general tv update post
I caught up on Mad Men this weekend.
My perverse sympathy for Betty astounds me. If I knew her, I doubt we'd get along particularly well or have anything in common. But....she might be my favorite character in this barren post-Sal landscape. She's a Bad Mommy, and Bad Mommying is still more transgressive a choice for a fictional character than Serial Killering. (From the mind that gave the world Tony Friggin' Soprano: HERE'S A REAL ASSHOLE FOR YAHZ!)
And, more relevant to this episode, a person with a Legit Ugly Eating Disorder, which if anything is even more taboo in modern television. That little moment where she runs off and sneaks the hit of whipped cream and then spits it out encompasses so much. I was actually stunned at the Weight Watchers meeting. The way these women are encouraged to make their goals so very small as the loss of a few ounces, and the way their compliance with the diet mandate is set up as their only framework for understanding and discussing their greater emotional struggles. Betty in S2 was The Feminine Mystique; Betty in S5 is The Beauty Myth. No, she's not a particularly good or nice person, but that's the whole point, that people whose energies are entirely focused on hammering themselves into Acceptable Womanhood are likely to be warped and miserable.
*
I tried to start S6 of Who, again, this time with the compromise that I will only watch the episodes featuring my queen River. It still took me well over an hour to get through an episode, even skipping more than one scene. Watching them feel their feelings about the Doctor hits my embarrassment squick hard.
*
Actually this post is ~cunning ploy to get everyone to talk to me about The Big Bang Theory, which I am finally getting into after, like, just missing it or whatever for years now BUT I love it so much. Amy Farrah Fowler is my fierce geek princess (AND THIS IS HER TIARA!!), Bernadette and Howie are the absolute best (she is the high-earner and -achiever out of the two of them and calls him out on his geek sexism and doesn't want babies and is totally comfortable in her femininity and he explicitly cares more about her than clinging to his bullshit preconceptions! ALSO SHE IS SO CUTE I COULD DIE), and Sheldon? Sheldon Cooper speaks to my soul.
I'm not sure how I feel about this: this show struck me as so incredibly queer, right? Between Sheldon's asexuality, Amy's bisexuality, and Raj's...whatever Raj's deal is. Which I loved, obviously, in large part because it's not set up as some consolation prise for inability to conform to heteronormativity - Leonard, Howard, and Bernadette are just as far out of the mainstream, but their sexuality isn't handled any differently from other sitcom characters. But now that Sheldon and Amy seem like they're actually heading toward something of a romantic relationship, I'm less certain? Because it feels to me like the heteronormative "once you meet the right person" bullshit - that their respective sexual orientations were merely incidental to their failure to adapt to social norms generally.
Which, presumably the show avoids having either character explicitly claim a sexual identity for this reason. It's not necessarily unreasonable that people who've otherwise been socially isolated might (like many people who aren't) might experience a shift in how they experience or express totally normative sexuality. It's consistent with Amy's characterization for her never to have thought she would get the chance to see herself as a sexual or social entity. Between Sheldon's childhood alienation from his peers and pre-adolescent initiation into the adult world, it'd be far more surprising if he had ever had a chance to develop a sexual identity. But those things are part of why they haven't been in romantic relationships before the time frame of the show, not explanations (as if such things needed justification) for Amy's attraction to Penny or Sheldon's lack of attraction to anyone.
The way they usually present themselves, they're two people who would be really unhappy trying to bend themselves into a traditional romantic relationship - Sheldon because he'd have more social scripts he can't comply with forced on him, and Amy because she'd be stunting her sexual development. And so, while they have one of my favorite bromances on television, I'm not digging the Shamy at all.
It's one thing for Amy, who at least is a relative newcomer without years of backstory, but it'd be a big old shame to change Sheldon, or imply that Sheldon needs to change in some fundamental way. I also really don't like the implication that a repressive religious upbringing is in fact a way to relieve people of their sexuality. I mean, people get spooked into living the way Sheldon does, but that's not the same as creating the general disinterest he's shown in romantic relationships for as long as his friends have known him.
I have a whole heartful of affection for Raj, who pings me as a goofy but believable social anxiety sufferer. The situational inability to speak (and abuse of alcohol as a crutch) is often funny, but it also has a lot more poignancy than the other guys' geeky romantic awkwardness. And forget girls, I don't think we even see him interact with men outside of his very narrow peer/colleague comfort zone. Contextually, his clingy relationship with Howard strikes me less as sublimated desire and more as dependence on a safe person. And, maybe it's just that the show is new, frothy fun to me right now, but I'm not bothered with the way it's played for laughs? Because I never feel like we're supposed to look down on Raj for it, or distance ourselves from it. Anxiety is surreal and absurd; that's why we call it a disorder. It's okay to laugh at it.
Sheldon...I have no thoughts on Sheldon. He fills my heart with joy.
