I read a post on tumblr of all places wondering if, looking at the fandom in which it is all about the boys, Buffy was at all successful at what it was attempting to do--give the girl a story rather than be a footnote in the male-driven narrative.
Yeah, this - gives me pause. And I don't think it's the fault of the show itself, it's the culture that it's in. Our cultural paradigm really has not changed, not that we could expect it to in 10-15 years time. One tv show does not a revolution make, esp when the show itself is more liberal or progressive rather than transgressive. But - I can see why Joss would parody Twilight in the comics, even if the way he went about it was too "clever" (and not smart enough) by half. But it's a sobering reality.
I do think that it's easier to find tv series today centered around female characters than when I was growing up - but then again there's also a lot more channels to fill than when we had the Big Three, PBS, and where I lived CBC from Ontario. Also we have Netflix so I have instant access to decades worth of series including British tv. (but not Nurse Jackie, damnit.)
Movies however are still a different thing, but I think the presumption is still that "women control the remote but they don't go to the movies."
Sort of related, something else that I became aware of watching the show last year was that the depiction of Willow and Tara's relationship should have opened up the floodgates for more lesbian characters on tv - and I'm setting aside the bad old tropes raised by SR for a moment because whatever issues I have with it don't negate all that was good about that relationship or the depiction of it. But what do we have more than a decade later? the occasional side character (and still usually gay male not lesbian); two characters in Ringer who fit stereotypes that date back to 1860's France or 1960's dime novels (dark haired sophisticated European "lesbian" seductress and blond-haired unstable bisexual who falls under her spell, and is also mentally ill and a psycho killer etc etc - bad Sarah, no biscuit!) Or the "lesbian Robin doppleganger" on HIMYM (short hair, cowboy boots, flannel shirt and baseball glove is still shorthand for "lesbian"? What the creeping blue FUCK? It's still a pretty piss-poor picture.
I knew I forgot to say something last time!
Yeah, this - gives me pause. And I don't think it's the fault of the show itself, it's the culture that it's in. Our cultural paradigm really has not changed, not that we could expect it to in 10-15 years time. One tv show does not a revolution make, esp when the show itself is more liberal or progressive rather than transgressive. But - I can see why Joss would parody Twilight in the comics, even if the way he went about it was too "clever" (and not smart enough) by half. But it's a sobering reality.
I do think that it's easier to find tv series today centered around female characters than when I was growing up - but then again there's also a lot more channels to fill than when we had the Big Three, PBS, and where I lived CBC from Ontario. Also we have Netflix so I have instant access to decades worth of series including British tv. (but not Nurse Jackie, damnit.)
Movies however are still a different thing, but I think the presumption is still that "women control the remote but they don't go to the movies."
Sort of related, something else that I became aware of watching the show last year was that the depiction of Willow and Tara's relationship should have opened up the floodgates for more lesbian characters on tv - and I'm setting aside the bad old tropes raised by SR for a moment because whatever issues I have with it don't negate all that was good about that relationship or the depiction of it. But what do we have more than a decade later? the occasional side character (and still usually gay male not lesbian); two characters in Ringer who fit stereotypes that date back to 1860's France or 1960's dime novels (dark haired sophisticated European "lesbian" seductress and blond-haired unstable bisexual who falls under her spell, and is also mentally ill and a psycho killer etc etc - bad Sarah, no biscuit!) Or the "lesbian Robin doppleganger" on HIMYM (short hair, cowboy boots, flannel shirt and baseball glove is still shorthand for "lesbian"? What the creeping blue FUCK? It's still a pretty piss-poor picture.