Dead Like Me 2x09-2x12
Sat, May. 5th, 2007 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterThis latest batch of Dead Like Me episodes has left me very irritated, despite the good writing and growing character development. Why yes, it is stupid portrayals of gender and race again!
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rachelmanija, I've decided to move Homicide: Life on the Streets up my Netflix queue. I am tired of thinking about race, but watching shows where they don't think about it means that I am left growling at the TV and wondering why everyone is white, or why the COC don't get any good storylines.
To get the "Why I am irritated" bits out of the way first:
I hated the Daisy-Ray storyline. I lost a lot of respect for Daisy in that one, even though objectively speaking, the writers set it up with Daisy reaping the "other woman" scenario (I thought they did accidents and not murder). On the other hand, Ray was a complete prick. I also was very grumpy that an entire episode was spent on men and how they only want one thing and why women fall for that every time (because heaven forbid the men actually attempt to control themselves). Granted, it was from an unreliable narrator, since it was from Ray, but the show didn't seem to have anything to counter that message.
Then there was the bit in which Daisy had to seduce a married man for Ray and how all the wife's blame fell on her. Yes, I bet a lot of it was for Daisy character development. But it was somewhat presented as the married man being a good guy and not being able to prevent himself as well, and somehow it wasn't his choice to go to a hotel room and have an affair? WTF, show?
Then there came the race stuff, which didn't even get entire storylines dedicated to it. I was already getting irritated because everyone on the show has been getting character development, except, of course, Roxie, who is black. She's gotten one episode last season on her death day and a few scattered snippets this season on being a policewoman, but mostly, she is used to bail other characters out. She provides harsh words and a comforting shoulder and support when need be, but she never gets anything of her own. Instead, she's just there to support all the white characters. Argh! Naturally it does not help that the other semi-regular black character on the show is their waitress.
And then, we had George and Mason doing a reaping at a spelling contest, in which the memorable parent was an Indian dad who was so competitive for his kid that he constantly yelled at the judges for unfairness and generally made a spectacle of himself. It culminated in him accidentally killing a judge. Way to go with the stereotyping.
And the straw that broke the camel's back: Joy and Reggie were arguing over responsibility for JD (the dog), and Joy said, "Maybe we'll just sell him to the Chinese restaurant down the street." Excuse me, but WTF?! Reggie said, "That's not funny," and somehow, I don't think she was protesting the very tired old stereotype of Chinese people. Gee, thanks so much show. It's good to know I can encounter casually demeaning remarks even when I am just trying to relax and watch TV.
Ok, ranting done.
On the plus side, there was an interracial relationship with Joy and Angelo that was not just black/white but also older woman/younger man. Alas, they broke up and it couldn't continue.
I should probably comment more on George losing her virginity, but that brings me back to the gender issues, which will make me growly.
I should probably also comment more on the Daisy-Ray-Mason triangle, except I am still pissed off that Daisy is subtly portrayed as the one at fault for stringing two men along, and in the end, even though she breaks up with Ray, Mason is the one to kill him while she is being strangled by the guy.
I was glad to see more of Rube's backstory.
And, oddest of all, I think Delores has now become one of my favorite characters, now that I am rolling my eyes at Daisy again. I like that she has a not-obvious-but-clearly-subversive lifestyle, I love her showing up to pick up George in jail in a Ren Faire outfit, I love that despite her platitudes and her somewhat annoying cheerfulness, she has the compassion to comfort George on her first time and Joy wrt George.
I've also been enjoying watching Joy and Reggie's relationship develop; it's still rocky, but I think Joy has mellowed out somewhat. And it's good to see the two of them cautiously joking with each other and Joy giving Reggie the leeway to sort of make fun of her for kissing and having a date and such.
rachelmanija, I've decided to move Homicide: Life on the Streets up my Netflix queue. I am tired of thinking about race, but watching shows where they don't think about it means that I am left growling at the TV and wondering why everyone is white, or why the COC don't get any good storylines. To get the "Why I am irritated" bits out of the way first:
I hated the Daisy-Ray storyline. I lost a lot of respect for Daisy in that one, even though objectively speaking, the writers set it up with Daisy reaping the "other woman" scenario (I thought they did accidents and not murder). On the other hand, Ray was a complete prick. I also was very grumpy that an entire episode was spent on men and how they only want one thing and why women fall for that every time (because heaven forbid the men actually attempt to control themselves). Granted, it was from an unreliable narrator, since it was from Ray, but the show didn't seem to have anything to counter that message.
