(no subject)
Last night was a very bad night for fictional female characters.
Why the women, Abrams? One could make the argument that these are just the most recent additions to the cast, but it's awfully suggestive that last night both your shows killed off two major female characters each, doncha think? And it's not like female characters are so thick on the ground on "Lost" that you can just off them willy-nilly. Is it because if it's not Sydney or Kate, you're not interested? Because other women would femme up the place and a homosocial bond would make your heroines appear too girly or weak? Because for all your talk of strong female leads, they're usually surrounded by a network of men, whether to support, to ogle, or to get their asses kicked? Because the only real standard for female power is a masculine, male-imposed one?
...Wow, where the shit did that come from? That wasn't what I intended to rant about at all. Wait, here it is:
My television has become a bloodbath. Killing characters off shows is, at this point, so ubiquitous as to be absurd and meaningless. I understand the argument that characters need to be in real danger, that the audience needs to assume no one is safe, to heighten the tension, increase the dramatic impact, etc. Guess what? It doesn't work. I have become *less* invested in shows that kill off major characters because it's stupid to be otherwise. Why bother caring when that character, or this one, will be gone next week? On 24 this season alone, they've already killed David Palmer, Michelle, Edgar, Tony, whatever Sean Astin's character's name was, and Heller, not to mention the innumerable bad guys, henchman, innocent bystanders, and redshirts. It's more numbing than anything else. [And has a side effect of creating a ridiculous heightening of expectations. Getting shot non-lethally - as Elliot on SVU did this season - is somehow less important or note-worthy because it's not being crushed by a helocopter or shot a gazillion times while your fiance watches or blown up by a car bomb.] Now ask me if I gave a damn about any of those characters dying. [Or "dying," as the case may be.] When Mrs. Calendar died, I cried. When D'Argo died, I cried. When Richie, when Cordelia, when Fred...because there was meaning attached to the character and to their death. There were consequences and emotional impact, not 'onto the next hour!' The deaths I'm talking about are played for shock value, and seem more about a body count and a writer/producer dick-measuring contest. "Well, we killed eleven this season." "Yeah, but did you have a character's lungs dissolve and turn to yogurt?"
I object to the 24-ization of television, by which I mean action! excitement! adventure! non-stop! without regard for characterization, sensical storylines, or - god help me - thematic elements. Bear in mind that it's fine if the theme of your show is "shit blows up." I have no problem with that, just be consistent about it. You think it's the excellent and innovative writing on Prison Break that keeps me tuning in? No - I just want them to get on with the damn prison break. (Well, that, and Wentworth Miller's sweet, sweet ass.) I watch some shows precisely for that reason - the 'turn your brain off, shut up, and watch the pretty' reason. But I don't love those shows and they don't stay with me. Now, I know, I know, the purpose of TV is not to enlighten, it's to entertain, but recently, I've been thinking - especially with regard to the end of TWW and all the discussion of What Went Wrong with BSG and the sad dearth of Joss shows on my television - can't it do both?
Can't a show ask fascinating questions - about humanity and existence and the soul and good and evil and free will and destiny and government and democracy and the good of the many and the struggle of a few - while making us care about the characters and their interactions, and yes, occasionally, blowing shit up?
Well, yes. Duh. Not only CAN they, but they SHOULD, and I resent like hell shows like Lost that seem poised to, or pretend to, and DON'T. Shows that are inexpicably popular and critically acclaimed and yet hollow and lacking substance beyond inane created questions like 'what's in the hatch?' or 'who's gonna die next?' STOP killing characters, WRITE a resonant storyline, and entertain AND enlighten me. Or I'll switch over to watching the microwave.
Why the women, Abrams? One could make the argument that these are just the most recent additions to the cast, but it's awfully suggestive that last night both your shows killed off two major female characters each, doncha think? And it's not like female characters are so thick on the ground on "Lost" that you can just off them willy-nilly. Is it because if it's not Sydney or Kate, you're not interested? Because other women would femme up the place and a homosocial bond would make your heroines appear too girly or weak? Because for all your talk of strong female leads, they're usually surrounded by a network of men, whether to support, to ogle, or to get their asses kicked? Because the only real standard for female power is a masculine, male-imposed one?
...Wow, where the shit did that come from? That wasn't what I intended to rant about at all. Wait, here it is:
My television has become a bloodbath. Killing characters off shows is, at this point, so ubiquitous as to be absurd and meaningless. I understand the argument that characters need to be in real danger, that the audience needs to assume no one is safe, to heighten the tension, increase the dramatic impact, etc. Guess what? It doesn't work. I have become *less* invested in shows that kill off major characters because it's stupid to be otherwise. Why bother caring when that character, or this one, will be gone next week? On 24 this season alone, they've already killed David Palmer, Michelle, Edgar, Tony, whatever Sean Astin's character's name was, and Heller, not to mention the innumerable bad guys, henchman, innocent bystanders, and redshirts. It's more numbing than anything else. [And has a side effect of creating a ridiculous heightening of expectations. Getting shot non-lethally - as Elliot on SVU did this season - is somehow less important or note-worthy because it's not being crushed by a helocopter or shot a gazillion times while your fiance watches or blown up by a car bomb.] Now ask me if I gave a damn about any of those characters dying. [Or "dying," as the case may be.] When Mrs. Calendar died, I cried. When D'Argo died, I cried. When Richie, when Cordelia, when Fred...because there was meaning attached to the character and to their death. There were consequences and emotional impact, not 'onto the next hour!' The deaths I'm talking about are played for shock value, and seem more about a body count and a writer/producer dick-measuring contest. "Well, we killed eleven this season." "Yeah, but did you have a character's lungs dissolve and turn to yogurt?"
I object to the 24-ization of television, by which I mean action! excitement! adventure! non-stop! without regard for characterization, sensical storylines, or - god help me - thematic elements. Bear in mind that it's fine if the theme of your show is "shit blows up." I have no problem with that, just be consistent about it. You think it's the excellent and innovative writing on Prison Break that keeps me tuning in? No - I just want them to get on with the damn prison break. (Well, that, and Wentworth Miller's sweet, sweet ass.) I watch some shows precisely for that reason - the 'turn your brain off, shut up, and watch the pretty' reason. But I don't love those shows and they don't stay with me. Now, I know, I know, the purpose of TV is not to enlighten, it's to entertain, but recently, I've been thinking - especially with regard to the end of TWW and all the discussion of What Went Wrong with BSG and the sad dearth of Joss shows on my television - can't it do both?
Can't a show ask fascinating questions - about humanity and existence and the soul and good and evil and free will and destiny and government and democracy and the good of the many and the struggle of a few - while making us care about the characters and their interactions, and yes, occasionally, blowing shit up?
Well, yes. Duh. Not only CAN they, but they SHOULD, and I resent like hell shows like Lost that seem poised to, or pretend to, and DON'T. Shows that are inexpicably popular and critically acclaimed and yet hollow and lacking substance beyond inane created questions like 'what's in the hatch?' or 'who's gonna die next?' STOP killing characters, WRITE a resonant storyline, and entertain AND enlighten me. Or I'll switch over to watching the microwave.