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television

More to Love: A lot less to love than you’d think

by Sabine on July 29, 2009 · 3 comments

in Media

picture-6I sat down to watch Fox’s new reality series More to Love last night because, as a feminist and cultural critic, I felt like it was my solemn duty to do so. After 60 agonizing minutes, I can tell you that I won’t be doing that again.

Writer and fat activist Kate Harding had some interesting things to say about whether this kind of representation of plus-size women on TV is progress (and then had some even more nuanced things to say about it at her blog). I also read Marianne Kirby’s condemnation of the show here at the Daily Beast. But really, I didn’t think either of them went far enough in their critique.

More to Love is just as repulsive as The Bachelor, and for many of the same reasons. There are a boatload of women gasping about how cute the guy is; there are rivers of tears; there are several proclamations of, “This is a guy I think I could fall in love with,” even after spending approximately 30 seconds with him under the glare of cameras and lights. Both shows share that heady mix of despair (”I just want someone to love me!”) and desperation (the “look at me! Look at me!” antics). And there is similar casting: most women are white (on More to Love, there are no token black women, which struck me as odd, but there were a small handful of women who appeared to possibly be Latina), most are in their 20s (with one or two in their 30s, only to get booted off in short order), and there are a range of heights and hair colour.

So, really, in many respects the shows are exactly the same. Except More to Love, I’m sorry to say, is a freak show.

The mere fact that the premise is “lookit the fatties get with the fatty!” is what brings it to the doorstep of freak show; the execution, though, shoves it firmly into the freak show house of horror. First of all, when each woman is introduced to the audience through interview clips, her stats are also shown. Yes, age, height, weight are all there–though perhaps I should be grateful they stopped just short of BMI or waist-to-hip ratio?). And is not objectifying because…?

Secondly, the usual sobbing and mascara-running interview clips emphasized many of the women’s struggle with their weight, blaming their poor romantic track records on their body size. Now, I totally believe the women who said they had been dumped, etc. because their stupid boyfriends thought they were too fat. But framed in the context of a show like More to Love, all of life’s ills are going to come down to “too fat.” Most of the women on the show were in their 20s, and you know what? Maybe that has something to do with it. A lot of women date jerks and losers when they’re in their 20s, or have a hard time meeting the right guy. But a variable like that could never come into play on More to Love.

Why? Because the show’s narrative must be based on the premise that a fat woman’s body is aberrant in order for a transformation to take place. You know how these shows are: at the end, one woman is chosen to be The One (even though that lasts for all of 3 months, on average). In order to construct just the right romantic narrative, though, she must go from being the ugly duckling to the swan. She must be Changed by His Love, so much so that she Finally Accepts Herself. She must be Reborn by the “I’ve never felt this way before,” and “I never thought anyone could love me for me” and “I can’t believe I found my Prince Charming” lines that she inevitably utters in the final episode.

Okay, I could go on, but I’ll stop myself. The final thing I want to say is that the dude in question, Luke Conley, strikes me as a bit of an ass. It wasn’t his double-entendres that bothered me (what does he like to eat? Anything “thick and juicy”). It was his totally tacky methods for getting the women to hug and kiss him that I thought was revolting. “How do you say ‘kiss’ in Spanish?” he asked one woman. “Beso.” She said. “Can you share one with me?” he asked. “Um…” was her reply. Then an edit. Then cut to them kissing–while he was flanked on the other side with another woman. BAAARF.

Have you watched More to Love? Can you provide a justification for doing so?

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Mother’s Day: Gag me with a grease-laden spoon

by Sabine on May 12, 2009 · 4 comments

in Media

Mother and baby gorilla by mape_sAs you are no doubt aware, Mother’s Day was on Sunday. I’m a mother, and so our little family did what you’re supposed to do on Mother’s Day–eat brunch. How are those two things related? I’m not sure, and yet doesn’t Mother’s Day brunch seem to have cemented in popular culture like Polygrip on dentures?

