Feminist chat about tv shows

[LagerthaEarlIngstad]

Sort of following on from the GOT thread which I read and agreed with a lot of but didn't comment on I wondered if it might be interesting to have a more general chat about tv shows?

I struggle to enjoy tv sometimes because I get so frustrated with the sexism and misogyny that's often lurking, I have to almost switch that bit of my head off like a kind of suspension of feminism along with the suspension of disbelief?!

I'm watching The Vikings at the moment which has lots of good female characters (my new username is my favourite one - lagertha is a Viking shield maiden, a female warrior, I used to be sandorclegane)
I enjoyed the Fall but I also felt it made the serial killer character intentionally 'sexy' and dwelt in a fetishistic way in the dead women and on women suffering.
I liked Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt but again male violence against women is used as a comedy plot in a way I'm not entirely comfortable with (why yes, I am a humourless feminist)
I suppose I wondered what other people were enjoying or not enjoying and if other people struggle with the same frustrating conflicted feelings?

It is probably more at the teenage market but I think that is great for young women to watch something that is so lead by the female characters.
I also am a huge fan of Octavia.
Love Orphan Black as well.

OP re cooking shows, I totally agree. I watched Food and Drink the other day and it just felt a bit like Top Gear.

It's not quite what you were asking I think but I watch a lot of children's tv and have started to get quite irritated. All make characters with one of two supporting female characters - Octonauts, tree fu tom etc jump out at me as ds's particular favourites currently.

I love ncis but really, fake characters, while great, always feel like they are there to ensure there's a woman with a strong character! Fails bechdel spectacularly.

For daytime TV (I work from home), you can't beat a bit of Judge Judy! I don't agree with her politics much, but there's no denying she's fought the good fight in her time (and yes, I have read her book ).

Anyone watched Elementary? It's Sherlock Holmes played by Johnny Lee Miller, set in NYC with Lucy Liu playing a female Watson. They've done a really good job of not making their dynamic a sexual one and Watson's journey is arguably far more interesting than Holmes'.

Orphan Black has to be one of the most wonderful feminist shows around. Not least due to Tatiana Maslany's stunning acting abilities and all-round mammoth effort.

Garfunkel and Oates (comedy about a female musical double act) was also brilliant, but I'm not sure too many folks will have seen it.

Veep - female US vice president comedy. Bitingly brilliant, a great source of vicious one-liners and starring a woman dealing with being a woman in politics.

And finally, Person of Interest. Maybe not in the first series, but in later ones it passes the Bechdel test with flying colours, has a variety of female characters ranging from moral to damaged to almost superhuman and it just keeps getting better.

On the flip side, my massive graphic novel and superhero fan DH is getting increasingly pissed off with me analysing his beloved material. Especially with the huge boom in Marvel stuff recently. Re the recent Daredevil series, I commented it's yet another story of the struggles of the straight white man and he actually let loose with 'I can't like anything any more!', for which he was roundly sniggered at. Don't even get us started on the 'why doesn't Black Widow have her own film' debate. Still, female Thor, upcoming Wonder Woman and (I think) Supergirl movies mean Marvel are at least paying some attention.

Mind you, shows like Arrow and The Flash are so boringly formulaic and it bothers me so much when these macho superheroes don't tell the women in their lives pertinent information under the guise of 'protecting' them instead of letting them make their own minds up. Gah.

I second Elementary and Person if Interest. Johnny Lee Miller is hot as hell very convincing as an attractive misanthrope - far better than Cumberbatch who failed to inject much humanity in the character. Lucy Liu's character is interesting and their friendship is beautifully written -they annoy the pants off each other but the (platonic) love between them is very obvious. I was very dubious about the new character Kitty, but there were a few very promising episodes in the last series where there were some very hard-hitting scenes about Kitty's past. I won't give spoilers but the tackled some very complicated stuff, stuff I've never seen dealt with in that way on TV before.
PoI is very silly but surprisingly deep. There are strong female characters but I find the writing of the male characters more interesting - they seem like typical loner/spy types but they clearly care about each other and at one point they discuss how nice it would be to have children. Physically they are ridiculously invincible but emotionally they are complicated, they are genuine people. There is an element of 'strong men saving women and children,' but they are some striking moments, such as when one character talks about how some people's lives come repeatedly under threat, which puzzled him until he realised those people were mostly women who were living with the person who would eventually kill them. It was quite a striking way to put it. It is a deceptively clever show.

Brooklyn 99 is pretty good for the number of female characters. They are allowed to be funny/silly/tough/clever/weird as much as the men, and there isn't the usual stereotypical female competitiveness/bitchiness.

Parks and Recreation is great.

Mad Men is not a horribly sexist show at all!

The Walking Dead has plenty of strong women.

Mad Men is excellent, the effect of sexism (and homophobia, and racism) on the victims is clearly shown, and there's a lot about the role of women.

The Good Wife is fantastic, lots of good female characters, and totally gripping.