So... this is kind of different... but I wanted to just sort of go over some shows that I think reflect feminism in a positive way... and one that I kind of have a critique of. There are some spoilers!
This Is Us... Spoilers!
I love this show! And the women on it are very strong and interesting. I really like Kate, she is played by Chrissy Metz, who is a gorgeous actress that is overweight and it shows her struggles with her weight as a kid and as an adult... and I just think they did it in a really good way. The first episode shows us Kate on her birthday and she's written notes all over everything saying "Don't eat this" and things like that and she gets on a scale and she's very emotional over everything... but at the same time it doesn't really define her by her weight. She's also very sassy and flirty when she meets the man that she ends up dating... and she's close to her brother and she's his main support system... their bond is really beautiful and sweet.
I also like the Mandy Moore character a lot. I see her... more as an antagonist for the series. She plays a mother and a wife in a very real and down to earth way. She's not the perfect wife or mother. It seems that she has a lot of issues with her mother talking down to her because of her weight and she sort of does the same to her daughter Kate. She keeps the information of her adopted son's biological father... which is kind of a bad thing to do... but at the same time they show her struggles and insecurities as a mom with this adopted son in a way I think feels very real. I'm saying "This is real" and I don't exactly know because I've never been through this... but Mandy Moore does a great job at this role and I really think you can still feel for her even though she has done a lot of more negative things.
I also appreciate the minor characters on the show like Olivia and Sloane. They did a great job of making those characters really deep and meaningful even though they weren't even on the show for that long and they were just sort of a red herring for what Kevin is really going through. I'm very excited about how they will portray Sophie... I'm very curious.
I kind of wish Randall's wife got a little bit more screen time... but I'm sure she will throughout the series. Right now I think they're doing a great job with all of the different female characters and I'm sure there will be many many more.
Crazy Ex Girlfriend
This show is really funny... and it kind of goes through everything. I actually just bingewatched most of the second season this weekend because I had a bunch on Tivo that I needed to catch up on. If you want to talk about portraying flawed women... this is the show! It shows a lot of heavy themes like depression, alcoholism, divorce, commitment issues, and a lot of heavy themes in a very light, funny and absurd way. And it touches on feminist issues people don't really like talking about. The theme songs from this year and last year... the period sex song, everything Paula has been going through this year... the Sexy Getting Ready Song even. There's just some sort of feminist issue in every episode pretty much... and they kind of poke fun at it... but they raise the real point.
And I think it's important that they do this as a comedy because people do sort of laugh at feminist issues... and they're real issues. It's just a great show that is very well done. I love it!
Jane The Virgin
This shows a lot of different female characters... one thing I kind of want to point out is that it shows the love life and the sex life of Jane's mom... which I think is very interesting. The CW is known for having a younger audience and I know older people watch The CW a lot... but it always kind of surprises me that they include her love life just as much as Jane's really. It's interesting. And sure there are other shows that show older women's love lives... but not a whole lot really... idk I'm thinking Desperate housewives did and since that's been over... idk if there has really been a whole lot. Also they show the Grandmother's love life even, and that has been a pretty big plot point of this season because it is what Jane's novel is about... so these are all kind of good and cool things for feminism.
Stranger Things - *Spoilers*
I didn't see the whole season of this show... but there were a lot of really strong feminist moments in this show... everything from Wionona Rider's character missing her son to Nancy's storyline of losing her virginity and then breaking up with her boyfriend and people spray painting that she's a slut... and even Eleven and Barb. Barb is what the second season will be mostly focused on... and from what I hear it is mostly Nancy angry at everyone for not being upset about Barb's death/ missing status. And that's kind of symbolic of how women are treated vs men. And Eleven... I don't know much about her... but there's a reason they made her a girl in a show with boys.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
This is cool because it's about 3 intelligent children and there are 2 girls and one boy... which is kind of rare in kids books... and the girl is the oldest of the three and is an inventor, who knows a lot about science... it's just kind of a cool thing that I sort of took for granted while reading the books but now that I'm older and I'm re-reading them and watching the series I can kind of see how cool that is. She wears a ribbon in her hair... but not because she's a girly girl and likes to play dress up... it's because she's thinking of an invention. I just think it is cool how they use that in the books and in the series and the movie. It is kind of a powerful thing!
