Why?

[kapuahi]

You know I rocked the Spice Girls Girl Power thing like the best of them.

I believe that women can do everything a man can do (except serve on the front line - which before you jump up and down has nothing to do with a lack of ability and everything to do with men).

I believe a woman can be anything she wants to be with the proviso that she has the appropriate ability.

I believe a woman can be her own person with her own values, without having to be defined by a man.

But, What I don't get is that we are supposed to accept a female television character regardless of what she is/does simply because she's a woman and if we don't accept her we are automatically denigrating our own gender. Or worse be made to feel like our own opinion is in some way a sexist attack.

Exhibit A - Lori Weston. If she had been a man, would there still be bitching about the negativity surrounding her?

Comments

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

I think if she was a man, that these same people would be complaining about what a mean mysoginistic pig she is, with no sympathy for victims, based on her behavior so far. I'm sorry, but your partickular assortment of genetalia and chromosomes do not make you automatically exempt from any criticism.

[kapuahi.livejournal.com]

It seriously annoys me that people are blinded by gender bias the way they are.

Especially when I'm made to feel like I'm having bad or dirty thoughts like I'm some sort of gender-rapist, just because I don't like a character.

And don't get me started on the rascism or religious ranting that is going on.

Can't we just take an episode that we mostly liked and live with it?

And on that point I don't care how much of a skeevy sexist bastard Danny was being, that is no call for the Danno. No way, No How.

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

Oh this sounds like it's exactly the train wreck I was expecting...what are people saying?

[kapuahi.livejournal.com]

The usual mostly Steve's a douche, Danny's an asshole, the writers don't know anything about religion or culture, Danny's a racist bigot, Steve's a misogynist prick, the writers are fucking with religion, the guest star was too white so the show is too white ergo they're all racist asses except of course for the non white members, and the sun clearly shines from Lori's lily white barbie arse.

And yes colour me pissed off.

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha! I refuse to get pissed off by lunacy. I just find the amusement in it. I am wondering, though, if this is the same group of people who suggest that if we don't like Lori, we stop watching? Because if so, if the ONLY thing they like is Lori, perhaps they should stop watching.

Maybe she can get her own show, Lori Weston, Profiler Barbie. I'm sure there's a desperate network out there somewhere that would love her 55 fans.

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

It seems that people in general have lost their sense of humor. Danny and Steve were clearly teasing Lori, joking about the costume she wore and if she and her fans can't take anyone busting their chops, then they need to go to a different show.

Cops are notorious for their dark and often borderline cruel humor and before you ask, I have several relatives in law enforcement and have been on the receiving end of caustic comments that were meant strictly humorously.

If Danny and Steve had been giving Lori disgusting looks and demeaning her and calling her names then I'd be all over calling them misogynists. All they did was joke about what costume she might have been wearing and then quickly let it drop when they got to the crime scene.

Lori's fans are easily offended and they need to lighten up and get into the real world. I wonder, did Lauren German see it as sexist or was she aware that Lori was being teased?

[kapuahi.livejournal.com]

They're the same ones that think Steve flirting with Lori is cute.

Now I'm pretty sure I've never seen (until this episode and even then I blame his exposure to Formaldehyde or something) him flirting with her - and even then it was only conversation to avoid chewing his own arm off to get away.

She tries it all the time and it falls flat, way flatter than her performance.

And for the record what I think they are calling his flirting expression - its the same one he'd have if they were trying to pull his brains out of his nose.

I think it's 23.

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I'm note sure if he's trying to flirt or not. AOL is at his best (as are most actors) when the other actors are giving him something to work with, to play off of. It's why he really shines on H50, because he has a fantastic group to work with for the most part, and he can really immerse himself in the character and react instead of act. It's why Steve and Danny work so well (and WOW did they get lucky there - witness Lori to see what a diaster the wrong actor for Danny could've been). SC gives AOL plenty to react to and work with, and it's clear from the gag reel that they can keep that up most of the time, even if they fuck up their lines, etc.

Even if her lines were delivered passably (and I'll give her credit, she actually managed an expression or two last night, more or less), it's clear in how much he's looking forced that she's not working with him. Yet another reason to get rid of her.

