I Object! ...to the depiction of women in new lawyer shows.

Somewhere between my British TV kick and my SyFy TV kick, there was the Lawyer TV kick. You'll remember that two new lawyer shows came out over the summer. Actually, probably more did, but shut up -- I'm the blogger here. These two shows are particularly interesting because they are practically the same show.

They revolve around two hot, edgy, unorthodox, yet brilliant lawyers who have or form the perfect bromance while winning un-winnable cases. Yep, you guessed them! USA's Suits and TNT's Franklin and Bash. In the former, badass lawyer and cutie-pie Gabriel Macht takes fake lawyer and mini-cutie-pie Patrick J. Adams under his wing at a plate glass law firm in New York. In the latter, hetero-lifemates Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar join a cushy law firm in Los Angeles, where their frat-boy demeanor never stops them from winning a case.

Woah.

At first, I was really impressed with these shows because they had women -- even women of color -- holding high ranking and seemingly significant positions. But, as I kept watching, I became more and more unimpressed.

Enter, The Good Wife. The Good Wife is an awesome show, currently in its third season, about Alicia, played by Julianna Margulies, who goes back to work at a big law firm after her politician husband is caught in a sex scandal. On The Good Wife, the main character is obviously a woman. One of the name partners in her firm is also a woman, played by Christine Baranski, as is the firm's investigator, Kalinda, played by Archie Panjabi.

Now, I'm no expert, but this is the first time I have seen an investigator play a vital role on a lawyer show. Seeing how well that worked out for The Good Wife, the others followed suit. And hey! Apparently all investigators are women! It's like they said, "See how important and indispensable Kalinda is. Well we have one and she's a woman too! Look, feminists -- important. indispensable. woman." And on F&B, she's even black! Yep, that will distract us from the bikini clad asses you zoom in on. Who cares if your main characters are misogynists -- you have a black chick.

On F&B, a high ranking member of the firm is played by Gabrielle Beauvais. Likewise, a name partner on Suits is played by Gina Torres (hmmm...I blog about Gina Torres a lot). And that is great. Images like these in the media make people recognize powerful women as normal. But it's not that great because, on both of these shows, these powerful women are just tools for the men on the show.

Suits..................................................F&B

Again, Woah.
And...does it seem to anyone else that these shows are bundling their minorities so their main characters can still be white men?

Yes, if you met these women in real life, you'd never dare to question their authority. But you won't meet them in real life because they aren't real. As important as their positions in the diegetic world of the show may be, their depiction on the show is more important. On Suits, Gina Torres is badass, but she is still a means to an end for the male characters. Gabriel Macht is lagging so she whips him into shape so that he can go forward and win the day. The audience needs to know that he isn't completely cold-hearted, so he expresses his loyalty and gratitude to her. Suits also features a black female paralegal Rachel who, while better developed, does much the same thing for Patrick J. Adams as Gina Torres does for Gabriel Macht. PJA needs help so he can win the day, so Rachel goes into mega-research mode for him. Etc. Etc.

Likewise, on F&B, Gabrielle Beauvais sleeps with Bash (or was it Franklin?) in the first episode. I don't have a problem with women being promiscuous, because I call it being comfortable with sexuality. I have a problem with her promiscuity being a plot point and, consequently, a means of tension between two other male characters. And after a whole season, I know that she doesn't take shit (because she practically told me) and that she slept with Bash (or was it Franklin?) after dating the other lawyer. That's all I know about her. The black female investigator plays more of a role, but she is still unsatisfying.

Now, let's hear it for The Good Wife! Not only is the main character a smart, sexy, confident woman, but a couple of the supporting characters are smart, sexy, confident women too! And I know that because they have their own storylines. They actually make decisions for themselves and have unique voices, rather than cookie-cutter personalities. On this show, even Alicia's daughter, at 15ish, is a great character. She opinionated and open-minded.

Not only does The Good Wife have great female characters, but Kalinda is also bi-sexual. This depiction of a LGBT woman is getting props all over the place.

So, if you just love lawyer shows, tune into The Good Wife and, in the summer, pick Suits over Franklin and Bash. At least you won't hate yourself.

Thank you, Joss Whedon!

Dear Joss Whedon,

Thank you for your years of service to the entertainment industry. Thank you for giving the world the hip supernatural and science fiction television shows that you have so brilliantly created. But most of all, thank you for creating a group of independent ass-kicking female characters. In film and television, female characters are too often written into supporting roles, only allowed to be wives, mothers, or figures within the madonna/whore dichotomy. But you, Mr. Whedon have changed things, placing women into roles and situations that were new to us.

First, there was Buffy. The 1992 movie was great and the television show was even better. In Buffy, we found a girl who could kick some serious vampire booty and make corny jokes in the process. She wasn't a robot (though there was a Buffy bot at one point) -- she had good traits and bad traits, but she always got the job done, protecting mankind from evil supernaturals. Buffy's scooby squad of sidekicks included her best friends Willow and Xander. While a loyal friend, Xander often took the back seat to Willow, the super brainy witch with a dark side. Later in the series, Willow discovered she was a lesbian. She's not a stereotypical butch lesbian or a man-hating lesbian or a super-sexy, man-titillating lesbian, but a representation of a real lesbian, who has relationships with other real lesbians. For a couple early seasons, Buffy worked with a fellow slayer, Faith. Eventually, Faith decided to drink the cool aid and turned to evil. Nonetheless, she was tough and proved that women don't always have to be good. We can be dark and mean just like male villains, thank you very much.

Then, we have Angel. The central character is the super-cute, soul-bearing vampire Angel, but his spot atop the supernatural detective pyramid is held steady with the help of his assistant Cordelia and Fred. Cordy, who was the Sunnydale bitch-who-owned it on Buffy, moved to LA and helped Angel solve mysteries. She is outspoken and tough; spiders might make her scream by she can kick a demon's ass. Throughout the series, she matured and became invaluable to Angel's agency. Part-way through the series, a succession of hi-jinks led Angel to find the brainy mathematician Fred in a cave in an alternate dimension. She joined the team and blossomed as their personal think tank.

Last but not least, we have Firefly. Firefly was gone too soon, but its short run showed us a host of awesome female characters. The ship, Serenity, was captained by Malcolm Reynolds. However, it could easily be argued that his tough-as-nails first mate Zoe outdid him in brains and balls. She wore the pants in her relationship with Wash, and saved the rest of the crew time and time again. The ship's mechanic, Kaylee, was bubbly and broke stereotypes because she knew everything there is to know about machines. In one episode, we learn that she beat out a guy for the position on Serenity. Then, we had Inara, the ship's resident companion (aka courtesan). She spoke her mind and was in control of her sexuality. She took a commonly stigmatized and marginalized social figure and made it elegant. In fact, she was the only one on the ship who was not on the run from something or someone. Last, there was River. Held in a government facility before being rescued by her big brother, she was slightly nuts, but wicked smart and incredibly insightful. In Serenity, the movie based on Firefly, we learned that River, with her pixie dresses and army boots, was a serious badass with the ability to face her demons and fight off hordes of commandos all by herself.

So, thank you, Mr. Whedon. The characters you have created show weakness, but it is because they are human, not because they are women. As women they show strength, intelligence, and sensitivity that makes them role models for all of us. You also show that femininity and non-violence do not necessarily go hand in hand, a misconception that has been reinforced for far too long. I am truly grateful that someone finally put these figures on TV and only regret that they can only be found in science fiction.
Sincerely,
Alexandra

P.S. I haven't seen Dollhouse, but I can only expect that Eliza Dushku's character is awesome.