TMonday, September 17, 2012 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Why women still can't
have it all on TV
ummer is over, and with it
went the simple, comfort-
ing pleasures of summer
reading. Perhaps you - like me -
used the extra, textbookless time
to drift away
in some fic-
tion or refill
your maga-
zine stockpile.
But of all the
things I read
this summer,
few were as
pervasive as KAYLA
a particular UPADHYAYA
article in
the Atlantic
that was emailed, tweeted at
and shared with me too many
times to count: "Why Women
Still Can't Have It All," by Anne-
Marie Slaughter, former Director
of Policy Planning for the State
Department.
Being both a feminist and a
TV columnist, I've been think-
ing about how Slaughter's argu-
ment holds up on television. Are
fictional women still confronted
with obstacles in the workplace?
The answer isn't as simple as no,
but it's a far cry from a yes. So
let's look at why women still can't
have it all ... on television.
First, some parameters.
Slaughter's piece focuses on a
very specific group of women -
upper-class, educated, predomi-
nantly white women in positions
of power. She recognizes her nar-
row scope, and while I see a lot
of limitations to her viewpoint, I
will look at a similarly privileged
group of television's highest
ranked female characters for the
sake of consistency.
Many women on television
are either really good at their
careers or really good at raising a
family - rarely both. And if they
prioritize their career, they're
demonized. No example makes
this clearer than Patty Hewes
(Glenn Close) on FX's legal thrill-
er "Damages." Patty made a firm
choice early in life to place her
legal career before everything
else, and the other characters
and the show itself paint her as
quite the monster. She's a ruth-
less ladder climber who bullies
and manipulates her son Michael
(in his words: "You wanted to
completely control of my life, so
you took away my free will. Some
pretty terrific parenting, real
mother-of-the-year type stuff.")
and habitually forgets her grand-
daughter's birthday.
At first, Ellen Parsons (Rose
Byrne) of "Damages" seems to be
the anti-Patty. She is dedicated
to her family and her career. She
even turns down her initial inter-
view with Patty's firm to attend
her sister's wedding. But as the
series continues, Ellen is forced to
make difficult choices - and the
second she starts placing the legal
stuff over the personal stuff, she's
criticized for it. In season four,
her boyfriend tells her that there
are tw:
who w
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o types of lawyers: the ones day and you realize that while
ant "more" (kids, a family) you were being brazen making a
e ones who want success. name for yourself, everyone made
the latter, destined for a life."
aess and regret later in life. Neither Elaine nor Susan
literally breaks up with speak explicitly in terms of moth-
being too ambitious. erhood or their gender. But even
r all, "ambition looks in the super progressive world of
on men." Or so says the "Political Animals," there isn't
al Supreme Court Justice enough flexibility in the work-
Nash (Vanessa Redgrave) place to allow women to have
litical Animals." She's talk- both families and ascareer. And in
Elaine Barrish (Sigourney the case of Susan, much like Ellen
r), the secretary of state Parsons, people are uncomfort-
as decided to run for presi- able with her desire to place work
n the USA miniseries based before everything else. Sure,
osely on the life of Hillary Elaine's other son Doug (James
n. Diane's words sting, but Wolk) tells Susan during their
ght. Ambitious men are . intimate, wine-infused flight that
sive. Ambitious women he admires her courage - but the
d and heartless. Look at entire reason Susan'saboyfriend
scription on the internet gives for cheating on her is that
e O.C."'s Julie Cooper she was too focused on her career
da Clarke), "Ugly Betty"'s to pay any attention on him.
mina Slater (Vanessa Wil- Some shows avoid the issue
the Evil Queen (Lana Par- of women makingcompromises
o "Once Upon a Time" or between their careers and their
e Scavo (Felicity Huffman) families by eliminating the family
Desperate Housewives," factor altogether. President Laura
u're guaranteed to see the Roslin of"Battlestar Galactica"
"ambitious" and "devious" has no children. Her compassion
ession. for the Galactica fleet that she
leads often seems matriarchal in
nature, but her nurturing tenden-
Sis it 1 cies are actually looked down
y axways upon by much of her constitu-
Le kitchen or ency, and she's disregarded as
a simple "schoolteacher" - an
the office? interesting choice of words for
the secretary ofeducation - who
is unfit for presidency. Then
there's the opposite problem:
*we see this distinction in female characters who are first
all the time, even if it's not and foremost mothers or wives
blatant. Vice President Seli- who fail whenever they try to
yer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) of step out of these roles. It's some-
" President Allison Taylor thing I've criticized "Modern
y Jones) of "24," Alicia Family" for, but is also present on
k (Julianna Margulies) "The Sopranos" with Carmella,
e Good Wife" - all these "Entourage" with Melissa Gold
n are powerful and good at (hell, most people only know her
hey do. But they're also, at as 'Mrs. Ari'), and even Marge on
some extent, calculating "The Simpsons."
