"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!

"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?"

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...