Following our class discussion today, regarding women in movies, I began to think about some of the tv shows that I watch on a relatively regular basis. In the past, I had put some thought into women's roles on television and had stopped watching certain shows because I did not like the way that women were portrayed. However, something interesting that I began to notice today is the way that lead female characters are displayed in modern sitcoms targeted at women.
As we talked about today, many movies and commercials are seen through "the male lens" and are targeted at men. More and more there are starting to be sitcoms that seem to be geared at women. Most notably, I was thinking about New Girl and The Mindy Project. Both of these shows have one lead female, who is surrounded by a group of supporting male characters. Yet in both of these shows, which are meant to appeal to women, the main character is portrayed as dainty, weak, and insecure. Even though the show is from her perspective, it is the men who save her and bring out the best in her.
The truly disappointing thing about this for me in that both Mindy Kaling and Zooey Deschanel had the position and power to do something to really empower women. The Mindy Project is the first show starring an Indian-American woman. She wrote, produced, and starred in it. Yet instead of focusing on how her character is successful doctor, she instead spends episodes lamenting over the fact that she is not able to find a man. The only times her character is happy on the show is when she is with a man. When she is not, she relies on the supporting male actors to get her back on her feet. In the same way, Zooey Deschanel had the chance to portray a bubbly but confident women (I have no problem with the fact that she wants to wear pigtails and polk-a-dots), but instead spends episodes focusing on how she has to get pregnant soon because her biological clock is ticking.
I watch both of these shows as well and I have never noticed this until you said it and you are so right! These shows both have female leads but are portrayed as weak woman and the scariest part is they both had the power to change that! Great Post!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen either of these shows, but it is interesting to see shows with female leads that continue to be portrayed as weak women. This reminded me of an article I read in Cosmo about "down-to-earth" actresses that most women love and aspire to be. Both Zooey and Mindy were on the list of actresses. Because of their huge influence on women in our society, I think it would make such a greater impact if they played more powerful, female roles. They can obviously keep the quirkiness and awkwardness, but I think they need to be perceived as more independent from males.
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