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shadowkatBeen in a bit of a blah mood lately. Work has been dragging, so that's part of it. I'm happiest when I'm busy not stressed busy, but actively busy and engaged. And well...it's that time of month again..
which sort of makes you wish you could take a vacation from your gender, be another gender for just those 1-5 days, then back again. Although I'm told some people enjoy it.
Was so bored at work that I re-read my essay on the last issue of the Buffy comic, because someone commented on it and I'd forgotten what I wrote. Rather good piece of writing actually - one of my better reviews. Few typos, clear, and a subtle wit. I enjoyed it at any rate - which is rare, because I tend to be highly critical of my own writing. Most of my reviews tend to be rambling things with tons of typos that make me cringe upon re-reading. Also funky spaces in paragraphs. The review also reminded me of why I'm no longer posting Buffy essays or anything on Whedon (outside of the fact that I respect the people who still love Whedon and Buffy and don't want to upset them unnecessarily, not that they necessarily care but...). And that I've got to get rid of those comic books at some point. Been procrastinating that. Procrastination not helped by guy on my street who informed me that it was a bad idea to just give away one's comics since they might be worth 50 bucks to someone. X-men Vintage issue #1? Maybe. But Buffy comics? That may be pushing it a tad. 20 years from now? Who knows. But I'm not sure I want to hold on to them for 20 years.
Saw The Good Wife last night, which was rather good. Quite impressed. Although there was admittedly one scene that required considerable suspension of disbelief. Which I handwaved.
The episode starts out with Alicia packing up all her husband's belongings, hiring a moving company, renting a new apartment for him, moving all his belongings into the furnished apartment. And arranging to have him meet her there where she hands him the keys and tells him that he's no longer welcome at her home and they are officially separated because he slept with her best friend (granted it was two years ago and Kalinda wasn't her best friend at the time, but that's besides the point.) What I handwaved was the fact that it is physically impossible to pack all your husband's belongings into 20 boxes, hire a moving company, and find and rent an apartment at 9 or 10 pm at night, and in the space of less than five hours. Uh, no. I'm sorry. That can't happen. But it was a heck of a lot of fun to watch - so I handwaved it. Like most things on tv shows it works emotionally but not logically. For the record this is really the only thing I've seen on the Good Wife that I thought was impossible.
The case fascinated me. The Good Wife is the only procedural (and I use that term lightly because it really isn't much of a procedural, people who love procedurals dropped it right quick), that has a B plot line or case of the week that is intriguing and not overly predictable and gasp!realistic. None of the other ones feel all that realistic to me. And I've come to the conclusion that I hate forensic science - about as much as I hated biology. Eww. Me and dissection are not mixy things.
The case was like all their cases political - all about what was happening behind the scenes, the deal-making. Most of law is really about making and bartering deals and jockeying for position.
And presentation.
Martha Plimpton's character Patty Nyslom does a splendid job of using people's sexism against them. How people view pregnancy and children, she manipulates them with. Bringing her kids with her and into the court-room, playing up the mother role, and then wham, hitting them when they least expect it. She played her own law firm (headed by the superb character actorJulian John Glover - if Game of Thrones is cast with top notch British Character Actors, The Good Wife is cast with top notch American character actors) and Will Gardner against each other. Manipulating both men to get the best deal for herself and the client. While Lockhart/Gardner won for the patient, they lost their class action lawsuit. There were three cases : the patient trying to get a new liver, the class action lawsuit against the hospital for malefaesance or malpractice, and the employment discrimination case Patty was waging against her own law firm. All were political power games.
There's two shows on right now that explore power and its role in our lives brilliantly - Game of Thrones and The Good Wife. One from a male perspective and one from a female perspective. Watching both is quite fascinating.
Patty of course beats Will, she plays him and does it astonishingly well. Meanwhile Alicia, who Patty has wisely extricated herself from - going after Will instead, fights for the patient client. Funneling all her rage at Peter and Kalinda at the case. And the case is not that complicated.
The Doctor in charge was biased against the patient who bore tattoos and had a history of partying. He placed her later on the donor list due to what he perceived to be an inappropriate lifestyle. His bias which is illegal, meant that she could not get a new liver in time. The patient he chose to give it to instead - had 10 more months, while she had less than 10 hours. The connection to Alicia was that this patient was a single mother with a son and fighting against a male run hospital and a judgmental and patriachial male doctor.
