Emma Thompson has been part of my life for over twenty years. In fact, the Thompson family has been part of my life since the day I watched The Magic Roundabouton TV. Not only is she an excellent actress and a great presence but she is also an excellent person. I was going to write a lot of stuff on just why she’s a top person but I thought this list would say it better:
Why haven’t I seen the Oscar winning film There Will Be Blood? Because a film styled as a “story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business” which has “ Less than two women in [it]” is simply not high on my list.
I recently read this rather old interview with the estimable Graham Linehan (Father Ted, The IT Crowd, etc) in which he said,
I would probably be more comfortable writing just two men. I do find it hard to write for woman, as do a lot of male writers.
It reminded me of this article by Richard Warlow who is the only male writer on the BBC’s Mistresses who wrote about writing women in a way that irritated me mainly because he couldn’t resist sentences like,
But, well, women are beautiful, aren’t they? And mysterious and confusing.
The way I look at it is if you are writing sentences like that then you already failing. I’m not beautiful, mysterious or confusing. (Confused, yes.)
That got me thinking about the subject. If some men can say that they find it hard to write women then what does that say about the vast majority of literature ever written?
I know the feelings, but I don’t know what’s interesting. So it was really hard to pick and choose. What needs to be known? … But it’s easy to be an observer and appreciator of the opposite sex.
which isn’t much different from Warlow’s,
Most men I know, even the gay ones, are obsessed with women. I think that gives us a compelling qualification to write about them.
but less tiresomely expressed.
I found an interesting discussion at Absolute Write (I guess there are dozens of these discussions around the Internet). Some random quotes:
Write a woman like she is a person first, a woman second. She is an individual person with her own hopes, aspirations, and importantly, flaws, and not just some member of a club called “women”. (Toothpaste and agreed with several times)
You have one thing in common with women… you are of the same species.” “Don’t watch sitcoms and dramas to try to figure out women… if I was a woman I’d be pissed about the way they are often portrayed on TV. Watch them in real life. (KTC)
(The discussion deteriorates from page 2 onwards.)
We’re people. We’re individuals. We’re not Women, and we’re not types, either — the Cold But Brilliant Scientist, the Nurturing Mother Who Sacrifices All For Her Children, the Whore With A Heart Of Gold.
Now that I am as up-to-date with Mad Men as anyone except Matthew Weiner, I can read Basket of Kisses with gay abandon. It really is a super fansite with great interviews. For example, there is this insightful one with Elisabeth Moss who I was pleased to read did not play her scenes with Father Gill as if she found him attractive. There is tons of stuff I still haven’t read.
Ages ago I noticed in my Google Reader a post at The Hathor Legacy with the eye-catching line “Betty really was just a hysterical housewife who needed to get laid”. I immediately thought this was a S2 spoiler and quickly skipped the entry and mentally filed it for reading once I had finished S2. Many months later, I was most surprised to find that was what Jennifer Kesler ’s reaction to the conclusion felt was the message the show was sending at the end of S1. lizriz’s responses are close to my opinion and I never once thought that Peggy was stupid for not realising she was pregnant.
As a feminist my feelings about the show are mixed though I do think it has done a great job most of the time. Only occasionally I felt it has “enjoyed” its portrayal of sexism a little too much with lingering shots of Joan’s ample bottom as she bends over and the sleazy remarks by the ad men in “Babylon” as they watch a lipstick testing through a two way mirror. I am also aware that this is a minute slice of life. This a view of the 60s focused on a narrow privileged closed world that the majority of Americans never lived through.
I could get addicted to Mad Men. I wonder if there is any fan fiction? Duh. (NB: I have not read any of them.)
I read about specialised crushes over at The Anti-Room and I can only agree with the examples of Viggo Mortensen and Jon Hamm. VM as Aragorn is a honeypie while JH with “floppy hair and stubble” is just not the same!
January Jones is in the specialised category too. As Betty she looks fantastic but, as herself now, in any photoshoot she looks generic starlet and doesn’t look beautiful at all.
Despite what this says, this is not an extra scene but was shown in the original broadcast. It has been cut from subsequent showings and it was definitely not on the BBC broadcast. I remember noting that I had read the TWop recap that mentioned this scene. I thought then that it was just the BBC version that was cut but that seems not. And Pete was in his pajamas! Are the DVDs complete? I shall soon find out (once we have got through Buffy and Angel).
Mad Men – “Meditations in an Emergency” (Matthew Weiner and Kater Gordon)
This season ender doesn’t have the power of “The Wheel” but it does have the best scene so far when Pete confesses to Peggy that he loves her and she tells him it’s too late.
Pete: I love you. And I want to be with you. What? Didn’t you know that?
Peggy: Pete. I could have had you in my life forever if I wanted to.
Pete: What do you mean?
Peggy: I could have had you. I could have shamed you into being with me. But I didn’t want to.
Pete: I don’t understand.
Peggy: You got me pregnant. I had a baby. And I gave it away.
Pete: What?
Peggy: I had your baby. And I gave it away.
It was utterly gripping and it was this scene (following on from her scene with Father Gill) that has convinced me that Elisabeth Moss is playing Peggy very well indeed. Father Gill is doing his job but I was so relieved that Peggy wasn’t falling for his fearmongering despite the imminent apocalypse.
Father Gill: Hell is serious and very real and unless you unburden yourself you cannot know peace.
Peggy: I understand that, Father, but you’re upsetting me right now.
Father Gill: That is your guilt, Peggy. All that God wants is for you to reconcile with him. Don’t, don’t you understand that this could be the end of the world and you could go to Hell?
