle is the tough, thoughtful member of the team, and JJ is, I think, supposed to be kind of a tomboy, but just manages to seem like a coat of beige paint.
Garcia, on the other hand, gives great banter. She and Morgan have a wonderfully flirtatious rapport. Garcia dresses the sexiest of the three, emphasizing her curves, not trying to hide them. I HATE when shows deign to cast an actress who's not a size two and then feel compelled to make her the Chubby Girl. Credit to the people at Criminal Minds for not doing that with Garcia, for letting her be vivid, funny, smart, and sultry. In Garcia, we get to see a truth that television almost universally refuses to acknowledge, that being sexy is more complex than just how you look. It's this undefinable spark, a force of personality, a certain kind of confidence, sheer vital energy, and that's why Garcia is such a cool character.
I have this fear that somebody at the network is going to decide that the actress who plays Garcia either needs to go on a diet or has to be booted from the show. But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy watching her bad self just as much as I can.
The other example is Dr. Torres on Grey's Anatomy, who is just, dude, smokin' hot. I don't have quite as much to say about this, because I've only seen the last three episodes. But I was struck by the scene in the most recent episode where Dr. Torres is examining the stalker woman and George is trying to get her to give him another chance, and Dr. Torres says, "When a hot chick gives you her number, you call." And then Meredith comes in, and it sets up an obvious comparison. In the usual TV logic, skinnier = better, but not here. Dr. Torres has this sexy confidence, while Meredith is dithering and kind of whey-faced, and you really go away thinking, "Yeah, George, call the hot chick." And when he finally does, you cheer.
So that's it, all I got. My three functioning brain cells are tired now, and I'm thinking it's time for a nap.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:43 am (UTC)I'm not sure when not skinny became synonymous with being fat, but it's an idea that seriously needs to go away.
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Date: 2006-03-25 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 07:16 pm (UTC)Feel better!
Oh! And my god, Tom Selleck is 61? WOW.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:44 am (UTC)And, yes, can you believe it about Tom Selleck? Damn. The 80s were so long ago!
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Date: 2006-03-22 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 10:19 pm (UTC)I agree! Thatw as totally awesome! I loved that episode.
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Date: 2006-03-25 02:47 am (UTC)As regards the nude photos, I loved the moment when Alan saw the pics the first time--his reaction at them was priceless, appreciative of the young Shirley while still embracing Shirley now. Wonderful!
Priceless is SO the right word for it! I think they have such a cool rapport.
Yay for women still being hot in their 60s!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 07:45 pm (UTC)I really liked Ally McBeal as a character, while also finding her to be maddening and frustrating, she also seemed very real to me while the show as a whole seemed to exist in a parallel reality. I felt that she was facing issues that a lot of young professional women do face and the fact that there are ongoing "wars" over whether women really are happier now with all of theior so called options or less happy bears it out. I never thought of her as a role model but I did see her aas a feminist because she was living her life on her terms, she just really wanted to get married which seesm to be the way that young women are thinking. I remember listening to a radio show when the show first came out where they were discussing good female role models on tv and one of the women actually pointed out ALyy as a wonderful role model for young girls and I thought she was out of her fucking gourd. Ally was complicted and vain (which I sooo identified with) and, yes, extremely whiny but when she answered the question "Ally why are your problems so much bigger than everyone else's" with a pinted "Because they're mine!" I'd be lying if I said that I never felt that way.
Plus, I really loved the outfits that Ally/Nell/Ling wore!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:51 am (UTC)But I did think Ling was seriously funny!
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Date: 2006-03-22 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 08:09 pm (UTC)Looking at Meredith is painful because she's young, but her skin looks wrinkled and dry and dehydrated like an old woman.
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Date: 2006-03-22 10:20 pm (UTC)How old is she supposed to be? How old is the actress? I thought she was supposed to look older.
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Date: 2006-03-22 11:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-23 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-23 09:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:56 am (UTC)I checked a weight chart, and it's actually right in the middle of the normal range. Sad how we're brainwashed.
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Date: 2006-03-22 08:37 pm (UTC)OT, but not really - regarding how good they look at 60. Do you believe in help of plastic surgeons, like bottox or similar?
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Date: 2006-03-25 02:58 am (UTC)Re: the role of plastic surgery. On the one hand, I can't imagine there's anyone in Hollywood who hasn't had work. On the other, though, usually older people look horrifying after it's done. And Candace Bergen and Tom Selleck look great. Maybe they had less? Or it was just done better? I don't know. But they still look like themselves, unlike say Carol Burnett or Mary Tyler Moore, who just make me so SAD.
