Is Shane being pigeon-holed into another monogamous commitment?
First, I just have to get it out there. What's with the poor bike riding? Look at Shane: pedal pedal, stand and coast. She won't get too far too fast that way, yet she still gives Molly a run for her money in their little race. So Molly chases Shane down, dismantles her by telling her she's in love with her, which turns out to be a lie just so she could beat Shane to the checkpoint and talk to her. Somehow Shane is wooed by Molly's rambling pledge to return the oral favor and shuts her up with a kiss. So now we have Shane possibly entering another relationship, and we can't help but wonder how long it will be until this one falls apart. Also, why can there never be a straight woman on the show who doesn't experience lesbian sex? Even Kit had her own little go 'round with Papi. I'm all about showing how heterosexuality can be malleable and move into same-sex experimentation, but it's also problematic when not a single hetero female character can avoid the lustful seduction of another woman. Some people just don't go there, so let's be realistic.
What constitutes cheating?
It was good to see this dialogue open up about the different ways in which relationships can be negotiated from monogamy to open relationships, even if such a variety is not actually exemplified on the show. However, there was still a big lack of resolution when even after all the debate and discussion, most of the characters still agreed that kissing constitutes cheating. When Bette didn't raise her hand, she was interrogated and her relativist answer was lambasted by Alice as being a bullshit non-answer, and the whole thing quickly devolved into a dramatic revelation of her affair with Tina. In any case half a kudos for at least opening up the dialogue around relationships that fall outside of heteronormative monogamy.
"It's mostly black; it's kind of a different scene."
Such is Tasha's reply to Alice when they run into some of Tasha's old friends who happen to be riding for Coco's, a lesbian club of which Alice is not aware. Alice just says "oh" and the conversation shifts to questions of jealousy. This was interesting because it brought the race issue to the surface, but then played it off like no real divide. I like that it illustrates that race is not a barrier in the relationship between Alice and Tasha. But then one also wonders if it is not a dangerous erasure of difference to blow the race thing off. Why is it that Tasha hasn't seen her friends in so long or been to Coco's? Because she's been hanging out with Alice and all the white girls? To what extent should each of them cross into each other's worlds that are divided by racial lines? Is Tasha and Alice's relationship portrayed as too easy in terms of race? Maybe we'll find out when Tasha and Alice move into their cute vinyl sided home on a quiet cul-de-sac as they enact their normative domestication.
Only two more left . . .
What's to come in the last two episodes? So Jodi will be back for answers next episode, but then I'm guessing we won't be seeing any more of her, so there goes the disability minority. I wonder which minority representative will be put in that opening. Maybe an Asian woman finally? Anyway, I hope Tom sticks around because I'd like to see some more development in relation to Max, but it's hard to imagine them keeping Tom around if Jodi is out of the picture.
And what the hell is going to happen with creepy Adele? The questions around her sexuality have been intriguing. I found myself at times hoping that maybe she is asexual, especially when she told Alice that instead of being hooked up, she'd prefer to focus on her work. Sounds like something I used to say. But actually if she were asexual, I would disapprove because she seems to be such a psychopath, and that would only perpetuate the pathologizing of asexuality. But the L Word has been steadfast and faithful in the perpetuation of myths and stereotypes, so who knows?
March 15, 2008
March 8, 2008
"Liquid Heat" : An Orgasmic Culmination
So I know I missed a review of the last episode, "Lay Down The Law." Things just got too hectic for me. Anyway, the most interesting thing I was going to write about was the rhetoric around "freedom" during Tasha's don't ask, don't tell trial. Alas, I shall move on to the hot hot heat of the most recent episode 9.
Hooray for a condom! Maybe...
Finally after four and a half seasons, we see a condom actively being used during sex. Yes, Tom suavely rips open the wrapper with his teeth during the sex scene with Max. I was initially excited (no, not sexually excited, you sleaze!), feeling that my longstanding complaint about a lack of any safer sex practices on the show has finally been addressed. Then, the more I thought about it, I started to have my doubts about this condom in particular. Now, we know Tom is gay, and if we take Max to be the man that he is, then this is a man on man gay sex scene. In past seasons of the L Word, we have witnessed heterosexual sex scenes, which were noticeably lacking in condom use (see Tim and Jenny and Tina and Henry). Now why is it that the condom surfaces in the gay sex scene and not in the other sex scenes involving a penis? Could it be another myth/stereotype perpetuated again by a show that purports to be subversive? Gasp! I think it just might be a reinforcement of the "all gay men have HIV/AIDS and always need to use condoms" myth. Meanwhile, Shane continuous to have promiscuous lesbian sex without any protection, and while we haven't seen any het sex in a while, the only time a condom was ever mentioned before was regarding sperm and pregnancy, not STIs. I'm referring to the time Bette and Tina surreptitiously tried to steal sperm from the guy they met at the party by seducing him and attempting to trick him into fucking Tina without protection. So could this be suggesting that only gay men have to worry about STIs and everyone else is immune? Unfortunately, that's what it's looking like here.
When did Alice become such a pussy? And when did she become bi again?
Even though I've written about the problems of compulsory monogamy on the show, it doesn't mean I'm against monogamy. In fact, I've become a rather monogamous individual myself. Love can fuck you up sometimes. The point is that the show should make room for positive representations of polyamory and open relationships, but there is definitely still room for monogamy. That said, I'm glad that Alice and Tasha have repaired their relationship and so we have a happy interracial love thing going on. But what's this girly girl crap Alice busts out with from time to time, like saying to Tasha, "maybe I need you to protect me," while she bats her eyes and pouts like "look at me, the poor defenseless blonde upper-class white girl." Puke! Why can't this be a relationship between two strong women? Why does one of them have to move into a weaker more submissive position? (See also power dynamics of Dawn and Lover Cindy) And why does Alice take on this role? (See also my post about Tasha's blackness, and the attempts to push her as more butch).
As for the bi thing...I'm all about the fluidity of identity, but this more apparent indecisiveness on Alice's part only makes representation problematic for the bisexual community. Alice began the series as adamantly bisexual, later realized that "bisexuality is gross" and defined herself as a "lesbian." For more on this trajectory, see this article on AfterEllen.com. Now, during the podcast with Max, Max suggests that of all people, Alice should understand the importance of inclusion. Alice replies by implicitly reclaiming her bisexual identity, stating that "being bisexual is just more natural" than being transgender. Then Max responds with very wise and important commentary on the queer community, reproductive and family rights, and how the community needs to stop marginalizing their transgender sisters and brothers, and Alice agrees and apologizes for past comments. Great! The problem: the whole time this conversation is going on, Shane is toying with the camera through which we as viewers are witnessing the recording of this podcast. So we see shoddy camera work, as well as "humorous" moments when Shane zooms in on breasts and tattoos of nearby diners and coffee drinkers. So the conversation around transgender inclusion that we've been waiting to hear is completely overrun by Shane's distracting "jokes" with the camera. Will they ever just do it right?
Topped by a straight girl, gettin' educated, and here come the bicycles.
In wrapping up this review, I just want to say that I'm still mulling over the Shane and Molly sexcapade. But my initial reaction: Shane let Molly top her, wtf! That was just for starters of course, as Shane later took naive little Molly for an apparently great ride until the second go 'round was busted up by Phyllis. Then we got to overhear the high class snobbery around the concepts of "being educated." Shane got to overhear too, and I wonder if we didn't catch another of those rare snippets of emotion in Shane's eyes. Maybe in future episodes, she'll lambast Molly and Phyllis and prove more intelligent than I ever guessed her to be (recall "salubrious"). However, what I'm looking forward to most of all is the Lifecycle ride next episode. Lesbians on hot bikes . . . aah, I can't wait to critique their riding position!
Hooray for a condom! Maybe...
Finally after four and a half seasons, we see a condom actively being used during sex. Yes, Tom suavely rips open the wrapper with his teeth during the sex scene with Max. I was initially excited (no, not sexually excited, you sleaze!), feeling that my longstanding complaint about a lack of any safer sex practices on the show has finally been addressed. Then, the more I thought about it, I started to have my doubts about this condom in particular. Now, we know Tom is gay, and if we take Max to be the man that he is, then this is a man on man gay sex scene. In past seasons of the L Word, we have witnessed heterosexual sex scenes, which were noticeably lacking in condom use (see Tim and Jenny and Tina and Henry). Now why is it that the condom surfaces in the gay sex scene and not in the other sex scenes involving a penis? Could it be another myth/stereotype perpetuated again by a show that purports to be subversive? Gasp! I think it just might be a reinforcement of the "all gay men have HIV/AIDS and always need to use condoms" myth. Meanwhile, Shane continuous to have promiscuous lesbian sex without any protection, and while we haven't seen any het sex in a while, the only time a condom was ever mentioned before was regarding sperm and pregnancy, not STIs. I'm referring to the time Bette and Tina surreptitiously tried to steal sperm from the guy they met at the party by seducing him and attempting to trick him into fucking Tina without protection. So could this be suggesting that only gay men have to worry about STIs and everyone else is immune? Unfortunately, that's what it's looking like here.
When did Alice become such a pussy? And when did she become bi again?
Even though I've written about the problems of compulsory monogamy on the show, it doesn't mean I'm against monogamy. In fact, I've become a rather monogamous individual myself. Love can fuck you up sometimes. The point is that the show should make room for positive representations of polyamory and open relationships, but there is definitely still room for monogamy. That said, I'm glad that Alice and Tasha have repaired their relationship and so we have a happy interracial love thing going on. But what's this girly girl crap Alice busts out with from time to time, like saying to Tasha, "maybe I need you to protect me," while she bats her eyes and pouts like "look at me, the poor defenseless blonde upper-class white girl." Puke! Why can't this be a relationship between two strong women? Why does one of them have to move into a weaker more submissive position? (See also power dynamics of Dawn and Lover Cindy) And why does Alice take on this role? (See also my post about Tasha's blackness, and the attempts to push her as more butch).
