Marie Claire Trashes ‘Fatties’ in ‘Mike and Molly’

Posted on October 28, 2010 at 3:51 pm

One of the most popular new comedies on television this season is “Mike and Molly” a romance about an overweight couple played by gifted performers Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy (“Gilmore Girls”). Freelance blogger Maura Kelly wrote a post on the Marie Claire site titled “Should Fatties Get a Room (Even on TV)?” She said it was disgusting to watch the characters “with rolls of fat” kiss. “To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I’d find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroin addict slumping in a chair.” She accuses the show of promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.
The show’s creator, Mark Roberts, wrote a superb response in the Hollywood Reporter. He resists the temptation to demonize Kelly, and emphasizes her right to express her opinion. But he says, “I don’t think of anybody by their body type, certainly not people that I work with and love and respect. I think of them as unbelievably talented people who captured these characters and brought them to life. I struggled with weight all my life and I don’t know how to address this without being angry with somebody else’s stupidity about other human beings.”
Kelly has now apologized and admitted that her own history of anorexia may be the source of hyper-sensitivity on these issues. “People have accused me of being a bully in my post. I never intended to be that — it’s actually the very last thing I want to be, as a writer or a person. But I know that I came off that way, and I really cannot apologize enough to the people whom I upset.”
The show frankly but kindly shows that the characters struggle with their weight — they meet at a support group. But what is important is that it does what Kelly missed: it shows them as real, multi-dimensional people who have feelings and longings and a capacity for tenderness and generosity. It is those qualities that the show is promoting. But, as Entertainment Weekly points out, it would be even better if the show could move on from its reliance on fat jokes and let us focus on the very sweet romance at its heart.
Many thanks to Tricia Olszewski for bringing this to my attention.

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Tribute: Alex Anderson, Creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle

Posted on October 26, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Alex Anderson, who came up with the beloved characters Rocky the flying squirrel, Bullwinkle Moose, and Dudley Do-Right, died this week at age 90. While Jay Ward usually gets the credit, it was his childhood friend and partner Anderson who created those characters — though he had to bring a lawsuit to be given credit for it. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly has a tribute to Rocky and Bullwinkle that gets the joy of their subversive humor just right:

It’s difficult to imagine, these days, the thrill of discovering Rocky and Bullwinkle as a kid. You felt as though you’d been let into a secret back door to TV, where the characters joked about their show’s low ratings and the very nature of the narrative itself. During one edition, Rocky thinks he hears Boris, and says, “That voice — where have I heard it before?” Bullwinkle replies, “In about 365 other episodes.” Then he added, ever the dumb one, “But I don’t know who it is, either.”

And be sure to check out the Washington Post’s list of the 15 greatest Rocky and Bullwinkle quotes.

I loved Rocky and Bullwinkle because I could watch it as a kid and then again as a teenager and enjoy it even more. There were jokes I didn’t get until I was in college. They even made a joke once about my dad, who still has a Rocky and Bullwinkle drawing on his wall. I loved it that there was a character named Nell — my niece gave me a Nell Fenwick doll that I keep in my office. And every so often I tune in again to watch Bullwinkle pull another rabbit out of his hat or read fan mail from a flounder.

‘The Good Wife’s’ Promising Newcomer: Mamie Gummer

Posted on October 25, 2010 at 2:16 pm

“The Good Wife” has engrossing drama, fascinating characters, glossy production values, and superb performers. Recently making her second appearance on the show as attorney Nancy Crozier is an exceptional young actress named Mamie Gummer. Nancy Crozier likes to appear charmingly naive but she is calculating and ruthless. Gummer makes her complicated and believable, a type we have all met yet a distinctive and very particular character.
Gummer learned a lot from her mother, Meryl Streep, but has really come into her own as a performer and not coincidentally, resembles her mother less with each new role. I am delighted to hear that she will be a regular on “Off the Map,” a new medical series from “Grey’s Anatomy’s” Shondra Rimes, scheduled to begin in the mid-season.

Do the GQ ‘Glee’ Photos Go Too Far?

Posted on October 21, 2010 at 8:26 am

Katie Couric and the Parents Television Council are objecting to a sexy photo spread of “Glee” cast members in GQ Magazine. While Finn (Cory Monteith) is fully clothed, his cast mates Rachel (Lea Michelle) and Quinn (Diana Agron) (both 24 years old but playing teenage high schoolers in the show) are in their underwear and posing very provocatively.

The PTC says “It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia.” GQ responded, “As often happens in Hollywood, these ‘kids’ are in their twenties. Cory Montieth’s almost 30! I think they’re old enough to do what they want.” NPR’s Monkey See blog also objected to the sexy “Glee” photos, because of the passive, little-girl signifiers of the props and poses.

“Glee” is not intended for children. It has a good deal of edgy material with frequent sexual references and situations. Agron plays a character who, despite membership in the school chastity club, had a baby last year. A teen boy has sex with older women. In another episode three characters decide to lose their virginity, though not all of them went through with it. The most recent episode showed two teen girl cheerleaders making out with each other.

At least three or four times a year there is a headline about some former child star who wants to show she is all grown up with a sexy photo shoot or music video. A new video from Miley Cyrus, formerly the squeaky clean Hannah Montana, has her posing blindfolded on a bed and giving lap dances. The only thing harder to control than a teenager is a teenager in show business. Or a publication trying to get headlines.

How should parents respond? First, by listening. Young fans of performers like Miley Cyrus may be distressed by this kind of behavior. Parents should use this as an opportunity to say that sometimes people, especially teenagers, make foolish choices, and we hope they learn from their mistakes — and that we do, too. If they feel strongly about it, help them write a letter to the performer, or post something on a fan site expressing their views. Teenage Gleeks may be willing to talk about why it is that the male performer gets to keep his clothes on, why the female stars pose in their underwear in public settings, and how props like a lollipop are used transgressively to make the images evoke both childhood and adult sexuality.

Let me know what your family thinks about this issue, either here or at moviemom@moviemom.com.

Tribute: Tom Bosley

Posted on October 19, 2010 at 5:41 pm

We mourn the passing of Tom Bosley, one of the all-time great TV dads in the classic series, “Happy Days.” As a young man, he won a Tony playing the much-older mayor of New York City in the musical, “Fiorello.” He was back on Broadway half a century later as Maurice in the Disney musical version of “Beauty and the Beast.” His roles on television included the priest on the “Father Dowling Mysteries” and a cop on “Murder, She Wrote.” I am fond of his performance as the sensible man Natalie Wood doesn’t marry in “Love With a Proper Stranger.” And he was very touching helping to teach children about the Holocaust in the documentary Paper Clips. But he will be best-remembered as the understanding Eisenhower era father, known affectionately by the Fonz as “Mr. C.” He always knew the right thing to say when one of his kids needed some special guidance and support.
Rest in peace, Mr. B.

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