Actually, I think you'll find Picasso is criticising the American military-industrial complex rather than Americans as a people, but point taken. So if Dean's sexism were shown in a more harsh light, perhaps with more attention to how unpleasant it is to be on the recieving end of it, it wouldn't be so bad? I can agree with that, but your initial criticism focused on whether he was condemned or praised after the act, not on the way the act itself is portrayed. I felt that was simplistic.
Er... how else would the show condemn or praise Dean, other than portraying his actions with greater depth and sensitivity? I'm not suggesting that the show feature a Feminism Fairy who beats up on Dean for being a jackass!? Sorry, not to be all up in your face, but what the hell did you think I meant?
Maybe not for you, but what is and isn't realistic is something on which there isn't much consensus, particularly when it comes to gender relations. Some people (on both sides of the feminist/non-feminist divide) feel that it's realistic to show women as innately more nurturing and less violent, other people don't.
Sorry. In that I wasn't clear: I was trying to distinguish between the rare "realist" show, like, I dunno, Carnivale, with the thousand-times-more-common fantasy show like Supernatural. Or Friends. Or, you know... whatever.
You say that like you think a gorgeous woman getting together with an unattractive man is a bad thing.
It's a symptom of the Hollywood Double Standard: men come in all flavours, women only come in one (http://thehathorlegacy.com/if-male-actors-had-to-be-as-blandly-perfect-as-female-ones/).
It can be, but unfortunately for every film/book/play/whatever that does unflinchingly portray sexism (or anything else unpleasant, for that matter) in an attempt to confront it and shatter complacency, there's multiple that actually glorify and glamourise the unpleasantness, and tack on a bit of token tut-tutting at the end to look conscientious.
I'm not sure if you're making a statement of sympathy here or if you're trying to make the "it's everywhere so shut up about this unimportant case" argument, so I won't respond until you clarify ;)
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Re: Disclaimer: I've never watched SPN
Date: 2008-05-19 09:48 am (UTC)Er... how else would the show condemn or praise Dean, other than portraying his actions with greater depth and sensitivity? I'm not suggesting that the show feature a Feminism Fairy who beats up on Dean for being a jackass!? Sorry, not to be all up in your face, but what the hell did you think I meant?
Maybe not for you, but what is and isn't realistic is something on which there isn't much consensus, particularly when it comes to gender relations. Some people (on both sides of the feminist/non-feminist divide) feel that it's realistic to show women as innately more nurturing and less violent, other people don't.
Sorry. In that I wasn't clear: I was trying to distinguish between the rare "realist" show, like, I dunno, Carnivale, with the thousand-times-more-common fantasy show like Supernatural. Or Friends. Or, you know... whatever.
You say that like you think a gorgeous woman getting together with an unattractive man is a bad thing.
It's a symptom of the Hollywood Double Standard: men come in all flavours, women only come in one (http://thehathorlegacy.com/if-male-actors-had-to-be-as-blandly-perfect-as-female-ones/).
It can be, but unfortunately for every film/book/play/whatever that does unflinchingly portray sexism (or anything else unpleasant, for that matter) in an attempt to confront it and shatter complacency, there's multiple that actually glorify and glamourise the unpleasantness, and tack on a bit of token tut-tutting at the end to look conscientious.
I'm not sure if you're making a statement of sympathy here or if you're trying to make the "it's everywhere so shut up about this unimportant case" argument, so I won't respond until you clarify ;)