(no subject)

[pensnest]

Anyone been watching Orange is the New Black? I happened upon the first couple of seasons on DVD in a charity shop a while ago and we've just finished watching them. The rest will be going on the Christmas wish lists.

I find the leading character and her relationships the least interesting parts of the whole show. Nearly decided not to bother with it at all after the first one, but we persevered and were rewarded by glimpses into the backgrounds of the other prisoners, who are far more interesting and less whiny. Piper does do a few interesting things—and I have to confess I was very pleased at the violent end to season one—but dear lord she is an expert at making stupid decisions. Her vapid boyfriend is just boring.

Still, overall the show is amazing. I still can't name all the characters, but I know who they are, and they are a truly interesting, varied bunch of women. I doubt there's much of a fandom for it, fans being infinitely more interested in pretty boys than in women with depth, but it's a damn good show.

Anyway, we finished the first two seasons of OITNB a few evenings ago and have since watched some of the accumulated selection of films.

Fandom seems to have spoiled me for film watching! If it's not an awareness of the existence of women, so that when I watch, say, The Fifth Element, I'm constantly looking at the wall-to-wall male faces and thinking, Why are so vanishingly few of these characters female?

There's also the influence of writing and beta-reading on my response to film plots in which people do completely irrational things so that they can… I dunno, get to the next frenetic action sequence. Why on earth, having gone to the trouble of creating a whole new being out of remnant strands of DNA from a space crash, do the scientists stand salivating while she panics, and then send police after her when she flees, instead of welcoming her gently and kindly into the world where she finds herself and in which she is important. Did nobody notice how completely stupid that is?

I realise that's a pretty old film. (Well, if I hadn't, a blond and shapely Bruce Willis would have been A Clue.) Then, there's Lucy, for which I blame Beast. A potentially really interesting idea, that utilising more of the human brain might, say, enable a person to see electricity, or radio waves, or be telepathic… (at least, it's a nicer excuse for telepathy than most). Instead of which there was a load of fanciful and utterly ludicrous tosh. And not a shred of characterisation after the first five minutes, either. Meh.

The Quartet, by contrast, was rather lovely. I'd seen it before. It's human, and real (assuming retired musicians can get to live in the most stately home-like of old people's homes you ever did see, which would be nice) and I actually care about the characters.

*

In house news, the sitting room is now lovely! All the art is on the walls, and it looks like a real sitting room at last. Okay, my computer desk is parked in one corner, needs must, but it looks okay. We had to buy a new piece of worktop (Grandpa having basically purloined the bit that was going to be my desk), and got some nice acacia wood for a most reasonable price.

Poor Beast spent much of yesterday knocking nails into walls to hang up our family pictures in an array on the landing wall. I'm pleased with the effect.

*

I've thought for a while that it was a real pity the War Doctor was played by John Hurt (tho he is admirable, of course) instead of Helen Mirren. Imagine—the female in the Doctor's past was The War Doctor.

And now, she's been posing in her Doctor Who outfit. scroll down.

Comments

[turps]

I watched season one of OITNB a while ago, and am watching season 2 atm as it's being shown on Sky. I like it, but agree Piper really isn't the best character.

Helen looks amazing in those photos!

[lilysea]

Fandom seems to have spoiled me for film watching! If it's not an awareness of the existence of women, so that when I watch, say, The Fifth Element, I'm constantly looking at the wall-to-wall male faces and thinking, Why are so vanishingly few of these characters female?

Yes, after I watched
Hidden Figures
Wonder Woman (2017)
and Atomic Blonde (2017),

I thought about going to see Dunkirk, and then thought "but Dunkirk is all blokes, judging from the trailer!"

I will watch films and shows for the female characters.

Stuff without women makes me grumpy. (and stuff without people of colour makes me grumpy. There need to be more POC and WOC in film and TV.)

[pensnest]

Absolutely. Another reason why Orange is the New Black scores so well—a full range of humanity in there, and each and every one is an *individual*. In that respect it rather reminds me of The Wire, although that one was rather short on women.

I'm still cross with Agents of Shield for not making the lead girl—Skye?—black. In my head, that makes so much sense.

[brandywine28]

Piper's a piece of work for sure, but I feel like the show is aware of that and doesn't really try to excuse anything she says or does, which...helps? But I also feel like they think her on-again-off-again thing with Alex is much more interesting than it actually is.

However, I would die for Red. Whether she asked me to or not.

Let me know when you get to the most recent season! I just finished it a few weeks ago and I have Thoughts.

('A blond and shapely Bruce Willis' -- ha! True.)

[lilysea]

I'm still cross with Agents of Shield for not making the lead girl—Skye?—black. In my head, that makes so much sense.

