Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Nikki And Helen. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
The L Word; Season 4, not bad
Topic Started: Jan 22 2007, 06:16 PM (4,853 Views)
4us
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
Oz and I have been watching the L Word on the internet as season 3 & 4 are yet to air here..........

Our first reaction was...........hate Jenny, love Shayne.....

Jenny was tolerable in the beginning but it progressively worsened rather rapidly.......for now we find her to be unbearable, ruthless and have a mouth like a sewer......whilst most of the cast throw F*** around it is in contex to what they are speaking of, but of late Jenny has used bad language at the top of her voice in some very inappropiate situations.......we personally hate the use of the C... word and find it offensive and demeaning........

In this country to be called a C... is an extreme insult........and is about as low as you can go.........

Bette has the aura of strength and stability that at times can be seen to be a tad overpowering.........she appears to like to be in control and have things her way........she is most definitly a force to be reckoned with and whilst she oozes confidence, we find her to be vunerable at times with a huge chip on her shoulders.......

Tina is so not for Bette......for Bette it is black and white but for Tina there is too many grey areas......Tina at times is annoying and soppy.......her storyline now is an insult to her years with Bette.........

What's not to like about Kit.........she is a real sweetheart and a joy to watch........her life maybe a mess at times but she wears her heart on her sleeve and is a true friend.........it would be nice to see her asert herself more and become confidant and strong and able to stand on her own 2 feet abit more.......perhaps even without a man in her life.......let her career and business show her charactor and strengths..........

Alice we love......what you see is what you get......her role has been an inspiration at times and though she can be a little off the wall she has a good heart.........she can make you laugh and cry, feel good and understand what it is like to be bisexual.....she has always been open and honest with her preferences...........

Shayne is a mix of good and bad.....we love the fact that she makes no appologies for who she is and what she wants.......at first we thought she was too fast to bed hop, but she is Shayne afterall.........it was sad to see her run out on Carmen......it would have been better if she had of been honest and faced Carmen with her fears and doubts.....her brother has added another dimention to her and it makes her more real........secretly I reckon we would all like to have abit more Shayne in us....she is just so comfortable with herself and has something special about her that you can't help but like and even admire.........

I am sure you can see by reading our post that Oz and I see this series plainly for the insight into lesbian lifestyles.......we are not really interested in the politics and truthfully don't always understand them......being together for only 2+years alot is still very new and unexplored for us.....boldly we tread where perhaps we will be misunderstood, but our intention is to learn and not offend..........with this in mind please be patient as we dare to call it as we see or understand or even not understand........

Max we see as a male trapped in a womans body........understanding this it is easy to see why he would want to make body changes so as to feel like a man and be with a woman.........what we don't get is why would he want to be with another male.......having said that we also don't really understand why a woman who didn't find men attractive sexually would want to be with another woman who wore a strapon.......in Alice's case as she is bisexual it was clear tho.... why she wanted Dana to wear one was strange to us......I mean if she wanted penetration why not have sex with a male?.......we can understand that a female wishing to be male would wear one , but find it hard to understand why a woman who chooses to be loved by another woman would want any of the male genitals involved in any shape or form.........

I like women of mystery and the bike girl has plenty surrounding her.......it will be interesting to see who she is and what she does and if it is with Alice????? Cybil S. is a real scream and really portrayed how it is for a first time lesbian encounter.......we both definitly identified with her.......

The cast is growing and hopefully won't lose the intimacy of friendships and relationships in its number..........

Whilst we won't go so far as to say we love the series we both find it alluring in its content.....not having any gay friends close by of our own, it is an insight for us into what it would be like to have such a circle of friends.....for the most part it appears to portray lesbians in a more possitive manner than perhaps the general public credit us for........

I do hope we have not offended in our honesty .........there are still many questions unanswered for us and many things still to learn....the L Word has been a helpfull tool.........

Think it...Say It...Do It

WHY ???

BECAUSE I CAN
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
vergil
No Avatar
Down the Block

I have only seen s1 and s2 of the L word. To be honest i dont think that i like it as much as i thought i would/should( a drama series about a group of lesbians is pretty rare- so i was really looking forward to seeing it). Dont get me wrong the writing/acting is good- i just dont like/care enough about the characters and their outcomes to really love it. Also being from the uk(and having never been to america), i perhaps dont quite get/understand the whole LA culture/LA gay scene. That said im sure i will watch s3/4!
chrissie
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Porcupine Girl
Member Avatar
Courtside, Row 1 Seat 2
The Muppets!
vergil
Feb 7 2007, 12:41 PM
Also being from the uk(and having never been to america), i perhaps dont quite get/understand the whole LA culture/LA gay scene. That said im sure i will watch s3/4!
chrissie

