hardcore superstar by far.

[semisweet]

fuck, tonight's dollhouse was awesome.

i guess i completely fail at feminism/being a chick, because i always see people who "find the show offensive as a woman" or some such thing, but it's never been an issue for me at all. idk. all i know is that i loved tonight's ep.

adelle/victor (aka katherine/roger) totally killed me. they were HOT and then my heart broke for both of them.

i really, really love dollhouse and i hope it survives. if you quit after the first few eps, i think you should consider trying it again. the last 4 or 5 episodes have been pretty fucking great, in my humble opinion.

also: i rewatched southland last night when it aired and once again really dug it. (it's repeating saturday night, if you missed it.) parks and recreation was just ok, but i'm optimistic. the office eps last night were some of the best in months, imo, and i honestly hope the michael scott paper company keeps going for a while. 30 rock is always awesome. bones was adorable as usual and i love it whenever angela's dad shows up.

anddddd...that is all. :)

Comments

[xrogue81.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen tonight's episode so I'm skipping any possible spoilers, but OMG Fox is not even airing Episode 13 at all. THOSE BASTARDS!

I know some people find the show soo anti-feminist or what not. I don't see that at all. Yes, it's sort of like human trafficking, but it's NOT promoting the subordination of women! If anything, it's showing how one can rise up against it!

[xrogue81.livejournal.com]

What I mean to say is... it's not like they're all, "Weeeee!!! Human trafficking!!! Thumbs up! YOu guys should do it!!!" I mean, the whole point of the show is that Echo's gonna actually realize what's going on and fight against it, you know?

Hell, people had the same issue with Firefly in that OMG, Inara is a prostitute, but she gets to pick her own clients and everything. And she's educated and classy. So it's like Joss would present these situations that are sort of "bad" and would put a twist on it so you'd sort of second guess yourself. I love it.

[defaultcrush.livejournal.com]

I read an interesting article written by a sex worker who hated Joss's portrayal of Firefly for precisely the reasons you mention, actually. Truth of it is, most prostitutes pick their own clients and are educated and many are classy, so showing Inara as this "anti-prostitute" because she's these things is kind of offensive.

I thought it was an interesting point. I used to do outreach with sex workers, but we did a lot of work with those who were also homeless and/or using drugs, so the kind of people most people probably think of when they think of prostitutes. However, my organization hosted a conference that featured a woman who had done all kinds of sex work, from phone sex, to stripping, to escort work, and she was beautiful and smart and sassy and all of those great things Inara had.

I guess, in sum, my point is that some people rightly have an issue with Inara, but I don't agree with the common issue with her: that sex work is bad. But I don't think Joss did anything groundbreaking with her either.

[xrogue81.livejournal.com]

Well then I guess there's no escaping it. Either people find Inara's character offensive because it seems like Joss is glorifying prostitution, or they find her character offensive because prostitution is already a "glorified" job and he's not really doing anything. (I'm not sure "glorified" is the right term I should be using, but I hope you get my point.)

I still don't see what's offensive about it either way. Like most people, when I think about prostitutes, I think about women who stand on sidewalks and work for pimps, so when I see Inara, I do see her as an anti-prostitute. But those who work in the business... those classy and educated women that you have met and worked with... shouldn't they be like, "Wow! Exactly! We are educated and we are classy and we pick our own clients. Thank you, Joss, for telling it like it is."

Maybe I'm not really getting a good grasp on the issue. I never watched the series and thought, "How dare you Joss and Inara!" I mean, it's a TV show and I enjoyed it. I loved all the characters -- including Inara. But at the same time I'm not gonna go out there and prostitute myself... nor will I storm an escort service and tell them that they are doing a bad thing. Unless a person is getting abused on the job, then I say do your thing and get yo money! Actually, even if Inara was a crack whore who gets beat up by her pimp (or madam?) I still wouldn't be offended. My mindset is not gonna be like, "Damn you, Joss! How can you show this anti-feminist garbage?!!!" My mindset is gonna be like, "How will this woman rise up and beat the odds? I'm going to keep watching..."

[inlipstickred.livejournal.com]

y'know, for me, i never found inara's character particularly surprising or whatever - she always made me think of, like, a courtesan or a geisha, both of which were positions of some distinction. (although i realize geisha aren't prostitutes.) both courtesans & geisha are women who are educated and trained in various arts, who are paid to be the companions of men, and it wasn't unusual for them to accompany wealthy men to functions and whatnot.

the only thing that was especially groundbreaking about inara, imo, was to see that attitude transferred into a more westernized (by which i mean western hemisphere, not necessarily the "space western" genre of the show) society. beyond that, i really never gave it much thought.

[xrogue81.livejournal.com]

by which i mean western hemisphere, not necessarily the "space western" genre of the show

LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! You are awesome, Tracy.
I guess I sort of fall into the "never gave it much thought" category. The only time I really think about it is when I read stuff on LJ talking about how offensive it is and then I'm like, "Huh? What? Really?" Usually, I'd understand why people take offense, but most of the time I'm just like, "I just want to enjoy my TV show, plz?"

[defaultcrush.livejournal.com]

I think sex workers "disapprove" (for lack of a better term) because Inara is portrayed as something they are not. She is portrayed as better than the common whores who don't go through the academy- the ones who end up on dingy border planets and aren't educated and all that. It is constantly shown to us that she is NOT a prostitute, or a whore, or a hooker or any of those other things. She is BETTER than them, but in trying to show she is better, he described plenty of working women already. If he describes her as "better" by painting her as the exact person he's trying to show the opposite of, it really seems like he comes from a place of ignorance about what the job actually entails, you know?

I'll try to find the article I read. It was far better at explaining this than I am. *laugh* Obviously, I am a huge fan of Firefly and I wasn't offended either, but reading that article was a great differing viewpoint to the idea that Joss is so forward-thinking for including a "companion" in his series.

Edit: Here it is. A warning, it's a bit long and I think she muddies her points sometimes, but it's an interesting read. I don't agree with all of it but I like to hear differing perspectives on things like this. Stuff in the Whedonverse certainly inspires deep thought. ;)

[xrogue81.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the article! I will definitely read it! I understand the issue even better now that you've explained it. I guess it just comes down to whether Joss portrayed prostitution as a good thing or a bad thing. A co-worker of mine who is a self-proclaimed feminist absolutely hated Inara's character because to her, selling your body is a feminist offense and she feels like Joss is glorifying the job. But for sex workers who disapprove, they feel like Joss is not giving the job the respect it deserves because he kept pointing out that Inara is not a prostitute and that she is better than the common whore. One camp is offended because they feel like Joss is portraying prostitution as a good thing and the other camp is offended because they feel like Joss is portraying it as a bad thing. It all comes down to personal interpretation, I guess.