As for the bi thing...I'm all about the fluidity of identity, but this more apparent indecisiveness on Alice's part only makes representation problematic for the bisexual community. Alice began the series as adamantly bisexual, later realized that "bisexuality is gross" and defined herself as a "lesbian." For more on this trajectory, see this article on AfterEllen.com. Now, during the podcast with Max, Max suggests that of all people, Alice should understand the importance of inclusion. Alice replies by implicitly reclaiming her bisexual identity, stating that "being bisexual is just more natural" than being transgender. Then Max responds with very wise and important commentary on the queer community, reproductive and family rights, and how the community needs to stop marginalizing their transgender sisters and brothers, and Alice agrees and apologizes for past comments. Great! The problem: the whole time this conversation is going on, Shane is toying with the camera through which we as viewers are witnessing the recording of this podcast. So we see shoddy camera work, as well as "humorous" moments when Shane zooms in on breasts and tattoos of nearby diners and coffee drinkers. So the conversation around transgender inclusion that we've been waiting to hear is completely overrun by Shane's distracting "jokes" with the camera. Will they ever just do it right?
Topped by a straight girl, gettin' educated, and here come the bicycles.
In wrapping up this review, I just want to say that I'm still mulling over the Shane and Molly sexcapade. But my initial reaction: Shane let Molly top her, wtf! That was just for starters of course, as Shane later took naive little Molly for an apparently great ride until the second go 'round was busted up by Phyllis. Then we got to overhear the high class snobbery around the concepts of "being educated." Shane got to overhear too, and I wonder if we didn't catch another of those rare snippets of emotion in Shane's eyes. Maybe in future episodes, she'll lambast Molly and Phyllis and prove more intelligent than I ever guessed her to be (recall "salubrious"). However, what I'm looking forward to most of all is the Lifecycle ride next episode. Lesbians on hot bikes . . . aah, I can't wait to critique their riding position!
February 19, 2008
"Lesbians Gone Wild." This title is no accident.
The much anticipated wrestling match.
Okay, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. That is, only a few of the characters were scantily clad, while the rest of the "wrestlers" managed to keep most of their clothing on. This shifted my thoughts around the lesbian as sex object for men. Although all the women were of your standard L Word fare (thin, femme, etc), there is of course the possibility of this scene casting the women as sex object for the onlooking lesbians and other women as well (Molly is straight, but still thrilled and somehow turned on, at least emotionally, by the spectacle). The eroticization really seems to occur during the wrestling match between Jenny and Niki where there isfighting mixed with kissing and groping. There is also a sense of fun and play even amongst the onlookers and their catcalls. Additionally, there was definitely some "real" fighting going on when Shane felt compelled to jump into the ring and help out Phyllis' daughter, Molly, and also to take it up once and for all with that Dawn Denbo and her "lover" Cindy. Shane even ended up with a fistful of Dawn's hair, but even amongst this violent fighting, there were smiles that lent to the semblance of play. So what does this scene accomplish? I'm not sure. Let me know what you think . . . take the poll or comment!
Out Loud and Proud
Alice is getting herself into some pretty hot water with her friends, but her behavior and the behavior she encounters from both Tasha and Tina regarding how "out" she can be raises some interesting issues. Is there a clear line that Alice is breaching when she outs celebrities in her own self-interest? Well, it could be argued that her outing of that basketball player was more of a political move and less out of self interest, but outing Niki just to secure a spot on a talk show where they want her to play to a fabricated image of a "happy gay" talk show host? Clearly this points to the manipulation of gay representation on television, especially on prime time family TV, some idea that there is a certain kind of gay that society wants to see. Why didn't Alice retaliate against the "happy gay" instead of playing into the role? Why does such a vocal and assertive character suddenly crack under pressure of a strategic career move? Why does Alice sell out? Follow this immediately with Tina's protection of Niki's sexuality, the banning of Alice from the set of Lez Girls because she crossed the line. Tina is quick to note the politics of Hollywood: "We want this movie (Lez Girls) to reach a large mainstream audience, alright? And if everyone thinks the lead of our movie is gay, then that makes it a small little niche film." I wonder if this doesn't parallel the L Word itself and the variety of openness the various actors have regarding their own sexuality. The important point to take away: strategic expressions of sexuality, our outness, still dominate our everyday lives, and move in relation to others' perceptions, reactions, and how we want to be perceived or treated. Alice is operating in a utopian future of open sexual expression with no repercussions or consequences; she's far too ahead of her times and leaves everyone else (even some fans!) disgruntled.
What's with Bette and Violent Sex?
So way back during the finale of Season 1, I was troubled by the final sex scene between Bette and Tina. Question of rape circulated, and even though Tina became complicit in the act at some point, I worried about the lack of follow-up confrontation with the incident, as in Tina's upset emotional state and no communication around that interaction.
Now, I do not know what to make of that fucked up sex scene with Bette and Jodi. It was so laced with violence. The force with which Bette removed Jodi's pants, the shoving away of Jodi's hands, the reluctance to return Jodi's kisses, the forceful movement of Bette's own hand down her own pants, and the uncertainty of the placement of Jodi's hands, and the look, oh, the look on Jodi's face as she lay beneath Bette. Disturbing, yes, indeed. Of course there is a slew of pop-psych analysis on the webboards regarding this scene, but my concern is not so much to make sense of it, but for follow-up. Where was Jodi at with this; confusion, was it violent for her? And Bette, near tears . . . communication is so so necessary.
A Final Reiteration
The characters are constantly thrust into these disturbing circumstances with no resolution, my constant gripe regarding the quality of writing. But also, to return to this compulsory monogamy that only breeds drama on the show: are we doomed to think that every relationship is doomed to failure? Doomed doomed doomed . . . and LLLOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVE!
Okay, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. That is, only a few of the characters were scantily clad, while the rest of the "wrestlers" managed to keep most of their clothing on. This shifted my thoughts around the lesbian as sex object for men. Although all the women were of your standard L Word fare (thin, femme, etc), there is of course the possibility of this scene casting the women as sex object for the onlooking lesbians and other women as well (Molly is straight, but still thrilled and somehow turned on, at least emotionally, by the spectacle). The eroticization really seems to occur during the wrestling match between Jenny and Niki where there isfighting mixed with kissing and groping. There is also a sense of fun and play even amongst the onlookers and their catcalls. Additionally, there was definitely some "real" fighting going on when Shane felt compelled to jump into the ring and help out Phyllis' daughter, Molly, and also to take it up once and for all with that Dawn Denbo and her "lover" Cindy. Shane even ended up with a fistful of Dawn's hair, but even amongst this violent fighting, there were smiles that lent to the semblance of play. So what does this scene accomplish? I'm not sure. Let me know what you think . . . take the poll or comment!
Out Loud and Proud
Alice is getting herself into some pretty hot water with her friends, but her behavior and the behavior she encounters from both Tasha and Tina regarding how "out" she can be raises some interesting issues. Is there a clear line that Alice is breaching when she outs celebrities in her own self-interest? Well, it could be argued that her outing of that basketball player was more of a political move and less out of self interest, but outing Niki just to secure a spot on a talk show where they want her to play to a fabricated image of a "happy gay" talk show host? Clearly this points to the manipulation of gay representation on television, especially on prime time family TV, some idea that there is a certain kind of gay that society wants to see. Why didn't Alice retaliate against the "happy gay" instead of playing into the role? Why does such a vocal and assertive character suddenly crack under pressure of a strategic career move? Why does Alice sell out? Follow this immediately with Tina's protection of Niki's sexuality, the banning of Alice from the set of Lez Girls because she crossed the line. Tina is quick to note the politics of Hollywood: "We want this movie (Lez Girls) to reach a large mainstream audience, alright? And if everyone thinks the lead of our movie is gay, then that makes it a small little niche film." I wonder if this doesn't parallel the L Word itself and the variety of openness the various actors have regarding their own sexuality. The important point to take away: strategic expressions of sexuality, our outness, still dominate our everyday lives, and move in relation to others' perceptions, reactions, and how we want to be perceived or treated. Alice is operating in a utopian future of open sexual expression with no repercussions or consequences; she's far too ahead of her times and leaves everyone else (even some fans!) disgruntled.
What's with Bette and Violent Sex?
So way back during the finale of Season 1, I was troubled by the final sex scene between Bette and Tina. Question of rape circulated, and even though Tina became complicit in the act at some point, I worried about the lack of follow-up confrontation with the incident, as in Tina's upset emotional state and no communication around that interaction.
Now, I do not know what to make of that fucked up sex scene with Bette and Jodi. It was so laced with violence. The force with which Bette removed Jodi's pants, the shoving away of Jodi's hands, the reluctance to return Jodi's kisses, the forceful movement of Bette's own hand down her own pants, and the uncertainty of the placement of Jodi's hands, and the look, oh, the look on Jodi's face as she lay beneath Bette. Disturbing, yes, indeed. Of course there is a slew of pop-psych analysis on the webboards regarding this scene, but my concern is not so much to make sense of it, but for follow-up. Where was Jodi at with this; confusion, was it violent for her? And Bette, near tears . . . communication is so so necessary.