No worries, Vergil, I am American and a lot of the time I wonder what the heck the whole LA scene is about... if it is truly representative as Ilene Chaiken claims it is.
"Fancy a snog? Meet me in the pottin' shed."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
4us
 
understanding this it is easy to see why he would want to make body changes so as to feel like a man and be with a woman.........what we don't get is why would he want to be with another male

I'll jump in on this with my theory. The transgendered people I have known, as well as those I have learned about in documentaries, often go through a period of flux in terms of their sexuality. Biological men who transition to become women considered themselves straight when they were men, and assumed they were going to be lesbians when they became women. And yet, once they are actually living as women, their attractions change, and they find they enjoy male interest in them. Strangely, one female-to-male trans friend of mine was a lesbian when he was a woman. Once he became a man, he became gay, and dates only men! He's truly a homosexual, in that he's attracted to the same sex. :)

As for Max in particular, I think he enjoyed someone seeing him as a man, and desiring him as a man, and having sex with him as only a man could (ie anal sex). The fact that Alan Cumming's character was gay made that even more vividly clear, that he saw Max as truly a man. I think, in addition, that Cumming's character is inherently attracted to androgyny, or people with non-typical gender. So that also explains his interest in Max.

4us
 
having said that we also don't really understand why a woman who didn't find men attractive sexually would want to be with another woman who wore a strapon.......in Alice's case as she is bisexual it was clear tho.... why she wanted Dana to wear one was strange to us......I mean if she wanted penetration why not have sex with a male?.......we can understand that a female wishing to be male would wear one , but find it hard to understand why a woman who chooses to be loved by another woman would want any of the male genitals involved in any shape or form.........

At the risk of revealing too much, I think the answer to this question is simpler than you might think: lesbians like to have sex with a strapon because it feels good. Having sex with a woman wearing a strapon actually is not very much like having intercourse with a man, and wanting to do so doesn't mean you really want to have sex with a man. There are a lot of things which are different about being with a woman sexually (breasts, no facial hair/stubble, an emotional connection) which a lesbian wouldn't have with a man. Many many lesbians like penetration during sex because they have sensitive g-spots etc, and using a strapon can be a really fun, convenient way to accomplish that.
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
4us
Member Avatar

The Muppets!
abzug.........your candid post was much appreciated......after oz and I posted we had the chance to talk with another lesbian who pretty much explained the strapon as you did..........what we had failed to understand was the disasociation between the strapon and the penis..........having had it fully explained we can both see how very different it is to what we thought.........for us though it is a little harder to come to terms with as both of us had long term marriages and the design of the strapons is a visual reminder and one that at the moment we both choose to forget..........

as you can see we still have some understanding of our own to do and so we are grateful you took the time to give us your point of views........

For anyone to be brave enough to go through what Max is about to do deserves ALL of our understanding and support.........it is one thing to be trapped in a marriage and living a lie, but to be trapped inside the wrong body would have to be a living hell........when the bosses daughter called him a freak, my first thoughts were that he was not a freak for wanting to become who he feels he is , rather that the poor guy must have felt like a freak himself having to try and cope with his outer self being so different than how he felt and perseved himself to be on the inside where it really counts...........actually freak is a harsh term to use at all...........what you said made alot of sense.....thank you........
Think it...Say It...Do It

WHY ???

BECAUSE I CAN
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ekny
No Avatar
In love with a prisoner
abzug
Feb 7 2007, 03:15 PM
There are a lot of things which are different about being with a woman sexually (breasts, no facial hair/stubble, an emotional connection) which a lesbian wouldn't have with a man.

Sorry, there was something so terribly funny about this list, with its oh-by-the-way emotional-connection thingie tagged on at the end, I just found myself giggling alone in my office. Ok, so it's after 6 & I'm reading the L-word thread. Busted. Thx though. --e
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
ekny
Feb 7 2007, 06:35 PM
Sorry, there was something so terribly funny about this list, with its oh-by-the-way emotional-connection thingie tagged on at the end, I just found myself giggling alone in my office. Ok, so it's after 6 & I'm reading the L-word thread. Busted. Thx though. --e

I think I went through in my mind and thought to myself, what were the things that I didn't like about having sex with men. And I listed those things in the order they bothered me. :) Shoulda put the facial hair thing first. Blech! Glad it was amusing though. :)
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
poedgie
Member Avatar
Up to Basic
4us
Feb 7 2007, 12:51 AM

What's not to like about Kit.........she is a real sweetheart and a joy to watch........her life maybe a mess at times but she wears her heart on her sleeve and is a true friend.........it would be nice to see her asert herself more and become confidant and strong and able to stand on her own 2 feet abit more.......perhaps even without a man in her life.......let her career and business show her charactor and strengths..........

It's a shame really, the way Pam Grier has been used on this show. Sh'e's never had a defined storyline. If you want to see one bad-ass chick check out some of her earlier Blaxploitation films.