Patty's case is more complicated - Patty is suing her firm for firing her due to pregnancy. The firm insists it's because she was stealing clients. (Not unlike what Diane had proposed to do if Will had decided to back Bond instead of her in their own partnership skirmish). Patty insists she stold clients for her own firm - only to protect herself in the event they chose to fire her. The firm insists her behavior resulted in complaints from clients - that she always brought her kids into the courtroom with her, that she never had day-care, and her breast-feeding - all inappropriate in the workplace. Patty accuses them of sexism. And gets Lockhart/Gardner to represent her - stating she'll provide info on well...the class-action case that Lockhart/Gardner wants to push against the hospital. She dangles information, gets the judge to separate her case from the class-action case, and her firm hires her back - so she can now use Lockhart/Gardner's plan against them - lowering the settlement bid considerably. Bold move and cleverly done.
Alicia is having her own battles, but on the personal front. Jackie, Peter's mother, arrives in Alicia's office in an attempt to guilt Alicia into returning to Peter and letting Peter back in. Alicia stoically tells Jackie that she and Peter are over, that while Jackie was a wonderful help in the past, she's no longer needed since the kids are now mostly grown and no longer require Jackie's services, but hey she'll make sure that Jackie sees her grandchildren, just as she will make sure that Peter does. Jackie is flabbergasted and tells Alicia to go to hell. Alicia shrugs her off. Jackie, desperate, goes to Eli Gould and begs him to talk to Alicia. Now apparently Peter has not told Jackie the whole story, because she doesn't appear to know why Alicia has done this. Eli shocked by this turn of events, does go visit Alicia - mostly out of curiousity, I think, and finds out that Alicia is firm in her decision. The by-play between them is quite wonderful. Alan Cummings and Julianne Marguiles shine as does the dialogue.
Why is Alicia furious with Peter? Oh complicated. It's more than the fact that he slept with Kalinda. It's the lies and subterfuge surrounding it. The co-worker in question was named Lela, in exchange for giving Lela a new identity and US citizenship (which is illegal by the way and can be done by a DA who has access to such files and the power to do that - a gross misuse of power), Lela(now Kalinda) sleeps with him. When Peter tells Alicia that Kalinda was blameless - that's why - she did it in exchange for a new identity. Or a barter.
Interestingly enough - we have basically the same story play out between Eli Gould and America Ferrare's stock broker/translator/former nanny character. Except Eli uses his power within the rules, and doesn't cross any ethical lines nor does he persuade America's character to sleep with him - he'd clearly like to sleep with her, but he does not cross that line. Instead of doing what Peter did, which Eli could have easily done, he requests that Alicia's firm represent and fight for America's rights, which they do, and aid her father, which they do. The only thing he does that might be considered questionable is - convince a guard to let the father out of lock-up, before the IS shows up.
Also, Eli is upfront about his relationship with America - his daughter knows, as does his ex-wife. He is divorced. America is of age. And he doesn't push. When she says the timing is wrong or she has a boyfriend, he backs off.
Peter is the exact opposite. Peter uses his power unwisely and for his own personal gain. Which is why Alicia can't quite forgive him. He's also a vindictive bastard as we quickly find out. This is in character - by the way. Peter has shown signs of vindictiveness prior to this - and a jealousy for Alicia's workplace relationship with Will Gardner. Peter decides that it does not make sense that Alicia won't forgive him for his one-night stand two years ago with Kalinda( aka Lela) and that Alicia obviously is kicking him out to be with Will and is obviously having an affair with Will.
Much like the Patty case, and the patient, we have yet another instance of "blame the victim" - which happens a lot in our society. The person with the power can't be wrong - it's the other guy's fault. Idiot logic. But so ingrained that we don't see it. Why? Because those in power control the presentation. The Good Wife shows this very well through both the legal cases as well as Alicia's interactions with Jackie and Peter.
In Patty's case - she's pregnant and stealing clients because she has reason to believe they'll fire her, they see her as a victim and blame her. The little woman. Patty turns the tables on them, and manipulates them into hiring her back on her terms.
In the patient's case - the doctor blames the patient for her liver failure - it's obviously her life-style that lead her to it, regardless of what the CT scans state - which show she's a good candidate. She becomes knowledgable and hires Alicia who fights back, and they get one more CT scan which will hopefully prove that she deserves the liver and the doctor showed bias. Alicia discovers this when she sees every patient is approved, except four that had tattoos or body piercings, and the doctor performed multiple scans on, and disapproved them based on their lifestyle - blaming them for their liver failure.