A Final Reiteration
The characters are constantly thrust into these disturbing circumstances with no resolution, my constant gripe regarding the quality of writing. But also, to return to this compulsory monogamy that only breeds drama on the show: are we doomed to think that every relationship is doomed to failure? Doomed doomed doomed . . . and LLLOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVE!
February 15, 2008
"Lights! Camera! Boring!"
Those Cheatin' Hearts
Not a whole lot going on in this episode, as far as representational politics are concerned. However, I'm going to cave in and talk about Tina and Bette, but not in that gushy obsessed fan way. Just a brief commentary that connects back to open relationships.
So, Bette couldn't handle Jodi's hitherto lifestyle of open relationships and seeing other people, so she forced her into a compulsory heteronormative monogamous relationship. And now, she's cheating on her with Tina! I guess reinforcing monogamy sets the stage for cheating, which keeps the drama brewing, and everyone knows how much lesbians love drama. Pshaw, keep the stereotypes coming!
On a positive note, that was probably the most believable simultaneous orgasm scene I have ever seen. Laurel Holloman and Jennifer Beals know how to work!
Quick, Transform the Nerd!
A while ago I read an article somewhere that argued that the male nerd seems to be in vogue in Hollywood right now, so that goofy, awkward, dorky, tech geek gets unattainable hot chick. Examples cited: Superbad, Knocked Up. Meanwhile, dorky and geeky women are still being made over on the Hollywood screen to conform to the unrealistic feminized object of male desire. Example cited: She's All That. If this argument holds, is the L Word contributing to this trend? Well, look at what they are doing to Adele. She enters the show as a quiet, geeky fan of Jenny and she gets made over into a creepy Jenny look-alike. Change her image, make her chic, make her look like Jenny. What's going on here? On the surface it looks like a Hollywood makeover, but I think there's something creepier going on. Enter pathologized obsession? Hmm...
Looking Ahead to Objectification
It seems as though the promised Turkish oil wrestling is coming up next episode. Hmmm....thin, scantily clad bodies coated in oil, long hair flailing about as women slip around and fall all over each other as eroticized objects for the onlookers' gaze. Is this a show about a group of lesbians living in LA or a porn scene (you know, the porn created for heterosexual men) from "Hot Oiled Lesbians?"
Not a whole lot going on in this episode, as far as representational politics are concerned. However, I'm going to cave in and talk about Tina and Bette, but not in that gushy obsessed fan way. Just a brief commentary that connects back to open relationships.
So, Bette couldn't handle Jodi's hitherto lifestyle of open relationships and seeing other people, so she forced her into a compulsory heteronormative monogamous relationship. And now, she's cheating on her with Tina! I guess reinforcing monogamy sets the stage for cheating, which keeps the drama brewing, and everyone knows how much lesbians love drama. Pshaw, keep the stereotypes coming!
On a positive note, that was probably the most believable simultaneous orgasm scene I have ever seen. Laurel Holloman and Jennifer Beals know how to work!
Quick, Transform the Nerd!
A while ago I read an article somewhere that argued that the male nerd seems to be in vogue in Hollywood right now, so that goofy, awkward, dorky, tech geek gets unattainable hot chick. Examples cited: Superbad, Knocked Up. Meanwhile, dorky and geeky women are still being made over on the Hollywood screen to conform to the unrealistic feminized object of male desire. Example cited: She's All That. If this argument holds, is the L Word contributing to this trend? Well, look at what they are doing to Adele. She enters the show as a quiet, geeky fan of Jenny and she gets made over into a creepy Jenny look-alike. Change her image, make her chic, make her look like Jenny. What's going on here? On the surface it looks like a Hollywood makeover, but I think there's something creepier going on. Enter pathologized obsession? Hmm...
Looking Ahead to Objectification
It seems as though the promised Turkish oil wrestling is coming up next episode. Hmmm....thin, scantily clad bodies coated in oil, long hair flailing about as women slip around and fall all over each other as eroticized objects for the onlookers' gaze. Is this a show about a group of lesbians living in LA or a porn scene (you know, the porn created for heterosexual men) from "Hot Oiled Lesbians?"
February 10, 2008
Here's "Lookin' at You, Kid"
Okay, okay. I'm getting horribly less committed to posting within a reasonable time frame. I'm working on it, promise!
Shane.
First, the writers failed miserably at disrupting their perpetual reinforcement of monogamy as normative. The whole Shane, Dawn, and "lover" Cindy triangle could have turned into a positive representation of an open relationship. Instead, Cindy "cheats" with Shane, Dawn freaks out, and enter back into heteronormative monogamous drama.
The whole "lover" Cindy bit is ridiculous as well. Hi, a show about women, for women that continues to subjugate women. Cindy has no voice when she is with Dawn; Dawn speaks for the two of them, "Hi I'm Dawn and this is my lover Cindy." Dawn goes off on Shane at the party and Cindy is shushed by Dawn. Refer back to my reference to Biddy Martin's discussion on racialized lesbian identity, stretch the analogy a little, and it's no surprise that Dawn is the dark-haired, darker featured while Cindy is the tall buxom blonde, the representation of the objectified woman to the max. Still not buying it? Look at Cindy's interaction with Shane. Cindy, the giggly flirtatious waitress and Shane, the leering, lascivious onlooker. What a way to throw sexual desire and attraction back into the subject/object dichotomy that contributes to the objectification of women. And I must give credit where credit is due, as this episode was written and directed entirely by Angela Robinson. Cheers Angela, you did a bang up job!!!
Props and Flops
I'll keep this post relatively short, as I'm already getting ready for the next post for the episode that aired tonight. Here's a list of the goods and bads from this last episode. Let's start with the big disappointment:
-Max says that he doesn't think Adele is exactly who she pretends to be. Alice says, "You're one to talk there, Max" with an I just burnt you look on her face, and Shane joins in the fun with a little "ooh" like she got you. Max just says "You know what, fuck off," Alice smiles, and then Max proceeds to help her with her Lesboland podcast. For the sake of trans people everywhere, somebody needed to say something about the insinuation that trans identity (yes, identity) is a pretending to be what one is not. Maybe all identities are an acting or pretending to an extent, but trans people are not pretending to be something they are not. How absurd that this line was able to sneak right on by with a haha attitude.
Now for the goods:
-Full male frontal nudity during the skinny dipping scene, hoorah, way to break that taboo!
-Excellent, excellent acting at the party. "Gay brownies" were hilarious!
-The Tasha-Alice drama is well written, maybe pushing the polarities a little, but the celebrity outing was a nice little write in. Cheers, Angela!
Still holding out for that new theme song...
Shane.
First, the writers failed miserably at disrupting their perpetual reinforcement of monogamy as normative. The whole Shane, Dawn, and "lover" Cindy triangle could have turned into a positive representation of an open relationship. Instead, Cindy "cheats" with Shane, Dawn freaks out, and enter back into heteronormative monogamous drama.
The whole "lover" Cindy bit is ridiculous as well. Hi, a show about women, for women that continues to subjugate women. Cindy has no voice when she is with Dawn; Dawn speaks for the two of them, "Hi I'm Dawn and this is my lover Cindy." Dawn goes off on Shane at the party and Cindy is shushed by Dawn. Refer back to my reference to Biddy Martin's discussion on racialized lesbian identity, stretch the analogy a little, and it's no surprise that Dawn is the dark-haired, darker featured while Cindy is the tall buxom blonde, the representation of the objectified woman to the max. Still not buying it? Look at Cindy's interaction with Shane. Cindy, the giggly flirtatious waitress and Shane, the leering, lascivious onlooker. What a way to throw sexual desire and attraction back into the subject/object dichotomy that contributes to the objectification of women. And I must give credit where credit is due, as this episode was written and directed entirely by Angela Robinson. Cheers Angela, you did a bang up job!!!
Props and Flops
I'll keep this post relatively short, as I'm already getting ready for the next post for the episode that aired tonight. Here's a list of the goods and bads from this last episode. Let's start with the big disappointment:
-Max says that he doesn't think Adele is exactly who she pretends to be. Alice says, "You're one to talk there, Max" with an I just burnt you look on her face, and Shane joins in the fun with a little "ooh" like she got you. Max just says "You know what, fuck off," Alice smiles, and then Max proceeds to help her with her Lesboland podcast. For the sake of trans people everywhere, somebody needed to say something about the insinuation that trans identity (yes, identity) is a pretending to be what one is not. Maybe all identities are an acting or pretending to an extent, but trans people are not pretending to be something they are not. How absurd that this line was able to sneak right on by with a haha attitude.
Now for the goods:
-Full male frontal nudity during the skinny dipping scene, hoorah, way to break that taboo!
-Excellent, excellent acting at the party. "Gay brownies" were hilarious!
-The Tasha-Alice drama is well written, maybe pushing the polarities a little, but the celebrity outing was a nice little write in. Cheers, Angela!
Still holding out for that new theme song...
January 30, 2008
"Let's Get This Party Started"
By "this party," I assume the writers are referring to the femme-filled opening of "SheBar." Thank God the owners were there to regulate the door so none of those butch dykes could slip past into the party, not that we saw them lined up out front anyway. Props to the writers for Shane's line: "It's like South Beach threw up." That was the entertaining bit for the evening, now on to the politics!