My perverse sympathy for Betty astounds me. If I knew her, I doubt we'd get along particularly well or have anything in common. But....she might be my favorite character in this barren post-Sal landscape. She's a Bad Mommy, and Bad Mommying is still more transgressive a choice for a fictional character than Serial Killering. (From the mind that gave the world Tony Friggin' Soprano: HERE'S A REAL ASSHOLE FOR YAHZ!)
And, more relevant to this episode, a person with a Legit Ugly Eating Disorder, which if anything is even more taboo in modern television. That little moment where she runs off and sneaks the hit of whipped cream and then spits it out encompasses so much. I was actually stunned at the Weight Watchers meeting. The way these women are encouraged to make their goals so very small as the loss of a few ounces, and the way their compliance with the diet mandate is set up as their only framework for understanding and discussing their greater emotional struggles. Betty in S2 was The Feminine Mystique; Betty in S5 is The Beauty Myth. No, she's not a particularly good or nice person, but that's the whole point, that people whose energies are entirely focused on hammering themselves into Acceptable Womanhood are likely to be warped and miserable.
*
I tried to start S6 of Who, again, this time with the compromise that I will only watch the episodes featuring my queen River. It still took me well over an hour to get through an episode, even skipping more than one scene. Watching them feel their feelings about the Doctor hits my embarrassment squick hard.
*
Actually this post is ~cunning ploy to get everyone to talk to me about The Big Bang Theory, which I am finally getting into after, like, just missing it or whatever for years now BUT I love it so much. Amy Farrah Fowler is my fierce geek princess (AND THIS IS HER TIARA!!), Bernadette and Howie are the absolute best (she is the high-earner and -achiever out of the two of them and calls him out on his geek sexism and doesn't want babies and is totally comfortable in her femininity and he explicitly cares more about her than clinging to his bullshit preconceptions! ALSO SHE IS SO CUTE I COULD DIE), and Sheldon? Sheldon Cooper speaks to my soul.
I'm not sure how I feel about this: this show struck me as so incredibly queer, right? Between Sheldon's asexuality, Amy's bisexuality, and Raj's...whatever Raj's deal is. Which I loved, obviously, in large part because it's not set up as some consolation prise for inability to conform to heteronormativity - Leonard, Howard, and Bernadette are just as far out of the mainstream, but their sexuality isn't handled any differently from other sitcom characters. But now that Sheldon and Amy seem like they're actually heading toward something of a romantic relationship, I'm less certain? Because it feels to me like the heteronormative "once you meet the right person" bullshit - that their respective sexual orientations were merely incidental to their failure to adapt to social norms generally.
Which, presumably the show avoids having either character explicitly claim a sexual identity for this reason. It's not necessarily unreasonable that people who've otherwise been socially isolated might (like many people who aren't) might experience a shift in how they experience or express totally normative sexuality. It's consistent with Amy's characterization for her never to have thought she would get the chance to see herself as a sexual or social entity. Between Sheldon's childhood alienation from his peers and pre-adolescent initiation into the adult world, it'd be far more surprising if he had ever had a chance to develop a sexual identity. But those things are part of why they haven't been in romantic relationships before the time frame of the show, not explanations (as if such things needed justification) for Amy's attraction to Penny or Sheldon's lack of attraction to anyone.
The way they usually present themselves, they're two people who would be really unhappy trying to bend themselves into a traditional romantic relationship - Sheldon because he'd have more social scripts he can't comply with forced on him, and Amy because she'd be stunting her sexual development. And so, while they have one of my favorite bromances on television, I'm not digging the Shamy at all.
It's one thing for Amy, who at least is a relative newcomer without years of backstory, but it'd be a big old shame to change Sheldon, or imply that Sheldon needs to change in some fundamental way. I also really don't like the implication that a repressive religious upbringing is in fact a way to relieve people of their sexuality. I mean, people get spooked into living the way Sheldon does, but that's not the same as creating the general disinterest he's shown in romantic relationships for as long as his friends have known him.
I have a whole heartful of affection for Raj, who pings me as a goofy but believable social anxiety sufferer. The situational inability to speak (and abuse of alcohol as a crutch) is often funny, but it also has a lot more poignancy than the other guys' geeky romantic awkwardness. And forget girls, I don't think we even see him interact with men outside of his very narrow peer/colleague comfort zone. Contextually, his clingy relationship with Howard strikes me less as sublimated desire and more as dependence on a safe person. And, maybe it's just that the show is new, frothy fun to me right now, but I'm not bothered with the way it's played for laughs? Because I never feel like we're supposed to look down on Raj for it, or distance ourselves from it. Anxiety is surreal and absurd; that's why we call it a disorder. It's okay to laugh at it.
Sheldon...I have no thoughts on Sheldon. He fills my heart with joy.