Finally Alicia is blamed by Peter. It's not my fault, he states. You are as much to blame as me. Actually, no. We are shown in detail how Alicia really hasn't done anything wrong and has paid for Peter's infidelities. He quilted her into taking him back the first time, and now is trying that same tactic again. But Alicia won't hear it.
Then there's Carey, who resents Alicia for obtaining the position and power in the firm that he believed should have been his. His resentment of Alicia gives Alicia a great deal of power. He can't go back to Lockhart/Gardner as a second-year associate not just because it would be a step down, but because Alicia would be a third year, above him. When he confronts both Diane and Will on this point, their reaction is understated yet fascinating. Will is looking directly at Carey, his face does not move, but his eyes dart to Diane, who sits looking at Carey with a frozen smile, stating, that then they can't make a deal. Stalemate. Alicia is the deal-breaker. While they'd like to hire Carey back, they can't demote or fire Alicia for him - that's ridiculous. Nor can they make him her equal - it's unfair to the other associates. And Carey comes across as a vindictive bastard jockeying for power. Ironically, Kalinda got him the interview. Not to be out done - Carey slinks off to Peter in an attempt to keep his job at the DA's office. In an about face, Carey's resentment towards Alicia wins him the job. Peter in this situation is looking away from Carey, bored and uninterested, stating he really isn't in the mood at the moment...until Carey states that he is worried that his negative history with Alicia at Lockhart/Gardner could be a problem...Peter immediately shifts his position, turns his full focus on Cary and perks up, asking for more info and literally handing Carey his job back. Ironic, considering Carey is partially to blame for the whole affair with Kalinda coming to light, even if Carey attempted to stop it. It's the exact opposite of the Will/Carey scene. Also, note Carey askes Kalinda to put a good word in for him to both Peter and Will, she only does it with Will to our knowledge and Will takes it as far as the meeting, but won't hire Carey back on his terms (as an equal with Alicia), while Peter keeps Carey because he has a beef with Alicia - which by the way was the same reason Childs kept Carey on board. Carey has oddly enough made his entire career about Alicia, while Alicia barely notices that Carey exists.
Oh wonderful episode. It ends there. I love, love this show.
which sort of makes you wish you could take a vacation from your gender, be another gender for just those 1-5 days, then back again. Although I'm told some people enjoy it.
Was so bored at work that I re-read my essay on the last issue of the Buffy comic, because someone commented on it and I'd forgotten what I wrote. Rather good piece of writing actually - one of my better reviews. Few typos, clear, and a subtle wit. I enjoyed it at any rate - which is rare, because I tend to be highly critical of my own writing. Most of my reviews tend to be rambling things with tons of typos that make me cringe upon re-reading. Also funky spaces in paragraphs. The review also reminded me of why I'm no longer posting Buffy essays or anything on Whedon (outside of the fact that I respect the people who still love Whedon and Buffy and don't want to upset them unnecessarily, not that they necessarily care but...). And that I've got to get rid of those comic books at some point. Been procrastinating that. Procrastination not helped by guy on my street who informed me that it was a bad idea to just give away one's comics since they might be worth 50 bucks to someone. X-men Vintage issue #1? Maybe. But Buffy comics? That may be pushing it a tad. 20 years from now? Who knows. But I'm not sure I want to hold on to them for 20 years.
Saw The Good Wife last night, which was rather good. Quite impressed. Although there was admittedly one scene that required considerable suspension of disbelief. Which I handwaved.
The episode starts out with Alicia packing up all her husband's belongings, hiring a moving company, renting a new apartment for him, moving all his belongings into the furnished apartment. And arranging to have him meet her there where she hands him the keys and tells him that he's no longer welcome at her home and they are officially separated because he slept with her best friend (granted it was two years ago and Kalinda wasn't her best friend at the time, but that's besides the point.) What I handwaved was the fact that it is physically impossible to pack all your husband's belongings into 20 boxes, hire a moving company, and find and rent an apartment at 9 or 10 pm at night, and in the space of less than five hours. Uh, no. I'm sorry. That can't happen. But it was a heck of a lot of fun to watch - so I handwaved it. Like most things on tv shows it works emotionally but not logically. For the record this is really the only thing I've seen on the Good Wife that I thought was impossible.
The case fascinated me. The Good Wife is the only procedural (and I use that term lightly because it really isn't much of a procedural, people who love procedurals dropped it right quick), that has a B plot line or case of the week that is intriguing and not overly predictable and gasp!realistic. None of the other ones feel all that realistic to me. And I've come to the conclusion that I hate forensic science - about as much as I hated biology. Eww. Me and dissection are not mixy things.