I’m also completely unsure as to why KFC continues to run those goddamn “Moms Night Off” ads, which seemed to be on TV all the time in the run-up to Mother’s Day. First of all, the whole concept is totally sexist. It’s a given in these ads that it’s mom who does all the cooking. Somebody alert Ward Cleaver, but that simply isn’t the reality in untold numbers of households. Secondly, it’s kind of insulting to suggest that if mom was going to take the night off once a week/month/year that her replacement would be KFC. If it’s going to be a treat for mom not to cook, why not actually have something nice for dinner? Thanks for making all those healthy meals, mom–now let’s chug back some Coke n’ trans fats. Finally, I’m vegetarian, so if my husband and kid ever said to me, “You know, you deserve a night off. Let’s get dead birds for dinner!” I’d probably swat them with my purse (in as loving a way as possible, natch).

Plus, is it just me or is there something about this meal that makes you want to barf?

moms-night-off-feast-top-eng

Like, seriously. I see this picture and I start laughing in order to stop myself from hurling. There’s something about the grease content on display here that makes my stomach lurch. Deep-fried chicken with deep-fried potatoes with deep-fried cheese sticks with–what is that?–macaroni salad, some greasy icing-laden cake and, deep in the background, a gesture at a vegetable with some cole slaw. And don’t forget about the bowl of thick, sticky brown grease masquerading as gravy. Fuckin’ UGH, man. Mom’s Night Out? Count me out.

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Bea Arthur: A beloved, ballsy dame

by Sabine on April 28, 2009 · 1 comment

in Heroines

bea42709You’ve probably heard by now that Bea Arthur passed away on the weekend. Like so many other people, I was really sad to hear this news. I was actually once graced by breathing air in the vicinity of Bea Arthur. My friend Dan and I heard that she was going to be making an appearance at the 519 community centre in Toronto’s gay village, so we raced down to see her. I can’t remember what exactly the circumstances were–this must have been about five years ago–but I remember Bea Arthur sweeping past me, and I felt like I was in the presence of royalty. Sure, she was aging, but her height and that steely look in her eye were even more formidable in person than television conveys.

I’ve been thinking about what I want to say about her on Confabulous, but other people’s tributes are so much better than what I could say. Muriel Sims, who blogs over at In Other Words, wrote a lovely reflection:

I was a 12-year-old Black preadolescent growing up on the Southside of
Chicago when Bea Arthur first entered my life – 5-feet-9 and deep-throated when I was being socialized to squeaky-speak. I don’t recall making the racial distinction, after all, this was during the era when positive Black television characters, female or male remained rarities. I recall now that Maude Finlay had a maid, Florida Evans, a take-no-shit Black woman with challenges and troubles of her own that were later portrayed in the sitcom Good Times (which left me with an entirely different perception of Blacks, women and men).

Nonetheless, much of whom I am – an independent minded Black woman free to say and do as she pleases unrestricted most of the time by cultural and family dictates – is rooted in what I observed, and did not see on television. Maude – outspoken, politically liberal, three times divorced, an advocate of civil rights, and a woman’s right to choose – was my hero. By the time the show left the air in 1978, I had been married two years and was expecting my second child, but not before submitting to two abortions; mirroring in my own life Maude’s revolutionary decision to have an abortion in her late ’40s.

Seven years later, Bea Arthur re-entered my life as Dorothy Zbornak, the
middle-aged, divorced retiree sharing a home in Florida with her mother and two women of similar age in the television sitcom The Golden Girls. Rue McClanahan’s character Blanche was the epitome of middle-age sexual freedom and femininity, while Betty White’s character Rose Nylund was just plain funny to laugh with. Now 50 years old, I still dream of spending my last days in the intimate company of close platonic “girlfriends” comfortable enough with one another to candidly discuss politics, feminist theories, civil rights, sex and ex-lovers over cheesecake and coffee.

I also really liked Jezebel’s treatment with their “Bea Arthur’s Top 5 Contributions to Pop Culture.” It had some stuff in there that I didn’t know before (like her ambivalent relationship with feminism), and it included that incredible (and incredibly hilarious) song with Rock Hudson about drugs. Never seen it before? Let me indulge you:

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Of bushes, bonsais and pesky pubes

by Sabine on April 4, 2009 · 12 comments

in Media

Schick website Oh, ma ga. Parlaying our culture’s current fascination with hairless lady parts, Wilkinson Sword’s Quattro for Women has released a new ad in the UK…and the not-so-subtle tagline is, ahem, “Mow the lawn.” The UK/ European version of the ad features a variety of multicultural women gleefully pushing lawnmowers and happily wielding hedge clippers while singing a catchy little tune about the joys of shaving. The US version for Schick Quattro is much more toned down and totally humourless–that one features women walking past bushes that magically shrink and become all tidy. Of course the European version is much more campy than the US version–and as a result, the humour diminishes the potential offensive-ness.

