sundries

[rm]

Patty!

Great haul at Costco last night, including carrot ginger soup, butter masala sauce, pesto, mozzarella, gluten-free chicken-basil meatballs, honey-mustard chicken burgers, brie, grilled chicken, vegetable casseroles, etc.

But god, that trip is hard work -- it's more than a mile walk RT (which isn't the hard part except when it's 94 out), pushing heavy groceries and then it's 3 trips to get all the groceries up stairs (4th floor) and a fourth to retrieve the cart.

Dear cats: pesto is not for cats.

Tattoo is in the SERIOUSLY itchy stage.

Much to do, much to do.

Hey, you know that "write like a dead white guy" meme? It's also promoting a sketchy religiously-affiliated vanity press and pretty much just pumps answers out at random. So you may not want those links all over your journal. Thanks to mercutin for the latest heads-up.

My fault, I'm female. via supergee.

Rep. David Vitter apologizes to Rachel Maddow for being an asshole about her gender presentation. As usual, don't read the comments.

At summer camps, stories are real.

Men's fashion on the sweltering streets of Manhattan. More power to them, but when it's over 90 here, I don't care if I look or feel like I'm in drag, I'm wearing a damn dress. Privilege is sweating less.

Fashionable, in 1964.

Public transit's effect on weight. Pretty much all studies about weight are suspect because we have so many issues about it as a culture that are crap, but this was still marginally interesting. Also I didn't know New Yorkers live an average of a year and four months longer than other Americans and the credit has largely gone to our public transit system.

I actually rewatched bits of Covert Affairs last night (I'm working on an Auggie/Jack crossover story - which I admit may be my playing into some of the show's squicky issues, instead of, hopefully, responding to them), and the relentless heterosexuality was more annoying this time.

My complaint isn't a lack of queer characters (although queer characters would be nice), it's that every interaction in every scene is about Male-Female desire. It's the central drama, the secondary plot, the one tool for spying, the witty banter, the comedic relief, the backstory, the family tension.... really not fun to watch a show where all motivations are the same motivation and that motivation is kinda alien.

The fact that there is little to no interaction between any same-sex characters in any capacity, with the exception of Annie's boss making her cry, is also weird, and this isn't me complaining about the difficulty of applying slash-goggles to the show (which in this case, remind me that the original application of such was less about "yay porn" and more about looking for hidden queer narratives because there could never be overt ones) so much as it is me complaining about the sense of overcompensating fear that comes off the show for me. It reminds me of being in all girls school and how all public displays of friendship had to be tempered lest anyone get the slightest whiff of even non-existent queer.

Only Auggie seems to transcend this, despite being all after the chicks and being written in his own over-compensatory way, but as the blind guy he's the only character the show is letting out of that extreme heteronormativity at all (i.e., he's friends with Annie, not trying to sleep with her; he banters briefly with the other men in a way that is about power dynamics and sexuality even if that sexuality is directed at women; and he fakes being the call-center guy at the escort agency Annie pretends exists, which is just BIZARRE, you'd NEVER have a male phone person in that sort of gig ever (precisely because of homophobia, johns don't feel straight enough talking about buying sex with (essentially from, even if a woman is doing the servicing) a man, especially one not previously known to them. Women work phones at agencies that supply women. Period. You'd think the CIA would know this)).

And this is both refreshing and problematic. On one hand, yay for the character with a disability being the most fully-written character on the show and one who they've managed to avoid a lot of cliches with. On the other hand, as AWESOME as Auggie is, the show others and fetishizes him pretty severely, although less because of their fail about him and more, instead, because of their fail about everything else.

I want this show to fix itself so bad, so that it survives. Because right now I feel like I'm going to keep watching so I can keep doing this particular line of criticism, which is less fun than it seems, or something.

I also want IMDB to be wrong in saying that Auggie's only in three episodes.

Also, hat tip to the show's costume designer. Auggie's outfits are so texturally focused, and that, at least, is a very smart choice.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

it's that every interaction in every scene is about Male-Female desire.

