Well, its March, and Spring Break is on Friday.  I’m on a 7:30 AM flight out of here! I don’t really need to get away, but I am excited to see a friend I haven’t seen in almost a year…wah!

Spring break is only one week which is a bummer, since when I was in undergrad it was TWO whole weeks!  A week to go somewhere and then a week to get something done.

Some links:

An excellent interview with the cast of Big Love. I didn’t get to watch last Sunday’s episode until Friday night.  OK, that episode was written for me!  I loved how it just focused on family dynamics and they did the Mormon trail in reverse!  I want to do that trip.

I did have issue with one section. At one point, Bill refers to a book about Mormonism by a historian. He tells this one guy to go read it. However, Bill, as a Mormon follower, wouldn’t have thought that book held value since it questioned his faith.  I have to rewatch the episode to see if I get that right.

Can’t wait for tonight’s show!

DOUBT Now, we don’t get as many movies here in the Midwest like one does in NYC/LA. I finally saw this and liked it a lot.  And I want to watch it again to make sure I picked up on everything.

Meryl Streep does a MEAN Bronx accent!

“Melrose Place” Remake in the Works

WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Nothing is truly sacred anymore.

* An email from a friend reminded me why I wanted to write this. Otherwise, I may not have gotten around to it.

SPOILER ALERT: don’t read if you don’t want to be spoiled!

I’m a huge Sex and the City fan but something about seeing it in a movie theatre felt odd. Then my friend figured it out for me; we’re used to watching it in the privacy of our own homes whether it be alone or with guests. When I went to see the movie, I went alone and snuck into the theatre after the lights went down. I rushed out before the credits started because I didn’t want to see anyone. I wanted to see it and enjoy it alone.

After I saw the film, I finally started to read the reviews. There were the criticism I agreed with and expected: too long, where were the men’s voices, the point of the Louise character, and it was made for the fans. There were the good parts: the dramatic wedding scene, Carrie and Big doing anything, Carrie and Miranda hanging out, and other hijinks.

There was some interesting commentary about how the SATC ladies seemed to have made it financially. Carrie doesn’t have to worry about money anymore. Samantha, who never did worry about money, hits it big in Hollywood. Charlotte continues to spend, spend, spend. Miranda doesn’t consider the monetary complications of leaving her husband. Even the new character, Louise, while hints at not having much money and renting designer bags, never complains about how much $$ it takes to look stylish in the Big Apple. IS the SATC film mostly about class not relationships, sex, romance, or friendship? No but it certainly paints us a picture that everyone in NYC has the big bucks and if they don’t they are on their way to getting them.

I have a few complaints. (1) Where was Charlotte’s storyline? All she had to quibble with was how she was worried about running during her pregnancy! The audience didn’t even get to see Charlotte tell Harry that they were having a baby the old fashioned way. And why did she have to get pregnant? It didn’t seem necessary. (2) Miranda’s storyline was pretty stale and predictable. Steve cheats then she forgives him. That was it. It revealed nothing about her character except that she is bitter. (3) I did understand the BIG/Carrie storyline but in a way it felt like more of the same…what if she was the one “who couldn’t do it.” (4) The Louise character. Now I wasn’t expecting a big diatribe on race as a lot of other people wanted. BUT why would she come to the city to find romance just to move home once her ex came begging for her back? The whole point of the series was how much Carrie and her ladies loved NYC. They don’t compromise anything for their city. So why expect anything less of Louise?

But I did love most of it. It was only a movie after all but it was fun to see the outrageous clothes, money spent without thought, going out on the town. Miranda has the two most revealing sex scenes, and Samantha had none. I did thoroughly appreciate Samantha’s speech to Smith about how she loved herself more even though it wasn’t the “right” thing to say. That is the SATC I love, the one that questions how romance does work with a woman’s identity. I don’t think that SATC is a feminist show but I don’t think it is anti-feminist either.

Well, of course, all the ladies got their happy endings or variations of. It was well worth seeing it, but I don’t know what I think of another one. One just may be enough.

I haven’t done this in a long time but tonight I settled in to watch an episode of the Real World. It was hilarious mostly because one cast member stole another’s underwear. She got real pissed off and called her parents.

