My friend (and fellow Dear Television contributor) Lili Loofbourow is in the NYT Magazine this weekend and so smart on female-oriented shows of the post Golden Age: Shows like “Orange Is the New Black,” “Doll & Em,” “Getting On” and “Transparent,” on the other hand, distribute suspense quite differently. Ostensibly about a women’s prison or friendship disfigured by Hollywood or a geriatric ward or a trans woman transitioning late in life, these stories almost immediately defy their synopses. The spotlight is shared among characters in a way that avoids heroes, antiheroes or other familiar devices for generating dramatic crisis. These shows dispense with the dreary archetype of the strong female character and her sister, the broken female victim; they’re playful even though they deal with pain. Subjects that prestige shows have usually treated fatalistically — disintegrating social structures, the loss of family, broken bonds — are shown as occasions for resilience rather than resignation.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 23:48:50 +0000
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