|
WB
COVERS A TREND TOO WELL
From the Los Angeles Times, written by Brian
Lowry:
First, a disclaimer: Love looking at women.
The word "prude" wouldn't come up in a personality test, nor do
I often use "gratuitous" and "sex" in the same
sentence. My wife has even suggested I fall into something
approaching a trance upon nearing a Victoria's Secret store.
It's different, however, when it comes to looking at
girls - or at least those who play them on TV.
 This came to mind when the WB network recently sent out
a photo spread from Maxim, one of those men's magazines that talks
a lot about fashion and style but is really just an excuse to look at
beautiful young women in almost-naked poses. The June cover girl is
21-year-old Katherine Heigl, the undeniably eye-catching co-star of Roswell,
a series the WB just renewed for a second season by the skin (pardon the
expression) of its low-rated teeth.
The WB's accompanying letter pointed out that Heigl is
"in contrast to many of today's stars . . . a voluptuous natural
beauty," which amounts to code for the fact several prominent
prime-time actresses look like they need to be force-fed a couple of
protein shakes and a package of Fig Newtons.
OK, so one might be inclined to cut the WB a bit of
slack, and not because (here's another disclaimer) the network is
part-owned by the Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times.
After all, when you're trying to generate attention for a program that
finished the year averaging 3.6 million viewers and No. 142 out of
170-some-odd network series, the options range from scantily clad women to
psychics and carnival acts.
What is unsettling, and even a little creepy, is that
Heigl portrays a teenage girl on Roswell, and Maxim presents
her, along with pictures of other WB stars in their underwear, under the
heading "Grovel Before the WB Girls."
Like Heigl, most of these women are in their 20s but
play high school students on shows wildly popular among teenage girls;
indeed, the WB ranks first among broadcast networks within that narrow
demographic - the one that howls at 'N Sync and flocked to Titanic
often enough to sink an armada of cruise ships.
It's easy to wonder, then, about what message girls
take away from their weekly exposure to the likes of Heigl, Dawson
Creek's Katie Holmes (22), Angel's Charisma Carpenter (26 when
introduced as a teen on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Leslie Bibb,
the 25-year-old star of Popular. Are 14- and 15-year-old
females out there thinking they should look good enough to model lingerie
in a magazine aimed, in essence, at men whose wives or wardens won't let
them buy Playboy?
"That's holding out an unrealistic sort of
appearance expectation for these young viewers," said Martha Lauzen,
a professor of communications at San Diego State University, who has
studied the dearth of roles for older women in prime time.
"It really fetish-izes young girls," added
Karen Sternheimer, a sociology professor at USC. "On one hand,
we're outraged by sexual predators, but on the other hand, our culture is
almost encouraging it by sexualizing very young girls."
As Sternheimer noted, this trend is hardly confined to
television. Belly-baring teen acts such as former Mouseketeers
Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera are all the rage on the music scene,
and an inordinate number of movies target an audience born after Nixon
resigned. Even recent Oscar winner American Beauty hinged on
an adult man's obsession with his daughter's teenage friend, played by
21-year-old Mena Suvari.
Nor is it new to see teenage characters portrayed by
actors well into adulthood. Consider Grease, where most of
the Rydell High gang could have just as easily been cast as guidance
counselors.
Still, the emphasis on teen-themed projects has clearly
risen in recent years, drawn to their demonstrable buying power. Yet many
of the characters depicted are adults, cast as teens because they are
better actors or the producers don't want to endure the hassles of tutors
as well as production limitations associated with employing minors.
These women are invariably more comfortable flaunting
their sexuality and willing to appear in venues such as Maxim,
communicating that it's acceptable to view them as sexual objects - even
though their true age may be a distinction lost on the girls who watch
these shows or some of the men who read these magazines.
"In the public consciousness, we know them as
teenagers," Lauzen said.
Casting adults as teenagers robs programs of some
realism - an observation made by some of the girls who participated in a
teen panel assembled by The Times last fall. Small wonder
that critics gravitate to shows such as My So-Called Life and Freaks
and Geeks, where the youthful characters not only acted their age but,
at least in several key roles, actually looked it.
Teens, however, have embraced series such as Dawson's
Creek and Popular that feature older actors in teen roles -
perhaps in part because those zit-free, beautiful, impossibly articulate
characters project the qualities to which teen viewers aspire. Not
surprisingly, reality usually falls short - all the better to sell acne
treatments and cosmetics.
"There's so much money to be made in making women
and girls feel inadequate," Sternheimer noted. "If you
look at all the advertisements that come in between those programs,
they're for products that can remedy that insecurity."
Part of the solution, if there is one, involves
fostering greater awareness of messages the media conveys.
Sternheimer, in fact, will conduct a seminar for educators next month,
"The Power of Image: Women and Girls in the Media," sponsored by
the Center for Media Literacy, whose goal is to teach critical viewing
skills as part of the school curriculum.
Helping kids recognize that the actors playing many of
the TV characters they admire and identify with could be in graduate
school might be a start, but it doesn't address the sheer ickiness of
seeing Heigl wearing nothing but a strategically placed hand above her
waist, next to a quote saying, "I prefer a kiss that is so much more
than just a tongue in your mouth." Such romance. What's
next: "Pokémon's Turn-On Techniques"?
Granted, Heigl plays an alien on Roswell, so
maybe that's how men perceive teenagers on her planet. Somehow,
though, you suspect the National Organization for Women - which has taken
an interest in the images networks are proffering - will be inclined to
set phasers on "stun" for executives who indulge such fantasies.
At the least, it's worth asking them two questions: How would you like men
to look at your teenage daughter, and do you really want her gazing into
the mirror expecting to see a gorgeous 25-year-old woman looking back? Back
to the top
|