Peggy: I can’t believe that’s the way God is. Good night, Father.
Betty spends the whole episode telling everyone she doesn’t want the baby to no avail although the much missed Francine has more advice than most. I love Anne Dudek and I think a re-viewing of The Book Group is required. I also love Lois (Crista Flanagan). She is such a sweet character. I do like how actors in these tiny recurring roles sneak up on you in terms of affection. Pete’s secretary Hildy is another favourite of mine (Julie McNiven – “Stand-in/body double for Lindsay Lohan!” – excellent).
When Don comes to see Betty at the stables I was in two minds about whether I wanted her to say “it’s okay” or to say what she did say. Damn Don’s charisma. Don’s letter was a marvel and the moment when Joan tells Don that Betty wants him to come home made my heart leap.
What happens next? A jump in time again? I won’t be waiting until 2010 to find out
I thought Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Demo (2005) was a tremendous piece of work: certainly one of the best comics I have read in the last year. It seems that Becky is a pretty good writer too as this creepy MySpace Dark Horse Presents comic calledI See The Devil in My Sleep shows. Nathan looks like Alan Tudyk.
I’m listening to Judy at Carnegie Hall (1961) on Spotify at the moment. I own this album on vinyl and so I haven’t listened to it in years. It is really rather good. Garland’s voice is still strong and the song selection is fabulous. She recounts a story about a newspaper article that describes her so: “She’s not plump, she’s not chubby, she’s fat.” – I guess the Daily Mail was around then too.
Talking of Spotify reminds me of The Gadget Show and Gail Porter’s recent stint on the show while Suzi Perry was unwell. Gail and Jason did a comparison between Spotify and iTunes but that is besides my point which is that I can’t tell you how fantastic it was to see a bald, large, unapologetic woman fronting a TV show. I admire how Gail has dealt with her alopecia areata.
I thought this recent post over at Sociological Images about Facebook’s neutral avatar was really interesting. It is a man and so not neutral and goes in the face of Facebook’s demographic. The leaflet that has just come through our door (only eight days after the day I thought we were supposed to get one) called Important Information About Swine Flu has two images of people: a man sneezing on the front cover and an avatar type image of a man inside. I don’t think it would have occurred to me that there was something iffy about that before.
Awesome! Feminists have just been told by a feminist to lighten up. Her exact words are “Chill out everyone, it was a bit of fun!”. Bingo! Julie, get lost.
I thought after viewing this that I had quite enjoyed it as a whole but when I put together a list of pluses and minuses I realised that what I had enjoyed was Gwen: one of the more memorable guest stars.
Minuses:
too little Cordelia
I like Amy Acker in Dollhouse but in Angel she is distractingly thin and she plays an annoying character even when she isn’t whining at/to Gunn
the flip chart scene
there is zero chemistry between Fred and Gunn
Wesley and Lilah talking and loving at the same time was icky
the weird decision to set Angel and Wesley’s important conversation right next to some noisy machinery
Dinza asking Angel about whether he misses the sound of waves because why would he when he was at the bottom of the ocean?
Pluses:
it’s nice to see a man going down on a woman in mainstream television
I’m glad they revealed that Lilah did know what Wesley was up to
Gwen
David Boreanaz’s performance was thoroughly likeable throughout
I was just writing another blog post while listening to a free CD that came with Word magazine and the sweet vocals of Ben Taylor (son of Carly Simon and James Taylor (and you can tell)) came to my attention as he sang “Wicked Way”:
I just want to take you out and get you drunk so I can have my wicked way with you
I’m just being honest cause I know the other guys are thinking just the same way too
And I’m not gonna lie and say that I will take you out to dance there’s just no chance cause I don’t even like the same music you do
I just wanna have my wicked way with you
So don’t you fight it cause I know you’re gonna like it
Show me some skin I might bite it
I wanna have my wicked way with you
Thanks Ben for a song that is obviously amusing and sweet and not at all offensive.
This was my favourite episode so far although it was full of flaws. I may have relaxed a bit and accepted it for what it is.
The lack of a sexual element in relation to Echo really improved my reaction to the episode. I was quite nervous at first and I urged them to cut to the chase as Echo was accepted by the cult until I delightfully realised that the cult and its leader were actually okay – apart from the being religious nutters and the hitting women aspect. Echo may get hit in every episode (so it seems) but she always gets her own back (so that’s all right then…).
While I don’t really buy Topher’s pathetic inability to use medical/clinical terms the scenes between him and Dr Saunders were hilarious. Amy Acker’s delivery was perfection.
Why?
I’ll say again that Enver Gjokaj is really cute and that was before his awakening.
Tahmoh Penikett aimed for Nathan Fillion in his first scene with his fellow FBI officer but failed but still managed to be his most endearing so far. The scenes with Mellie were just stupid – a huge dish of something Italian is a daft thing to bring into someone’s workplace, her inability to get that the man in the corridor was a postie was insane and allowing her to hang around in the office was bonkers. As it stands Mellie seems simple rather than sweet and smitten so I just hope it is all going to be switcheroo’d on us very, very soon.
Adelle’s attitude to Echo is suspicious and Lawrence is right that she is a threat. It is a pity he is such a creep. I did enjoy Adelle telling him to take the stairs.
Regarding Battlestar Galactica, what adequate explanation can there be that Tory Foster, one of the five final cylons, is the only one not to have an interesting storyline in season four? Scratch that – not to have a storyline at all. She offed Cally and she has now spent the last few episodes doing nothing in particular except to utter the line “I wanted to ask him about that frakking song.”
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Less than two women in [it]” is simply not high on my list.