Transgender Education: Max Blogs on OurChart
I am so glad to see that the writers are letting this issue surrounding trans acceptance in the lesbian community continually resurface. In this episode, Max posts a blog on OurChart, and gets a lot of negative feedback from other users on the message board. Following one comment declaring OurChart a lesbian space where Max doesn't belong, Max replies, "I guess that's why we posted, right, to, um, educate people like that, right." Cheers for acknowledging that education is the first crucial step, and for really elucidating the vulgarity and cruelty that actually occurs toward trans people within the queer community. Follow this up with a call from Alice, telling Max he invaded her space to promote his own agenda and from now on he can blog once a week, but in his own little box, separate from the "Guestbians," or guest bloggers on OurChart. Max then accuses Alice of segregating trans people from the lesbian community. Again this phone call is cut short because Alice has to attend to two military officers who show up at her door, but this is certainly progress regarding the discussion surrounding where the T fits in with the LGB. The only improvement I can hope for on this front is when something happens where Max is referred to as "she" or "girl" or "woman" that it not be laughed off, and that some character step up to correct this. Here, I'm referring to the conversation between Bette and Jodi at the club, where they spot Max dancing with Tom, Jodi's interpreter. Yes, he has a name, which I think I overlooked before. Jodi turns to Bette and says, "I'm happy for Tom. He really wants a boyfriend." Bette says with a wink, "Girlfriend." And Jodi just laughs, like "Oh Bette, you're so silly." Does this give visibility to the issue or simply perpetuate that kind of treatment of trans people? I vote that as long as it is presented as a joking matter, it continues to perpetuate the problem.
So Much for Celibacy: Shane's Menage-a-trois
Wow, so what Shane did at the club would be like me breaking my Master Cleanse with a large pizza. Did I call it or what? But, the point to question here is this: Will Shane learn something about sex and relationships from this encounter with the two club owners or will she just go back to her lust-filled player lifestyle? Before the club owners rope her into a threesome, they explain to her that they have no drama in their relationship because, in their words, "we're completely honest, we don't cheat and we don't believe in jealousy, and we put it all on the line and whatever we do, we do together." Not that a couple has to do everything together, but Shane should at least take away the concepts of honesty, and not cheating which necessarily implies communication. The reason I bring this up is because it is one of the first times we're getting into the territory of open relationships on this show, rather than either seeing characters engaged in frequent casual sex or locked into a monogamous relationship. It's good to represent these types of relationships and open up the ways in which we think about partnerships and sex. I'm curious to see where Shane's character goes from here.
Flashbacks of Queer as Folk
In closing, I must confess that I was a huge huge fan of Queer as Folk, and I cannot help but feel nostalgic about it when I see the girls hitting the gym or the club, as those were the two main locales of action in QasF. I hate to compare the L Word and QasF because so many people do, so I won't, but I will say that the series of yore did much more in terms of social responsibility than the L Word has to date. I still have hope for our Hollywood lesbians, though. I do, I really do.
Transgender Education: Max Blogs on OurChart
I am so glad to see that the writers are letting this issue surrounding trans acceptance in the lesbian community continually resurface. In this episode, Max posts a blog on OurChart, and gets a lot of negative feedback from other users on the message board. Following one comment declaring OurChart a lesbian space where Max doesn't belong, Max replies, "I guess that's why we posted, right, to, um, educate people like that, right." Cheers for acknowledging that education is the first crucial step, and for really elucidating the vulgarity and cruelty that actually occurs toward trans people within the queer community. Follow this up with a call from Alice, telling Max he invaded her space to promote his own agenda and from now on he can blog once a week, but in his own little box, separate from the "Guestbians," or guest bloggers on OurChart. Max then accuses Alice of segregating trans people from the lesbian community. Again this phone call is cut short because Alice has to attend to two military officers who show up at her door, but this is certainly progress regarding the discussion surrounding where the T fits in with the LGB. The only improvement I can hope for on this front is when something happens where Max is referred to as "she" or "girl" or "woman" that it not be laughed off, and that some character step up to correct this. Here, I'm referring to the conversation between Bette and Jodi at the club, where they spot Max dancing with Tom, Jodi's interpreter. Yes, he has a name, which I think I overlooked before. Jodi turns to Bette and says, "I'm happy for Tom. He really wants a boyfriend." Bette says with a wink, "Girlfriend." And Jodi just laughs, like "Oh Bette, you're so silly." Does this give visibility to the issue or simply perpetuate that kind of treatment of trans people? I vote that as long as it is presented as a joking matter, it continues to perpetuate the problem.
So Much for Celibacy: Shane's Menage-a-trois
Wow, so what Shane did at the club would be like me breaking my Master Cleanse with a large pizza. Did I call it or what? But, the point to question here is this: Will Shane learn something about sex and relationships from this encounter with the two club owners or will she just go back to her lust-filled player lifestyle? Before the club owners rope her into a threesome, they explain to her that they have no drama in their relationship because, in their words, "we're completely honest, we don't cheat and we don't believe in jealousy, and we put it all on the line and whatever we do, we do together." Not that a couple has to do everything together, but Shane should at least take away the concepts of honesty, and not cheating which necessarily implies communication. The reason I bring this up is because it is one of the first times we're getting into the territory of open relationships on this show, rather than either seeing characters engaged in frequent casual sex or locked into a monogamous relationship. It's good to represent these types of relationships and open up the ways in which we think about partnerships and sex. I'm curious to see where Shane's character goes from here.
Flashbacks of Queer as Folk
In closing, I must confess that I was a huge huge fan of Queer as Folk, and I cannot help but feel nostalgic about it when I see the girls hitting the gym or the club, as those were the two main locales of action in QasF. I hate to compare the L Word and QasF because so many people do, so I won't, but I will say that the series of yore did much more in terms of social responsibility than the L Word has to date. I still have hope for our Hollywood lesbians, though. I do, I really do.
January 27, 2008
"Lady of the Lake" Review of Episode 3
Please forgive my being so derelict in my blogging duties! Generally, I found episode 3 to be rather boring, and was feeling unmotivated to write, but here goes, just before episode 4 airs tonight.
Let's talk about Shane . . . and Sex!
So Shane declares a moratorium on sex, drama, and jealousy. I imagine that this choice of the word "moratorium" is supposed to be reflective of one of Shane's new hobbies in her sexless lifestyle: flipping through the dictionary and memorizing ten new words a day. On top of this, Shane has managed to accomplish other things she has been putting off and even set goals for herself! Wow. She talks about "this celibacy thing" being like a "master cleanse to my body." Now Tina is quick to note that going without sex for long periods doesn't have quite the "salubrious" effect on her (and Shane gets to learn yet another new word, "salubrious," which she slowly sounds out like a kindergartener, "saaa leeww breeee uuusss.") What are we seeing here, besides Shane's lack of intelligence? Well, of course, anytime someone forgoes something that occupied much of their time, they will find themselves freer to do other things. For example, I am doing the Master Cleanse right now, and I find myself getting much more done (except blogging, apparently) during the time I used to spend cooking, eating, and pursuing food (as in shopping and foraging, not hunting!). However, while every now and then, I might get a craving for some food, I drink some lemonade and revel in the benefits of my fast; I have a focus, in fact, I even happen to have a spiritual focus, which is not necessary for one to have but segues nicely into the concept of celibacy and Shane's meditation scene. So, we are led to believe in the beginning that Shane's moratorium on sex is motivated by her desire to avoid all the drama she's been experiencing in her relationships. Mostly, I think the problem is not sex in and of itself, but it's the way in which Shane deals with her lovers. Maybe she needs to work on communication and managing relationships instead of just giving up sex. Instead of reading the dictionary, maybe she could read some self-helps books, or just spend some time reflecting on these drama inducing relationships. Anyway, to get back to the matter at hand, Shane is constantly distracted by sex, as seen when she ogles the woman at the gym, and when she simply cannot control herself and tries to make out with Helena. The point is that she has no real focus, so she's denying herself something and she's constantly struggling against it. And then she has the nerve to call it celibacy and even attempts to meditate, as if giving up sex will make her more "spiritual." However, she mumbles while sitting cross legged in a room full of candles, "I don't know how people do this." Then she tries to do some sort of walking, deep breathing meditation, stops and says, "Fuck it, I can't do this." Next thing you know, she's jumping up and down, breathing heavily, so full of energy and no way to expend it! What does this all mean? First I thought, maybe it's just a mock up of that Seinfield episode when the characters make that bet and give up masturbating and have all sorts of energy, but are constantly tempted and one by one, give into self-gratification. So it has its humorous effects, but I think this does a little more...this moves into the territory of celibacy. Now, I respect the different reasons for which people commit themselves to celibacy, and there are many reasons, but since the writers had to make the spiritual connection with the meditation scene, there are greater implications for Shane's "vow" to celibacy. She expects it to make her able to meditate and therefore focus herself spiritually. The way it is treated in this episode belittles a commitment to celibacy, as it is portrayed as comical with ill motivation and faltering dedication. What Shane needs to do before she dives into meditation is reflect and realize there is more to life than sex, and all her new free time can be spent exploring those parts of her that are already there, where her interests already lie, instead of forcing something like meditation into her life just because it is typically linked to celibacy. But really, not everyone who is celibate meditates and not everyone who meditates is celibate, so please, let Shane find herself, and stop trying to reinforce the conceptions of the status quo. Basically, the approach is imbalanced, but I think that this story line with Shane is a good idea and has the potential to do many things, if only the writers were smart enough to shift her consciousness around. Most likely, Shane will simply give into her physical passions in some out of control way (like her tongue-filled attack on Helena). But, I will say, it is good to see the characters at the gym, at least we know they work out on top of starving themselves. But in closing, can I just say, wasn't there someone on set who could teach Shane to do a proper pushup?
