Category Archives: Entertainment Musings

Thoughts on my favorite shows.

“Entertainment News” or “Network B.S.” – Neither is Neutral or Fair.

Entertainment Musings, Personal Musings

***This reflection is about the power of the media. You may or may not agree with my opinion on the cases I mention, but I’m not trying to take a stand on the cases. I believe you are entitled to your opinion. Please read with that in mind.

So, I’ve been debating writing about the Casey Anthony trial because it’s such a hot button issue, but I am relenting and writing due to some internal need to share my thoughts. While I do believe that she probably is guilty, the main thing that bothers me is how this trial became “entertainment” for the country.  How can you not call something entertainment when it is showcased on Entertainment Tonight, Extra!, and written about in US Weekly?  I guess it all started with O.J., as the news outlets are quick to tell me, but it has really got me thinking about the role that the media plays in shaping the world we live in.

One of the things I found so disturbing about this particular case is how the media covered it from the guilty until proven innocent standpoint. Sure they seemed to do the opposite but it was always with a wink, wink. Let us show you the “evidence” they would say. Well, excuse me but if the true “evidence” was so compelling, shouldn’t the prosecution have been able to convict? It’s not the first time I have seen this happen with our media. I say our media purposefully because we as a people choose what gets airtime or not in this country with what we choose to watch. They blame the “CSI” effect…that a jury has to be shown DNA and that a case has to be tied up with a ribbon on top. Excuse me? Aren’t you the ones that made the CSI effect famous AND since when can you convict for a murder where you can’t concretely identify cause of death?

I think these thoughts started brewing in me with the Anthony Weiner scandal, even though I can take the examples back further. I watched as the coverage built from a small story to one in which the media actually controlled the message telling him to resign. His colleagues, his constituents, many people looked at the mess as a personal one. But the shows mentioned above, along with the mainstream news media refused to drop the issue and when other people in power realized this, they capitulated for fear that they too may face the wrath of “The Media”. So now, an extremely effective and well liked politician’s career is down the drain and the New Yorkers he served are at a loss. His actions were reprehensible – again – it’s not about him. Who gave the media the right to tell him to resign or the power to scare others into making it happen? Was it us? I wanted so badly for him to force their hand, to stand up and just say, “No, I’m not resigning – take whatever steps necessary, but I’ll do my job exactly as I did my job before this scandal.”

Let me stop here to say that whether or not he lied, the severity of his crime or where his “pics” were taken, my issue is with the power of the media in the situation. They called for his dismissal as much as they called for Casey Anthony’s conviction. In Weiner’s case they won, in Casey Anthony’s, though she didn’t get convicted, they created an environment where she will never be safe from psychos that think they know the truth. I know because I have friends out there posting that she will get what’s coming to her – and they are the sane ones who wouldn’t really hurt anyone.

It’s a scary situation when a group can sway public opinion so openly and with little effort or proof. In studying for my Communications degree almost 20 years ago, I remember teachers drilling into me the fact that ethics and responsibility play a vital part in the role of media in our country. I was taught how to write headlines for articles that were neutral and didn’t take sides or influence opinions. I guess the lack of responsibility and neutrality of the “entertainment” news media wouldn’t bother me so much if I could tell a difference between it and outlets that claim to be unbiased real news sources. As it is now, instead of being the integral safeguard of society that protects us from corruption, evil influence, and lies, I truly feel these organizations are at the heart of what’s wrong with the direction our country is headed.

Bachelorette Ashley Has Baby Squirrel Syndrome

Entertainment Musings, , , , , ,

This morning driving to work a baby squirrel barreled towards the road in front of me. I stepped on my breaks and as I did, the squirrel turned and ran back towards safety. Then suddenly, he turned and ran straight for the road again. Thank goodness I stopped in time. There have been times in my life where I’ve suffered from baby squirrel syndrome. I’ve psyched myself up to try something and began running straight for the goal, only to turn around at the first sign of danger. Had I stopped there, I might have been considered mature, or conversely a coward, but things would never have degenerated into road kill. The mistake of the baby squirrel was in suddenly reversing and running headlong into danger. It was as if he became confused in his fear and over reacted in a way that could have cost him his little life.

The Bachelorette’s Ashley Hebert seems to be suffering from baby squirrel syndrome this season as well, first with Bentley, then with her decision to tell the others about the Bentley saga. In the beginning Ashley knew Bentley was trouble. She’d been told so by Michelle Money through texts before the show. I can see where maybe she wouldn’t have listened; she and Michelle weren’t the best of friends in their fight for Brad. But she ran towards the road anyway and it seemed like she had made the turn for an episode or two when Bentley left and we saw some decent progress with her, JP, and Ben!

