Drivel

I have always disliked James Bond.  Never cared for him, his secret service, fancy gadgets or his womanizing.  I never liked the way he bedded one woman after another, and I always felt that he had a total lack of respect for women.  A very unattractive quality in any man.  However, after watching that happy-slappy-Bond clip that Pet posted in the previous blog entry, I now actually think I might even hate the man.  But, I should also mention that my opinion on James Bond is totally based on the very few Bond movies I have actually watched – which is probably about 3, and were all starring Roger Moore.  I never really watched the earlier movies and have not seen any of the later – not even the ones with Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig.  I have absolutely no interest.

BUT – I found Pet’s last blog entry very interesting, and it got me thinking about how TV has changed. So I decided to do a bit of research on it.  I agree with Pet, abuse of any kind is not a laughing matter and is to be taken very seriously.  Which is why I am also not going to post my opinions on that here.  I am talking a total different kind of research here – stick with me, you’ll see where I am going with this:

We all know that James Bond was created and, until he died in 1964, written by Ian Flemming.  The novels following were written by Robert Markham, Christopher Wood, John Gardner and Raymond Benson.  I think it is obvious where I am going here right?  All men.  I also checked the list of directors of all the Bond movies, and again – all of the male gender.

Getting information on directors and writers of The Scarecrow and Mrs King was a bit harder.  I only managed to find a listing for the first season and noticed that of the 22 episodes, only 2 of them were written by women, and ALL directors listed were male.  After a bit more checking, I did find that the episode where Lee slaps Amanda was written and directed by men.

Ok, then I went and checked the list of Castle directors and writers for season (season 1 was only 10 episodes).  Out of the 24 season two episodes of Castle, 12 were written by a woman.  12!!!  Stay with me, I am getting to the point.

To sum up:  In 1984, in a complete season of a popular TV series, only 2 episodes  out of 22 were written by a women, and none directed.  In 2010, in a complete season of a popular TV series, 12 episodes out of 24 were written by women, and 3 episodes directed.

So, after all that drivel, I finally get to my point:  I agree with you that TV has changed!  Also, I am going to go ahead and claim that the reason that TV has changed, and that women are being treated better onscreen, is because women are more involved in the writing and directing of popular TV shows!  

OK, I know that to actually be allowed to make that statement, I would have to do a lo-hot more research on a wider range of TV shows.  But I simply don’t have the time, or the energy, to check the writers and directors of all popular TV shows ranging from the early 80’s up until today.  I also know that it is quite possible that my statement is actually based on the fact that I am currently pissed off with the world and focusing that wrath on men in particular (hard to take on the entire world, so I choose to take on the male population!  Less people on my list!) 

However, in a very small effort to be maybe a leetle bit fair, I will check the male/female director/writer blah blah ratio of another popular show – this time one from the 90’s.  Yes, I am going to do it!  Dr-fucking-Quinn!  Ok, perhaps not the best choice, since it was created by a woman, but I don’t care!  This is my post and I’ll conduct my research in a way I see fit.  Dr Quinn is it!  Research says that while most episodes were written by women, most episodes were directed by men.  So, we can claim a 50/50 in this case.  So, my point is made and backed up by ‚research‘.  Ha!

And, while we are on the subject of Dr Quinn, a show that is often ridiculed simply because in one episode, it shows Dr Mike performing plastic surgery on a burn victim with miraculous results.  So what, don’t care – loved it anyway.  What I really appreciated about the series is how it showed the long journey women have had to make, and how these few women who were not willing to accept being ‘slapped‘ actually paved the way for the rest of us.  It also contains a lot of history – and some facts.  The Battle of Washita River – true story.  The Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania – actually existed.  Custer, Chief Black Kettle – all true historic figures.    Yep, I love Dr Quinn (and no, we will not have any comments regarding pushing cars up the hill one handed).  I loved Sully too!  A really really lot!

Anyhoo, all that rambling was simply to say that I think TV has changed.  I think it has improved, and I think that is solely thanks to the female population.  Maybe I’ll have a different attitude tomorrow (although I sincerely doubt it!)

D