- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
As a youngish lesbian in Los Angeles, I was so excited when the L Word first came out. (ha) The first two seasons had their flaws, but at least they were interesting - and there was a moral center that revolved around friendship, loyalty and the stubborn voracity it takes to live a normal life when you're gay.
Sadly, the show has deteriorated-and not in a fun crazy way like Melrose Place. I blame the Betty themesong primarily. Not only was that the beginning of shameless product placement/band placement/magazine placement - it was the beginning of this "vibe" that went along with the song. "This is the way that we live" became a selfish hipster type anthem that disconnected with the tone of the show at the time.
Part of the problem, in my opinion, was the departure of writer Guinevere Turner, who also had a brief role in the show as Gabby. A proven soulful writer- her contributions were obvious in different storylines- and the void she left was followed by questionable storylines.
On the face of many plot points-the situations seem plausible. But there is no character continuity on The L Word. Characters don't evolve, they either stay the same, or change at breakneck speed. There seems to be a sad underlying theme that certain negative personality traits are permanent, even after soul searching and personal growth (Shane is a womanizer & druggie, Tina goes back to men, etc). The worst of it? There isn't even one character left with integrity. The loyalty and love is gone, and in its place is cattiness and reluctant friendship. I don't believe any of the characters respect or like each other--and that has rubbed off on me.
I still watch the L Word--but it makes me sad that straight people watch and might think there is a speck of reality to it. So, why do I watch? Well, it's my Sapphic duty to know my pop culture... and sadly, there isn't a lot of it. Niches and festivals and so forth, yes. But when I'm at the lesbian water cooler, the L word is going to be a topic that comes up---and when I roll my eyes, I want to be able to follow it up with an informed complaint.