Ultimately though, baby squirrel syndrome took over and she became confused and fearful running right back into the road. It was painful to watch how hopeful she was when she was told Bentley was in the hotel. For those of us who have been manipulated by guys as suave and snake-like as Bentley it was like watching a cat play with a mouse and we knew that the mouse would lose. No doubt about it, even with her assertive “*&#@ you” after their meeting, as an audience we knew she had tire tracks all over her.

The one thing she had going for her at this point was the fact that none of the guys was aware of her recent confusion and immaturity. She seemed lighter, more sure of herself, and really ready to move on and give the guys a chance. Cue repeat of the syndrome. Now, there are arguments that can be made for telling J.P. the truth. If her feelings are as strong for him as she said, full disclosure and honesty is important. But she could also have waited until they were stronger as a couple or even engaged to say, “Hey – you might not like the first few weeks of the show.” She was lucky that the driver on the road – J.P. – was compassionate and understanding, and probably already in love with her.

I have to think that J.P. probably felt a lot like I did watching the squirrel run right back into the road when he heard her telling the other guys. She’d already been luckier than she deserved in his reaction and then she decides to lay it all out there for everyone else? Poor Mickey and Blake accidentally over-corrected and hit her hard, while Constantine and Lucas just seemed to step on the gas. (Side note here: the whole scene was a tribute to the fragility of the male ego…even J.P. had to get in on the action and rub it into the other guys that she told him first.)

I really hope that with all of this behind her she can be cured of her ailment and develop a decent relationship with one of the deserving guys left, but the previews don’t bode well. The producers are either trying to entice us to keep watching with drama because the rest of the season is dull due to her obvious love for J.P. or Ben, or it really was a train wreck and they have no choice in the matter. I still don’t want to give up hope. As sick as she is, I’d like her to find love.

The Bachelorette, Bentley and the Producer’s Mistake

Entertainment Musings, , , , ,

I’ve been mulling this over for about three weeks now, and since the power’s out and there are numerous tornado warnings for everywhere around me I thought: What better time to express my thoughts on the train wreck that is Bentley.  I 100% blame the producers for thinking that Ashley, in and of herself, wouldn’t be interesting to watch fall in love, and I take some blame for being one of the vocal fans that said I had no desire to watch her.  People like me may have given the producers a slight scare, thus creating this debacle of insecurities and rudeness.

When you start a show with a former contestant texting the Bachelorette and warning her that someone’s not there for the right reasons it smacks of a set up.  I know – it’s a reality show – I don’t  believe there’s no manipulation present, but when you have previous couples married with kids it does lead you to hope that there could be true love in the show’s future…anyway. When Ashley first started liking Bentley we could all relate. BUT, we were all hoping she would be smarter than we were in real life and figure it out.  Turns out Bentley is a master manipulator and very hard to read.  I don’t totally blame Ashley for falling for his schtick.

Buy here’s the mistake I think the producer’s made.  We Bachelorette watchers are first and foremost a crowd looking for love.  We enjoy the romance and want to see something that convinces us two lonely people have found each other.  In carrying on this Bentley saga for as many episodes as they have, the producers have undermined the trust in the process that viewers like me use as a reason to still watch.  At five episodes in, do we really think she’ll be able to get over this guy and like someone else enough to get engaged?

The thing is, there have been sparks between Ashley and other guys.  I think she did find love and I think that she knew earlier on than they’re showing us.  My question becomes, “Why the hell weren’t you showing me the romance I wanted to see…that would make me believe in her relationship?”  Focusing in Bentley diminishes her attraction to the other guys and highlights her insecurities.  Maybe they think that makes for good TV, but what it really makes for is an audience that doesn’t really like their Bachelorette.

When you watch Ben F. and J.P. it’s easy to fall in love, but instead of getting to revel in the guys we like and want to see her fall for, we’re distracted by this asshole that the producers decided makes for good TV. MISTAKE.  Bentley isn’t fun to watch. He isn’t the guy we want to see her with.  He makes me like her less AND he keeps me from seeing her develop real relationships with the guys the audience enjoys.  If I didn’t read Reality Steve I wouldn’t even watch the rest of the season. Pathetic that a guy that makes fun of the show is the only thing keeping me tuned in. I’m a hopeless romantic and can’t give up on my happy ending.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Entertainment Musings, , , , ,

I wasn’t thrilled about seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I guess it’s because the movie had a lot to live up to. As the fourth installment of a series that seemed to be waning in the third movie, I pretty much expected it to fall flat. However, even as a viewer who was there primarily to keep my twelve-year-old niece company, I was surprised and pleased with the film that, while not nearly as “big” as the first three despite the addition of 3D, made up for in good story and clarity what it lacked in grandiosity.