The "Big Butch Prison Daddy Dyke"
Yes, the "big butch prison daddy dyke." These are the very words which Eleanor, Helena's mother, uses to describe Dusty. Reiterating last week's post, this is exactly it. To Eleanor, a woman in prison couldn't be anything but that, and by the representation of the women in prison that we saw, they weren't represented as anything but that. Now, as I thought more about it, I realized that what the casting crew accomplished through this representation was effectively casting the women in prison as other. They are all other than Helena who represents the normative, as she is reflective of the cast we see moving through LA on a day to day basis. It's just another way to reinforce oppression, marking the other this way. And honestly, Dusty is hardly a "big butch daddy." Thankfully Helena was able to see into Dusty, assuring us that "it turns out she is one of the most enlightened, beautiful women" Helena has ever known, and Helena is going to retrieve the money she stole from Catherine, get Dusty out, and run away with her. Oooh, this is exciting. And, it's good to know that even these tougher look women can be beautiful and enlightened! As a compliment, I will say that this scene was beautifully done. The awkward silences and the silent disapproval of Eleanor's commentary by the other characters was very well acted. Congrats! (I told you my posts wouldn't all be negative.)
Tune in tonight!
Be sure to tune in for episode 4 tonight: looks like we're getting into some Bette/Tina action, and we're launching into an emotional military investigation. I'll try to be more apt with my posting this week too!
Let's talk about Shane . . . and Sex!
So Shane declares a moratorium on sex, drama, and jealousy. I imagine that this choice of the word "moratorium" is supposed to be reflective of one of Shane's new hobbies in her sexless lifestyle: flipping through the dictionary and memorizing ten new words a day. On top of this, Shane has managed to accomplish other things she has been putting off and even set goals for herself! Wow. She talks about "this celibacy thing" being like a "master cleanse to my body." Now Tina is quick to note that going without sex for long periods doesn't have quite the "salubrious" effect on her (and Shane gets to learn yet another new word, "salubrious," which she slowly sounds out like a kindergartener, "saaa leeww breeee uuusss.") What are we seeing here, besides Shane's lack of intelligence? Well, of course, anytime someone forgoes something that occupied much of their time, they will find themselves freer to do other things. For example, I am doing the Master Cleanse right now, and I find myself getting much more done (except blogging, apparently) during the time I used to spend cooking, eating, and pursuing food (as in shopping and foraging, not hunting!). However, while every now and then, I might get a craving for some food, I drink some lemonade and revel in the benefits of my fast; I have a focus, in fact, I even happen to have a spiritual focus, which is not necessary for one to have but segues nicely into the concept of celibacy and Shane's meditation scene. So, we are led to believe in the beginning that Shane's moratorium on sex is motivated by her desire to avoid all the drama she's been experiencing in her relationships. Mostly, I think the problem is not sex in and of itself, but it's the way in which Shane deals with her lovers. Maybe she needs to work on communication and managing relationships instead of just giving up sex. Instead of reading the dictionary, maybe she could read some self-helps books, or just spend some time reflecting on these drama inducing relationships. Anyway, to get back to the matter at hand, Shane is constantly distracted by sex, as seen when she ogles the woman at the gym, and when she simply cannot control herself and tries to make out with Helena. The point is that she has no real focus, so she's denying herself something and she's constantly struggling against it. And then she has the nerve to call it celibacy and even attempts to meditate, as if giving up sex will make her more "spiritual." However, she mumbles while sitting cross legged in a room full of candles, "I don't know how people do this." Then she tries to do some sort of walking, deep breathing meditation, stops and says, "Fuck it, I can't do this." Next thing you know, she's jumping up and down, breathing heavily, so full of energy and no way to expend it! What does this all mean? First I thought, maybe it's just a mock up of that Seinfield episode when the characters make that bet and give up masturbating and have all sorts of energy, but are constantly tempted and one by one, give into self-gratification. So it has its humorous effects, but I think this does a little more...this moves into the territory of celibacy. Now, I respect the different reasons for which people commit themselves to celibacy, and there are many reasons, but since the writers had to make the spiritual connection with the meditation scene, there are greater implications for Shane's "vow" to celibacy. She expects it to make her able to meditate and therefore focus herself spiritually. The way it is treated in this episode belittles a commitment to celibacy, as it is portrayed as comical with ill motivation and faltering dedication. What Shane needs to do before she dives into meditation is reflect and realize there is more to life than sex, and all her new free time can be spent exploring those parts of her that are already there, where her interests already lie, instead of forcing something like meditation into her life just because it is typically linked to celibacy. But really, not everyone who is celibate meditates and not everyone who meditates is celibate, so please, let Shane find herself, and stop trying to reinforce the conceptions of the status quo. Basically, the approach is imbalanced, but I think that this story line with Shane is a good idea and has the potential to do many things, if only the writers were smart enough to shift her consciousness around. Most likely, Shane will simply give into her physical passions in some out of control way (like her tongue-filled attack on Helena). But, I will say, it is good to see the characters at the gym, at least we know they work out on top of starving themselves. But in closing, can I just say, wasn't there someone on set who could teach Shane to do a proper pushup?
The "Big Butch Prison Daddy Dyke"
Yes, the "big butch prison daddy dyke." These are the very words which Eleanor, Helena's mother, uses to describe Dusty. Reiterating last week's post, this is exactly it. To Eleanor, a woman in prison couldn't be anything but that, and by the representation of the women in prison that we saw, they weren't represented as anything but that. Now, as I thought more about it, I realized that what the casting crew accomplished through this representation was effectively casting the women in prison as other. They are all other than Helena who represents the normative, as she is reflective of the cast we see moving through LA on a day to day basis. It's just another way to reinforce oppression, marking the other this way. And honestly, Dusty is hardly a "big butch daddy." Thankfully Helena was able to see into Dusty, assuring us that "it turns out she is one of the most enlightened, beautiful women" Helena has ever known, and Helena is going to retrieve the money she stole from Catherine, get Dusty out, and run away with her. Oooh, this is exciting. And, it's good to know that even these tougher look women can be beautiful and enlightened! As a compliment, I will say that this scene was beautifully done. The awkward silences and the silent disapproval of Eleanor's commentary by the other characters was very well acted. Congrats! (I told you my posts wouldn't all be negative.)
Tune in tonight!
Be sure to tune in for episode 4 tonight: looks like we're getting into some Bette/Tina action, and we're launching into an emotional military investigation. I'll try to be more apt with my posting this week too!
January 15, 2008
"Look Out, Here They Come!" Review of Episode 2
Women in Prison: Tattooed Violent Lesbians, Oh My!
The prevailing issue for me in this episode was the representation of women in prison. First, kudos for the presentation of bodies in the shower scene. We saw a nice variation of female bodies in this scene, as opposed to the bird-like frame and accentuated rib cage that all the other characters on the L Word typically sport. It was nice to see bodies with more weight on the bones, shapely hips and thighs, sagging breasts, blemishes, subcutaneous fat. You know, the reality of many bodies in the world. And the scene was so confident and not unnecessarily apologetic for these presentations. Now, when will people with these bodies be cast as main characters? And I know, some of you are probably saying, what about Kit? Well, yes, but that's Pam Grier; enough said!
Now for the downside of the show's representation of women in prison: All the women are suggestively lesbian, scary, and tough in contrast to the dainty, wimpering Helena. Not only is this overkill of a stereotypical representation of inmates in prison in general, but it's an unfair representation of the population of women's prisons. First, not all women in prison are lesbians, obviously. Yet, when Shane walks through the corridor (episode 1), she's stopping to flirt with prisoners who are reaching out to her through the bars. Then, when Kit walks through that same corridor, we again see arms flailing through the bars for just one touch, on top of all the cat calls we hear, like "I want me some of that!" Then there's the somewhat erotic threat to Helena in the shower scene, and her consequent hookup with her cellmate, Dusty, that evening. Okay, I'll give them the cellmate hookup; it makes for a good story line, and it's plausible that Helena could end up with a lesbian cellmate, sure, because although not every woman in prison is a lesbian, some undoubtedly are. But the whole soap thing; WTF? It's not even that comical. It was funny when Alice told Helena not to drop the soap just because it played off that whole thing about anal rape in prison and it confused the sex lines by offering that advice in a women's prison, but it just went too far with the shower scene. Now, I've never been in prison, so maybe I'm wrong about this whole soap thing, but it seemed ridiculous to me. I think the intention behind the "dropping the soap" bit was to eroticize the attack on Helena, especially with the knife blade along the thigh, and with the close face to face contact. This eroticization reinforces the lesbian stereotype of women in prisons as well as contributes to an equation of male to male sexual violence with female to female sexual violence, which are two very different types of sexual violence, both in the circumstances under which they occur, and also in the actual acts that occur.
Moving on to the tough guy representation of all the women in prison (except for Helena, since she's the sharp, whiny contrast). This whole badass tough guy thing reinforces a hardened criminal stereotype, when in reality, all types of women are imprisoned. The problem with the hardened criminal is that it fails to acknowledge what various women in prison really look like, and also, it denies the reality that many women are unjustly imprisoned for crimes they did not even commit, or for self-defense "crimes." This representation also lends itself to the assumption that these women all committed some horrendous crime, like when Helena assumes Dusty killed someone, but we find out that she's in for tax fraud. Tax fraud! Yet, Dusty is portrayed with muscles, tattoos, and a don't fuck with me attitude. Why? I mean, I could easily go to prison for tax fraud (I'm not implicating myself here, but I'm just saying that it could be a very real possibility), but I'm not that scary. Well, I can be pretty tough and sometimes I frighten people when I flex my biceps, but really, Dusty is unnecessarily represented as a "hardened" prison inmate simply to perpetuate a stereotype of what people in prison look like. This is a perfect example of where the writers have the potential to use the success of this series and their position to debunk these myths rather than reinforce them, but instead, they go for sheer entertainment value. Let's see how Dusty's character continues to develop...