s. And some of them are Is the notion of women "hav
ed of traits widely consid- ing it all" so elusive and improb-
feminine. Don't get me able that we can't even make it
,these kind of ultra-bitch possible in fictional realms? I'm
ters tend to be my favor- not suggesting that if women on
at what's the underlying TV can have it all, the real world
ge here? Career women will follow suit (if that logic
ave any maternal qualities? worked, we'd have had a woman
Hours," the fifth episode in the White House already).
itical Animals" illustrates Slaughter makes it quite clear
the issues Slaughter dis- that the road to women wielding
- to the point where it enough power to create a society
feels like the episode is a that works for all women isvery
eful dramatization of her complicated. But breaking down
ent. As Elaine sits next to some of the stereotypes of career
n T.J.'s (Sebastian Stan) women seen on television is a step
al bed after his cocaine in the right direction - and it'd
se, she laments to her ex- be refreshing to see some of the
nd Bud (Ciarin Hinds) that progressive changes to society
tent too much time on their that Slaughter discusses imple-
al careers when their sons mented on television.
eenagers, a time when - I can think of one woman who
ling to Slaughter - "being has it all: "Friday Night Lights"
le as a parent is just as 's Tami Taylor. And I think few
ant as in the first years of a would disagree that TV needs
life." In the same episode, more Tami Taylors.
The original deadhead.
'Norman enchants
Cla
tak(
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natur
mates
tymation zombie Fell ("The Tale of Despereaux")
and Chris Butler ("Coraline")
e not afraid to be had to have known they were
gambling with the noticeably
reepy and fun creepier story. What's surpris-
ing - and slightly inspiring - is
By AKSHAY SETH how brilliantly the risk pays off.
Daily Arts Writer The narrative picks up with
a bleak glimpse into the life of
king a movie is about hav- Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-
espect - respect for the McPhee, "Let Me In"), an ostra-
e material, respect for a cized and bullied outcast with an
o's invest- uncanny ability to speak with the
and most dead. It's "I see dead people," in
1, respect stop-motion. The only significant
he audi- ParaNorman difference here is that Norman
It doesn't doesn't choose to ignore his abili-
'r if it's a At Quality16 ty. More often than not, the ghosts
h of five- and Rave that speak with him, such as his
olds or a grandmother, are more approach-
er full of Focus able than the living - a depress-
es. People ing notion, but sadly relatable for
spend time and money to anyone who has had the misfor-
a a story unfold on screen tune of being a physical and verbal
ve to know that they're not punching bag for a bully.
ht of as a room full of suck- As the film progresses, Nor-
nd get this - the films that man gets strange visions of a
ate and challenge their witch who haunted the town
nces are the ones that get centuries ago and was burned
tion. at the stake for her crimes. Nor-
araNorman" isn't afraid man's only friend, Neil (Tucker
those things. Despite the Albrizzi, "Alvin and the Chip'
die script, the filmmakers munks: Chipwrecked"), and
n't afraid to unsettle their his seemingly deranged uncle
nce with a surprisingly (John Goodman, "Monsters
storyline. It's a signifi- Inc.") urge him to act on these
risk considering the decid- visions by performing an ancient
amicable and light-hearted ritual to protect the town from
e of recent successful ani- an impending storm. Instead,
d features. Directors Sam things inevitably go awry, zom-
bies awaken and the fun begins.