Sometimes franchises have a way of getting lost as the stories get longer, especially when it loses characters that were seemingly important to fans. My niece’s big complaint: no Will or Elizabeth. The loss of these characters can result in too much attention to the character that’s left. In the case of Captain Jack Sparrow, a favorite to be sure, too much of a good thing can truly be too much of a good thing. But thankfully, in “On Stranger Tides” Captain Jack is the most likeable and understandable yet. His annoying slur is only minimally present and there is no doubt that he is the good guy in the tale who you want to get the girl in the end.

“On Stranger Tides” works because the story is balanced between Sparrow, Barbosa, and the engaging Angelica (Penelope Cruz), as Black Beard’s daughter. We are even introduced to supporting characters that we come to care about. The side story of a captured mermaid and an imprisoned cleric, though cheesy, kept me and my niece emotionally involved. The character of Black Beard served as enough of a villain to unite Barbosa and Sparrow, and while the search or the fountain of youth didn’t seem as important as plot devices in films past, it still made for an exciting and satisfying end.

So, I guess I have to say I liked it. I wasn’t excited to sit through it, but once there, Johnny drew me in and I found myself legitimately entertained. Arrgh!

Why I still watch The Bachelorette…

Entertainment Musings, , , , ,

Another season of the Bachelorette is upon us, so I thought I would reflect on my relationship with the franchise in general.  I have to admit I didn’t watch season one or two of The Bachelor.  At that point in time you couldn’t have paid watch reality TV.  Without anything to base my opinion on, I deemed it misogynistic and exploitative, not to mention fake.  After all, who could really fall in love on a show like that?  How could the process of quick elimination work when we all know how hard dating and finding that special someone can be?  Then came the Bachelorette and Trista.  When told from the point of view of a woman, the same process seemed to make much more sense.

After all, a woman who goes on a show entitled The Bachelorette probably really wants to get married.  I don’t think that’s the case for most of the Bachelors, as evidenced by their final rose relationship track record.  A bachelor goes on the show and is exposed to 25 women who fight over him and all of a sudden he thinks, “If these 25 women all want me, how many more women are out there that would want me, too?”  Ego takes over and even if he really did think he might want to get married in the beginning, the seeds of doubt have been planted.  The exception to this has been Jason, who from the very start of the show was obviously genuine in the fact he was ready and looking for a wife – so much so that he braved scores of angry women and the media to follow his heart and dump Melissa for Molly.

The process used in the Bachelor/Bachelorette isn’t really new.  It’s not that different from the process used in historical romance novels depicting England’s “Ton” and the courting process.  People would meet at a ball, the gentlemen would decide who they were interested in and would then “call” on their choices.  The women would then pick (with the help of their fathers, brothers, or uncles– perhaps the Chris Harrison role?) from their suitors.  The suitors may have visited for tea and cakes or perhaps walked with them in the park, but it wasn’t like they dated for months trying to figure out if that person was the one.  With today’s all time high divorce rate for people who “know each other” and live together before marriage, it doesn’t seem like it’s a worse way to do things.

So when Trista fell in love with Ryan and we got to watch them get married, and have babies, it was proof enough to me that there was  a chance that the show could really work.  I sat through seasons like Jake and Vienna in order to catch glimpse of real romance like Trista and Ryan, Jason and Molly, Allie and Roberto, even Andrew and Jen (who didn’t work out – but were no question in love).  I guess you could say that my relationship with the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise is like that of a woman who has married a reformed player.  I stay committed because I believe that there’s something real there, but I never let down my guard because I can still always get played.

I’m hoping that this season with Ashley no one gets played and there’s a couple who walks away 100% in love.  If the producers (who I know make half the choices anyway)don’t manipulate the season with the “Bentley” storyline or create unnecessary tension with surprise revelations, I think Ash might have a shot.  My money’s on J.P. and “Cupcake”.

The End of Soaps?

Entertainment Musings, General Hospital, , , ,

I grew up on Days of Our Lives.  My stay at home mother took her break every day at 1pm and I would “rest” while she watched her “soap”. Some of my earliest TV memories are of the Salem Strangler, and one of my first diary entries detailed my jubilation that Bo and Hope made love. (Not that I really knew anything about what actually happened under the sheets in those days.)  Soap Operas were traditions passed down from mother to daughter.  The characters became like family.  I recall feigning illness to come home from school on the days of weddings or big plot developments.  My mother had to have known, but never commented.

