Boston Globe: For female stars, roles need more depth

[YoungDemCA]

"In Praise of Difficult Women" by Matthew Gilbert:

The people who make these shows need to take another step forward and recognize that women can be as convoluted and morally challenging as men. Just as there was the recent book “Difficult Men,” about complicated cable protagonists from Tony Soprano to Don Draper, there ought to be enough material for “Difficult Women.” There is no good reason to keep the women on TV shallow, unthreatening, romance-based, or eager to be liked by viewers. And their arcs do not always need to pivot on the timeworn and hackneyed question of whether or not they can have it all: a job, a spouse, and children.

Almost all of the new female-driven shows utterly fail to make their leads interesting and textured, even while these women hold powerful jobs involving the justice system and world affairs. To wit, “Madam Secretary” on CBS, which follows Leoni’s former CIA analyst as she gets pulled into becoming secretary of state by her old friend, the president. That’s a great setup for a show, particularly with the potential for Hillary Clinton compare-and-contrasts. But Leoni’s Elizabeth McCord is just this side of a saint, which makes her hard to bear after a short while. She is always right, she is always compassionate. The show was written for relatively intelligent viewers, but the character seems about three decades out of sync with our culture, which is more open to gray areas than it once was.

Behind the scenes of TV shows, the industry is seriously imbalanced; according to the Center for Women in Television and Film, women created only 20 percent of all shows. Surely that accounts for some of the problem. But “Madam Secretary” was created by Barbara Hall, whose credits include “Joan of Arcadia.” She has given us an empowered woman who stops a few too many feet short of being a real-seeming person.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2014/09/20/praise-difficult-women/55hOjVKPwf3QHwrQvaQf6L/story.html

[JustAnotherGen]

1. You know what character I like?

I like Elizabeth on The Americans. She's not weak - she kicks ass. She also has this heart space side to her - but she takes no damn prisoners.

I also like just about every female character - flaw, evil, and all - that has ever appeared on American Horror Story.

And Sweet Dee on It's Always Sunny - know why? She's obnoxious. She's honest with herself. She's honest with us.

And I really really liked Jillian on Boardwalk Empire - she had no fucks to give. She wanted what she wanted. Glad to see she's sane on the funny farm in the final season.

Don't even get me started on Abbie on Sleepy Hollow. She's not perfect - but she always holds her own. She's no damsel in distress.

Of the old 'big three' - I watch Once Upon A Time. I wonder why . . . could it be Evil and Wicked seem to be able to hold their own? The savior is a woman? The women on the show are always saving everyone's asses?


I've tried watching Scandal - and I don't get it. I just don't. I can't relate to the main character. She's a fixer - but I learned nothing of her inner life in two or three episodes.

If they want me to watch - give me women like the women I know who are good people but at times are. . . flawed, despicable, kind, funny, ass kicking, take no prisoners . . . Show me their inner lives and how they navigate their crazy assed worlds.

[sufrommich]

2. I watched about 15 minutes of Madam Secretary last night.

It's as horrible as the articles claims. My favorite female lead right now is Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep ,she's "allowed" to be as vain and self centered as male politicians without being punished for it.

[chrisa]

3. This has forever annoyed me about movies and TV.

Women tend to be written as moving decorations that spew cliches and scream randomly. Not believable or interesting.

I struggle to rationalize how writers can mess something so simple up so dearly. They don't even try.

[Wella]

4. Male writers tend to write about themselves through their main characters

The voice is always male and narcissistic. They cannot fathom depths in women, mostly because they have not really observed or understood women.

Female writers can be just has self-centered, but many are very fine observers and their male characters have as much depth as their female characters.