Adventures in formative television watching
Watching it again, "I Dream of Jeannie" is a fairly terrible show: cheesy, predictable, painfully plotted, even more painfully acted. It is made somewhat more palatable by the fact that its gender politics really were quite a step above "Bewitched," even if "Bewitched" were better written. But watching this show in my youth, I already knew that even if Jeannie's behavior was often irritating and her pretensions at any sort of Middle Eastern origin baffling, the power structures in "Bewitched" were far more troubling. Even so, none of that was really why I watched it.
I watched it for the fashions, the colors, and because dammit, Jeannie was a hottie. (I also wanted her room and her wardrobe.)
I was trying to figure out the best way to illustrate the full effect this show had on my personal aesthetic, pacing my room, and then I happened to look in the mirror.
And realized that I was standing in my entirely mod-decorated room wearing these slippers (mine are darker in color though), with an assortment of Indian brass vases and bangles and incense behind me.
In any case, this episode pretty much sums up the mod side appeal this show had for me.
And this one has the ridiculosity of Jeannie's Evil Twin Sister (a brunette! I could not figure out which one to like more! She had a much better color palette), crazy plot hijinks and a visit to what the "I Dream of Jeannie" universe hilariously considers an approximation of the Middle East. (Anti-Semitic stereotypes and white women dressed in curtains included, of course!)
I watched it for the fashions, the colors, and because dammit, Jeannie was a hottie. (I also wanted her room and her wardrobe.)
I was trying to figure out the best way to illustrate the full effect this show had on my personal aesthetic, pacing my room, and then I happened to look in the mirror.
And realized that I was standing in my entirely mod-decorated room wearing these slippers (mine are darker in color though), with an assortment of Indian brass vases and bangles and incense behind me.
In any case, this episode pretty much sums up the mod side appeal this show had for me.
And this one has the ridiculosity of Jeannie's Evil Twin Sister (a brunette! I could not figure out which one to like more! She had a much better color palette), crazy plot hijinks and a visit to what the "I Dream of Jeannie" universe hilariously considers an approximation of the Middle East. (Anti-Semitic stereotypes and white women dressed in curtains included, of course!)