| The MVCampaign |
[Aug. 26th, 2005|12:01 pm] |
I also posted this on my other blog (that's in my real name) so I thought I'd better post my thoughts here as well.
Four weeks ago, there was a report on E!Online that one of the main actors on the show had "chose to leave" the show. While no specific actor was named, it was made clear that the actor was Michael Vartan. Word soon came out unofficially verifying what we all believed, the actor hadn't chosen to leave but was basically "fired" because the network executives wanted to "shake up" the show and kill off a major character. (From what I understand, it really didn't matter who went as long as 1) it was a MAJOR character and 2) it saved ABC from paying a large salary). This is a show that is character driven and it still, from a writer's point of view, just makes me sick tothink they arbitrarially killed off a character.
OK. On VartanFan.com, they started a letter writing campaign. Then someone (Jodi) got the brilliant idea to collect names and demographic information to send to the show's sponsors to let them know we'll be boycotting their products. Thirdly, The Safe House started a fund raiser to get enough money to publish an ad supporting Mr. Vartan in the Hollywood Reporter, a major trade publication.
Jinnie and Jodi started www.mvcampaign.com as more or less the focal point or clearinghouse of the protest. All this while, on the websites dedicated to Alias etc, there were sources (interesting concept of people who are given specific information from the powers that be to send out or spin in a particular way--they are identified as "sources" on the boards) who began spinning (not well IMHO). We were off our mark, we were reacting to rumor, there were better ways to spend our money. And my favorite, the network didn't really even pay attention to any of this.
Well, that changed on Monday. On Monday the rumor of Mr. Vartan leaving the show broke in the New York Post, Page Six (which I guess is like the MAJOR gossip column in the country). The websites were showcased. The grassroot fan movement was getting major press. Since then, the rumor along with the efforts that are being made by the fans has hit Entertainment Tonight, most news organizations, and today mentions of the campaign will be in US Weekly and People magazine. And there's supposed to be more to come!
Since I am a member of all of the involved website/message boards, I have watched this unfold from the beginning. I can tell you this is completely grass roots. There is no involvement by or even any contact from Mr. Vartan's "people". Will it make a difference with Alias? I doubt it. But hopefully, the support we are giving Mr. Vartan will be influencial in his future endeavors and secondly, it may cause the brilliant (choke) network executives to pause and reflect before they make another stupid move on another show.
So children, for those of who believe that the little guy don't have voice or an impact on the monolithic power structure (did I mention that Alias is made by Disney--yup we're taking on the Mouse), don't believe it. We've proven we can. |
|
|
| Is Alias anti-Feminist? |
[Aug. 25th, 2005|06:58 am] |
I've had this account for several months but have never made an entry. But a few days ago I began thinking about Alias on a deeper level. So here it is:
AND BY THE WAY, I DO DISCUSS RUMORS OF MAJOR "PLOT" CHANGES IN SEASON FIVE. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED
In January, I decided to write a romantic suspense novel with spies and jewel thieves and all that jazz. Well trying to picture my hero, I had it narrowed down to a couple of actors. The one I settled on was Michael Vartan. I’d seen pictures of him, but had never watched Alias. But I thought maybe I should watch a couple of episodes of Alias, for a couple of reasons. One: to check out Mr. Vartan. And two: because the line I was considering for my book was Silhouette Bombshell and they list Sydney Bristow as one of the examples of the type of heroine they were looking for. So after a couple of episodes I was hooked. I’ve gone back and watched the first 3 seasons (more than once).
Because of the writing, I probably have analyzed the shit out of Alias. And I’ve come to one conclusion: No matter how liberal and politically correct Hollywood is supposed to be, Alias is definitely anti-feminist.
Now do I believe JJ Abrams, the creator, the writers or the Powers to Be at ABC (commonly referred to as TPTB or those stupid monkeys) set out to be anti-feminist? No, but actions speak far louder than words.
Let’s start with the Madonna/Whore dichotomy. Sydney always is in a skimpy outfit. Now that could be viewed as feminist—Syd is using how men see her to gain the upper hand. But as an article in Alias Assumed: Sex, Lies and SD-6* points out, you never see any of the men in sexy disguises (no matter HOW much we Vartan Ho’s want to see Vaughn in a speedo). But there’s more than that—let’s start with Sydney’s dual life.
The first year and a half of Alias, Sydney was an agent of SD-6 and a young grad student working on her PhD in English literature and works in a bank. So we have a kick ass agent, but at the same time she’s safely studying English, not business, not political science or God forbid a science. Nope she wants to be an English teacher.