Gah...now I'm imagining what H50 might've been like if they'd decided to make Danny a woman instead of Steve and cast her in the role.

Kill me. *g*

[kapuahi.livejournal.com]

Kill me. *g*

And take away my little slice of sunshine and sanity in fandom. Don't think so, you're stuck with me.

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well, I mostly only wanted to be killed rather than have to deal with the mere idea of Lori as Steve's partner instead of Danny, so I'll keep breathing...well, more or less, given the bronchitis... *g*

[azziria.livejournal.com]

I want a t-shirt that says 'Gender is no excuse for mediocrity'.

Ah, but, you see, Lori Weston has a vagina (or we assume she does - do 'bots have vaginas?) and that means that she CAN DO NO WRONG because even if she's totally crap, if you diss her then you're dissing the sisterhood... excuse me while I vomit...

I'm a woman and a feminist, and I've spent most of my life in male-dominated environments, both at work and socially. And yes, I've come across sex discrimination. But at the end of the day we do women no favours if we tolerate mediocre performance just because the perpetrator is female.

So don't let these misguided idiots make you feel like you're some sort of gender rapist just because you are exercising your critical faculties and not being blinded by gender.

Men aren't all bad, women aren't all saints (or all oppressed), and Lori Weston is a poorly-written character played by a mediocre actress who isn't doing the show justice. I'd be saying the same thing if the charcter was Laurence Weston.

[azziria.livejournal.com]

"Gah...now I'm imagining what H50 might've been like if they'd decided to make Danny a woman instead of Steve and cast her in the role."

See, now you're going to give me nightmares...

Although we wouldn't be having this discussion now because H50 wouldn't even have made the back nine of Season 1...

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

Funeral directors (the world where I grew up) are similar - dark humor, thick skins, a lot of ribbing to alleviate the stress and sad nature of the job. Don't get me wrong - both professions care very, very deeply about what they do and the people they help, or they wouldn't put themselves through that, but it's how they cope. They both tend to be male-dominated professions, too, and it's a bit of a tough guy behavior as well, so it's perfectly normal behavior to me. But then I have five brothers, grew up on a street with all guys, and am in some ways a bit more guy-like in my relations with other people than girlie. So ymmv...

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

Jumping in to say yes to all this. One of my pet peeves is this double standard by so called feminists surrounding female characters - and I come from the Supernatural fandom where misplaced cries of 'misogyny' abound. I think its totally ANTI-feminist to give crap characters (and actresses) a pass just because they're female. Makes me want to scream and throw things.

In other news...I love your icon! =)

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

Sorry to butt into your thread here, but I just wanted to say that love your comments on Alex and acting there. Its painful to see him look awkward, even for a few seconds and I totally believe its what he has (or doesn't have!) to work with in Lauren that's the problem. And yeah, further evidence that its the chemistry between Scott and Alex (and, to a lesser extent, Grace and Daniel) that make the show.

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it would have been a short-lived disaster.

[stellarmeadow.livejournal.com]

Neither 'bots nor Barbies have vaginas, so....

[gyri.livejournal.com]

Oh, I got that too. In fact, after I made a post about the Lori poll on TV Edge.com, someone on my flist went on Twitter and started tweeting things like, "H5-O fandom aggravates me," and "must fight the urge to rage on someone's LJ." Someone who agreed with her then asked her for the link to the poll, and she said she DM'd them the link to my LJ! Well they were tough out of luck because it's F-locked.

She went on and on about how no one she knows in H5-0 fandom slashes F/F (little does she know), and how everyone is into M/M slashing and that there's very little het fic generated. She threw around insults like "misogynist" and "genderfail."

Just as you and others have said, just becuase I don't like a female character does not make me a misogynist or an anti-feminist. And that also doesn't obligate me to go on a crusade for women representation in film.

She asked me that instead of raging against the character, why don't I bug Lenkov, et. al. to improve the character?

My reply was simple: if I liked what Lauren German was doing with the character, I'd campaign for that to happen.

However nothing she's done has endeared her to me, despite the poor writing. Although I like the actress herself.

Regardless, I am not obligated to defend a character just because of her gender.