cop shows for people who don't like cop shows: 1/?

[pocochina]

Probably I should've counted tonight's post on The Wire as the first of these posts, but I didn't really think it through. STILL. TNT has (at least) three great cop shows for people who don't like cop shows. Or, at least, people (me) who do occasionally like cop shows but have certain serious concerns about the genre. Tonight's addressed concern

Comments

[percysowner]

Raydor works closely and on-screen with several women from the DA's office, and the squad's newest member is Sharon's ambitious young protegee Sykes(who IIRC - though see above re: missing most of The Closer - is the first major WOC character in a franchise that's more racially diverse than most comparable series).She is actually the second WOC in the series. There was a character in seasons 1-4 named Irene Daniels played by Gina Ravara who was African-American/Puerto Rican. She was involved in an affair with Gabriel and when the actress decided to leave the show she broke up with Gabriel and they became unable to work together, partly because Gabriel was a total and complete brat about the whole situation. He demeaned her and eventually they were given the ultimatum that one had to go. Since the actress was leaving and Gabriel was one of Brenda Leigh's favorites, Daniels transferred

[pocochina]

There was a character in seasons 1-4 named Irene Daniels played by Gina Ravara who was African-American/Puerto Rican. She was involved in an affair with Gabriel and when the actress decided to leave the show she broke up with Gabriel and they became unable to work together, partly because Gabriel was a total and complete brat about the whole situation. He demeaned her and eventually they were given the ultimatum that one had to go.

WOW I missed a lot! It was one of those shows that for a few months was just always on every time I hit the treadmill so I feel like I've seen at least a fair amount of it, but maybe not. And...I think I'll live.

I don't know if you started watching when Sharon Raydor was first introduced, but I far preferred her first relationship with Brenda, in which they thoroughly disliked each other. Being TV, Raydor had to eventually come to "respect" Brenda and be on her side.

I REALLY TRIED to start watching for Raydor's first few episodes! And yes, I really appreciated that someone came in to challenge her.

[percysowner]

oooooh, interesting. Is that something you think the show retained over time? It just sounds a little toothless as the critique it could be, given the way Brenda turned out - ie, someone who might or might not have had a useful field skill but clearly had no business running and setting an example for a team of people. (I do think that's something MC fixed, with Provenza getting snapped out of his own egotistical bullshit, and fairly quickly at that.)This did not carry over in time. By the end of the first season, the male detectives, barring Taylor the African/American "comic" character (who was passed over so Brenda could take charge) had all come to accept that Brenda was JUST THAT GOOD and they took to her no holds barred, make them confess no matter what world view. Provenza started out with his male egotistical bullshit, but then he bought into Brenda's egotistical bullshit, so less sexist, but still bullshit

[pocochina]

The only time the gender politics really reared their head was when Brenda and Pope went head to head to become Chief of Police. On one hand Pope was the absolute definition of white, male entitlement. He was fairly clear that once Brenda knew he was going for the position, she should just step aside and let him take it. Delk, the African/American who won the job was never a consideration, like I said very much WHITE male privilege was on display.

Yeah, I think one could argue that it caught something real there? In that women - even women with some standout talent or another - are never taught leadership skills, or encouraged to develop the confidence that can help with credibility. So then the pool of women with authority tools shrinks to natural leaders like Sharon, at least some of whom will then be penalized for their own competence. But the show did the WORST POSSIBLE thing about that, in showing us someone who was terrible for the position, and then telling us that she deserved it because OBVIOUSLY EVERYONE BOWS BEFORE HER

[astreamofstars]

I absolutely agree on the whole thing, for Brenda, being about winning. It's like it was just a game for her, and she was prepared to do anything she could so that she could come out of it at the end of the day and feel like she was smarter and better than everyone else in the room, because she'd beaten them. It drove me nuts.

And Sharon seems to be the complete opposite - absolutely about supporting and helping the people around her, applauding their achievements, playing to their strengths, without her own ego coming into play much if at all. And I love that.

[pocochina]

And Sharon seems to be the complete opposite - absolutely about supporting and helping the people around her, applauding their achievements, playing to their strengths, without her own ego coming into play much if at all. And I love that.

Yeah, I feel like the space between Brenda and Sharon is a great example of that subtle difference between someone who wants to do things and someone who wants shit to get done.

[penny_lane_42]

The thing is the first season or so was a great look at the politics of gender and how a woman, who did not rise through the ranks, but is brought in by her former lover navigates the men who think she is just a little piece of southern fluff. The male entitlement of the first year is pervasive as the mostly male detectives feel that a woman has been unjustly elevated over a deserving man.

Agreed. As a southern woman who is pretty constantly written off because of A) my accent, which automatically labels me as 'stupid' and B) the fact that I look like a very young girl, that really spoke to me in the episodes of the show I saw early on. Seeing someone of the same 'type' who was capable and competent on TV was a WOW moment for me since I hadn't seen that since Designing Women, pretty much. (Oh, wait, I lied: Tami Taylor. But FNL was extraordinary in every way, so it felt different

[pocochina]

even though Sedgwick's attempt at an accent was appalling, I liked seeing a lady with an accent being capable on TV.

There really is a dearth of characters with accents, and yeah, particularly for women; the only counterexamples I'm coming up with are men like Sawyer on Lost (though I don't know how good his is, he at least has those particular markers) and Lindsey from Angel. Even on Dallas, which is very WOOOO TEXAS and meant to have that sense of place...it's not that they don't have what I would think of as a southern accent, because I feel like Texan accents are different too, it's that the characters speak like I do which just can't be right.

[penny_lane_42]

Yeah, and exacerbating the whole thing is that accents vary WILDLY even within a given state--a West TN accent sounds NOTHING like an East TN accent. Add to that the differences in economic status and education....

There absolutely are a lot of people here who speak newscaster English. A lot. So just because someone is from the south doesn't mean they'll have an accent, but there are certain shibboleths that will give even them away (you don't hear southerners say supermarket--that's a dead giveaway they're from somewhere else). But there are a ton of us with accents, so...you'd think there'd be more of them on TV, but I guess not.

I do love Sawyer's accent, though!

[obsessive_a101]

Hiiiii! I love reading your thoughts and perspectives on the other seasons, because I'm another one who started watching when MM got her Sharon Raydor role, but I knew about Irene Daniels, and I knew that something happened with Gabriel, but never quite knew the details.

I HAD tried to watch a few episodes of the show before MM's guest appearance, to get a feel for it and ended up with a bad taste in my mouth though. Maybe it was just that that particular episode had Brenda REALLY playing at her bullying worst without a single naysayer in the crowd, and I remember ranting while on the phone with my college roommate (whose family was a humongous fan of the show), and LOL - the rest, as they say, was history. I watched for Sharon Raydor because I honestly fell for her character... some time... around the second or third episode she appeared in? :3

Anyway, another Major Crimes fan! YAY! :D

[pocochina]

Maybe it was just that that particular episode had Brenda REALLY playing at her bullying worst without a single naysayer in the crowd

I kept watching an episode - well, fifteen or twenty minutes of an episode - saying that, and avoiding it for weeks or months, and then be channel-flipping and decide to give it another shot except she'd be acting the same and I would be more aggravated and trying to ignore it for even longer until eventually starting the cycle over again.