Debate about women’s, um, bushes aside, one thing that really did bother me about the UK ad was that, despite the happy multi-culti faces, there were still some racial sterotypes that were reinforced. Specifically, at one point, a black woman sings, “Some bushes are mighty big,” and then it cuts to a dainty-looking Asian woman in front of what appears to be a bonsai tree who sings, “Some gardens are really small.” UGH. Yes, ladies, apparently even the volume of our pubic hair is determined by “race”!

Judge for yourself. Here’s the “naughty” UK version:

And the boring North American version:

So, what do you think? When you laugh at ads like this, are you doing so in spite of yourself? Or do the yuks take the politics away?

Thanks to Divine Caroline for being the source for the original clip.

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Wasn’t Lilith Fair supposed to fix this?

by Anastasia on March 29, 2009 · 3 comments

in Pop culture

women_playing_musicToday, Vancouver plays hostess to the Juno Awards, celebrating Canadian music. Congrats to Divine Brown, Kathleen Edwards, Alannis, Deborah Cox, Sarah Slean, KD Lang, and the other gals up for prizes. Good stuff!

Women still remain among the minority when it comes to Juno nominations. Though  they do own three categories entirely (”Vocal Jazz Album of the Year,” “New Artist of the Year,” and “R&B/Soul Recording of the Year“), few women (either on their own or as members of groups) get a nod elsewhere–consider their sparse presence for “Songwriter of the Year,”  ”Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year,” “Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year,” and “New Group of the Year.” Several of the top categories, like “Album of the Year,” “Rock Album of the Year,” “Rap Recording of the Year,” and “Group of the Year” have no women representin.’ What’s up with that?

It may have been Courtney Love who, in an early nineties interview, lamented girls’ preference for dating boys in bands over picking up an instrument and starting their own. A 2008 British study suggests the gendering of musical instruments may be at least partly to blame for their absence on stage:  for this reason, mid-nineties female bass player blip aside, drums and guitars remain squarely in male territory. Harp, piccolo, flute, and vocals, currently and historically, represent the more feminine routes to musical participation, according to this study. And whatever they do play, for women, professionalization can be tough; the music industry boys’ club continues to work to bar the door with varying types of “no girls allowed” signs.

The intention of this is not to rag on the Junos–frankly, in a country where the arts are so embattled it’s nice to see a televised presence like this. Kudos to the organizers and broadcasters for highlighting  the varied talent Canada has produced. In the broader context of the Canadian music scene, however, one still has to wonder–what has to happen to generate more national exposure, fame, opportunities, and, frankly, money for women making music?

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Who are the coolest women in popular culture?

by Sabine on March 27, 2009 · 4 comments

in Heroines

margegundersonShannon the Movie Moxie has alerted me to Entertainment Weekly’s list of the “20 All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture.” Five female characters make the list, and five out of the 20 ain’t bad–but it ain’t great, either. On the chart are Sidney Bristow (Jennifer Garner’s character on Alias), Foxy Brown (Pam Grier of the eponymous film), Nancy Drew, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, of course, of the Alien films). These are all superlative choices, and it’s great to see these women up there with Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Jack Bauer and Dirty Harry.

Is there a shortage of cool women in popular culture (and by “popular culture,” the editors seem to mean “fictional characters primarily from film and television, plus Atticus Finch and Nancy Drew”), so much so that they only represent 25% of the people on EW’s list? Or did the list fail to acknowledge some of the coolest women?

I would have liked to have seen Marge Gunderson, Frances McDormand’s character from Fargo on the list. I never tire of watching the visibly pregnant Marge solve crimes while keeping her cool. Marge Gunderson is arguably one of the great cinematic heroes of all time. And it goes without saying that Grace Park, Katee Sackhoff and Mary McDonnell’s Boomer, Starbuck and Laura Roslyn from BSG deserve serious consideration (I am blind with bias here, I am sure).

