The Commercialized Alternative

So I watched "The L-Word" tonight. I thought I'd give it another chance, and fun people were going to be there (and fun people invited me, for that matter). Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I remembered? Maybe I was just grumpy when I watched it?

No.

Just, no.

Here's some bs response paper I wrote about it a month ago (note that it's crappy because I don't care about that class):

The cable network ShoTime launched a television program last year about a group of lesbians and bisexual women living in Los Angeles. The show was billed as "provocative" and "sexy". However, in reality, it is just one more example of poor programming that demeans and objectifies women and panders to the heterosexual male fantasy of "two women".

While "The L-Word" is categorized as a drama and I do not expect—nor want—it to represent the entire lesbian and bisexual communities, it still lacks any substance that would identify it as such. Perhaps most evident is the physical presentation of each character as feminine. Of the seven main characters, not one is more than remotely butch. The closest is the character of Shane, who is brusque and aggressive, but her characterization is balanced by her traditionally feminine career as a hairdresser. The implication in omitting butch women is that they are unacceptable for primetime. Butch women are, apparently, less than women, an embarrassing stereotype, and not attractive to heterosexual men. Every main character is impossibly thin, well-groomed, and decidedly femme: characteristics that appeal to the general male audience, and not necessarily to women-loving-women. The show's characters, though created by a woman, are designed to attract straight men. One character is slightly overweight, but she is not treated as a sexual being. Another minor character has typically masculine attributes, but the show ambiguously defines her as transgendered. The implication is clear: masculine women want to be men, and they are not allowed to be women. The creators of the program may enjoy the thought that they are presenting mass culture with "real lesbians", but the fact remains that "The L-Word" shows lesbians and bisexual women as they can be accepted—as sex objects for heterosexual men.

But "The L-Word" is a product of its environment. In a society that stresses the importance of waist size and the ownership of women by men, the show fits right into place. However, while I cannot expect it to be revolutionary, I can expect that the show not move women's progress backwards. Even primetime sitcoms like "Everybody Loves Raymond" feature actresses who are at least more than waif-like. Moreover, the program promotes lesbians as promiscuous, unsure of themselves, and incapable of maintaining meaningful relationships. All but one relationship on the show arose from or ended in infidelity. Of two bisexual characters, one is constantly portrayed as confused and largely stupid.

The most cause for concern, however, is a scene from the first season's finale. In it a woman confronts her long-term partner about the partner's infidelity, and the result is horrifying. The accused woman begins to violently rape her partner, who soon acquiesces and even reciprocates the sex. The only logic this follows is the propaganda that when a woman says "no", she really means "yes", and using force is an acceptable method of obtaining gratification. While "The L-Word" may be groundbreaking in the sense that it displays lesbians as humans with somewhat-well-rounded lives, it begs the question of its own validity. At what cost is visibility acceptable, or is any form of representation better than sheer invisibility?

The show is awful on several levels: the stuff I bs-ed above (which I still think has merit), the absolutely terrible writing, and its setting as a commercialized alternative (I'll get to this in a minute).

On the second count, its being a bad show by nature of its being a bad show, I find the writers guilty. The dialogue is forced and trite (Jenny: "No. You're not...don't give up."), key plot events are so random-assed that Dan Rather himself couldn't complete this idiom (tip o't' nib), and the characters are all so annoying!

Let's make a list, shall we? I love lists.

• Bette: controlling, tokenly off-white (they had to make an issue out of her not being white in order to counter everyone else being white, for fuck's sake), egotistical
• Tina: sweet, nice, intelligent pushover. oh, and manipulative (getting pregnant behind your girlfriend's back? not quite healthy)
• Shane: incapable of shared emotion, passive-aggressive
• Jenny: stupid, in general. At least she got rid of those bangs.
• Dana: incapable of making decisions about her own life, impulsive
• Alice: okay, I kind of like Alice. But do you remember that bit about her male-identified woman partner from last season? She was such an ass about that.

I'd like to move on to the crux* (happy Palm Sunday) of the argument now. The show revolves around product placement and the pre-fab cookie cutter lifestyle that we all apparently desire. Take tonight's episode (please): Jenny walks into her (Shane's?) house with a Whole Foods tote bag slung over Berberry scarf-ed neck. I shit you not. So Whole Foods, the quintessential good-life-in-a-box, better-for-you-if-you-can-afford-it, hippie-fueled-come-yuppie-consumed product's product, is now advertised on the show. It's a wannabe outsider -- a commericalized alternative. Just like "The L-Word". Perhaps I'm not explaining myself adequately. I refer you to Priya's bit about Starbucks and Adam's Blog by proxy.

You know what? The sex just doesn't do it for me, either. Case in point, when Shane brings her trick home to the bugged bedroom, I was thinking, "Ow, my cervix**. Ow, my cervix, Ow, my..."

Will I watch the show next week? Maybe. Will I whine about it just as much? Probably. Is that going to stop me from enjoying an evening with my friends? No ma'am (unless they kick me out...I was being good tonight, though).

*Well, okay, that wasn't really the crux. I just wanted to use the Palm Sunday Joke.

**Yes, I realize the cervix itself has no nerve endings. But you know what I mean.