The case was like all their cases political - all about what was happening behind the scenes, the deal-making. Most of law is really about making and bartering deals and jockeying for position.
And presentation.
Martha Plimpton's character Patty Nyslom does a splendid job of using people's sexism against them. How people view pregnancy and children, she manipulates them with. Bringing her kids with her and into the court-room, playing up the mother role, and then wham, hitting them when they least expect it. She played her own law firm (headed by the superb character actor
There's two shows on right now that explore power and its role in our lives brilliantly - Game of Thrones and The Good Wife. One from a male perspective and one from a female perspective. Watching both is quite fascinating.
Patty of course beats Will, she plays him and does it astonishingly well. Meanwhile Alicia, who Patty has wisely extricated herself from - going after Will instead, fights for the patient client. Funneling all her rage at Peter and Kalinda at the case. And the case is not that complicated.
The Doctor in charge was biased against the patient who bore tattoos and had a history of partying. He placed her later on the donor list due to what he perceived to be an inappropriate lifestyle. His bias which is illegal, meant that she could not get a new liver in time. The patient he chose to give it to instead - had 10 more months, while she had less than 10 hours. The connection to Alicia was that this patient was a single mother with a son and fighting against a male run hospital and a judgmental and patriachial male doctor.
Patty's case is more complicated - Patty is suing her firm for firing her due to pregnancy. The firm insists it's because she was stealing clients. (Not unlike what Diane had proposed to do if Will had decided to back Bond instead of her in their own partnership skirmish). Patty insists she stold clients for her own firm - only to protect herself in the event they chose to fire her. The firm insists her behavior resulted in complaints from clients - that she always brought her kids into the courtroom with her, that she never had day-care, and her breast-feeding - all inappropriate in the workplace. Patty accuses them of sexism. And gets Lockhart/Gardner to represent her - stating she'll provide info on well...the class-action case that Lockhart/Gardner wants to push against the hospital. She dangles information, gets the judge to separate her case from the class-action case, and her firm hires her back - so she can now use Lockhart/Gardner's plan against them - lowering the settlement bid considerably. Bold move and cleverly done.
Alicia is having her own battles, but on the personal front. Jackie, Peter's mother, arrives in Alicia's office in an attempt to guilt Alicia into returning to Peter and letting Peter back in. Alicia stoically tells Jackie that she and Peter are over, that while Jackie was a wonderful help in the past, she's no longer needed since the kids are now mostly grown and no longer require Jackie's services, but hey she'll make sure that Jackie sees her grandchildren, just as she will make sure that Peter does. Jackie is flabbergasted and tells Alicia to go to hell. Alicia shrugs her off. Jackie, desperate, goes to Eli Gould and begs him to talk to Alicia. Now apparently Peter has not told Jackie the whole story, because she doesn't appear to know why Alicia has done this. Eli shocked by this turn of events, does go visit Alicia - mostly out of curiousity, I think, and finds out that Alicia is firm in her decision. The by-play between them is quite wonderful. Alan Cummings and Julianne Marguiles shine as does the dialogue.
Why is Alicia furious with Peter? Oh complicated. It's more than the fact that he slept with Kalinda. It's the lies and subterfuge surrounding it. The co-worker in question was named Lela, in exchange for giving Lela a new identity and US citizenship (which is illegal by the way and can be done by a DA who has access to such files and the power to do that - a gross misuse of power), Lela(now Kalinda) sleeps with him. When Peter tells Alicia that Kalinda was blameless - that's why - she did it in exchange for a new identity. Or a barter.
Interestingly enough - we have basically the same story play out between Eli Gould and America Ferrare's stock broker/translator/former nanny character. Except Eli uses his power within the rules, and doesn't cross any ethical lines nor does he persuade America's character to sleep with him - he'd clearly like to sleep with her, but he does not cross that line. Instead of doing what Peter did, which Eli could have easily done, he requests that Alicia's firm represent and fight for America's rights, which they do, and aid her father, which they do. The only thing he does that might be considered questionable is - convince a guard to let the father out of lock-up, before the IS shows up.
Also, Eli is upfront about his relationship with America - his daughter knows, as does his ex-wife. He is divorced. America is of age. And he doesn't push. When she says the timing is wrong or she has a boyfriend, he backs off.
