Increasingly disturbed by the paradoxical "L Word". Ostensibly a celebration of freedom to love and lifestyle diversity, but at it's core I keep thinking it's really about upping ratings by misogynistic exploitation of women as sex objects.
We've been watching it because dear friends loaned us four seasons worth of dvds over the past couple of months. Most of the characters are simply annoying, some downright hateful, few truly likable. Is this how we feel about lesbians? Is this how we want lgbt folks portrayed? And why isn't there even one pair bonding that has lasted throughout the run of the show? Most likely because what sells this show is melodrama and titillation, which makes it OK to stereotype lesbians as sexy neurotic sluts. (This leaves untouched the "sexy=Auschwitz-thin" formula that pervades the show. I can't decide if such a formula is simply misogynist or more generally inhuman.)
Sure, them broads are hot, but in the end I think we've all been demeaned.
There remains the question of why this should bug me. First, I suppose it's my own gender-and-sexual-preference self-loathing, otherwise, why would a straight guy give a damn. What kind of nut complains about a chance to watch hot chicks do soft-porn while sitting on the couch with his wife? And why would any man object to the whole woman-as-sex-object thing? I suppose I was raised funny.
A few weeks ago Gabriela and I were talking with our friends Gina and Sandy, and I asked if anyone else in the room had lgbt folks to whom they looked as mentors or role models when they were young. I was the only one in the room who could say yes. Starting with the pastor and choir director of our church, I grew up surrounded by lgbt adults who I never thought of as anything but the kind of people I wanted to be like, not in terms of sexual preference, because that didn't really matter, but in terms of loving and striving to be a good person and treat people well. Sure, I was a child, and no doubt idealized these folks. But that's the point; I was raised with an ideal of lgbt folks as just folks, people like mom and dad and grandma and grampaw. I was not raised to see folks, based simply on their gender-role-orientation or sexual preferences, as targets of any particularly special treatment, and certainly not as objects of ridicule, scorn, or crass commercial exploitation.
Is the show entirely bereft of valuable social commentary or pro-woman messages. No, not entirely. But the raison d'etre for this show is hot chicks play-fucking in the name of commercial entertainment. That's a lot of context above which to rise, and I think it would behoove friends of lgbts to gently introduce the point.
This post, by the way, is a piss poor example of such "gentle introduction", being instead more of a rant as I verbalize something that's bothered me since I saw the first episode and said, "Wow, that really seems more like something written by guys who can't stand to see another dick in the room."
[]
static link
writebacks: 7 (writeback = trackback +/- comment)
beau wrote
Seems some of the ironical bits don't come through as planned. The "self-loathing" bit was a tongue-in-cheek preemption of an oft-heard ad hominem attack, "Oh yeah!? Well, you're just a self-loathing so-and-so!!", such might be levied against a man who allegedly hates being a man because it is socially unacceptable in some circles for him to sleep with men, or a black who allegedly hates being black because it is a barrier to attaining the power and status of some whites, &c.
As for me, I may have as large a dose of liberal white male guilt as one could hope for, but it's not based on self-loathing. Most days I'm pretty good company. ;)
SpencerD197 wrote
"The L Word" as you have stated is a "misogynistic exploitation of women as sex objects". If I remember the intro titles of the show though it is written and produced by a number of women. It also stars women who do not seem unhappy with their characters or the story lines they have been given.
What we are seeing here is what the media wants us to see and people selling themselves for money and fame.
The people writing and producing "The L Word", both straight and lesbian women, want to keep the public glued to their televisions watching their show. They get more money and prestige from higher ratings. They know that people want to see conflict, i.e.-traffic in L.A. whenever someone gets a flat. The added bonus to "The L Word" is we get that bit of T & A that we as genetically, God created, creatures of pleasure monkeys can not get enough of.
The actors are not innocent here either. We have women in the cast, both straight and lesbian, who portray these characters for money and fame. They may or may not have a say as to what their parts are, but they do them each show anyways. These actresses could not "play", but there will always be someone else who will step up and sell themselves or a piece of glory pie (with or without a la mode).
If you want to look for the good people of the G.L.B.T. community, or any different person than yourself, STOP WATCHING T.V.!!! The people you grew up with are good role models, not made up characters on television.
And yes, I know that you are not just talking about how the characters come off to you, but how the general public feels about these portrayals. Fuck the general public! They are going to think what they want to think, if they think at all.
Here is what it comes down to. If you like "The L Word", which I do, watch it. If you are offended or do not agree with it, stop watching it. Just because someone makes a suggestion to you to watch a show, or movie, does not mean you have to. You made the choice, and you can have your opinion, but it is just a show. Get off the "liberal white male" cross, someone needs the wood.
This was a rant. See the difference.
SpencerD197 wrote
What the hell happened to my beautifully paragraphed essay, you programmed response bastard.
Quinn wrote
A Little Parity
You did this before, you know. With the commercial with the deaf guy. Look, all these groups want is to be mainstreamed, to have equal access, to be treated the "same". So they get thier commercial where they get laughed at for being as big a jackass as a hearing guy, or they get a tv show that is every bit as stupid and salacious as Desperate Housewives, and you start your crying jag about how demeaning and wrong it is. Step out, bud. They got what they wanted - equal opportunity to participate in the baseness of our culture. Don't like it, don't watch it. If you insist on pointing out how exploitative it is, then I must insist that you include those other examples in your rant. The L Word and Desperate Housewives are skipping to Gomorah hand in hand.
beau wrote
Agreed
Quinn wrote, "The L Word and Desperate Housewives are skipping to Gomorah hand in hand." I can only agree. As Spencer said above, the answer is to divest from the medium which thrives on such, be it the selling of the police state via endless cop shows or nonsense such as the L Word and Desparate Housewives. Ineed, lesbians and deaf people aren't the only ones who have let themselves be demeaned in the name of being mainstreamed.
Still doesn't make it right. And it still depresses me when my lesbian friends accept it, which they do, blindly, as if the feminist movement never happened. But that's their karma, not mine.
Or do I have some duty, being who and what I am, to look for ways and means and opportunities to raise consciousness? Have we given up on things like that all together?
Quinn wrote
Haven't given up, but I don't throw sand in the ocean.
beau wrote
Sorry, didn't mean you personally; that was much more a rhetorical question. The sun rises in the East, and I know you continue to fight the good fight.