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Wednesday, September 12, 2007 12:00 AM

Women are the new men on TV

Broads are the cops and lawyers and masters of the business universe on the new shows. So what happened to the men?

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  • Wednesday, September 12, 2007 02:38 PM

    It's all maddening, isn't it?

    I do hate those images of the man-child that are so popular today. I sure wouldn't date that guy. (and I have to say, based on the promos, that the show "Big Shots" should have been called "Douche Bags.") But I do think it reflects an honest confusion over how to behave as an adult, man or woman, in modern life. Watching the show Mad Men reminds me how prescribed life was, at least for white people. It went school, work, marriage, children, retirement, death, in that order, no straying.

    Now things are all out of whack. We can have kids or not, get married or not (for love or not), be straight or not, have jobs or not. I think smart people in real life are able to figure it out, but TV and movies have to turn to extremes, to archetypes and caricatures, to create tension and drama, so we get no images of people who are just getting on with life without all the hoo-hah. Instead, we get two options per gender. For men, it's either be an emasculated doofus or be a jerk, and for women it's either be a ball-buster or be a simpering twit/bimbo.

    Fortunately, real life is easier. Sure, our apartments are smaller and our clothes and cars aren't as nice, but at least our people are more nuanced.

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