The scene with Bette and Tina at the cafe and the cobb salad was good for a laugh.

I love stoned Bette.

I'm so glad that Alice and Phyliss have split. we're spared any more Cybill & Leisha bed romps. While I like both characters, they as a couple have zero chemistry.

4us
Feb 7 2007, 12:51AM

we personally hate the use of the C... word and find it offensive and demeaning........

In this country to be called a C... is an extreme insult........and is about as low as you can go.........


The same is true in the US
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ekny
No Avatar
In love with a prisoner
suchfun asked me to post this for her. --e


suchfun: "Here's the link (it is hard to find)
http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2007/01...ltw/index2.html

And the text (quite hilarious) is below."

--------

Bawdy on tap
But the midseason show that I look forward to drinking cold beer and watching the most is "The L Word" (10 p.m. Sundays on Showtime), because it's a show that has me laughing out loud at least four or five times per episode -- that's twice as many laughs as most sitcoms.

We've already discussed the teeth-grittingly awful theme song, which I keep thinking they'll change, but they never do. It's so jarring to hear those first terrible strummy chords, then the opening bars, which resemble an angry teenager's rendition of "My Favorite Things." Next come the best lyrics of all time:

Talking! Laughing! Loving! Breathing! Fighting! Fucking! Crying! Drinking! Writing! Winning! Losing! Cheating! Kissing! Thinking! Dreaming! This is the way, it's the way that we live, It's the way that we live... and looooove!

Finally, it's time for the main event, the fourth season of "The L Word"! Basically, there are three categories of scenes featured on this show:

1) The important women's issue, charmlessly translated into dramatic action. (Sort of like a "The More You Know" PSA, but a little bit less sophisticated.)

2) The titillating soft-porn romp. (Just pick two of the following and pair them together: pool table, preacher's daughter, back seat, pregnant lady, prison cell, rich housewife, tub of butter, innocent coed, cocaine-fueled beach party, fresh peach pie, naughty French waif, etc.)


3)The pointlessly pretentious digression, in which two characters one-up each other with their knowledge of architecture, art history, literature, art film, alternative music, etc. (Jenny and Bette speak primarily in pretentious clichés, with Tina and Alice sharing a close second.)

4) The "straight people are hopelessly lame" scene, in which the ladies are forced to interact with straight people who have no style, no taste, no cultural awareness outside of sporting events, and a bad habit of blurting out ignorant things about gay people. (The women wear pearls and giggle; the men say "Dude!" a lot.)

Just to be clear: Important women's issues are certainly important, there's nothing wrong with throwing together a preacher's daughter, a pregnant lady and a fresh peach pie, and straight people are, nine times out of 10, hopelessly lame. (Instead of discussing fine architecture and art films over red wine, they eat chicken pot pies in bed while watching "24.") But "The L Word" brings us its very passionate perspective with such excruciatingly awkward scenes and such graceless, clunky dialogue that it's pretty hard to take. I love that there's a soap about gay women on TV; I just wish it weren't so humorless, self-serious and dorkily smug.

Then again, its flaws are part of what makes it so addictive. And look, the writers of "The L Word" must be doing something right, because I hate missing this show. I mean, if Bette (Jennifer Beals) is going to screw her wide-eyed T.A. (Jessica Capshaw) and Jenny (Mia Kirshner) is going to have a comical temper tantrum over a writer who gave her book a bad review and Kit (Pam Grier) is going to wander, unawares, into a pro-life Family Center for an abortion and then threaten the people inside with violence when she figures out her mistake and Shane (Katherine Moennig) is going to go on a cocaine-fueled downward spiral, well, I for one don't want to miss one minute of it. And if I were gay, I would be even more addicted to this ridiculous show the way my gay lady friends are, and I would trade snorts of derision over Alice's (Leisha Hailey) dumb search for Papi or Cybill Shepherd's starchy turn as a closeted married woman.

Still, it's the dialogue that really keeps me coming back for more -- which brings us to...

The First Annual ILTW On-the-Nose Dialogue Contest

There's a lot of really bad dialogue out there, folks, and I want to capture the very worst of it right here. So put a pen and a little pad of paper by your TV set right now, and then e-mail me the worst, most obvious, on-the-nose lines from your favorite bad TV shows. [...]

Here are a few choice examples to get us started, culled from the new season of "The L Word":

"I've never had an abortion. It must be really hard."

"Have you ever had the conviction you've been living a lie your whole life? I think I'm a lesbian, Bette."

"It's kind of freaking me out, she is the boss's daughter. I'm not even out at work!"

OK, you get the picture. Now run with it, chickens! Run with it like your little heads were just cut off!