The conversation went something like this:

Girl: You know that underwear I bought with my Victoria’s Secret’s gift card. Someone stole my underwear.

Her mom: Maybe it’s a joke.

Girl: I shouldn’t live with a thief.

Her dad: The bible says to love those who do you wrong…

Insert more random dialog

Her dad: *mumble* the bible *mumble*

Huh what? What does the bible have to do with stolen underwear.

Therein lies the reason I don’t watch the Real World.

The programming on WE tv confuses me a lot! Whenever I flip through the channels, I never really paid attention to WE tv except to notice whenever there were any wedding related shows on: Bridezillas or Rich Bride Poor Bride. When I’m bored I do like to watch the bride centered tv and reflect back on my wedding day and how glad I am that it’s over (the planning I mean.) Then there was Bulging Brides which wasn’t a big hit for the feminists (myself included), see feministing post.

I enjoy WE tv when I just want to watch dumb tv. However, I have to admit I was PLEASANTLY surprised when I came across High School Confidential, a documentary style tv show about high school girls in a Kansas City suburb and their four years in high school. I have watched three episodes so far and have seen young women deal with suicidal thoughts, their parents divorce, sex, marriage, drugs, eating disorders, and on. The episodes are narrated by an omnipresent, female voice (we never know who the voice belongs to) just telling the girls stories without indicating what is morally (politically) right and wrong. It is honest, raw, and wonderfully realistic. While not all shows are compelling as others and some editing and more direct storytelling is sometimes needed, it is the reality tv show I have perhaps ever seen that is just interested in conveying what it is like to be a teenage female today. I feel like telling my aunt who is raising three girls and other mothers and fathers to watch this show.

So yes I am confused by WE tv that offers such an excellent show like High School Confidential and than strikes it down with their bridal and body obsessed shows.

Since I’ve been going to the gym in the middle of the day, I catch some interesting tv I wouldn’t otherwise have time to watch.  I watch a lot of reality tv/ makeover shows which is appropriate given that its the gym.  I do realize a lot of these shows are materialistic and shallow.  However, one show, 10 Years Younger, in particular really bothered me.  I do enjoy style makeover shows like What Not to Wear but enjoy how they subtly make fun of people but ultimately work on making people think more positively about themselves.

On the episode of 10 Years Younger, there was a 26 year old mother of two.  She wore slightly baggy jeans and a white t shirt with no makeup.  It was explained that she had gained forty pounds since having her children.  The host of the show kept pressing her by asking if she was afraid that her husband would leave her for gaining weight. She finally said yes she did have that fear–that it was her greatest fear.

My gut reaction to this was WHAT!  Thats her greatest fear!  Not something bad happening to her children or herself but that her husband would leave her because of weight gain after she had their children!?! OK I realize it is a “reality” tv show and there is master editing and manipulation of dialogue occurring.  Why would she be with someone who didn’t appreciate her mothering their children but is instead focusing on her looks. Of course, once again this is how the show portrayed this woman’s life.

This got me thinking if an alien who knew nothing about Planet Earth or the human race watched this show how would he or she or they think of the way we value motherhood, one’s intelligence, sense of humor, self-worth, spirit, generosity among other non image based characteristics.  It would come across as though we did not value a human unless he or she always looked “put together” and “hott and sexy.” Thankfully, people like me can process their own opinions about such a show and recognize the triviality behind it.  Maybe I should make a show about how to get people to read the newspaper more or write in a journal every day. But oh I don’t have a production crew or a major network backing me.  Oh well…!

So don’t worry the woman got her fabulous makeover, didn’t exactly looked ten years younger but more together, and her husband looked happily surprised. Wonderful. THE END!

I’ll admit it…I have long been intrigued by The Hills on MTV. The other morning I watched two episodes online. I’m not sure what it is about this show that makes me want to watch it. The soft lighting. The beautiful people with money and no real problems. They don’t do much of anything except sit and drink alcohol, sit and drink coffee, sit and eat and just SIT. They do go to work where they get to talk about their problems.