Is it bad that I'm actually a little impressed by this? I mean, it takes effort to be that single-minded.

And I, too, will be cranky if Auggie's only in three episodes. That, and his character seems too central for it to be that way.

ETA: I also now kinda ship Annie/Auggie, if only because that's the one pairing that *wasn't* beat over our heads. Also, because Annie is the POV character, so I want the POV character to be with the character I fancy the most. ie, Auggie. ;)

[tdanaher.livejournal.com]

My complaint isn't a lack of queer characters, it's that every interaction in every scene is about Male-Female desire. It's the central drama, the secondary plot, the one tool for spying, the witty banter, the comedic relief, the backstory, the family tension.... really not fun to watch a show where all motivations are the same motivation and that motivation is kinda alien.

So basically they've remade the series Moonlighting?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Covert Affairs and don't plan to (I'm seriously overwhelmed with other clever shows) and from your descriptions it just seems that there is a need for fic in order to make it interesting, no?

Also, yeah, Moonlighting much? Though I did love that show when I was a child watching reruns :)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Because the stakes are so high in this show, the all about the het stuff (which spreads over like 10 characters) feels more weird, tacked on, and bizarre. In Moonlighting it worked.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

*nods*
Well, I'll be reading your meta/fic regardless, so it should be interesting.

Oh and related, I finally caught up on White Collar, which is cleverer than I anticipated, it took a while to get there, only at ep 7 did I feel something... more. The 2nd season première was interesting, I hope they don't fuck up (which they've already done a bit) on the PTSD. Arrgh.

[rm.livejournal.com]

White Collar is kinda maddening because it's really good, but really trivial when it could have been something very significant. The structure of the eps is amazing though as are most of the performances. Often the writing is too tight to allow room for fanfic, which is frustrating because the show needs fanfic for all the reasons it's not exceptional.

Also, if you haven't Googled it yet, visual reference for Auggie, since I'm writing that crossover: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2856092416/nm0330913

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Definitely Jack's type.

Why is Piper Perabo squinting? I wish she'd stayed in indie movies playing dykes. I loved her for that.

[rm.livejournal.com]

One of the facts we've been told about Auggie that hasn't shown up yet on the show, but I've been led to believe is in the next episode is that since Auggie's background isn't just being the tech guy, but the guy in the field. Which means if he can get his hands on you, he can kill you. The problem now, is his getting his hands on you. But I love that he's not meek or weak. Which of course is going to be both what Jack miscalculates on but is also a big fan of.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

Oh, NYT. That subway article starts out so promising. And then they A) treat the BMI as an important and universal measure, B) state that obesity is simply the result of not moving around enough, and C) conflate physical activity with mental ability and ambition. Boo.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly. The second it got to BMI I was like "ugh!" because I do think for people whose weight is impacted by exercise (which isn't everyone) places with lots of public transport can help contribute to being thinner, but BMI is crap, and also, NOT EVERYONE.

And the point C connects to that really flawed study CNN had me griping about the day before.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

Right!
I missed the CNN gripe, but it's a rampant trope (pub name?) that needs to die.
I know I figured out a lot of my own stuff about food when I realized that it was an idea that exists within my family. We're a country of puritans. If it's not sex, it's food, and as ever, the appearance of virtue is what matters.

[rm.livejournal.com]

The CNN piece was saying that being overweight impairs memory and there were so many flaws in the study it was absurd and basically meant they were attributing to weight things that could relate to age, disability and social stigma about weight.

And the sex/food thing? You are SO right. Hadn't occured to me before, but so so so right.

[sykii.livejournal.com]

Oh, the apple vs. pear thing? As a pear married to an apple, we had a good laugh about that.

What can you do but laugh? It would take more years off my life to try and keep up with each latest and best piece of health advice and worry endlessly about conforming to it.

I've had something percolating about the sex/food thing for ages, but can't quite get it into words. Everything I've written so far seems either too subjective or too obvious.

All Studies About Weight Are Suspect

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Pretty much!