"He's not gay anymore" : Gender and Sexual Orientation
This is related to Jodi's interpreter's attraction to Max. When he points Max out to Alice, Bette, and Jodi, there is an obvious discomfort in the way Bette and Alice talk about Max's sexual orientation. Finally, Alice says, "He's not gay anymore . . . he used to be a lesbian." Then Bette explains, "He's a trans man." The interpreter's (who has yet to be named, I think) reply: wide eyed "Oh my god, I had no idea." End of scene. Hmm . . . a LOT going on here for such a short scene. Questions of how we link gender to sexual orientation. Does it necessarily have to be linked? Well, no, but does it make sense to do so sometimes? I'm not sure, maybe. What does it mean for a continuum of gender expression and sexuality? To what extent does one really stop being "gay" or a "lesbian" and start being something else? Do these temporal boundaries around identity really exist? As I understand in the description of episode 3, something could potentially develop with the interpreter, so I hope in the exploration in that relationship, there is some discursive development around these questions. This could be reflected in Max's "pondering" of the "mutual attraction" to the interpreter as well as in Max's interactions with Alice. I just hope, again, that the writers didn't follow their usual trend of raise an issue and drop it with no resolution.
Three Sexual Excursions at One Wedding and No Safer Sex!
Okay, so, yeah right! Shane does hair at Tina's boss' daughter's wedding and ends up sleeping with the bride's two sisters (separately), nearly seduces the bride, but exercises some tact, and then sleeps with the bride's mother. A big whatever on that one, but I just have to say, fucking three different women in one day at one event without any safer sex methods really calls for an STI test. Of course, I don't count on that happening on the L Word, so looking ahead, episode 3's description suggests Shane's new commitment to celibacy. I'm willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt (why, I don't know), but I suspect that I will be ripping that whole idea to shreds. My predictions: a trivialization of what it means to commit to celibacy, a tragi-comical representation of a hyper energized Shane, who suddenly doesn't know what to do with herself without sex being so present in her life, which I think will result in a detrimental effect on asexuality because it will cast a non-normative light on a lifestyle devoid of sex. These are predictions, mind you; I could be entirely wrong. In fact, I would be happy if my predictions are wrong, and there is actually something praiseworthy and positive to say about about the representation of celibacy (which, I might note is very different than asexuality, but I see the connection in the normative representation of the centrality of sex to the human lifestyle -- more on that next time, possibly).
In Closing
I had also intended to write about Tasha's comments regarding her investigation and Alice's unwavering support despite her difficulty in understanding Tasha's position, but I think I'll let that go until the investigation develops some more. From what I understand of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy based on conversations I've had both with a marine and with a naval officer, the show is doing a pretty decent job at representing the tensions that arise, and I foresee an accurate representation of some of the incongruities in the policy and procedure to come. Until then, I decided that I might start ending these blog posts with a big WHY? Why are we now 4 seasons deep in that wretched opening sequence and theme song. I have a brilliant idea: hold a contest for a new song and opening credits! The fans would love it, it's interactive, and brings lots of attention and publicity, and we can scrap that annoying list of L words and "LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" ew.
The prevailing issue for me in this episode was the representation of women in prison. First, kudos for the presentation of bodies in the shower scene. We saw a nice variation of female bodies in this scene, as opposed to the bird-like frame and accentuated rib cage that all the other characters on the L Word typically sport. It was nice to see bodies with more weight on the bones, shapely hips and thighs, sagging breasts, blemishes, subcutaneous fat. You know, the reality of many bodies in the world. And the scene was so confident and not unnecessarily apologetic for these presentations. Now, when will people with these bodies be cast as main characters? And I know, some of you are probably saying, what about Kit? Well, yes, but that's Pam Grier; enough said!
Now for the downside of the show's representation of women in prison: All the women are suggestively lesbian, scary, and tough in contrast to the dainty, wimpering Helena. Not only is this overkill of a stereotypical representation of inmates in prison in general, but it's an unfair representation of the population of women's prisons. First, not all women in prison are lesbians, obviously. Yet, when Shane walks through the corridor (episode 1), she's stopping to flirt with prisoners who are reaching out to her through the bars. Then, when Kit walks through that same corridor, we again see arms flailing through the bars for just one touch, on top of all the cat calls we hear, like "I want me some of that!" Then there's the somewhat erotic threat to Helena in the shower scene, and her consequent hookup with her cellmate, Dusty, that evening. Okay, I'll give them the cellmate hookup; it makes for a good story line, and it's plausible that Helena could end up with a lesbian cellmate, sure, because although not every woman in prison is a lesbian, some undoubtedly are. But the whole soap thing; WTF? It's not even that comical. It was funny when Alice told Helena not to drop the soap just because it played off that whole thing about anal rape in prison and it confused the sex lines by offering that advice in a women's prison, but it just went too far with the shower scene. Now, I've never been in prison, so maybe I'm wrong about this whole soap thing, but it seemed ridiculous to me. I think the intention behind the "dropping the soap" bit was to eroticize the attack on Helena, especially with the knife blade along the thigh, and with the close face to face contact. This eroticization reinforces the lesbian stereotype of women in prisons as well as contributes to an equation of male to male sexual violence with female to female sexual violence, which are two very different types of sexual violence, both in the circumstances under which they occur, and also in the actual acts that occur.
Moving on to the tough guy representation of all the women in prison (except for Helena, since she's the sharp, whiny contrast). This whole badass tough guy thing reinforces a hardened criminal stereotype, when in reality, all types of women are imprisoned. The problem with the hardened criminal is that it fails to acknowledge what various women in prison really look like, and also, it denies the reality that many women are unjustly imprisoned for crimes they did not even commit, or for self-defense "crimes." This representation also lends itself to the assumption that these women all committed some horrendous crime, like when Helena assumes Dusty killed someone, but we find out that she's in for tax fraud. Tax fraud! Yet, Dusty is portrayed with muscles, tattoos, and a don't fuck with me attitude. Why? I mean, I could easily go to prison for tax fraud (I'm not implicating myself here, but I'm just saying that it could be a very real possibility), but I'm not that scary. Well, I can be pretty tough and sometimes I frighten people when I flex my biceps, but really, Dusty is unnecessarily represented as a "hardened" prison inmate simply to perpetuate a stereotype of what people in prison look like. This is a perfect example of where the writers have the potential to use the success of this series and their position to debunk these myths rather than reinforce them, but instead, they go for sheer entertainment value. Let's see how Dusty's character continues to develop...
"He's not gay anymore" : Gender and Sexual Orientation
This is related to Jodi's interpreter's attraction to Max. When he points Max out to Alice, Bette, and Jodi, there is an obvious discomfort in the way Bette and Alice talk about Max's sexual orientation. Finally, Alice says, "He's not gay anymore . . . he used to be a lesbian." Then Bette explains, "He's a trans man." The interpreter's (who has yet to be named, I think) reply: wide eyed "Oh my god, I had no idea." End of scene. Hmm . . . a LOT going on here for such a short scene. Questions of how we link gender to sexual orientation. Does it necessarily have to be linked? Well, no, but does it make sense to do so sometimes? I'm not sure, maybe. What does it mean for a continuum of gender expression and sexuality? To what extent does one really stop being "gay" or a "lesbian" and start being something else? Do these temporal boundaries around identity really exist? As I understand in the description of episode 3, something could potentially develop with the interpreter, so I hope in the exploration in that relationship, there is some discursive development around these questions. This could be reflected in Max's "pondering" of the "mutual attraction" to the interpreter as well as in Max's interactions with Alice. I just hope, again, that the writers didn't follow their usual trend of raise an issue and drop it with no resolution.
Three Sexual Excursions at One Wedding and No Safer Sex!
Okay, so, yeah right! Shane does hair at Tina's boss' daughter's wedding and ends up sleeping with the bride's two sisters (separately), nearly seduces the bride, but exercises some tact, and then sleeps with the bride's mother. A big whatever on that one, but I just have to say, fucking three different women in one day at one event without any safer sex methods really calls for an STI test. Of course, I don't count on that happening on the L Word, so looking ahead, episode 3's description suggests Shane's new commitment to celibacy. I'm willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt (why, I don't know), but I suspect that I will be ripping that whole idea to shreds. My predictions: a trivialization of what it means to commit to celibacy, a tragi-comical representation of a hyper energized Shane, who suddenly doesn't know what to do with herself without sex being so present in her life, which I think will result in a detrimental effect on asexuality because it will cast a non-normative light on a lifestyle devoid of sex. These are predictions, mind you; I could be entirely wrong. In fact, I would be happy if my predictions are wrong, and there is actually something praiseworthy and positive to say about about the representation of celibacy (which, I might note is very different than asexuality, but I see the connection in the normative representation of the centrality of sex to the human lifestyle -- more on that next time, possibly).
In Closing
I had also intended to write about Tasha's comments regarding her investigation and Alice's unwavering support despite her difficulty in understanding Tasha's position, but I think I'll let that go until the investigation develops some more. From what I understand of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy based on conversations I've had both with a marine and with a naval officer, the show is doing a pretty decent job at representing the tensions that arise, and I foresee an accurate representation of some of the incongruities in the policy and procedure to come. Until then, I decided that I might start ending these blog posts with a big WHY? Why are we now 4 seasons deep in that wretched opening sequence and theme song. I have a brilliant idea: hold a contest for a new song and opening credits! The fans would love it, it's interactive, and brings lots of attention and publicity, and we can scrap that annoying list of L words and "LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" ew.