Peter is the exact opposite. Peter uses his power unwisely and for his own personal gain. Which is why Alicia can't quite forgive him. He's also a vindictive bastard as we quickly find out. This is in character - by the way. Peter has shown signs of vindictiveness prior to this - and a jealousy for Alicia's workplace relationship with Will Gardner. Peter decides that it does not make sense that Alicia won't forgive him for his one-night stand two years ago with Kalinda( aka Lela) and that Alicia obviously is kicking him out to be with Will and is obviously having an affair with Will.
Much like the Patty case, and the patient, we have yet another instance of "blame the victim" - which happens a lot in our society. The person with the power can't be wrong - it's the other guy's fault. Idiot logic. But so ingrained that we don't see it. Why? Because those in power control the presentation. The Good Wife shows this very well through both the legal cases as well as Alicia's interactions with Jackie and Peter.
In Patty's case - she's pregnant and stealing clients because she has reason to believe they'll fire her, they see her as a victim and blame her. The little woman. Patty turns the tables on them, and manipulates them into hiring her back on her terms.
In the patient's case - the doctor blames the patient for her liver failure - it's obviously her life-style that lead her to it, regardless of what the CT scans state - which show she's a good candidate. She becomes knowledgable and hires Alicia who fights back, and they get one more CT scan which will hopefully prove that she deserves the liver and the doctor showed bias. Alicia discovers this when she sees every patient is approved, except four that had tattoos or body piercings, and the doctor performed multiple scans on, and disapproved them based on their lifestyle - blaming them for their liver failure.
Finally Alicia is blamed by Peter. It's not my fault, he states. You are as much to blame as me. Actually, no. We are shown in detail how Alicia really hasn't done anything wrong and has paid for Peter's infidelities. He quilted her into taking him back the first time, and now is trying that same tactic again. But Alicia won't hear it.
Then there's Carey, who resents Alicia for obtaining the position and power in the firm that he believed should have been his. His resentment of Alicia gives Alicia a great deal of power. He can't go back to Lockhart/Gardner as a second-year associate not just because it would be a step down, but because Alicia would be a third year, above him. When he confronts both Diane and Will on this point, their reaction is understated yet fascinating. Will is looking directly at Carey, his face does not move, but his eyes dart to Diane, who sits looking at Carey with a frozen smile, stating, that then they can't make a deal. Stalemate. Alicia is the deal-breaker. While they'd like to hire Carey back, they can't demote or fire Alicia for him - that's ridiculous. Nor can they make him her equal - it's unfair to the other associates. And Carey comes across as a vindictive bastard jockeying for power. Ironically, Kalinda got him the interview. Not to be out done - Carey slinks off to Peter in an attempt to keep his job at the DA's office. In an about face, Carey's resentment towards Alicia wins him the job. Peter in this situation is looking away from Carey, bored and uninterested, stating he really isn't in the mood at the moment...until Carey states that he is worried that his negative history with Alicia at Lockhart/Gardner could be a problem...Peter immediately shifts his position, turns his full focus on Cary and perks up, asking for more info and literally handing Carey his job back. Ironic, considering Carey is partially to blame for the whole affair with Kalinda coming to light, even if Carey attempted to stop it. It's the exact opposite of the Will/Carey scene. Also, note Carey askes Kalinda to put a good word in for him to both Peter and Will, she only does it with Will to our knowledge and Will takes it as far as the meeting, but won't hire Carey back on his terms (as an equal with Alicia), while Peter keeps Carey because he has a beef with Alicia - which by the way was the same reason Childs kept Carey on board. Carey has oddly enough made his entire career about Alicia, while Alicia barely notices that Carey exists.
Oh wonderful episode. It ends there. I love, love this show.
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 12:28 am (UTC)Agreed!
AND I love your meta...
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 12:32 am (UTC)Also..you are to blame for me re-reading my review of issue 40 of the Buffy comics. Was rather amused by your comments, so re-read the entry while incredibly bored at work. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 12:34 am (UTC)Agreed. Everything works for me in this show - it's so well written.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 06:45 pm (UTC)I loved the facial expressions on Alicia - how she briefly hides it after learning about Kalinda, the control face she shows to Jackie and Peter and the breakdown face she shows to her children. I love seeing how that character controls herself to fit conditions.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 09:37 am (UTC)I thought this whole subplot was actually a gambit - that Patty was a trojan horse from the beginning. Glover was never really going to fire her - just a way to plant her inside Lockhart & Gardner to help the hospital in the Class Action suit. It seemed given away because the lawyer he used in place of Patty was one he clearly knew was incompetent - and not the hotshot Patty told Will...