At first we have no justification why a nice young girl like Sydney wants to be a spy. She was recruited at nineteen. For seven years she worked for SD-6, she must have liked it. But in the pilot episode, Syd is suddenly given a reason. She tells her fiancé she’s a spy because she’s a good girl and cannot lie to him. And then WHAM, he’s killed. Revenge works for a year and a half until SD-6 is brought down. Now right after the fall of SD-6, Syd does try to resign. But she is more or less blackmailed into staying. This works for a while, then Syd loses two years and she needs to stay and find out what was going on during the missing two years.
Finally we get Project Christmas. Turns out the poor nice girl had no choice in the matter, she was brainwashed when she was six. Poor little Syd, a nice girl like Syd would never have made a choice on her own to be a spy!
Now let’s get to sex. Or Bad Girls have all the fun.
Sydney has sex, but from her track record she really shouldn’t. (more about that later). But the bad girls, wow do they have fun! Let’s start with Faux Francie (the evil Project Helix double). The first clue of her deviance was how intently she watched her secret closed circuit feed of Syd and Vaughn having sex. (At least, she got to see Vaughn naked, all we ever got was Vaughn in those damn baggy boxers—ok he was cute, but still). And then Francie was having sex with Will (although Will thought she was still the real Francie) And THEN, she was having hot monkey sex with Sark! And because you can’t really have hot monkey sex and enjoy it, Francie was killed eventually by her betrayed lover, Will.
Now there was Lauren Reed, the Covenant agent who somehow managed to marry Vaughn (what was that boy thinking?). If it wasn’t enough that she too gets to see Vaughn naked (maybe there’s a pattern here-but I digress), she is also having extremely hot monkey sex with Sark. (Sark being a juvenile tends to brag about Lauren’s penchant for unconventional sex). Being a bad girl, she does get shot (numerous times) by her betrayed husband Vaughn.
Now we come to the complex problem of Julia Thorne. Julia was Sydney’s alias for her missing two years. Julia was an assassin for the Covenant, so she was good girl Syd pretending to be bad girl Julia. (clear?) Julia had wild hot monkey sex with bad guy freelancer (and hottie) Simon Walker. Well, we can’t kill off Syd; so dear Simon makes the fatal mistake of bragging about Julia’s (Syd’s) sexual skills to her father. (OK, girls, raise your hands if you’ve watched Jack being over protective and thanked the deities that your father wasn’t licensed to kill).
Julia/Syd dichotomy is a good segway into why good girl Syd should live in a nunnery. Other than a delightful reference between Syd and Vaughn about “liking it rough”, Syd’s sexual conquests have seemed fairly vanilla. But that doesn’t seem to protect her partners.
First of course was Danny, her fiancé who because of Good Girl Syd’s honesty, is eliminated by SD-6. Then there was her old lover Noah who returned. Syd and Noah did the horizontal, and then Noah turned out to be an assassin called the Snowman and fell on his knife during a fight with Syd. (He was masked during the fight, so Syd didn’t know it was her lover, soon to be late lover).
Syd’s dear close friend Will emerged from Witness Protection Program to boff Syd and then quickly went back to his new identity. I truly believe Witness Protection is the only reason Will is alive today. Hopefully, he immediately changed his identity and hide deep into Middle America, or middle Earth or somewhere. (Note: one of the most ironic comments ever made on Alias involved this relationship. When Syd tells Vaughn, who was married to Lauren at the time, he says “If it isn’t bad enough we’re fugitives in North Korea, you have to tell me you slept with Will?” Come on, darling, you’re married; Syd’s allowed to come out of the nunnery…or is she?)
Now we come to Michael Vaughn. For four seasons, he has been the constant factor in Syd’s life. He is the romantic interest in her story. But can Syd find happiness? I mean she is a spy, and as a good girl she can’t be happy and be a spy. Not looking good for Vaughn. Then there is the biggie, Vaughn manages to knock up Syd. OH NO, a pregnant, at-this-point unwed mother? Something has to be done! According to all rumors, the character of Vaughn will be killed off within the first couple of episodes of Season Five. For whatever reason this decision was made, it send a clear message. Once again, Sydney Bristow cannot expect to find happiness because she has stepped out of the bounds of proper ladylike behavior.
I have to think back to the original ass kicking heroine in my television watching, Emma Peel of the Avengers. Mrs. Peel was a widow; forty years ago that marriage was required to allow a female to exhibit a blatant sexuality. But I don’t remember her husband’s death being the reason for her dipping into espionage. No, to me, Mrs. Peel did it for the fun of it, craving the excitement. I guess no one told her what a woman’s place was. And they forgot to tell her she would be punished for having such fun.
Sometimes, I wonder if we women have come a long way, or if the resistance has just gone underground.
* I was skimming Alias Assumed at Borders because I'm on a full boycott of all things Alias because of the decision to "release" Michael Vartan from his contract and kill off Michael Vaughn. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
april_dancer's journal