brief thoughts on 'the good wife'

[borg_princess]

In my search for shows that do justice to female characters and their narratives and agency, I've had The Good Wife recced to me a few times. I started watching the show in Tasmania, since Ma's keen on it, so mother and I watched it with her- and we actually really enjoyed it! The plot was clever and engaging, lots of twists and turns, compelling

Comments

[lone_pyramid]

So if Archie Punjabi's got another show... does this mean we can expect her to be written out of The Good Wife?

I am hit and miss on liking Alicia -- some days I like her, some days it's like, "Enough of the goody-two-shoes act already; let's see her get really pissed off or doing something wrong or selfish or something."

Nice to see you had the time and energy for one of your long fandomy posts. ;)

[borg_princess]

Oh, no, no worries on that angle, The Fall is only a mini-series, like, five eps, I think? So it won't conflict with TGW, it's prob something during hiatus.

"Enough of the goody-two-shoes act already; let's see her get really pissed off or doing something wrong or selfish or something."

THIS IS EXACTLY MY REACTION TO HER. She's just written as so saintly and everyone adores her and it's such a wish-fulfilment fantasy that I can't deal. Especially when she does act like a jealous, entitled brat and the show doesn't really acknowledge it and bends over backwards to validate her instead. :/ The other characters are so much more real and well-rounded that it frustrates me the main character is this wishy-washy, like they think we wouldn't like a main female character if she schemed and plotted and had selfish moments. Alicia will prob never be shown in that light, any conflicts she face will be neatly dealt with so she doesn't have to deal with having self-interested motives

[lone_pyramid]

My biggest issue with Alicia is that I really wish she'd kicked her husband to the curb after learning he'd cheated on her, with more than one woman. And I get that it's not that simple, that they have kids together and both their careers and this and that and the other thing, but I still wanted to see her kick his lying, cheating ass down the street. (This may also be fed by my dislike of Chris Noth...)

But either way, I really like Christine Baranski and Archie Punjabi and that makes up for a tonne of sins.

Work still going okay?

[wattle_neurotic]

Dornan will star as a serial killer who stalks his victims in and around Belfast with Anderson as a high-achieving detective parachuted in from the Metropolitan police force to catch him

Oh see. I will be watching that. Because of reasons.

And ngl, I always freely admit how shallow I am, he kept me interested in OUAT because he's pretty and I was bored lol (and then it got more interesting so...I kept watching).

[borg_princess]

*nodnod* No need to elaborate, I am on the same page! :D

Hey, Graham may not have been my cup of tea, but I'm glad he was enough of an enticement to get you and I'm sure many others hooked on the show! He prob helped get the show noticed by a wider audience!

(after August, though, I'm missing Graham, I really do not like his 'replacement', especially as I could see how Graham was important to the story outside of being a love interest but the way the writers talked about August's relevance, it was like 'a woman can't exist on tv without a love interest, we need a new hot guy stat! Whatever will she do without someone to flirt with?')

[sunny_serenity]

Alicia is the biggest hufflepuff that ever puffed. tbh, i'm not into it for her either. EVERYONE ELSE is flawless. I kind of had this problem with Buffy in not liking the main protagonist... then again i kind of ended up not liking everyone that wasn't Spike, Faith or Dawn at the end of that too.... anyway.

Oh hey, was spitballing with sarahsoph about coming over to Melbourne next year for Supanova. You interested?

[borg_princess]

ITA with the entire cast minus her being flawless! This is kind of my problem with shows that have a lead female, so often they make her insipid and lacking any spunk because she needs to be ~perfect~ and instead turns out bland and wishy-washy and lacking personality.

Haha, I'm not in Buffy fandom, but I've read quite a bit of fic and those three are my faves!

Ooh, really? IDK your friend, but I would be totally into a meet-up! Supanova + lj friend = WIN. I will have to learn how to master my anxiety over public transport to get there, lol. At least I have time to work on it!

[sunny_serenity]

They don't really make her 'angelic' so to speak in this show but they do try to make her the moral compass of the show. If you're looking for a non-perfect female lead may I suggest Nurse Jackie? She's completely unapologetic about her deviant behaviour because her motivations come from a very selfish place. It's very refreshing.

Well, I tried looking for plane tix and it's a wee bit early. The next Supanova in Melbourne is in April from the 13-15th. I also suck at public transport so, there's that.

[borg_princess]

I like my moral compasses to actually practice what they preach and to not be self-righteous...

I have heard mention of Nurse Jackie but never actually seen it- I find the idea of an unapologetically selfish female lead to be fascinating, thanks, I'll look into it!

Haha, 'wee bit early' is an understatement...let me know when you have something concrete sorted out! I shall pencil Supanova in for April next year. :D