January 12, 2008
Review of Episode 1, "LGBTease"
Defining "Transgender" and a Convenient Cell Phone Interruption
The scene: Max is filming Alice as she interviews Phyllis for their website, Our Chart. Phyllis expresses her embarrassment at not knowing what the "T" in LGBT stands for, as she suggests, "tentative?" In this case, I think Phyllis is representative members of the queer community who are either ignorant of or make no attempt to understand transgender issues, often to the point of exclusion. This issue is raised more directly later in the dialogue. Alice responds to Phyllis' question by telling her that it stands for "trannies" and then quickly points to Max as an example. Max clarifies, "transgendered, you know, people who have changed their sexes from male to female or from female to male." Woah, hold on a minute. Not only is Max reinforcing binary gender (and sex), but most of us probably recognize the major slip here: Max has leaped from "gender" to "sex," and has defined "transgender" as strictly "transsexual." The reality is that "transgender" is often understood as a blanket term to cover cross-gender expression, regardless of the sex of the body. A transgender person does not alway have to change their sex. And it is here where the writers sort of redeem themselves, when Max explains that he did not go through with the top surgery because, aside from the fear of losing nipple sensation, he "felt enough of a guy as is, without the surgery." However, just prior to this statement he talks about how some guys don't feel fully "male" unless they have a "male contoured chest and can take their shirt off." Just to nitpick, does he mean that they don't fully feel like a man or that they don't feel fully male or some combination of the two? The point is that there is a see-sawing here between "gender" and "sex" in the dialogue around transgender identity on the show, and I would really like to see the writers be a more attentive to this.
Following Max's open discussion of a very personal decision, Alice cuts in, saying that they are getting off topic for Our Chart. Max asks why it is off topic, and Alice responds, "Our Chart is for lesbians." To which Max says, "I thought Our Chart was for everybody. It's Our Chart, I mean, doesn't that suggest it's inclusive?" Alice seems to be unsure of this, calls it a technicality in her concession that it's for everybody, and then conveniently receives a phone call from Tasha, leaving Max one last shot on screen of looking a little pissed off. Here, again, the question is raised: How inclusive is the queer community when it comes to transgender individuals? Alice's response to Max is a great representation of how transgender people are often cast out of the queer community. Lesbians, for example, might be less accepting of transgender men because of their masculine identity, claiming that if they pass as men then they gain male privilege, they're not really lesbians, but heterosexual men, etc. This is a debate that can go on for pages, but I just want to point it out and give kudos for the issue being made visible on the L Word. However, the cell phone call was a nice cop out for Alice, but I hope it's a temporary dismissal of the issue, as the writers really have to return to transgender inclusivity if they truly want to represent Max's character and his struggles in the fabulous L.A. lesbian community. I'll be watching to see how this plays out throughout the season, so definitely expect a lot more transgender commentary.
Tasha and Alice: The Racialization of Sexual Desire
Interestingly enough, not much issue is made of Tasha's race, aside from those few times where she's jokingly called Alice a white girl. Otherwise, more focus is on Tasha's role in the military and how she feels about the war. While I had written that I was going to get into the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in this post, I think I'd rather wait until we get more presentation of Tasha's investigation in future episodes. For now, I'd just like to think about the representation of race via Tasha's character. Watching the closing scene of the show, I couldn't help but think of Biddy Martin's article, "Sexualities Without Gender and Other Queer Utopias," (diacritics 24.2-3 p. 104-21). There is a lot going on in this article, but one issues Martin discusses is the persistent representation of the butch lesbian as a woman of color. Martin writes, "Disidentification from assigned gender is accomplished through darkness, as if whiteness and femmeness could not be differentiated and as if blackness were pure difference" (115). This is a description of the perpetuation of race, sex, and gender norms on film, even by queer filmmakers within queer films, and the L Word falls right into this trap. This also plays into all sorts of questions of passing and even fading, as in the example in which the lesbian femme is not visible. One can see how Alice, as a white femme bisexual, can get by in the world with no visibility as being other than heteronormative. Tasha, however, is slightly more butch, but probably feminine enough to pass if need be, but as a woman of color, she is always cast as non-normative in our white normative Western society. So, to portray her in a relationship with Alice in which she fills the role of Alice's soldier, the more butch or masculine partner, on top of being black, her otherness is compounded, resulting in the hypervisibility of Tasha as a lesbian, indeed, a black lesbian. Tasha's military investigation then becomes inevitable; she couldn't help but be seen. To extend this, look at some of the other characters in the L Word who were ever purported to be "butch." They are mostly women of color: Papi (for an hilarious take on Papi's butchness, watch this stand-up sketch by Marga Gomez), and Helena's cellmate. (Speaking of Helena's cellmate, I cannot wait to think more about the portrayal of women in prisons!) Max once referred to himself and Shane as "us butches," but Shane quickly denied the butch label, and Max came out as transgender, and let go of the butch label. Maybe we have yet to see a real "butch" representation on the show, whatever that means, but who wants to put their bets on a woman of color?
Stupid Girls: Jenny and Hollywood Success
I'll probably always dislike Jenny's character, but I definitely find her annoying qualities to be more comical rather than just unbearably annoying in this new season. I used to cringe and suffer through Jenny's fantasy writing scenes and flashbacks full of over-the-top, badly written prose, and now I can at least laugh at Jenny's exaggeration of "Hollywood." When Jenny goes off on her personal assistant about the mauve bows on her little doggy's ears, my mind conjured up an image from Pink's video "Stupid Girls." While I could offer up some criticism of this video, especially concerning the bulimia scene, overall I love the song and the video. Pink is generally criticizing women for playing into dumb, materialistic roles, and not pursuing careers, or using their strength and intelligence. Take for example, the lyrics, "What happened to the dream of the girl president? She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent." Brilliant! But what does this mean for Jenny's character? Well, she has the success, and she knows she's smart (she gets offended when Tina tries to pull one over on her last season, saying something like, "you thought I was completely clueless..."), but she also represents herself as the giggly girl with the tiny dog who must have orange bows, not mauve! It's an interesting contradiction. It's soooo L.A. I don't know what else to make of it yet theoretically, but it's something to watch and think about.
That's Enough for this Episode
There is so much going on in every episode, that I could probably write a whole book about the series, or actually, I could probably write one book for every season. In the interest of the spatial limitations of blogging, I'll try to pick out the key issue(s) from each episode, but if you see something that I don't talk about, please post a comment and put it out there! Episode 2, "Look Out, Here They Come," airs tomorrow!
The scene: Max is filming Alice as she interviews Phyllis for their website, Our Chart. Phyllis expresses her embarrassment at not knowing what the "T" in LGBT stands for, as she suggests, "tentative?" In this case, I think Phyllis is representative members of the queer community who are either ignorant of or make no attempt to understand transgender issues, often to the point of exclusion. This issue is raised more directly later in the dialogue. Alice responds to Phyllis' question by telling her that it stands for "trannies" and then quickly points to Max as an example. Max clarifies, "transgendered, you know, people who have changed their sexes from male to female or from female to male." Woah, hold on a minute. Not only is Max reinforcing binary gender (and sex), but most of us probably recognize the major slip here: Max has leaped from "gender" to "sex," and has defined "transgender" as strictly "transsexual." The reality is that "transgender" is often understood as a blanket term to cover cross-gender expression, regardless of the sex of the body. A transgender person does not alway have to change their sex. And it is here where the writers sort of redeem themselves, when Max explains that he did not go through with the top surgery because, aside from the fear of losing nipple sensation, he "felt enough of a guy as is, without the surgery." However, just prior to this statement he talks about how some guys don't feel fully "male" unless they have a "male contoured chest and can take their shirt off." Just to nitpick, does he mean that they don't fully feel like a man or that they don't feel fully male or some combination of the two? The point is that there is a see-sawing here between "gender" and "sex" in the dialogue around transgender identity on the show, and I would really like to see the writers be a more attentive to this.
Following Max's open discussion of a very personal decision, Alice cuts in, saying that they are getting off topic for Our Chart. Max asks why it is off topic, and Alice responds, "Our Chart is for lesbians." To which Max says, "I thought Our Chart was for everybody. It's Our Chart, I mean, doesn't that suggest it's inclusive?" Alice seems to be unsure of this, calls it a technicality in her concession that it's for everybody, and then conveniently receives a phone call from Tasha, leaving Max one last shot on screen of looking a little pissed off. Here, again, the question is raised: How inclusive is the queer community when it comes to transgender individuals? Alice's response to Max is a great representation of how transgender people are often cast out of the queer community. Lesbians, for example, might be less accepting of transgender men because of their masculine identity, claiming that if they pass as men then they gain male privilege, they're not really lesbians, but heterosexual men, etc. This is a debate that can go on for pages, but I just want to point it out and give kudos for the issue being made visible on the L Word. However, the cell phone call was a nice cop out for Alice, but I hope it's a temporary dismissal of the issue, as the writers really have to return to transgender inclusivity if they truly want to represent Max's character and his struggles in the fabulous L.A. lesbian community. I'll be watching to see how this plays out throughout the season, so definitely expect a lot more transgender commentary.