And by fun - it's a wickedly
clever concoction of puppet
animation and digital imagery
that pushes the boundaries set
by Laika Studio's previous film,
"Coraline." The film's beauti-
fully composed set pieces are
a breath of fresh air in light of
all the current children's fea-
tures being dominated by a
purely mechanical and sloppy
digital form of animation. The
sequence in which Norman
comes into contact with his very
first premonition is particularly
well done. Even if you don't end
up liking the film, you'll remem-
ber this individual scene, with
its wisps of greenish mist swirl-
ing through the fine outlines of a
dream - and then slowly you'll
realize it's all done in clay.
In addition, the action doesn't
feel watered-down or tame just
because it's a kids film. The
directors and animators aren't
afraid to showcase "Dawn of
the Dead"-esque sequences fea-
turing zombies tearing through
flesh or getting their stomachs
blown off with shotguns At the
same time, things never really
get too out af hand because
the clay sculpting technique
employed is itself so unique and
notable. As a result, "ParaNor-
man" is both a memorable and
visually striking film - the type
of movie that leaves you in awe.
'Evil' can't redeem franchise
list Susan Berg (Carla
o) also points to her deci-
place her career before her
al life: "You wake up one
Upadhyaya is screaming about
women to her housemates. To
join, e-mail kaylau@umich.edu.
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Studies 420 MAYNARD
wwwzilbus.umichedu STREET
By SEAN CZARNECKI
Daily Arts Writer
Of all the problems plaguing
"Resident Evil: Retribution," its
worst is its blatant plagiarism
from greater
films. *
Like many
of its con- Resident Evil:
temporary Retribution
cohorts, it
owes a great At Quaity16
deal to "The and Rave
Matrix." Thir-
teen years Screen Gems
since the suc-
cess of the Wachowskis' accom-
plishment, its innovations - its
meshing of beautiful aesthetics,
bullet-time, Hong Kong-esque
cinematography and computer
imagery - have been abused to
the point that you wish Neo had
taken cyanide instead of the red
pill so "The Matrix" would've
never happened. Then perhaps
shameless hacks like "Resident
Evil: Retribution" would've.
never existed.
The plot follows an
"Inception"-esque formula: The
characters trapped and sepa-
rated in different environments
that they must escape within
a certain amount of time. But
what made "Inception" work so
well was the complex motives of
each character and the always-
present schedule imposed on
them. That frantic atmosphere
is nowhere to be found in this
wannabe, where Alice (reprised
by Milla Jovovich) must escape
from an underwater facility.
And that's the story: a 95-min-
ute escape that, in a better film,
would've taken 20-30 minutes.
As a result, "Resident Evil: Ret-
ribution" is only the beginning
of a story. Also, had the screen-
play, written by director Paul
W.S. Anderson ("The Three
"No YOU were supposed to pack the umbrella."
Musketeers"), not focused com- are different. The film ends with
pletely on prolonged bloody another bloody promise, this
struggles, this movie might've time, in the form of a sequel:
been exciting. A contrived film, The ultimate war for survival
the characters are led by a leash is brewing. And you're invited
from one area to the next, each to participate. Could they have
scene linked together - and thus probably made "Resident Evil:
the film propelled forward - by Retribution" and the series
the promise of bloodshed. finale into one film? Well, that's
no way to make money, is it?
Efficiency is sacrificed without
' r still ceremony. This is not artful sto-
rytelling - this is business sto-
making these? rytelling. Why have one when
you can have two?
No stranger to the Holly-
wood sequel machine, Jovovich
The important characters are has now played this role for the
protected by a "too-important- fifth time. This time, she has a
to-die" invisible wall. Even when daughter in tow and is expected
bullets fly and RPGs explode, to exhibit some form of mater-
characters step out from cover, nal instinct. Despite some raised
their body fully exposed, take expectations, rarely does she
a few shots, then step back into ever convince the audience she's
cover - and we're supposed anything but bored.
to believe they're not all dead Then again, it's hard to criti-
because the attackers are really cize acting in this film when
just horrible shots, despite some acting means posing with a gun,
of them being trained as com- putting on a "tough" face and
mandos. Bullets, explosions, reciting horrible one-liners. The
headshots, blood, guts - on to characters are stunted, lifeless
the next area. Kill zombies/com- homunculi. Imagine a zombie
mandos. Repeat. film played by unenthusiastic
And repeat again - except hair models, and you've got "Res-
this time, the enemies and area ident Evil: Retribution." Ugh.