Can social media be a judge of who will win Tuesday night’s Dancing with the Stars finale?
After the jump, see my Storify post with video of the freestyle dances of the finale three as well as to see how the celebrities were faring on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.
You can see all my past Storify posts here.
After their social media flub earlier this month, Marie Claire is making the rounds on Twitter and blogs once again for something they’ve posted online.
In a blog entry for marieclaire.com, Maura Kelly asks the question: “Should fatties get a room? (Even on TV?)” where she writes about the new CBS sitcom Mike and Molly. Mike and Molly is a sitcom about two overweight people who meet at Overeaters Anonymous and fall in love.
Kelly wastes no time getting to her true feelings:
Yes, I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other … because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything.
She details that the two main characters are more than overweight, they’re (gasp!) obese. That’s where the problem lies for Kelly, and not just on TV, she continues:
To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I’d find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.
Kelly wrote an post-note at the bottom of the entry saying that she didn’t mean to offend anyone and apologized if her post made her sound like a bully or if she was being insensitive. She even blamed her anti-fat people stance due to problems she has had with anorexia and eating disorders in the past (yes, fat people make her sick because she’s afraid of becoming one).
Kelly’s criticism (if you can call it that) missed a great point where she could have said something about the shift on American television that Mike and Molly represents. More and more Americans (and North Americans in general) are overweight than they were decades ago. Even our kids are not eating healthy and they’re not active enough.
Instead of opening up a dialogue on how Mike and Molly may be representing that shift in America as a whole or how the show portrays ordinary Americans more fairly than shows featuring stick-thin actors, Kelly decided to make it more about Fat Monica.
I also find it very short-sighted for a women’s magazine to approve a blog post with the thesis that fat people make me sick since so many women’s magazines are trying to claim the opposite is true. I don’t read Marie Claire, so I can’t say if they are doing the same thing, but Glamour has been on a push to say that you are beautiful even if you’re not stick-thin.
It also is disappointing that Marie Claire would choose to publish what can only be described as hateful speech. Sure fat people making out or just simply existing can gross Kelly out, but it doesn’t mean she has the right to write it and post it online for all to see. If watching black people kiss grossed her out, would Marie Claire allow her to write about that? I didn’t think so.
And if they first three paragraphs of the post weren’t bad enough, Kelly goes on to say that she finds overweight people so revolting because “obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It’s something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.”
Someone who has struggled with an eating disorder all her life should at least understand that people who have food issues usually have other issues buried inside. The same things that made Kelly stop eating during her bout of anorexia might be the same things that keep someone overeating and turning to food when they shouldn’t.
Oh, and if seeing fat people making out was so revolting, then would Mike and Molly really be one of the top-rated new shows of the television season? I think not.
Is that there was no problem with the second season premiere of Glee.
I read an article over on Feminist Frequency today about how offensive it was. I left a comment over there because I was so angry, but also decided I’d blog about it over here on my own platform.
A few things you should know before I get into my rant:
Since the article in question, “Top 5 Problems with Glee: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Season 2 Premiere” laid out its “evidence” in sections, I will too. And, for anyone who agrees with these “problems” in the premiere, I urge you to watch Nip/Tuck, which was also created by Ryan Murphy and also did a lot of the same things and playing with stereotypes/minorities/women as Glee does. Then report back. Thanks.
1. Transphobia and homophobia
Firstly, Ryan Murphy is a gay man. Jane Lynch is a lesbian. The idea that this show would promote homophobia is ridiculous to me. It’s also a criticism that has dodged the show since Season 1. Let me remind you of a little show called All in the Family which broke down bigotry by putting it front and centre in the show’s main character. Was Archie Bunker a racist? Undoubtedly. Was All in the Family racist? Nope.
Glee creator Ryan Murphy at Comic Con.
Murphy likes to play with gender lines and what we, as a society, perceive to be male and female. Hence Coach Beiste — a butch-looking, female football coach. Is that a norm to us? Nope. But I’m willing to bet if you were to imagine a female football coach for a high school boys team, you’d picture someone like Beiste, and not someone who looks “feminine.”
Was Sue right in how she tormented Beiste? No. But Sue and Will’s actions mirrored those of high school students playing pranks on a new student (Rachel to Sunshine, anyone?).
2. Fake sexual assault and rape
OK, I had a problem with Brittany claiming Beiste touched her inappropriately. But we are dealing with Sue Sylvester here, so I was willing to let it go.
3. Token Asians
Mike and Tina have real names — and they’re real people to us. Sure, the “Asian” and “Other Asian” as Sue calls them is a little racist, but Sue is a little racist. Was the camp they taught at over the summer racist? Again, is it not playing on what we imagine to be racist? And I’m sure camps for Asian kids exist. Do they exist to get those kids to stop playing with technology and love the arts? Likely not, but is it really exciting to hear that Tina fell for Mike while they were singing over a campfire?
Secondly, these two “token Asians” have a storyline. We learned last season that Tina’s stutter did not really exist — she made it up. We fell in love with her and Artie as a couple. The fact that Artie is so hurt by Tina’s decision to break up with him for Mike only leads me to believe that both Tina and Mike will figure prominently into a storyline this season.
4. Alpha male syndrome
Artie is a misogynist. Artie is sexist. Artie is a teenaged boy for pete’s sake!