Then there was the bit in which Daisy had to seduce a married man for Ray and how all the wife's blame fell on her. Yes, I bet a lot of it was for Daisy character development. But it was somewhat presented as the married man being a good guy and not being able to prevent himself as well, and somehow it wasn't his choice to go to a hotel room and have an affair? WTF, show?
Then there came the race stuff, which didn't even get entire storylines dedicated to it. I was already getting irritated because everyone on the show has been getting character development, except, of course, Roxie, who is black. She's gotten one episode last season on her death day and a few scattered snippets this season on being a policewoman, but mostly, she is used to bail other characters out. She provides harsh words and a comforting shoulder and support when need be, but she never gets anything of her own. Instead, she's just there to support all the white characters. Argh! Naturally it does not help that the other semi-regular black character on the show is their waitress.
And then, we had George and Mason doing a reaping at a spelling contest, in which the memorable parent was an Indian dad who was so competitive for his kid that he constantly yelled at the judges for unfairness and generally made a spectacle of himself. It culminated in him accidentally killing a judge. Way to go with the stereotyping.
And the straw that broke the camel's back: Joy and Reggie were arguing over responsibility for JD (the dog), and Joy said, "Maybe we'll just sell him to the Chinese restaurant down the street." Excuse me, but WTF?! Reggie said, "That's not funny," and somehow, I don't think she was protesting the very tired old stereotype of Chinese people. Gee, thanks so much show. It's good to know I can encounter casually demeaning remarks even when I am just trying to relax and watch TV.
Ok, ranting done.
On the plus side, there was an interracial relationship with Joy and Angelo that was not just black/white but also older woman/younger man. Alas, they broke up and it couldn't continue.
I should probably comment more on George losing her virginity, but that brings me back to the gender issues, which will make me growly.
I should probably also comment more on the Daisy-Ray-Mason triangle, except I am still pissed off that Daisy is subtly portrayed as the one at fault for stringing two men along, and in the end, even though she breaks up with Ray, Mason is the one to kill him while she is being strangled by the guy.
I was glad to see more of Rube's backstory.
And, oddest of all, I think Delores has now become one of my favorite characters, now that I am rolling my eyes at Daisy again. I like that she has a not-obvious-but-clearly-subversive lifestyle, I love her showing up to pick up George in jail in a Ren Faire outfit, I love that despite her platitudes and her somewhat annoying cheerfulness, she has the compassion to comfort George on her first time and Joy wrt George.
I've also been enjoying watching Joy and Reggie's relationship develop; it's still rocky, but I think Joy has mellowed out somewhat. And it's good to see the two of them cautiously joking with each other and Joy giving Reggie the leeway to sort of make fun of her for kissing and having a date and such.
(no subject)
Sat, May. 5th, 2007 10:15 pm (UTC)I own the DVDs of S1-5, so I just popped in the pilot to rewatch, triggered by your post, and it's just as good as I remember. The cast had multiple major POC, and it wasn't just black/what interaction, but several POC colours routinely interacting with one another, on matter both pertaining to and unrelated to race. And the dialog had this lovely, almost musical cadence, witty and sometimes oddly poetic, but realistic at the same time.
Great. Now I want to rewatch the whole thing.
(no subject)
Sat, May. 5th, 2007 10:36 pm (UTC)*facepalm* I meant black/white, obviously. Yikes.
(no subject)
Mon, May. 7th, 2007 08:54 pm (UTC)I'm really looking forward to Homicide! Are there any seasons that should not be watched? I vaguely remember Rachel mentioning something about the last season not being as good.
(no subject)
Mon, May. 7th, 2007 09:23 pm (UTC)As for H:LotS, if you dig season 1, I'd say watch seasons 1-5. The season 6 is flawed (although it has some decent episodes) and season 7 is problematic to say the least (they changed half the cast and the new detectives in the squad don't hold the candle to the old ones), although there is a big plot development for one of the major characters at the end, segueing to the H:LotS movie. Whether or not you may want to watch them depends on how much you like the series as a whole.
(no subject)
Mon, May. 7th, 2007 11:01 pm (UTC)(also, I got H&C swag at Kinokuniya yesterday! Small color guidebook to the anime, whoo!)
(no subject)
Mon, May. 7th, 2007 09:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, May. 7th, 2007 11:00 pm (UTC)DLM has improved much from its first couple of episodes from the viewpoint of worldbuilding and character, but in terms of race, it doesn't even seem to be trying. Well, ok, one interracial relationship over two episodes. But other than that, lily-white.