Tasha and Alice: The Racialization of Sexual Desire
Interestingly enough, not much issue is made of Tasha's race, aside from those few times where she's jokingly called Alice a white girl. Otherwise, more focus is on Tasha's role in the military and how she feels about the war. While I had written that I was going to get into the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in this post, I think I'd rather wait until we get more presentation of Tasha's investigation in future episodes. For now, I'd just like to think about the representation of race via Tasha's character. Watching the closing scene of the show, I couldn't help but think of Biddy Martin's article, "Sexualities Without Gender and Other Queer Utopias," (diacritics 24.2-3 p. 104-21). There is a lot going on in this article, but one issues Martin discusses is the persistent representation of the butch lesbian as a woman of color. Martin writes, "Disidentification from assigned gender is accomplished through darkness, as if whiteness and femmeness could not be differentiated and as if blackness were pure difference" (115). This is a description of the perpetuation of race, sex, and gender norms on film, even by queer filmmakers within queer films, and the L Word falls right into this trap. This also plays into all sorts of questions of passing and even fading, as in the example in which the lesbian femme is not visible. One can see how Alice, as a white femme bisexual, can get by in the world with no visibility as being other than heteronormative. Tasha, however, is slightly more butch, but probably feminine enough to pass if need be, but as a woman of color, she is always cast as non-normative in our white normative Western society. So, to portray her in a relationship with Alice in which she fills the role of Alice's soldier, the more butch or masculine partner, on top of being black, her otherness is compounded, resulting in the hypervisibility of Tasha as a lesbian, indeed, a black lesbian. Tasha's military investigation then becomes inevitable; she couldn't help but be seen. To extend this, look at some of the other characters in the L Word who were ever purported to be "butch." They are mostly women of color: Papi (for an hilarious take on Papi's butchness, watch this stand-up sketch by Marga Gomez), and Helena's cellmate. (Speaking of Helena's cellmate, I cannot wait to think more about the portrayal of women in prisons!) Max once referred to himself and Shane as "us butches," but Shane quickly denied the butch label, and Max came out as transgender, and let go of the butch label. Maybe we have yet to see a real "butch" representation on the show, whatever that means, but who wants to put their bets on a woman of color?
Stupid Girls: Jenny and Hollywood Success
I'll probably always dislike Jenny's character, but I definitely find her annoying qualities to be more comical rather than just unbearably annoying in this new season. I used to cringe and suffer through Jenny's fantasy writing scenes and flashbacks full of over-the-top, badly written prose, and now I can at least laugh at Jenny's exaggeration of "Hollywood." When Jenny goes off on her personal assistant about the mauve bows on her little doggy's ears, my mind conjured up an image from Pink's video "Stupid Girls." While I could offer up some criticism of this video, especially concerning the bulimia scene, overall I love the song and the video. Pink is generally criticizing women for playing into dumb, materialistic roles, and not pursuing careers, or using their strength and intelligence. Take for example, the lyrics, "What happened to the dream of the girl president? She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent." Brilliant! But what does this mean for Jenny's character? Well, she has the success, and she knows she's smart (she gets offended when Tina tries to pull one over on her last season, saying something like, "you thought I was completely clueless..."), but she also represents herself as the giggly girl with the tiny dog who must have orange bows, not mauve! It's an interesting contradiction. It's soooo L.A. I don't know what else to make of it yet theoretically, but it's something to watch and think about.
That's Enough for this Episode
There is so much going on in every episode, that I could probably write a whole book about the series, or actually, I could probably write one book for every season. In the interest of the spatial limitations of blogging, I'll try to pick out the key issue(s) from each episode, but if you see something that I don't talk about, please post a comment and put it out there! Episode 2, "Look Out, Here They Come," airs tomorrow!
January 7, 2008
Season 5 Premiere . . . Soooo Anticlimactic
Okay, this is the teaser post while I compose a thoughtful response and meticulous reflection on the Season 5 premiere. I just have to say that the episode that aired was the exact same show that was posted on OurChart.com a week in advance. For some reason I thought it would have some variation. Ah well, I crowded into a small dyke bar in San Francisco on a rainy night, wall-to-wall lesbians, packed so tight I could hardly move, just to watch the same episode I could have watched on the internet from the comfort of my own home. I guess it was worth the experience; fire hazard for sure, but at least the bartender with the mullet was cute.
Anyway, here's what to expect when I release the critique of the first episode in the next few days: Max's conflation of sex and gender and the interaction between Max and Alice regarding trans inclusiveness in the gay and lesbian community. Tasha and Alice, the military and "don't ask, don't tell," and the invisibility or hypervisibility of the black lesbian. Jenny, oh endearing Jenny, in a shift from purely annoying bad writer to the comical exaggeration of Hollywood success and connections to Pink's video "Stupid Girls."
Until then . . .
Anyway, here's what to expect when I release the critique of the first episode in the next few days: Max's conflation of sex and gender and the interaction between Max and Alice regarding trans inclusiveness in the gay and lesbian community. Tasha and Alice, the military and "don't ask, don't tell," and the invisibility or hypervisibility of the black lesbian. Jenny, oh endearing Jenny, in a shift from purely annoying bad writer to the comical exaggeration of Hollywood success and connections to Pink's video "Stupid Girls."
Until then . . .
January 3, 2008
Love It, Hate It, Love to Hate It, Hate to Love It!
So I spent the past four seasons of The L Word ranting about everything I hate (and love) about the show to anyone who would listen, and lately, I've been reading the essays in Reading the L Word: Outing Contemporary Television (ed. Kim Akass and Janet McCabe). Check it out on Google books: Reading the L Word. Needless to say, I could probably be more productive with my thoughts on the show instead of unleashing on innocent bystanders. Not to mention, the book is actually pretty inspiring for an aspiring academic like me. Hence, the creation of this blog. Now, I know, there are a gazillion other L Word blogs out there in addition to AfterEllen.com, where the writers do a pretty decent job of recapping and reviewing the show, so what makes my blog so special? Well, here are some goals/descriptors for my blog, which I think make it unique: This is not a gushy fan blog. I will not emote over how attractive the characters are (no, I won't, no matter how hott Shane is, no!) I will not post spoilers and I do not read them! This will not simply be a dramatic recap of the dramatic events occurring around the dramatic characters of the lesbian television drama. I'll offer a little summary and recap here and there to make my point, but my main focus will be on thinking critically about the L Word. This means thinking about representation and social responsibility. I don't want to enter the tired debate of whether or not the show accurately represents the lesbian community and lifestyle; rather, I would like to think about the possible social effects that arise from presentation and representation on the show as it is.
That said, here are some gripes I've carried from season to season, and/or my hopes for the new season:
That said, here are some gripes I've carried from season to season, and/or my hopes for the new season:
- Safer Sex! The show is chock full of sex, but not once (correct me if I'm wrong) did I see any mode of safer sex being utilized or even talked about. No dental dams, no finger condoms, no saran wrap, and not even a condom in het. sex scenes. Not once! Why is this a concern? Well, let me get personal for a moment. I was a hotline volunteer at an urban rape crisis center, and as part of my training I had to take a workshop on gay and lesbian sexuality and rape. The presenters were a gay man who works for the local LGBT center and a lesbian woman, who is a sex educator. At some point in the workshop, we got into STIs, and when HPV came up, the lesbian sex educator said, "I'm sorry, what is HPV? I've never heard of it." At this point, I fell out of my chair. As I was scrambling back into my seat, trying not to hyperventilate from the shock, she continued on, "Well, I guess I just don't have to worry about it as a lesbian. STIs really aren't an issue in the lesbian community." At this point I passed out; I'd heard enough. The problem is that this seems to be a perpetual myth in the lesbian community, and it's the most horrendously false, inane thing I've ever heard! I hold the belief that as the show about lesbians, The L Word has some sort of responsibility to dispel that myth. It would be as simple as having one character mention a dental dam, even if to joke. Or, have Shane go get tested; God knows she probably needs to be checked with the amount of unprotected sex she has! I know also that there are many lesbians, mostly young lesbians, who really try to emulate the characters on the show. C'mon, you've seen the Shane look-a-likes out there, you know it. Anyway, some presence of safer sex practice would really help our young L Word wannabes out there be safer in their sex lives.
- Give me some resolution! In the writing, that is. The show is fairly well written: well-developed loveable and hateable characters who encounter pretty realistic issues. However, I would like to see those enounters really be dealt with. Provide some resolution. This is sort of abstract, but I'll give one quick example: Bette and Tina's violent love scene in the Season 1 finale. This raises the issue of violence and sexual violence in lesbian relationships, but Tina gave in to Bette's force, turned the tables and pulled Bette's hand to her crotch with no later repercussions or thought about what had occurred between them. The resolution could have easily come when Tina went over to Alice's house, crying and asking to stay with her for a while. Tell Alice what happened, even if it doesn't make sense yet, but voice it! That's just one example of the many abounding issues that surface and fade away without proper acknowledgment. I'll be watching for an improvement in this writing trend in Season 5.
- Trans issues. I'm curious to see where the trans stuff goes with Max. The sneak peak of Episode 1 suggests that Max decides not to go through with top surgery. There is a little conflation of "sex" and "gender" in his little speech about why he chose not to get the surgery, but I'll get into a more nuanced critique of that after the first episode actually airs. I have to add that I was disappointed with the treatment of Ivan's character in Season 1, especially in that dialogue between Kit and Bette in the season finale, when Kit kept referring to Ivan as "he," and Bette returned with an emphatic "she." Bette's insensitivity to the gender pronoun for Ivan was never addressed, and Kit had the perfect opportunity to stand up to her sister about it.
- Diversity. The creators/writers have responded well to the criticism about diversity on the show by adding characters of more racial and ethnic backgrounds, and they even introduced a character with a "disability" in Marlee Matlin's character, Jodi. I still want to see a short-hair butch bull dyke as a main character. You catch a glimpse of them every now and then in the background at a party at The Planet, but at least give one a couple speaking lines! Oh, I'd also like to see a woman with muscles as solid as mine!
- New theme song! Please, oh God, please ditch that tired annoying old theme song, and give us some snazzier, hipper opening credits while you're at it!
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