However, there is this interesting notion at play here, platonic friendship as serious (and perhaps romantic) relationship. On one of the clips I watched, one of the main characters, Heidi, decides against moving in with her boyfriend because she has hit a rough patch with her female best friend and roomate Lauren and wants to work things out with her.

On one of the leadin’s for the show, the voice over says that a guy “broke up” with his best friend after having a fight. Hmmm.

And even wikipedia joins in. A snippet from their page about the character Heidi:

Season two of The Hills (which aired from January through April of 2007) focused on Montag’s relationship with Pratt and its effect on her friendships with Conrad and their friend Audrina Patridge.^[8] On The Hills’ season two finale, Montag moved out of her apartment with steady roommate Conrad to live with Pratt .

I’ve never heard of the term “steady roommate” even in reference to shows like Laverne & Shirley and Friends, where the idea of steady roommate existed. The Hills is an example of how pop culture affects reality. Reality tv is the perfect hybrid of real meets fake, where personality stars thrive.

I know of plenty of friends who live together and then one moves out due to a new relationship, relocation or just because they needed to move on. It’s certainly interesting that The Hills is playing with same gendered friendships as relationships and almost applies a bit of 19th century romantic love ideology to it.

I recently rewatched this season’s first episode. As the big confrontation between ex best friends Lauren and Heidi came up, it seemed as though Lauren was looking at Heidi as a jealous ex lover, not a friendship gone awry. No, I’m not saying they’re in love, but I am saying in this tv show, platonic same sex friendships are the ideal, not having a boyfriend.

Its everywhere from promos for Larry King on CNN about Star Jones having gastric bypass surgery.  I know that doesn’t necessarily count as plastic surgery, but the point is that society is obsessed with improving appearances no matter what.

I watched a few episodes of Dr. 90210 the other night.  The show follows three different plastic surgeons.  It details cases with patients from a playboy tv star who wants new breasts to a girl who can’t breathe through her nose.  But it also centers on the plastic surgeons personal issues like trying to break into the reality tv star business and troubles at home.

While the show does try to normalize plastic surgery, it is difficult for the viewer not to assume that its just a “LA thing” not affecting the smaller cities and towns.  In Q: Who Is the Real Face of Plastic Surgery, it discusses how people are financing their plastic surgery the way they plan for a mortgage or vehicle.

“I just wanted to proportion myself out and look like I did before I had children, simple as that,” said Ms. Cornier, 33, who is married and works for a government agency. She took a loan for $10,800. “I did not want to wait two or three years to save up for surgery.”

Its funny you would think that shows like Dr. 90210 depicting real surgery, with blood, guts and all, would deter people from seeking out medically unnecessary surgeries.  I know it has deterred me from seeking it out though I’e never wanted it myself.

What worries me the most is that more and more people are looking to plastic surgery instead of trying to lose weight, diet wisely and make other lifestyle choices.  But that seems to be the larger struggle a lot of us are dealing with, choosing easy fixes that don’t work as well as the choices that lead us to longer endeavors which lead us to better results.

From here:

ABC and NBC reportedly squared off for bidding rights to her first post-jail interview, but the networks seemed to lose interest after the monetary deal-making became public. That resulted in a promotional windfall for CNN’s “Larry King Live,” which apparently did not have to pay for the sit-down. The network’s strenuous promotion included a countdown clock that ran on “Paula Zahn Now,” the lead-in to King’s show, as well as a lengthy panel postmortem about Hilton on “Anderson Cooper 360.”

Emphasis mine.

Oh and the humidity has fried my brain.

Call me an ole tv watching sap, but I’m sad the Gilmore Girls is over. It was one of my favorite tv shows ever. And considering my tv watching consists on a diet of CNN, some Sex and the City reruns, and Grey’s Anatomy that means a lot.

I thought this season was sucky compared to the last few mostly because the awesome writers left. But the last show was an appropriate way to tie up both Rory and Loralei’s futures and I’m glad it all came together. I was definitely choked up whenever Richard and Emily were on. I’m a sap!

So just for kicks here’s a video…

Oh and I’ll be gone for a week, so expect less posts. I don’t know who I’m writing to or for exactly beside my awesome friends.

love, ms. rose