Don't disagree. I do think that's what you've written above was one of the themes the writer was going for and I certainly felt that, but there's something else there under the surface which oddly fits what is going on in the other relationships - the power struggle.
The first theme is turning people into toys. Tina who accuses Helena of turning her into a toy, that she can take off the shelf and play with - which if Tina thinks about it was part of her problem with Bette. But it's more than that - it's partly what aerustha states in her post below. Who has the power, who needs the other the most. Bette worries Tina won't need her anymore, she's lost her. Yet oddly Bette gets Tina back into her life, when Better becomes vulnerable, when Bette begins to need Tina, when the power dynamic shifts and Tina has power.
Same deal with Carmen and Shane. Carmen partly uses Jenny to shift the power dynamic in her relationship with Shane. Instead of Shane being the girl who has all the attention, Carmen shows Shane - hey, there's someone who wants me and I can have casual sex with under your nose. I can make you jealous too.
Then there's Burr and his lover, who he destroys by planting something in the tabloids on - I have power he tells his lover. You can't destroy me because I'll destroy you first.
Finally Mark and Jenny, and what Jenny starts doing after she finds the tapes. When Mark had the video camera and was taping Shane and Jenny without their knowledge, he had power over them. He knew what they were doing and was creating a picture based on what he knew. It was less, for Mark at any rate, about sexual desire or turning them into sex objects or toys, then it was about having power. Mark's financers fit what you state above - the stereotypical view of why guys do it. All men want to see women as sex objects for their amusement. And those two guys are the stereotype - and they do exist. But Mark is more interesting - because Mark is using the video camera as a tool to weild power. Note when Jenny confronts him she takes the camera and says, I'm going to use it now. And turns it on him. Then she goes to the Howling Coyote and exposes herself to the men, but she does it with fury, in the same way she did with Mark. Before she arrives, we see strippers - and they remain separate, here I am, but you can't have me, I'll turn you on, but then remain away. The sexism is about power. What is interesting is how Mark reacts to all of it, he tries to retreat, but Jenny dares him to stay. He makes himself in a way their slave - just as he did with Shane. Does this redeem him? No. He's still playing a power game. He's still struggling with Jenny for power. Not Shane - who has removed herself from the picture. Shane's reaction is equally fascinating, because Shane is furious but forgives. Why? The writer doesn't really tell us. Except for a quick line Mark states to Shane - have you ever done anything truly horrible and it changed you, and was the most real moment - changed who you are? (Actually the video camera bit reminded me a little of the James Spader movie - "Sex Lies & Videotape" - the shy guy who uses his camera to relate.)
Oh, men are turned into sex objects by women, not as often, granted, since they have power. But my brother has had to deal with it most of his life. Women oggle him. They come on to him. And some have no understanding of boundaries. He's a girl magnet. It's tough for his wife and it's always been tough for him. And female fans did it to Marsters - which was uncomfortable for the actor and the actor struggled with. Don't for a minute think that men are the only ones who do this - women do it too, sometimes as badly.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2005-11-13 05:36 pm (UTC)The first theme is turning people into toys. Tina who accuses Helena of turning her into a toy, that she can take off the shelf and play with - which if Tina thinks about it was part of her problem with Bette. But it's more than that - it's partly what aerustha states in her post below. Who has the power, who needs the other the most. Bette worries Tina won't need her anymore, she's lost her. Yet oddly Bette gets Tina back into her life, when Better becomes vulnerable, when Bette begins to need Tina, when the power dynamic shifts and Tina has power.
Same deal with Carmen and Shane. Carmen partly uses Jenny to shift the power dynamic in her relationship with Shane. Instead of Shane being the girl who has all the attention, Carmen shows Shane - hey, there's someone who wants me and I can have casual sex with under your nose. I can make you jealous too.
Then there's Burr and his lover, who he destroys by planting something in the tabloids on - I have power he tells his lover. You can't destroy me because I'll destroy you first.
Finally Mark and Jenny, and what Jenny starts doing after she finds the tapes. When Mark had the video camera and was taping Shane and Jenny without their knowledge, he had power over them. He knew what they were doing and was creating a picture based on what he knew. It was less, for Mark at any rate, about sexual desire or turning them into sex objects or toys, then it was about having power. Mark's financers fit what you state above - the stereotypical view of why guys do it. All men want to see women as sex objects for their amusement. And those two guys are the stereotype - and they do exist.
But Mark is more interesting - because Mark is using the video camera as a tool to weild power. Note when Jenny confronts him she takes the camera and says, I'm going to use it now. And turns it on him. Then she goes to the Howling Coyote and exposes herself to the men, but she does it with fury, in the same way she did with Mark. Before she arrives, we see strippers - and they remain separate, here I am, but you can't have me, I'll turn you on, but then remain away. The sexism is about power. What is interesting is how Mark reacts to all of it, he tries to retreat, but Jenny dares him to stay. He makes himself in a way their slave - just as he did with Shane. Does this redeem him? No. He's still playing a power game. He's still struggling with Jenny for power. Not Shane - who has removed herself from the picture. Shane's reaction is equally fascinating, because Shane is furious but forgives. Why? The writer doesn't really tell us. Except for a quick line Mark states to Shane - have you ever done anything truly horrible and it changed you, and was the most real moment - changed who you are? (Actually the video camera bit reminded me a little of the James Spader movie - "Sex Lies & Videotape" - the shy guy who uses his camera to relate.)
Oh, men are turned into sex objects by women, not as often, granted, since they have power. But my brother has had to deal with it most of his life. Women oggle him. They come on to him. And some have no understanding of boundaries. He's a girl magnet. It's tough for his wife and it's always been tough for him. And female fans did it to Marsters - which was uncomfortable for the actor and the actor struggled with. Don't for a minute think that men are the only ones who do this - women do it too, sometimes as badly.