Certain study topics automatically fall into this category, pacticulary if/as reported on by the MSM. It's a given.I suppose I should compile a list.

You'd Think the CIA Would Know This

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

That would be my guess.
What people know is not what Hollywood knows.

Re: You'd Think the CIA Would Know This

[rm.livejournal.com]

You'd think Hollywood would know how escort agencies work too. I'm just saying.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, if you've already posted it and you're having fun with it, you can change the HTML for the "I Write Like" thing to get rid of the links (and, potentially, for grate lulz).

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

THAT CAMP SOUNDS AWESOME!!!

Also, I should really not add MFIF to my blagroll as it will only depress me and make me oh who am I kidding, arg. Some things are worth being angry about.

~Sor

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I had to stop reading because it as only making me angry.

[tinywarrior.livejournal.com]

Tattoo?? Did I miss reading about this somehow??

[rm.livejournal.com]

http://twitpic.com/24n8py

It's the last two words of a 200K+ fic I wrote with Kali that ends in the death of the character that later got killed off on the show for real and became the central point for the paper that took me to Bristol.

Also, it's very me. You'll get it when you see it. It's both an act of love and a "fuck everyone and their bad attitude and their ironic distance" sort of thing.

I got it the morning I left London for the States again.

[tinywarrior.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok! And you are right! It's VERY you! I love it. : )

[weirdquark]

My complaint isn't a lack of queer characters (although queer characters would be nice), it's that every interaction in every scene is about Male-Female desire. It's the central drama, the secondary plot, the one tool for spying, the witty banter, the comedic relief, the backstory, the family tension.... really not fun to watch a show where all motivations are the same motivation and that motivation is kinda alien.

Have you ever seen Coupling? It's written by Steve Moffat, and is very smart and well directed, but it's about a bunch of straight people who are in relationships with each other. I suspect it fails the Bechdel test because whenever the women are alone they talk about the men (and sex), but whenever the men are alone they talk about the women (and sex), so at least it's well balanced. They're all kind of crazy and the heteronormativity is over the top in ways that I find kind of fascinating, just because I can't identify with any of the characters at all and their behavior is so bizarre to me.

[rm.livejournal.com]

But Coupling at least is about relationships, so it's a bit what it says on the tin. I haven't seen it, but should, as it seems a necessary point of reference if one gets trapped in a discussion about whether Moffat's work is sexist.

What's freakish about Covert Affairs is that it's supposed to be about the CIA.

[weirdquark]

True, and I didn't mean to say it was a problem that Coupling is about relationships, although it's not typically something I'd be interested in watching.

I could see being able to make an argument about the sexism going either way; whenever someone says or does something that makes you want to hit things and you can't believe someone actually said/did that, there's usually another character who can't believe they just said/did whatever it was either. So the show is very aware of playing with all of the stereotypes that go with gender roles and relationships. But it is pretty much all stereotypes, all the time, so you can wonder if Moffat thinks that all heterosexual relationships are like these, if you take them to their extremes, or if he knows that they're not, and is just poking these particular extremes because that was the focus he wanted for the show.

It's an interesting show, and I have no idea how much sociologically bizarre I find it because they're not "my people" and how much because they're just, well, bizarre.

[hoyland54.livejournal.com]

There was an advertising campaign by the transit authority here saying that people who ride the bus walk an average of 30 minutes more a day. I'm not sure how they worked that out. (Well, I went to IKEA on the bus last weekend. It probably took me 20 minutes to haul the box back from the bus stop. Plus another 10 walking to the bus and to and from the store at the other end. But on the average day? I doubt it.)

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Covert Affairs's pilot is a significantly more extreme example, but this seems to be a problem in almost all of the action shows USA. I watch Burn Notice & In Plain Sight, and while vastly better than most US TV, and very enjoyable for having important, competent female characters, they are all exceedingly het. White Collar is a bit different, but largely because it focuses so little on female characters. In Plain Sight and to a slightly lesser extent Burn Notice do better than Covert Affairs largely because they both have an almost equally strong focus on family dynamics. I'm hoping that the extreme het feel of Covert Affairs focus fades somewhat once the actors and writers get past the pilot and that it becomes a bit less monofocused.

