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beccatoriaSo, on impulse, I bought the first season of the 1950s Superman TV show. It's black and white and has stuff like "Superman and the Mole Men" (which is apparently pretty famous) and ridiculously nonsensical criminal plots (like, instead of having the ventriloquist slightly change his act to pass a coded message to someone in the audience, they have ANOTHER VENTRILOQUIST sit in the audience to speak OVER the first ventriloquist, putting words in the dummy's mouth to pass the message, thus also ensuring they wreck the act, meaning everyone starts wondering WTF is going on...).
I'm also sure that we're in for a real treat of even-handed racial depiction when we get to the episode in which Perry Mason's sister is kidnapped by a voodoo cult. o_O
I am, however, quite pleasantly surprised at the show's depiction of Lois Lane.
I was really expecting there to be a lot of gender issues going on around her - for her to be the damsel in distress and always going off and getting herself into trouble.
As things stand, okay, Clark Kent is a little less "mild-mannered" than his modern day counterpart in that he often does get to do the big "and THIS is the plot that I, the reporter, have uncovered!" after he's done his Superman thing when these days that's Lois' job. But I have to give the series credit.
Rather startlingly for something produced in the 1950s, having seen the first six episodes, I haven't seen the show suggest in any way that Lois' ability to carry out her role as a senior reporter for the Planet are lessened by her being a women. The show is surprisingly devoid of any comment on her being a woman at all.
And the fact that the role of damsel in distress being firmly handed to Jimmy Olsen in several episodes - probably in more than it's been handed to Lois - adds credence to the fact that on the occasions in which she does require rescuing, it's because she's not Superman not because she is a woman.
Certainly she continues to go off following wild tips into dangerous situations because she thinks there might be a story in it and Perry's pissed because she's spending the paper's money without consulting him, but there's really a surprising lack of subtextual gender stuff.
When a crook kidnaps her in her home, she fights back by smashing a vase over her head and while she's overpowered and it's not like she's some secret kung-fu ninja, she does fight back, and continues to do stuff like try to grab her captors guns and make a break for the door (though again this is unsuccessful, it's a far cry from being paralysed with fear.)
Perhaps the most surprising (I MEAN HILARIOUS) part was when she got SUCKER PUNCHED IN THE FACE. I mean, yes, I'm sure that it was supposed to be more shocking because she's a woman and it was supposed to establish the villain as a real piece of work, but also I'm kind of surprised that they'd even show that? It's probably only because it was filmed on a shoestring and an incredibly tight schedule, but the camerawork by our standards is entirely unsensationalised. He punches her full in the face. She falls down unconscious. And yeah, I was kind of surprised that - even if she was on the receiving end - Lois gets punched and knocked out in a way usually reserved for men?
I'm not sure if it's a compliment to this thoroughly ludicrous little TV show or a condemnation of modern TV that, in the first six episodes at least, Lois Lane is a more successful feminist role model than many modern day characters. :/
In other news, my Farscape vid is kicking my ass.
In other other news, I spent the last week or so trying out various ways of thinking about the final few BSG episodes in an attempt to be more...okay with them. It hasn't really worked though. I am still in official Canon-Rejection mode. I mean, I'm happy to come out of my bubble and talk to the rest of you (or, heck, visit you in your bubbles!), but yeah. I still need my bubble. *clings*
I'm also sure that we're in for a real treat of even-handed racial depiction when we get to the episode in which Perry Mason's sister is kidnapped by a voodoo cult. o_O
I am, however, quite pleasantly surprised at the show's depiction of Lois Lane.
I was really expecting there to be a lot of gender issues going on around her - for her to be the damsel in distress and always going off and getting herself into trouble.
As things stand, okay, Clark Kent is a little less "mild-mannered" than his modern day counterpart in that he often does get to do the big "and THIS is the plot that I, the reporter, have uncovered!" after he's done his Superman thing when these days that's Lois' job. But I have to give the series credit.
Rather startlingly for something produced in the 1950s, having seen the first six episodes, I haven't seen the show suggest in any way that Lois' ability to carry out her role as a senior reporter for the Planet are lessened by her being a women. The show is surprisingly devoid of any comment on her being a woman at all.
And the fact that the role of damsel in distress being firmly handed to Jimmy Olsen in several episodes - probably in more than it's been handed to Lois - adds credence to the fact that on the occasions in which she does require rescuing, it's because she's not Superman not because she is a woman.
Certainly she continues to go off following wild tips into dangerous situations because she thinks there might be a story in it and Perry's pissed because she's spending the paper's money without consulting him, but there's really a surprising lack of subtextual gender stuff.
When a crook kidnaps her in her home, she fights back by smashing a vase over her head and while she's overpowered and it's not like she's some secret kung-fu ninja, she does fight back, and continues to do stuff like try to grab her captors guns and make a break for the door (though again this is unsuccessful, it's a far cry from being paralysed with fear.)
Perhaps the most surprising (I MEAN HILARIOUS) part was when she got SUCKER PUNCHED IN THE FACE. I mean, yes, I'm sure that it was supposed to be more shocking because she's a woman and it was supposed to establish the villain as a real piece of work, but also I'm kind of surprised that they'd even show that? It's probably only because it was filmed on a shoestring and an incredibly tight schedule, but the camerawork by our standards is entirely unsensationalised. He punches her full in the face. She falls down unconscious. And yeah, I was kind of surprised that - even if she was on the receiving end - Lois gets punched and knocked out in a way usually reserved for men?
I'm not sure if it's a compliment to this thoroughly ludicrous little TV show or a condemnation of modern TV that, in the first six episodes at least, Lois Lane is a more successful feminist role model than many modern day characters. :/
In other news, my Farscape vid is kicking my ass.
In other other news, I spent the last week or so trying out various ways of thinking about the final few BSG episodes in an attempt to be more...okay with them. It hasn't really worked though. I am still in official Canon-Rejection mode. I mean, I'm happy to come out of my bubble and talk to the rest of you (or, heck, visit you in your bubbles!), but yeah. I still need my bubble. *clings*
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Date: 2009-07-28 12:23 am (UTC)I would actually probably really enjoy that, in the way that I enjoy Get Smart, only serious.
I'm not sure if it's a compliment to this thoroughly ludicrous little TV show or a condemnation of modern TV that, in the first six episodes at least, Lois Lane is a more successful feminist role model than many modern day characters. :/
Seconds the :/ for it being shocking. But also my interest.
*waves from Canon-Tragedy bubble*