Is Artie’s language toward women a little demeaning? Yes. But Artie is supposed to be a 16-year-old kid trying to find his way. Do all teenaged boys speak to women the way Artie does? Nope. But boys like Artie have a lot to learn.
Perhaps Tina dumping him for Mike will cause Artie to re-evaluate the way he speaks to and treats women going forward. Hmm. A character on a TV show that grows and changes? Revolutionary!
5. Making racism into a joke
Again, ladies and gentlemen, let me draw your attention to All in the Family for my first point.
For my second point, let me draw your attention to the character of Rachel: She is self-absorbed, pigheaded and doesn’t listen. The way she first spoke with Sunshine was not meant for cheap laughs, but rather is how Rachel would have perceived the situation. It was also a way for Rachel to assert herself with Sunshine — she’s smarter and better because she speaks English as a first language.
On top of that, racism occurring on a show with one of the most diverse casts on television right now? Sure. I can see that happening.
When approached at a surface level, Glee can be read as all of these things. But proper criticism is to delve to the layers underneath a text to understand what it’s doing and why. Sometimes in order to break down stereotypes, you have to deal with them head on which is why Kurt, the only gay character thus far, is a stereotypical gay man and not a tough guy, like Finn or Puck.
I’m not looking for everyone to like Glee as I do, but rather trying to make those who only approach it on a surface level understand that it’s more than a show with singing and dancing. It’s a show about who we were in high school, who we became as adults and who we are as a society underneath it all.
(Photo of Ryan Murphy courtesy of Gage Skidmore on Flickr. See more of Gage’s photos in his photostream).
A few things you should know about me to understand why I think this is cool:
So the week started like any other. Knowing that the copy of Entertainment Weekly that came in the mail last week featured an interview with the two of them (as well as loads of information on the contents of the Season 6 and Complete Series DVD sets), I saved it until Friday night and enjoyed it slowly. Taking my time to read and devour every word know this will likely be the last time I read anything from the two of these guys on Lost. Ever.
Flash forward (get it?) to Monday night, there I am at work, my Twitter stream popping up in the background, when I saw this series of tweets from Cuse asking for followers of his to submit questions to television writers for an Emmy panel he’s moderating in a few weeks.
I looked at the list of writers and was torn. I liked Glee, but is there anything I could ask Ryan Murphy that hasn’t already been asked? I needed something original, but something that meant something. I tried to draw on my film theory education as I looked once again at the list of writers Cuse would be talking to. There had to be something there that would tip me off …
And then it came to me. I directed my question to the writers of The Good Wife (a great show and the breakout drama from last fall):
Too many times it’s said that women don’t watch serial TV shows or go to movies that feature strong female characters in the lead role. The Good Wife, obviously, has proved that statement wrong (yet again). Since the show also appeals to men, how do you balance the amount of women’s melodrama you put into it, from what would attract a male viewer (e.g. the court cases). Were you ever worried that telling a story about a woman like Alicia Florrick would not take off because of that old adage about women and strong female characters? Could anyone but Julianna Margulies played that role? Do you think Margulies makes the difference?
I hit send and thought nothing of it.
Flash forward to Tuesday night at work. I happened to glance at my Gmail and saw two unread messages. I clicked over to the tab. And there it was. The Email:
Only eight words, but the sender says Carlton Cuse. Definitely the best email I’ve ever gotten.
Can’t wait to see if my question gets asked and answered in a couple of weeks!
Should we really be mocking Charlie Sheen?
ABC announced late Saturday night it has snagged a one-on-one interview with embattled actor Charlie Sheen.
The interview was held after CBS announced it was halting production on his sitcom Two and a Half Men for the season because of his off-screen behaviour.
This isn’t the first time the star has “spoken out” (if you want to call it that), since he started making headlines for partying too hard, drinking too much and behaving badly.
Last week, in a radio interview with syndicated radio host Alex Jones, Sheen spoke out. (The interview was apparently the reason production was halted on his sitcom).
Some of what Sheen said included:
So it begs the question, just what crazy things will Charlie Sheen say Tuesday night?
Perhaps the question we should be asking is: Is it really fair to mock Charlie Sheen? If he is having a problem with alcohol or drugs right now, is it right that we laugh at what comes out of his mouth?
I say no.
However, some of my Twitter followers disagreed with me when I posed the question to them Sunday afternoon.
“It is fair. Nobody held a gun to his head. He wanted the show to get cancelled and found a way,” Noah Love commented.
And he wasn’t alone: “All public figures are fair to make fun of. (Unless something really bad as happened to them like they get shot.)” Sam Obermeyer said.
JGoldborough agreed: “Absolutely fair to make fun of him. Public figure. And he has made lots of $ playing himself in 2 and a Half Men.”
Is Charlie a public figure? Sure. Does that mean that he shouldn’t be made fun of? No. But alcoholism and drug addiction is a serious problem that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Is anyone doing Charlie Sheen any favours by not offering the man some help?
Shutting down his sitcom for the rest of the year only puts hundreds of people out of work who have nothing to do with what Sheen does in his personal life. It will not teach Sheen a lesson, nor should it be expected to.
Sure, I don’t know what’s really going on with Charlie Sheen, and I don’t pretend to. But there comes a point when the jokes aren’t funny anymore, and I think we’ve crossed that line.
Perhaps instead of making fun of Charlie Sheen, or just simply putting him out of work (when he’s already made millions of dollars this year), somebody should step in and try and get him some help.
Otherwise, Charlie Sheen might lose more than just his career.