Much as I like Chloe Bennet, can you imagine how awesome Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who, Sense8) would be as Skye?

Rutina Wesley (Tara, True Blood) would be another good choice.

So would Logan Browning (Dear White People.)

Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Underground) would also be a contender.

Lupita Nyong'o would be great, too, but with a background in major Hollywood films, she is almost certainly out of the shows budget.

[frausorge]

I applaud you for getting your art up! Let us not inquire how long my pictures have been leaning at the foot of the walls instead of being on them.

[watervole]

I doubt there's much of a fandom for it, fans being infinitely more interested in pretty boys than in women with depth, but it's a damn good show.


Fandom seems to have spoiled me for film watching! If it's not an awareness of the existence of women, so that when I watch, say, The Fifth Element, I'm constantly looking at the wall-to-wall male faces and thinking, Why are so vanishingly few of these characters female?

I suspect it's partly the corollary of what you said in the first paragraph. Women like watching pretty boys. Men like watching pretty women. What % of the SF movie demographic is male?

Mind you, you can add institutional blindness as well.

[pensnest]

I suspect it's partly the corollary of what you said in the first paragraph. Women like watching pretty boys. Men like watching pretty women.

Mmm, but that isn't what they get, though. In general the men will get one, maybe two, pretty women to watch, and a world that is otherwise almost entirely male. I remember watching the end of Independence Day II and thinking, how are these people going to populate the earth? There are only three females left alive!

What % of the SF movie demographic is male?

My guess would be, not much above 50%. Even casting aside the existence of female SF fans such as we, women will see films with their boyfriends even if the boyfriends traditionally don't want to return the favour.

I'm thinking that with male directors, producers etc, nobody ever thinks "Would there be female police officers/managers/pilots/etc in the future?"

[pensnest]

It's quite exciting! And I know that if we didn't make a push to do it while we're still in "put the house right" mode, it'd likely languish for a very long while.

[pensnest]

A firm Yes to everything in your first paragraph... and I also adore Red. And Nikki. And Poussey. And, actually, Boo is a fantastic character, if rather less loveable. So many really interesting characters! Love it.

I suspect we may not get much further until Christmas brings its bounty, but I would be delighted to talk about it then!

[adelate]

When you put The Fifth Element like that (though it's been years and years since I've seen it, I think at least twenty), it sounds quite Frankenstein-esque! When Frankenstein manages to create life in his creature, he acts quite poorly as well.

I should watch The Quartet. I know we have it at our library and I've looked at the DVD case a time or two, but never got around to it.

OITNB really is quite good and Piper really is the least interesting thing about it! It shouldn't be a huge spoiler that you'll learn more and more about the others, too, as you go on.

[pensnest]

I confess to not recognising any of the TV people other than Freema Agyeman, but Lupita Nyong'o would be utterly awesome!

[ephemera]

Hurray for continued house progress!

film plots in which people do completely irrational things so that they can… I dunno, get to the next frenetic action sequence. - have you been watching the new Star Trek show? That is, I am afraid, what this sentence puts me in mind of, although it's doing much better on the characterisation front, and has both women and POC (and aliens) in fair numbers.

[wenchpixie]

I gave in with netflix with the Gilmore Girls revival, then kept it and mainlined OitNB over a week with the flu - Piper's very much the most annoying character (as Rory is in Gilmore Girls), but the rest of the show more than makes up for that. It's so good to see so many women (without having to seek them out). I'm looking forward to seeing what Wayward Daughters comes to, although I'm not in the SPN fandom anymore - that interestingly seems to have been driven from a fandom grassroots movement, the two female leads ended up in an episode together after the actors appeared on stage together at conventions and were very popular, and if the show ends up (a)coming to any more than a back door pilot and (b)true to the concept, the two leads should be women in their 40s, which is great, albeit with only one WOC.

I've been enjoying quite a lot of things that might be kicking about on Iplayer/ITV player with women recently - Doctor Foster, Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, River, Unforgotten - although like many things BBC/ITV they are very, very white.

[msktrnanny]

I adore Fifth Element! It’s lovely sci-fi, but my favorite parts are that the two most valuable beings in it are female and the males- so so many of them- are absolutely inept at keeping them safe! The clergymen, while studied and reputedly learned, have no idea at all what to do when presented with an actual fleah and blood formation, let alone one that’s female. And the bad guys? Oh, good grief! (I love you, Gary Oldman!) Dallas isn’t so bad at defending her, but it’d be nice if he could have gotten on board simply because it was the right thing to do.

Then, of course, there’s Ru-Bee-Rod! He’s the gayest thing dropping the London Bridge on ladies anywhere in the universe.