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Date: 2006-03-22 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-22 08:43 pm (UTC)And I am pretty sure that that is the main reason why I like slash. In conventional love stories there is almost always the - correct - awareness of and usually also some conforming to the different gender roles which I simply do not find attractive in a relationship. Even when the two males in a slash story are written badly to fit the stereotypes of male and female I am still aware of a greater equality between the two lovers which makes their relationship more interesting and infinitely more attractive to me.
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Date: 2006-03-25 03:01 am (UTC)Cool insight!
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Date: 2006-03-22 09:20 pm (UTC)Not much substance in this comment, just a lot of nodding to everything you've said - especially CB's role on Boston Legal, since I've only caught one scene of Sara Ramirez on GA. I've never understood the appeal of the superskinny woman: the likes of Ally McBeal and Meredith freak me out. There's something almost monstrous and definitely abused-looking in those protruding bones and papery skin. Also, but just manages to seem like a coat of beige paint is the best
put-downline I've read today.May your sinuses stop killing you soon - hopefully before Saturday. :)
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Date: 2006-03-25 03:06 am (UTC)I agree about superskinny women in media. One of the reasons--although not the only one--why I didn't like Pride and Prejudcie even though I've been a huge fan of the novel since I was 14 is because Keira Knightley is just unwatchably emaciated. It's really sad.
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!
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Date: 2006-03-22 10:50 pm (UTC)Word. Ellen Pompeo's pretty (in that she has nice features), but she's been looking fairly sallow this season. Nor compare that to Doctor Torres, who's confident, gorgeous, competent, aware of her worth and most importantly, into George. Go on, George, have lots of hot sex with the cute doctor!
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Date: 2006-03-25 03:07 am (UTC)Damn, that's the best advice George is ever going to get! :)
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Date: 2006-03-23 01:06 am (UTC)Hope you feel better soon.
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Date: 2006-03-25 03:08 am (UTC)I do feel better. Thanks, doll!
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Date: 2006-03-23 05:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-23 06:27 pm (UTC)I do notice the lack of women of a real size on the few shows I watch--and I watch so few regularly that I can't make any valid assumptions, but yeah. Not enough, so when I see them it's a surprise.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-24 04:05 pm (UTC)(Do you watch Gilmore Girls? Because I've always loved Sookie, in part because she's not only unafraid of food, she's a chef. And she got to have a love story and kids. Amy Sherman-Palladino gets a lot of forgiveness from me on the Luke-Lorelai front because she created Sookie.)
I was thinking about this issue recently because of two things: Charisma Carpenter on Veronica Mars and
First, in re: Charisma, what I like about her is that her body is in proportion. I'm sure in real life, she seems tiny, but on screen, she's curvy, and it's not just her breasts -- she has hips and an ass that balance them. Her arms look like a normal size, her thighs have muscle. The other night, she was wearing this satin dress that poured over her body like milk, and the whole effect was just so *womanly*. So many actresses just seem so tiny and girlish in comparison.
In thinking about this issue, I'm more convinced than ever that people's sense of size has been hopelessly screwed up due to the narrow range of body types presented in films and TV as sexy. Like
no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 03:22 am (UTC)Re: Charisma Carpenter. I had that same reaction to her in that satin dress! I thought: Okay, now there's a woman who looks like a woman. She is HOT!
In thinking about this issue, I'm more convinced than ever that people's sense of size has been hopelessly screwed up due to the narrow range of body types presented in films and TV as sexy.
I totally agree, and I think it's actually quite destructive. The idea that Rodney is fat is just...*has no words* Joe Flanigan is a wisp of a man. He is amazing thin. David Helett is just solid (as a man should be, in my opinion).
You know, I feel like when I was a teenager there was fat and thin and being a normal weight. Nowadays, it seems that if you're not skinny then you're automatically a heifer. There is no sane middle ground. I feel like we all need to reclaim our right to be larger than a size two.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-07 06:48 pm (UTC)candace bergen?? god damn , gorgous!!
just as when i was even a wee teenager, i thought, vanessa redgrave in Mission impossible was great!
or Judi Dench in James bond!!
I mean, in Casino Royal, they even showed that she had a (sexual) life, apart from her job!!
women should be portrait that way way more often!
no subject
Date: 2007-01-21 03:53 pm (UTC)So true! What I love about Boston Legal is that they never frame Candace Bergen as an attractive woman "for her age." She's just an attractive woman. And, man oh man, is that an understatement!