Just last week, we were met with the sad news that two more soaps would be leaving the air.  The cancellation of One Life to Live and All My Children came on the coattails of Guiding Light and As the World Turns.  It seems soaps just aren’t profitable these days and are more easily replaced by cheaper talk and game shows.  That’s a shame.  We are losing something special, something that connects us as women,  families, and community.

I think lower ratings for soaps have less to do with people not being interested and more to do with how they’re counting viewers.  Most of the people I know who have the luxury of being home during the workday still watch soaps. They still give the stay at home moms that hour of sanity to detach and dream.  But they also give that comfortable hour of relaxation and familiarity to those of us who DVR, tape, or watch them again on Soapnet (almost none of which are being counted in the rating system as it stands).

When Guiding Light and As the World Turns were cancelled last year I grieved for the loss of characters and stories that had been a part of my heart for years and were like family to me.  As soon as As the world Turns was off the air, I took up watching General Hospital.  I could have turned on any number of mindless afternoon options, but I needed and wanted the stories and connections that only soaps offer. I have since found new friends at work who love to spend time chatting about what’s happening in Port Charles.

People think that new viewers aren’t coming to the table, but just last week my 12 year-old niece crawled into the chair with me and started asking me questions about Michael and Abby, Liz and Jason, and Sonny and Brenda.  She was drawn in despite her homework and her computer.  She was drawn into the stories,  the couples, the romance.  She was drawn to sharing the experience of a soap with me the way I was with my mom when I was little.

I don’t think these recent cancellations are the end of soaps, just maybe soaps as we know them.  Formats do have to grow and change with the times and the audience.  Many of the actors from As the World Turns and other cancelled shows have ventured into online soaps and other new media. Maybe soaps won’t stay in the afternoons or maybe they’ll only be shown on the web, but one thing that won’t change is the fact that there will always be an audience that craves the connection, continuity, and community that good soap operas offer. I just hope the people in charge of the networks aren’t too cheap to see that.

Bones Season Finale…Reset?

Entertainment Musings, ,

In my mind Brennan and Booth have been a couple for the last six seasons.  I have never had doubts that what they each felt for each other outweighed their feelings for any other characters throughout the series.  Sully was the closest thing to a threat they ever faced. Hannah was an unbelievable blip on the radar.  To me their characters have always put each other first and sacrificed for one another in a way that only people who know real love can.

That is probably why, although I call myself a shipper, the “relationship” focus of the past two seasons has been distracting for me.  I never understood why we had to have all this will they or won’t they tension.  It took away from the cases that shined in seasons two and three.  I can count on my fingers the episodes from seasons four through six that took my breath away.  Those episodes like “The Passenger in the Oven”, “Fire and Ice”, “Mayhem on a Cross”, “The Plain in the Prodigy”, and “The Signs in the Silence” weren’t lacking relationship or character development.  Actually the relationship and character developments were so seamlessly integrated into the wonderfully thought out cases that I didn’t have to bring them into the realm of consciousness.

What Brennan’s pregnancy accomplishes is a reset that allows us to get back to what made Bones the amazing show I fell in love with.  They are now inextricably tied together forever.  Whether they live together, get romantic, fall into bed, raise their child in the same home or not…I never have to have that part of my brain whispering, “What are the writers going to do to keep them apart?  What if all of a sudden the writers decide to bring in someone else?”  None of that matters if they have a baby because the one thing we know about both characters is that they will be devoted and committed parents.  That bond alone makes their future rock solid.

Without the worry of whether or not they have a future together, I can now get back to focusing on the cases! Which I hope the writers can as well.  There has been a marked drop off when it comes to the complexity of the cases and the storytelling since season three and even though it kills me to admit it, the reason it’s so obvious to me is the quality of the case stories being told on Castle.  My loyalty and love lies with Bones, but there’s no denying the story structure, mystery, and intrigue isn’t what it used to be.

I want to be able to tell my friends to watch an episode without them coming to me and saying the case was boring.  To me, Bones pregnancy allows us to skip all the dating, relationship posturing, etc… that would undoubtably have taken time away from the real focus of the show while they “worked it all out”.  While a baby brings big things to work out, they won’t be the kind of things that distract viewers or make us debate whether or not to keep watching the show.

Bravo to Hart Hanson, Stephen Nathan, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz etc…who made this decision that at first may piss off some shippers, but in the long run will keep us from ever having a disjointed, uneven season like six was , ever again.