Man With A Plan
And... here's my critique... funny enough... I think most shows with the word "Man" in it have some problems with equality... maybe I'm wrong... but it is something I'm going to try paying more attention to. And it's not that this is necessarily a sexist show... but I don't think it's a good representation of a modern family. Matt Leblanc's character is sort of awarded because he's a man doing things that typically a mother would do... and it also portrays his character as sort of clueless raising the children... and I just have a problem with that. I've only really seen the pilot and some commercials but for example the kids want an after school snack and he seems puzzled that they need to have a snack after school... I'm sure that's something that a lot of people that don't typically watch kids after school forget about... but to have it seem so foreign to him was just kind of like "really?" And there are a lot of common sense things that are like huge plot points in this show and its like "Really? I think most people would know that..."
And maybe I'm just a little bit picky... but there's a point when the show just needs to be a little bit smarter for me to find it believable.
Last Man Standing
This show I actually kind of like... I kind of think of it as a guilty pleasure. And there isn't much on on Fridays... so I like watching it. And I think it does actually show a lot of strong female characters in different ages... it could be a little smarter also I guess... but I still find it kind of believable. I think it is kind of biased... but they do have very left winged characters and very right winged characters and I see the flaws in both sides and ways of thinking from this show... I don't really pay too much attention to it to really get all the themes that it has any sort of symbolism or deeper meaning about politics or feminism.
One episode that I kind of had a problem with was a recent episode where the parents of the show are kind of punishing their newly married daughter for being overly affectionate with her husband under their roof. And I feel like this is kind of... problematic. They resolved it by starting a honeymoon fund for the two... but if they were too lovey-dovey than they would need to put money in a jar and that money would go for their honeymoon... which I guess is actually not a bad thing to do... but the parents were just as affectionate as the newlyweds so it kind of just seemed like slut shaming.
It wasn't really implying anything sexual really... but idk. It just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. And my mom even said something about it... so there you go! It is upsetting my mom so it must be kind of bad. Lol.
I don't necessarily have a problem with either one of these shows. I actually think the cast of both shows I'm critiquing are really funny and I don't really pay close attention to either enough to really say "OHHH that's sexist." I think there might be a touch of misogyny in each... and I think they are sort of showing heteronormative families where they are kind of confined in their gender roles... and it just kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth... as I just said. And I'm trying to use this blog to show the importance of Pop Culture and how it kind of shapes the world around us. If they show characters like Violet Baudelaire little girls can think "ohhh Violet is a scientist! That's fun I can be a scientist!" Or with Rebecca Bunch you might think "Ohhh wow. It's okay to feel that way and it is okay to need help." So... yeah. Those are kind of my feelings for now... there are probably many more shows that I will talk about... I have a feeling this will be a very review-heavy month.
Byeee!
-Shannon
This Is Us... Spoilers!
I love this show! And the women on it are very strong and interesting. I really like Kate, she is played by Chrissy Metz, who is a gorgeous actress that is overweight and it shows her struggles with her weight as a kid and as an adult... and I just think they did it in a really good way. The first episode shows us Kate on her birthday and she's written notes all over everything saying "Don't eat this" and things like that and she gets on a scale and she's very emotional over everything... but at the same time it doesn't really define her by her weight. She's also very sassy and flirty when she meets the man that she ends up dating... and she's close to her brother and she's his main support system... their bond is really beautiful and sweet.
I also like the Mandy Moore character a lot. I see her... more as an antagonist for the series. She plays a mother and a wife in a very real and down to earth way. She's not the perfect wife or mother. It seems that she has a lot of issues with her mother talking down to her because of her weight and she sort of does the same to her daughter Kate. She keeps the information of her adopted son's biological father... which is kind of a bad thing to do... but at the same time they show her struggles and insecurities as a mom with this adopted son in a way I think feels very real. I'm saying "This is real" and I don't exactly know because I've never been through this... but Mandy Moore does a great job at this role and I really think you can still feel for her even though she has done a lot of more negative things.
I also appreciate the minor characters on the show like Olivia and Sloane. They did a great job of making those characters really deep and meaningful even though they weren't even on the show for that long and they were just sort of a red herring for what Kevin is really going through. I'm very excited about how they will portray Sophie... I'm very curious.
I kind of wish Randall's wife got a little bit more screen time... but I'm sure she will throughout the series. Right now I think they're doing a great job with all of the different female characters and I'm sure there will be many many more.
Crazy Ex Girlfriend
This show is really funny... and it kind of goes through everything. I actually just bingewatched most of the second season this weekend because I had a bunch on Tivo that I needed to catch up on. If you want to talk about portraying flawed women... this is the show! It shows a lot of heavy themes like depression, alcoholism, divorce, commitment issues, and a lot of heavy themes in a very light, funny and absurd way. And it touches on feminist issues people don't really like talking about. The theme songs from this year and last year... the period sex song, everything Paula has been going through this year... the Sexy Getting Ready Song even. There's just some sort of feminist issue in every episode pretty much... and they kind of poke fun at it... but they raise the real point.
