(no subject)

[shadowkat]

If you want to know why I loved Brian Lynch's writing and Urru's art on Spike Shadow Puppets and Asylum, and why I'm looking forward to Angel: After the Fall, go read elsie marvelous review which can be found here: http://elisi.livejournal.com/297149.html?style=mine#cutid1

Am avoiding the Heroes debates, mostly because I think people are ignoring the fact that what we see on tv reflects what is going on in our world. Like it or not, we live in a misogynistic, chauvinistic, racist society. Heck, name one show on TV that doesn't reflect that in some way. I can't think of one. Better yet, name one advertisement.

Comments

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Hmm but do you think Heroes has any sort of awareness of what it reflects? I definitely enjoy the show - and my main criteria for enjoyment is that it not bores me so I'm not looking for any grand achievement - but I don't think it's particularly self-aware.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sort of the same way. My main criteria when it comes to tv is to be entertained. If I'm bored? I'm gone. And there's no telling what will or won't bore me. Right now - I want to escape as well, which means I have a huge weakness for fantasy, science fiction and superhero shows that have no grounding in reality or shows that are so outside of my own situation they might as well be fantasy.

Regarding self-awareness? To be honest? I don't really think any of them are, including golden child of the moment Mad Men, which is about the closest to self-awareness that you are going to get. No, I think the reflection is usually completely unselfaware and that's part of the problem - not on tv, mind you, tv is just a symptom of the unselfaware mindset. Our society appears to be unaware of it or in deep denile. You ask people and they'll state - I'm not (fill in the blank) then do or say something that proves otherwise and they don't catch it.

Supernatural may come closest to self-aware - because I catch it at times commenting on itself. It sort of goes to the extreme then jumps back and says oh - see, did you see that? You should question that! I mean really.
Which I find intriquing. Mad Men - from what I've read (not seen) does more or less the same thing, except with less likable characters and in an achingly real setting.

Heroes is a comic book for television - and comic books have a horrid reputation for this. But they are by and large reflections of that industry. Very few comics are written by and drawn by women. Minorities are better represented actually. The ones that are written and drawn by women tend to be underground or literary comics - such as Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, the comics sponsored by Lulu such as the Girl's Guide to Guy Stuff, and of course Persepolis about the woman who grew up in Iran or Iraq, forget which. Superhero comics or action comics? I can't really think of many. I know Jodi Piccoult had a run writing Wonder Woman, and I think Jane Espenson wrote a couple Buffy ones, and there was one woman writer/editor who worked for a few years on X-Factor. Outside of that? No one. I don't know if the writers and industry is aware of this problem or not. My guess is they aren't. Whedon certainly seems to be unaware that he's doing it.

Heroes? You want to know what annoyed me most about Heroes and made me realize how completely unselfaware they are? The comment the head writer made about hiring a woman writer to write the scenes between Claire and West, to do the romantic bits. That was something they, as men, couldn't quite figure out how to do, so they got a gal to do it. If it weren't for that storyline, one wonders if they would have hired one. The statement is so full of gender stereotypes that it isn't even funny. But I think if you pointed that out to the person who said it - they'd look at you bewildered and in shock. (Sigh. Sucks being a woman in the Entertainment Industry.)

Most of the writers from Heroes come from an action or superhero comics background. Jeff Loeb. Kring. In fact Loeb has been grabbed by Whedon to write a portion of the Buffy comics. My biggest criticism of Whedon's Buffy comic project is he has only hired two women - one to write a one shot or miniarc and one to do cover paintings. The main writers and creators are men. Mostly? White men like Whedon who like to think of themselves as feminists - yet their view of being a feminist is sort of like the tv show Chuck and Bionic Woman - hot babes fighting each other. LOL!

I see glimmers of hope in Heroes on occassion - with the New Orleans storyline. My favorite new hero is the gal who can do whatever she sees on the tv screen and is the breadwinner for her family. I also adore Nichelle Nichols. Outside of that, the women are poorly represented but then they've always been. This season is oddly better than last in that regard, but not by much.

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

No one. I don't know if the writers and industry is aware of this problem or not. My guess is they aren't.

There are vast swathes of the internet devoted to gender problems in comcis, womenincomics.blogspot.com is a good place to go for links, Sequential Tart has a good website too, and Newsarama's blog has a couple female contributors now who are good at pointing out the obvious.

I am hopeful about Monica on Heroes, and Nichelle Nichols, and that Mama Petrelli will get character development comparable to Mr. Bennet... but Heroes has let me down before.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The internet is actually doing a good job of giving a voice to the problem. I think what has happened with the net is it has given people a free bulletin board to post their views on. Prior to the net, you could only get your views heard if you got them published by someone or broadcast via a ham radio or public access station. The net is a much better forum - partly because governments and whomever is in power can't figure out how to police it. We can't be as easily censored on the net as we can elsewhere. Plus - we can post and voice our views, while protecting our real identities so no one comes and fires us or hurts us for them.

I have very low expectations when it comes to Heroes. It surprised me this year for being better than I expected. Consider the source after all - Brian Fuller (who was perhaps the only self-aware writer in the bunch - left for Pushing Daisies) this left behind Jeff Loeb (a Marvel comics writer) Tim Sale (he of the pin-up girl paintings), and Kring.
They did hire a female writer - so this may help. But it still feels very "geeky guy" centric with men as its target audience -so I wouldn't expect too much. I honestly think the good female action shows are a thing of the past at this point - although the Sarah Connor Chronicles could prove me wrong.