I like this post a lot; though I haven't seen most of these shows, I'm pretty familiar with the phenomenon. I actually think there's a lot of overlap between Wife of the Anti-Hero and Hot But Boring; it's almost like the former is what happens when the latter is taken out of a romantic comedy and plunked into a more serious work.
I do think Betty Draper is a subversion-coloured by the fact that she's one of my favourite characters on the show. Her inner life is as well-developed as Don; she's abused, lied to, and victimized, but I think, as a character, she's much more like Kay Corleone-trapped and desperate, pacing the walls of her prison and looking for a way out. Her story is given as much narrative weight as Don's by the last season, which is difficult to see because very little happens on the surface and she's much less likable than he is. But I think she's written with the dynamic you're talking about in mind as an attempt to pick it apart.
I'm on a Burn Notice kick right now because corwin77 gave me the first two seasons on DVD. It's a guilty pleasure, but I do kind of like what they've done with the two female leads. The anti-hero's on-and-off girlfriend is more of an anti-hero than he is, and directly involved with the action (usually as the one who gets to cart around a big gun or blow something up). The anti-hero's mother is the one who gets the WotAH role, except that it lasts about half of the first season before she starts asking questions about his mysterious lifestyle. By the second season, she's running around with a shotgun. It's a cheesy action show, but the female characters at least ask the questions that, you know, a human being would ask about a person who keeps strange hours and shows up with mysterious bruises and such.
Agreed on the Hot But Boring connection. Maybe we could call her the Hot But Boring MILF?
Betty is definitely likeable and I'm rooting for her, but at the same time, what do you think her prospects of happiness and self-actualization within the world of Mad Men really are? Outside of Don, she has no real education or job skills that would transfer into a career or financial independence. Her best shot would be finding a husband who respects her and knows better than to treat her like a child. If that would be enough to keep her happy, power to her. She deserves a little happiness. But it still leaves me feeling a little flat.
Oh, I don't think she has any. But that's the point-to illustrate just how bad things were for even a privileged woman. I don't know how far you are in the series, but she does try to break free, and it does not go very well.
I do think Betty Draper is a subversion-coloured by the fact that she's one of my favourite characters on the show. Her inner life is as well-developed as Don; she's abused, lied to, and victimized, but I think, as a character, she's much more like Kay Corleone-trapped and desperate, pacing the walls of her prison and looking for a way out. Her story is given as much narrative weight as Don's by the last season, which is difficult to see because very little happens on the surface and she's much less likable than he is. But I think she's written with the dynamic you're talking about in mind as an attempt to pick it apart.
I'm on a Burn Notice kick right now because corwin77 gave me the first two seasons on DVD. It's a guilty pleasure, but I do kind of like what they've done with the two female leads. The anti-hero's on-and-off girlfriend is more of an anti-hero than he is, and directly involved with the action (usually as the one who gets to cart around a big gun or blow something up). The anti-hero's mother is the one who gets the WotAH role, except that it lasts about half of the first season before she starts asking questions about his mysterious lifestyle. By the second season, she's running around with a shotgun. It's a cheesy action show, but the female characters at least ask the questions that, you know, a human being would ask about a person who keeps strange hours and shows up with mysterious bruises and such.
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Betty is definitely likeable and I'm rooting for her, but at the same time, what do you think her prospects of happiness and self-actualization within the world of Mad Men really are? Outside of Don, she has no real education or job skills that would transfer into a career or financial independence. Her best shot would be finding a husband who respects her and knows better than to treat her like a child. If that would be enough to keep her happy, power to her. She deserves a little happiness. But it still leaves me feeling a little flat.
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