And I think it's important that they do this as a comedy because people do sort of laugh at feminist issues... and they're real issues. It's just a great show that is very well done. I love it!
Jane The Virgin
This shows a lot of different female characters... one thing I kind of want to point out is that it shows the love life and the sex life of Jane's mom... which I think is very interesting. The CW is known for having a younger audience and I know older people watch The CW a lot... but it always kind of surprises me that they include her love life just as much as Jane's really. It's interesting. And sure there are other shows that show older women's love lives... but not a whole lot really... idk I'm thinking Desperate housewives did and since that's been over... idk if there has really been a whole lot. Also they show the Grandmother's love life even, and that has been a pretty big plot point of this season because it is what Jane's novel is about... so these are all kind of good and cool things for feminism.
Stranger Things - *Spoilers*
I didn't see the whole season of this show... but there were a lot of really strong feminist moments in this show... everything from Wionona Rider's character missing her son to Nancy's storyline of losing her virginity and then breaking up with her boyfriend and people spray painting that she's a slut... and even Eleven and Barb. Barb is what the second season will be mostly focused on... and from what I hear it is mostly Nancy angry at everyone for not being upset about Barb's death/ missing status. And that's kind of symbolic of how women are treated vs men. And Eleven... I don't know much about her... but there's a reason they made her a girl in a show with boys.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
This is cool because it's about 3 intelligent children and there are 2 girls and one boy... which is kind of rare in kids books... and the girl is the oldest of the three and is an inventor, who knows a lot about science... it's just kind of a cool thing that I sort of took for granted while reading the books but now that I'm older and I'm re-reading them and watching the series I can kind of see how cool that is. She wears a ribbon in her hair... but not because she's a girly girl and likes to play dress up... it's because she's thinking of an invention. I just think it is cool how they use that in the books and in the series and the movie. It is kind of a powerful thing!
Man With A Plan
And... here's my critique... funny enough... I think most shows with the word "Man" in it have some problems with equality... maybe I'm wrong... but it is something I'm going to try paying more attention to. And it's not that this is necessarily a sexist show... but I don't think it's a good representation of a modern family. Matt Leblanc's character is sort of awarded because he's a man doing things that typically a mother would do... and it also portrays his character as sort of clueless raising the children... and I just have a problem with that. I've only really seen the pilot and some commercials but for example the kids want an after school snack and he seems puzzled that they need to have a snack after school... I'm sure that's something that a lot of people that don't typically watch kids after school forget about... but to have it seem so foreign to him was just kind of like "really?" And there are a lot of common sense things that are like huge plot points in this show and its like "Really? I think most people would know that..."
And maybe I'm just a little bit picky... but there's a point when the show just needs to be a little bit smarter for me to find it believable.
Last Man Standing
This show I actually kind of like... I kind of think of it as a guilty pleasure. And there isn't much on on Fridays... so I like watching it. And I think it does actually show a lot of strong female characters in different ages... it could be a little smarter also I guess... but I still find it kind of believable. I think it is kind of biased... but they do have very left winged characters and very right winged characters and I see the flaws in both sides and ways of thinking from this show... I don't really pay too much attention to it to really get all the themes that it has any sort of symbolism or deeper meaning about politics or feminism.
One episode that I kind of had a problem with was a recent episode where the parents of the show are kind of punishing their newly married daughter for being overly affectionate with her husband under their roof. And I feel like this is kind of... problematic. They resolved it by starting a honeymoon fund for the two... but if they were too lovey-dovey than they would need to put money in a jar and that money would go for their honeymoon... which I guess is actually not a bad thing to do... but the parents were just as affectionate as the newlyweds so it kind of just seemed like slut shaming.
It wasn't really implying anything sexual really... but idk. It just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. And my mom even said something about it... so there you go! It is upsetting my mom so it must be kind of bad. Lol.
I don't necessarily have a problem with either one of these shows. I actually think the cast of both shows I'm critiquing are really funny and I don't really pay close attention to either enough to really say "OHHH that's sexist." I think there might be a touch of misogyny in each... and I think they are sort of showing heteronormative families where they are kind of confined in their gender roles... and it just kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth... as I just said. And I'm trying to use this blog to show the importance of Pop Culture and how it kind of shapes the world around us. If they show characters like Violet Baudelaire little girls can think "ohhh Violet is a scientist! That's fun I can be a scientist!" Or with Rebecca Bunch you might think "Ohhh wow. It's okay to feel that way and it is okay to need help." So... yeah. Those are kind of my feelings for now... there are probably many more shows that I will talk about... I have a feeling this will be a very review-heavy month.
Byeee!
-Shannon
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