Who do you think deserves to be on the list of coolest heroes in pop culture?

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BSG and the queerest straight romance

by Sabine on March 27, 2009 · 1 comment

in Media

seasontwoleekaraAs dedicated Battlestar Galactica fans are no doubt aware, today is a very sad day. It’s the first Friday in a long, long time that we have not had a fresh episode of BSG to look forward to. Not only that, it is the first Friday that we have had to face the inevitable: there shall be no more fresh episodes forevermore. Let us pause, hold hands and attempt to grasp the magnitude of facing a future without seeing Jamie Bamber’s pretty face once a week *sob*.

But it is precisely Jamie Bamber’s pretty face that got me thinking today (lo, this day bereft of the tingly anticipation of seeing various Sixes sashaying their way around the universe) about one particular aspect of BSG I’ll miss the most. When the show first started, my very astute friend Rachel observed that if Starbuck turned out to be a lesbian and Lee Adama turned out to be gay, no one would be at all surprised. And it’s this aspect of both their characters that was so key to the chemistry between them throughout the series.

I have been trying to think of any other quasi-romantic pairings on television or in film that had that same kind of quality to them, and I’m coming up empty. I’m not just talking about the tough-guy-meets-his-match trope that starts with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, or the tough chick/sweet guy pairings of Cher and Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck. I’m talking about it being totally conceivable to imagine the following: “I’m queer.” “Me, too!” “Oh, man, let’s make out!”

I did a bit of poking around here and here [warning: I got a little sick to my stomach looking at the tongue-thrusting couples on this site, complete with clips of dialogue about "making love"]. But I’m still thinking this dynamic is unique among cinematic characters. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

But this is my suggestion for TV producers and film studios: if you want to capitalize on the success of BSG, incorporate some characters who have that kind of romantic tension that Kara and Lee had.

Now back to my BSG pity party.

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Dora the disappointment

by Sabine on March 17, 2009 · 0 comments

in Media

custom_1237236269474_newdora031609Yesterday, Mattel and Nickelodeon revealed the newly re-designed “tween” (ugh) Dora the Explorer (here she is on the left; see the original Dora below). Earlier in the month, a silhouette of the adventurer was released, causing quite an uproar raised among parents about the transformation. Concerns were raised about the change in Dora’s hair (long and flowing, rather than a sensible bowl cut) to her body (the original being quite appropriate for a 5-year old child; the “tween-ified” version being possibly too skinny) to her clothes (the silhouette making it appear that she was wearing a mini skirt, which is just absurd for someone solving mysteries full-time).

Now that the actual image has been released, minds can be set at rest that Dora hasn’t been turned into a total sexpot. But this new version is still troubling. The femme-ed up Dora looks and sounds like a cross between Carrie Bradshaw and a Bratz doll. According to the Mattel press release, Dora’s grown up, moved to the city and acquired a whole new fashionable look. She’ll have four new friends (buh-bye, Boots!) to solve mysteries with (OMG! Will their names be Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha? And, um…Louise–you know, Jennifer Hudson giving the SATC movie a little bit of flavour). Plus, as Dodai at Jezebel notes, it sure looks like she’s gotten her hands on some mascara and lip gloss, even though Mattel claims she’s not wearing any makeup.

dora_explorer_showThe point is, the femme-ed up Dora is watered down, down to the point of same old, same old. It’s true that the marketing folks didn’t lighten her skin colour (phew!), but they sure made her a lot more vanilla. She’s not a character young girls can identify with as an adventurer and problem solver; now she’s just one more figure in popular culture through which girls absorb messages about the importance of beauty before all else.

And as a total aside, have we not all learned our lesson by now from the Fug Girls about wearing goddamn leggings?

My daughter is still far too young to know who Dora the Explorer is (the child is still at the stage where she doesn’t even realize it’s her own reflection she’s looking at in the mirror). But every time I despaired about the possibilities for her to grow up with diverse, non-sexist toys, I knew Dora would be waiting for her. By the time my kid has enough hand-eye coordination to manipulate a doll, we’ll be well past the current incarnation and on to Dora the Pole Dancer, I’m sure.

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