The “Meta Mega-Critic” Edition
Dear Readers,
Here are two important, enjoyable, sometimes deeply painful shows about (upper middle class/entitled/privileged, mostly white) women stuck in the part of life called marriage. They do or don’t have children; they do or don’t have careers, but what ties the characters in these shows together is the relationships they’re in, are in the midst of losing, or have lost. Each of the shows are imperfect. These two shows are not exclusively for women but certainly bring women’s leading edge pov’s to the forefront. They don’t aim to please in traditional TV ways (well IMO one does, more than the other, but not by much).
In addition to recommending them both (which I’ve done in previous editions) I’d like to share with you that you are hereby officially advised to be aware that, along with everywhere else, it seems TV critics are also bringing their bias to the workplace. I have pointed out before that on-line reviews by men are generally less favorable about shows that are aimed at women. Data says so. But what I didn’t quite realize is that it happens with professional tv critics, too. Everyone is entitled to her or his opinion, that is for certain. And male critics don’t love every show aimed at men (just every show on F/X — ha ha just kidding!) And female critics don’t love every show aimed at women. But what does seem to be true is that, in many, many, many cases including the two shows I am recommending today, it is the case.
I did a quick scan of the reviews for both shows. Actually it was laborious and time-consuming, but hopefully worth it. But you can do a quick scan of my laborious scan.
The Battle of the Sexes: TV Critics’ Edition:
Round 1:
“Divorce,” HBO, Sarah Jessica Parker, Season 1 available on HBOGo or Whatever.com, you’ll have to look it up.
Cons:
- Entertainment Weekly, Jeff Jensen, “It’s a shallow bore.”
- The Hollywood Reporter, Tim Goodman, “It will have to work on that balance to make watching the rest of the episodes at least bearable…”
- USA Today, Robert Bianco, “HBO’s ‘Divorce’ is suffocating comedy.”
- Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson, “…the series, thought intermittently entertaining, buckles beneath.”
- Boston Herald, Mark A. Perigard, “I’d rather binge watch root canal videos on YouTube.”
Pros:
- Variety, Sonia Saraiya, “It is the perfect bookend to Carrie Bradshaw’s unfocused romanticism in Sex and the City.”
- Elle, Sulagna Misra, “So many spiky, cringeworthy, and very funny moments pervade the show…”
- The New Yorker, Jeannie Suk Gersen, “The show…understands that how people divorce can reveal more about a marriage than anything on could see before its unravelling.”
- The Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Rabinowitz, “In this skillfully conceived series the characters never fail to remind us of the forces that drive them…”
Round 2:
“Big Little Lies,” Also HBO, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Season 1 airing now, episode 4 on Tonight! On HBONow, -Go or WhatHaveYou device.
The reviews overall are more positive. It’s maybe understandable, more deserved in certain aspects. It’s written and produced by a consummate easy-smart-tv writer/producer, David E. Kelley (of Ally McBeal and Boston Legal fame). It looks higher budget, glossier, slicker. It has four strong, beautiful leading ladies.
And it has a ton of freakin’ sex scenes.
Call me cynical, but it might make it easier for some persnickety critics to sit through scenes they consider “a little draggy…” in order to get to the not-so-draggy scene Nicole Kidman in a shower. Okay you don’t have to call me cynical after all. Mike Hale of The New York Times says about her and her tv husband’s discomfiting sexually charged relationship, “It’s as unoriginal as the other story lines, but it keeps you watching.” Yup, it sure does. It is interesting that this critic does allow that “there’s no shame in enjoying the lifestyle pornography.” Especially when the lifestyle includes actual pornography!
Bottom line, each of them are reviewed tepidly-to-scathingly by (mostly) male TV critics and modestly-to-ravingly by (mostly) female TV critics. I know folks are gonna send me examples of things that bust my theory, and there are definitely nuances to many of the reviews that seek to paint a complete portrait of the shows. The overwhelming takeaway, though, is pretty clear-cut.
The best example is the allowance for nuance, for contrarian behaviors that confound rationality. Whereas Mike Hale complains “If they’re so nice, why do they behave so badly to one another?” while Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker observes “the early alchemy of a friendship — and the suggestion that, even in mean-girl world, women might choose to be allies instead of enemies.”
By the way, being an English major is finally paying off!
This mega-critic is going to continue to go strong during Women’s History month, providing a weekly, must-read, slightly biased digest of news hand-picked by me, for you, about and by women in business, politics, media, the arts and pop culture.
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Is it Spring yet?
See you next week!
LZ
POLITICS:
Nude Photo-Sharing Scandal At Marines Expands To Other Branches via Fox News
Nevada Democrats Take Aim At Religious Imposition Against Birth Control Coverage via Rewire
Judge Resigns After ‘Just Keep Your Knees Together’ Remarks In Rape Case via NPR
The Softening Of KellyAnne Conway via Buzzfeed
What Do Feminists Owe KellyAnne Conway? via The Slot
MP’s Debate Sexist Workplace Dress Codes Following Petitions via The Guardian
BUSINESS, TECH, MEDIA:
Susan Fowler has hired a law firm as Uber investigates her claims of sexual harrassment via Recode
Those At Abortion Access Hackathon Seek To Solve ‘The Very Problems We Are Experiencing via ReWire
Alexa Is A Feminist. Here Are The Women Who Inspire Her. via VentureBeat
CAMPUS CLIMATE:
Baylor’s Rape Scandal May Just Be Getting Started via The Daily Beast
After A Tumultuous 7 Years, Teresa Sullivan Will Leave UVa via The Chronicle Of Higher Education
ARTS, FASHION, SPORTS, LIT & POP CULTURE:
The Most Terrifying Villain In ‘Get Out’ Is White Womanhood via Slate
Dan Stevens: ‘Beauty and The Beast’s’ Woke, Feminist, Beast via The Daily Beast
It Just Got Easier To Find Feminist Films On IMDb via CNN
Why Kristen Stewart’s Buzz Cut Is Liberating For Women via The Daily Beast
MISCELLANY:
Dear Gwyneth Paltwrow, I’m a GYN and your vaginal jade eggs are a bad idea via Dr. Jen Gunter
AND WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT…WORKING FROM HOME:
Kids Crash Live BBC Interview via People Magazine
Mom Almost Manages To Hide Fact That She Was Breastfeeding On Live TV via The Huffington Post
The LZ Sunday Paper™ launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes high and low, not much in between. Our audience is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect to deliver at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