My biggest problem with all this is that I don't see anything better that's made in the US - the alternative seems to be various boys only club shows (ranging from the active misogyny in Supernatural, to having a significantly greater focus on male characters in White Collar, to intermediate cases like Stargate Universe. Other than shows by Joss Whedon (other than Dollhouse), if you have the sort of geeky action or SF&F shows that I prefer to watch, the choice seems to be either a near absence of female characters or an overwhelming focus on male-female desire. I'd definitely enjoy more female-centered shows like Xena as well as more shows like the X-Files or Farscape, where you could have mix gender casts w/o desire being such an overwhelming focus, but I see essentially no examples of either on modern TV - that's very sad indeed.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I also want IMDB to be wrong in saying that Auggie's only in three episodes.

I didn't see this comment previously. Right now, from my PoV, it's watchable, but just on the bare edges of good. I assume that the show will improve past the pilot, but getting rid of the most interesting character is definitely not a way to keep me watching a show.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I've since looked harder at the IMDB thing, and it seems they only have entries at all for some eps, so I think we're safe on his continued presence across all eps. 've also gotten the impression from the spoiler stuff I've been reading that the character also gets more interesting.

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

Men's fashion on the sweltering streets of Manhattan.

Sometimes schlumpy Southern California dressing annoys me, but it's times like this that I'm grateful that our cultural standards don't include wearing a full suit and tie when it's 95 degrees out with high humidity.

[sethg]

When my eight-year-old discovers that there is a Camp Half-Blood and that he isn’t going to attend it, he will BURN WITH ENVY.

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

Re MFIF: your column is such a rich mine of ways to prove to my gender-issues students that sexism still thrives in the 'enlightened' West. Unfortunately.

[timelady.livejournal.com]

I watched Covert Affairs about 3 times today, and I still like it. I think the thing I didn't like the most was her posing as a hooker/call girl 3 times, playing up a ditzy feminine stereotype. I'm going to be more than annoyed though, if she continues on with the hooker cover each time she gets into hot water for the rest of the series. (And the Kitten heels bugged me, too. Seriously, women just don't wear those to office work...at least not here).

Though Augie in the interrogation room just completely saves the show in my opinion.

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

IMDB's page only lists Christopher Gorham and Piper Perabo as the regular cast members (at least it did when I checked it the other day) right now, so I'm sure that that will be corrected once the show has been on for more than two episodes. Unless they pull a Joss Whedon on this, I'm guessing Auggie is sticking around. And I'd also be surprised if USA pulls the show before its first season is over; I can't think of an original series USA has had that hasn't been successful by that network's standards, and it's now one of only two USA shows with a female protagonist. All the rest are male driven with female supporting characters. (I don't watch In Plain Sight so I can't comment on how that show treats its characters.)

I think I've watched the episode about three times now; the first time or two I came into it late then I finally got to see it from the start. I actually like it more than I thought I would (as I did with White Collar...but I prefer White Collar so far). Annie and Neal are both sort of in that same mysteriously disappeared love that got away boat right now, so I guess Ben, whoever he is, will play a similar role to Kate in WC's first season.

The subplot with Joan and...whatever Peter Gallagher's character's name is, I don't really get. Unless they plan on playing with their interactions in terms of the way Annie's character is handled, their marital issues seem unnecessary and uninteresting, and while I often like entering a story in medias res, this plot just doesn't seem to have a place in Annie's story yet. As for her family, I do hope they play at least a somewhat significant role in the series, partly because I really like Anne Dudek and she seems to keep playing characters who get killed off or written out, or in the case of Mad Men, are just plain unbearable, so it would be nice to see her be a series regular finally.

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I meant to comment on the call girl aspect on a simply superficial level, she totally reminded me of Billie Piper in those scenes, although much less sure of herself than Belle/Hannah is, at least in the beginning.