Found this on E!Online, about why quality shows get cancelled while rubbish lives for years:
http://www.eonline.com/gossip/answer/?uuid=61c8e8c5-9ae8-4963-9c49-171a52f10181
My favorite part is this:
The sitcom genre of Tedious Lardass with Inexplicably Hot Wife has a long and illustrious history in this country, and I will not abide your utterly un-American attacks upon it…not when King of Queens just got canceled, dammit.
Overstuffed American men just lost another aid in their pathetic fantasies of bagging a sylphlike babe. Let them mourn in dignity.
(And yes, the writer seems to be being sarcastic.)
The whole article isn’t strictly related to Hathor, but that bit sums up a lot of our gripes – the sheer fantasy that fat, lazy slobs can score babes with no effort whatsoever and so by extension, fat, lazy slobs in real life can wolf-whistle and harrass good-looking women without realising that they are repulsive and that real-life babe will have nothing to do with them.
And on a mainstream entertainment site, too!
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Perhaps they consider it a slippery slope: if intelligent men can be attractive, particularly if it’s because of their intelligence, how long before someone comes up with the thought that intelligent women might be as well.
SunlessNick(Quote) (Reply)
Ohhhh, I wonder if that’s why I dislike that show so much? And here I just thought it was that guy’s uncanny resemblance to Rod Stewart.
Of course I don’t remember hearing that line, since I think the only episode I’ve ever seen all the way through was the one where he went with several firefighters to make a Thanksgiving dinner. (Which probably is the only time they’ve ever selected men in the grocery store, and they did phrase it as ‘a favour to the women in the audience’ that they were going to the firehouse. That certainly made me start grinding my teeth.) But I think I’ll use it as my reason anyway.
MaggieCat(Quote) (Reply)
The more I think about this, the more I think you’ve got a point. I personally never saw the big deal about his “to the moon!” remarks because he was obviously only capable of talking big. But there you have a boorish man (regardless of weight) being adored by a very patient wife he doesn’t treat well. It’s obvious why he loves her – who the hell else would put up with him – but I figured she’d just totally made a mistake marrying him but was now stuck with it because divorces weren’t given out so easily back then.
Modern sitcoms are probably trying to draw on the same dynamic, but since women ARE now able to leave men who don’t respect them or treat them well, there’s a whole different message being sent by these kind and patient wives staying with these poor examples of husbands.
And the more I think on it, the more I realize their appearance – “fat” man and “hot” woman – is merely TV visual stereotype code to let us know he’s a jerk and she’s a saint. Because as we ALL know, “fat” people are asses and skinny people always have swell personalities. /sarcasm
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
Lex, the site is not limited to US shows. But King of Queens and According to Jim have the potential to be seen by many millions of people worldwide. Vicar of Dibley does not, unfortunately. Therefore, as I said before, the “overweight/ordinary-looking woman with gorgeous guy” version of this paradigm is far from getting equal exposure.
As you probably know, I love British TV and think it does a far better job with female representation overall than American. Unfortunately, it’s the American TV that’s reaching the lionshare of the world audience. It’s our sick stereotyping that’s not being countered equally. And why do you suppose we relegate British shows to the relative obscurity of BBCAmerica instead of one of our free, broadcast networks? Because British TV might give Americans the dangerous idea that women are people.
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
Just like how people with glasses are smart and unattractive.
Patrick(Quote) (Reply)
Exactly! I actually made that comparison in an article I’ll be posting soon. Overweight, glasses and braces are all visual codes to let you know that even if the actor is cute, the character is supposed to be physically unappealing.
Not in every case, but it happens so often I think people know what they’re being “told” by the TV even if they don’t think that way in their own lives.
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
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