Next week: The rest of the new, stupid, fun midseason shows that will have you talking, laughing, loving, crying, fighting, hoping, drinking, dreaming, heating up chicken pot pies, winning, losing, cheating and reheating.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
Omigod, HILARIOUS!!! Thank you SO much for posting!
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jeanna
Member Avatar
I said SIT IN THAT CHAIR
True. All of it true!
H&N Music Vid by me and ekny

Something To Talk About
YouTube

My BG Music Vids
On YouTube

My vids You Tube removed
Click Here
OR HERE

BAM for Beginners
BAM Channel
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
I have such a strange feeling after last night's episode. It's taking me forever to really pin it down. At first I thought the episode hadn't been a good one, because I had this weird feeling afterwards, which sort of felt like disatisfaction. But then I started thinking that maybe it was more of a sadness or emptiness, and that it wasn't due to the quality of the episode, but to some of the storylines. Because there were so many characters that in some way "came clean" in this episode, confessed their true feelings about something or someone: Max telling his boss about being discriminated against, Jenny getting found out for her whole revenge scheme, Bette giving in to her desire for Jodi, Jodi telling Bette she doesn't like kids, Angus admitting the affair with the other nanny, Alice letting loose about her feelings about the war etc.

But all that openness and honesty basically created a bit of an emotional tsunami, creating enormous messes where previously everything had seemed pretty much ok. Which I think is what gave me that feeling in the pit of my stomach, the dread or something, whatever it is I'm calling it. That an episode which seemed like a nice romantic one (during the episode I was thinking: look how many couples are getting together! I can count four off the top of my head) turned out to be a big disaster for pretty much everyone. I mean, even the Jodi-Bette reconciliation at the end wasn't very reassuring, because now it feels like their relationship has no hope for any future, and I'd like to see one functional stable couple on this show, other than Tina and her boyfriend.

If I were watching this on dvd I'd pop the next episode right in and I wouldn't have to tolerate this feeling for the next week. Which I think is part of the difference of watching a show week to week vs watching it in clumps. I've often wondered if I would have enjoyed the later seasons of BG as much if I only got one ep per week.

That said, I thought Jenny looked exquisitely beautiful in this episode, and I really like this new love interest for Alice. She has a much different energy from anyone else on the show. But Alice, stop being so cowardly with Phyllis!
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Texex
Member Avatar
Up to Basic
abzug
Feb 12 2007, 04:44 PM
Because there were so many characters that in some way "came clean" in this episode, confessed their true feelings

But all that openness and honesty basically created a bit of an emotional tsunami,

Abzug,

Great points. This matches up well with another post that states the show takes itself too seriously. (We are important lesbians, so there)

There was an emotional overload with this ep, but it was one of the funniest that I can remember.

Shane lighting up a cigarette while not listening to Alice on the phone...Shane taking Jen's phone to tell Alice to stop setting up the party.

Bette's frustration during the entire phone tree (which went on a little too long). (I've really started liking Jennifer Beals more this season, not sure if it improved acting or what).

The Papi poker explanation intercut with other action was interesting. (The revisited Poker in the front/Liquor in the back joke)

Serious note: When Bette went to talk to Jodi, the emotion was amazing, scary. I was thinking this is greatness. Then they kissed and I didn't feel/see the chemistry. Disappointing.

The pace of this ep was like that of the 1st ep this season, mindblowing. I did like the emotional openness, but it needs to be trimmed down a bit.

Hook 'em Horns
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
Texex
 
Serious note: When Bette went to talk to Jodi, the emotion was amazing, scary. I was thinking this is greatness. Then they kissed and I didn't feel/see the chemistry. Disappointing.

YEAH! I was surprised at that too! I wonder if it was how they filmed it? They did this whole thing with the hand-kissing, which was meant to be symbolic (people who are deaf speak with their hands, they are metaphoric lips etc), but wound up being distracting to me, distracting from the chemistry.

I think the reason you like Bette better this season is they are actually letting her be her type-A, career-oriented self, rather than the pathetic bag of whiny-ness she was last season. Which I think was due to the fact that Jennifer Beals was pregnant, so they were limited in how they could use her without showing her pregnancy. But she's by far the best actor on the show, and one of the few (only?) of the straight actresses on TLW who I really believe as a lesbian.
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Texex
Member Avatar
Up to Basic
abzug
Feb 12 2007, 08:53 PM


I think the reason you like Bette better this season is they are actually letting her be her type-A, career-oriented self, rather than the pathetic bag of whiny-ness she was last season.

Very well could be. However, this season Type A Bette has more humanity than Season 1.

That scene with Angus discussing the affair was fantastic. Bit of a hard ass, but admitting that she too made mistakes and was willing to own up to it and then finishing the conversation.
Hook 'em Horns
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create a free forum in seconds.
Learn More · Register Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · The Comfy Sofa · Next Topic »
Add Reply