The L Word

I’ve made a dreadful mistake. I’ve found yet another unproductive way to spend (waste) my time. Self-gratifying, yes, but a waste of time nonetheless.

You may be familiar with The L Word, a Showtime television series that I believe has since ended. The camera follows a group of lesbian and bisexual women living in Los Angeles and features the highlights as well as the dimmer lights of being gay (or bisexual) in the big city. Granted, it’s a scripted show, of course, (though it did inspire another television show- a reality show, I believe- titled The Real L Word, which attempts to more “accurately” pinpoint the lesbian lifestyle.) but I believe the show’s writers and directors have done an impressive job of broadcasting a lesbian lifestyle to the general public. To put it simply, they do a good job of showing that lesbian couples and relationships are really no different from straight couples.

The relationship between Bette and Tina is comforting, really. Too often in the media, lesbians are portrayed as either rebels, women who want too badly to be men, women who want to badly to be with men, or, of course, the “artsy type”. Bette and Tina fall into none of the above categories, excluding, I suppose, the fact that Bette is the curator of an art museum. They’re simply the conventional couple combating the same relationship problems as any married straight couple, except perhaps worse because of the miscarriage combined with bad media attention due to a controversial art collection Bette decides to display. Cutting the big words, they’re adorable. And encouraging, really.

Shane’s got to be my favourite character, though. The hair, the style, the attitude, and her outlook on life all combined are too much “kick-ass” for one character to maintain. If one chick on the show has to bear the title of being the “dyke-iest”, it’d be Shane. She makes me want to go out and buy a pair of leather pants, and take a pair of scissors to my hair without a second thought. Really. By the third episode, I swear I was seriously considering a career in cosmetology. I’m drawn to her easy come, easy go attitude. If you’re fuckable, you can consider yourself fucked. However, her morals are strong when they show. I don’t think that of all the women on the show you could find a better companion than Shane, granted she likes you.

As in all (popular) television shows today, there are weak characters that are simply on the show to draw in shallow viewers. As would be the case with Jenny, the straight/lesbian/bi-curious/skanky girl next door. She’s a “writer”, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in a later season she’s revealed to have a sex addiction. For serious, ladies and gentlemen. She’s all sweetness and sugar…just as long as she has someone she can have sex with whenever she wants. If you ask me, Marina’s wasting her time.

I don’t know. It’s an addictive show. And I swear to god, one of my Canadian friends looks identical to Bette. It’s pretty cerebral, man.