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"Rescue Me" does a sorry job with a lesbian storylineDid you feel a giant sucker punch to the entire gay rights movement last night around 10:00 Eastern Standard Time? Well, that's because FX's firehouse testosterone-fest, Rescue Me, was airing the episode "Lesbos." If you've never seen Rescue Me, let me sum it up for you: Penis, penis, penis, fires!, penis, explosions!, penis, penis. The first half of last night's episode took place in a bar. Lukily, Fireman Franco conveniently exposited it for us in the first 30 seconds:
See, because according to the "previous-lies," all of the other firemen think his girlfriend is gay. To wit: Franco, first of all it's ladies night. Second of all, look how touchy-feely they're being with each other. That's pretty g-dd--n gay. And if 70 percent of these chicks know your girl, there's a pretty good chance that — technically speaking — your girlfriend's a g-dd--n lesbian, son." Oh, but Franco, he knows a lot about the gays.
So, just to recap: Conventionally attractive women who sleep with other women are basically just waiting for the right penis to come along. (How convenient! That's what 60 percent of this show is all about: Penises!) Women who aren't as feminine? Well, they're probably actually gay. Don't believe the firemen? Well, they hammer it home with this dialogue:
About fifteen minutes into this little homophobic rant, something crazy happens: Some lesbian-looking lesbians come into the bar like a band of Jesse James groupies at the O.K. Corral. "Baton down the hatches, put locks on the men's room door. We got bulldykes!" one of the fireguys exclaims.
Another fireguy is all, "Who let in the bull dykes? It's hard enough trying to make it with a lesbian. I don't need this g-dd--n competition." And then guess what? This is going to blow your mind! One of the "bull dykes" seduces the fire chief's wife! ("Holy s--t! One of them just got Mrs. Needles.") Ha ha ha! Isn't that precious? And just so true to life? Well, what happens next is even more awesome: the firemen decide to get into a fist fight with the lesbians! ("When it comes to fighting lesbos, I was born ready. You heard of Mike Tyson? I'm Dyke Tyson.")
Gosh, such a riot. I mean, by this point in the show I was just so taken with the clever, authentic writing I could barely sit still. Anyway, there was a fight, but later we learn that the "bull dykes" paid to fix all the stuff that was broken. "They're classy broads for broads that don't look like broads." And if that weren't heroic enough, at the very end of the episode, the firemen save some people from a burning building. Sigh. Such dreamboats. Did anyone else catch last night's episode? Submitted by on July 29, 2009 - 5:00pm. |
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Train Wreck
I saw it. I've been watching Rescue Me from the beginning, but I'm not really sure why. That's not true, as a former firefighter, and retired drinker, I was interested in the premise ... NY City firefighters dealing with the aftermath of 911. Why I CONTINUE to watch, I don't know. Maybe it's the train wreck factor ... I don't WANT the train to wreck, but if it's gonna wreck, I want to be there to see it, and maybe help. I keep thinking I'm going to be able to help them get it right. If it helps any, they don't get ANYTHING right. It isn't just the lesbians they get wrong. I can't believe they pay a technical advisor, because it is SOOOO wrong, it's unbelievable. They do get the immature attitude of the guys right. Immature attitudes prevail in the firehouse.
I do know why I watched last night's episode though, and will watch the next 4 or 5 ... MAURA TIERNEY. She looked damned good last night, in her brief appearance, but then again, she most always does. :-)
Lisa
Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security -- B. FranklinMaybe you continue to watch because
It's a pretty good show and you just don't want to admit it. I like Rescue Me always have and if guys are going to be the numb nuts they usually are then they'd better be running into towers of fire to prove their masculinity.
Oh and Maura running into the burning building after all the firemen have evacuated, and then the explosion and the guys are standing around like she's dead and suddenly you hear: "It was Hot in there" before she cooly walks away with her package. I mean she wasn't even saving a human life, she entered the building for a BOX! Priceless.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
No, I'll admit to many of
No, I'll admit to many of guilty pleasure shows. Rescue Me is not one of them. It's a train wreck, just like I said.
Lisa
Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security -- B. FranklinIf it's so bad and such a train wreck then...
Stop watching it. You're a Big girl right? So stop acting like you have no power over what you CHOOSE to view by making excuses like: "I don't know why I continue to watch this show like I've done from the beginng". Don't you have any self control? Or, are you refusing to be responsible for your actions? Like many of the emotionally immature are. Sheesh.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
Such anger, you should see
Such anger, you should see someone about that.
Technology may lead to the demise of civilization as we know it, however, anger like yours will lead to the end of civilization.
Lisa
Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security -- B. FranklinDidn't see it
Nurse Jackie
As a health care professional you should be more upset by that show. Oh and THIS REVIEW WASN'T AT ALL GREAT CONSIDERING BENDIX'S ABSENCE ON REPORTING THE EPISODES On RESCUE ME THAT WERE FAVORABLE TO LESBIANS OR AT minimum realistic. Hey Trish knock off the selective reviews,
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
inaccurate attribution
Oh and I'm sure...
That the world will be coming to a premature end because my attribution wasn't correct. It's about the episode silly not who wrote the critique of it, keep up and stop being so bookish.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
HA!
"If you've never seen Rescue Me, let me sum it up for you: Penis, penis, penis, fires!, penis, explosions!, penis, penis."
THAT was frickin' penis! Uhh, I mean hilarious!
Can you imagine the writers in drawing room?
"Hmm, I wonder what would get a lot of sex into one show and include girl-on-girl, but not offend our close-minded, homophobic audiences?"
"Oooh, I know! Gay girls who aren't actually gay! And some hot women making out! ... But don't worry, they're an entirely different species called 'bull dykes' and they all look the same, so we can just make them our enemies because they take all our hot women away."
And the best yet, "So what if they're queer; I like a challenge."
Wow, sounds like it was written by a bunch of horny adolescent boys who have zero gay friends. Good thing I've never watched that show and neither has anyone else I'm friends with...the less coverage it gets, the better.
Oh Please
Be quiet because if you watched the series from the beginning like you've probably done for the L Word (making excuses for the untalented writers) then you'd know that Rescue me has often handled the topic of lesbianism quite effectively.
"Hmm, I wonder what would get a lot of sex into one show and include girl-on-girl, but not offend our close-minded, homophobic audiences?"
Ilene Chaiken also did the same thing you know by getting non gay women to make out with each other just to please the purient fantasies of heterosexual men.
Chaiken also did her best to appeal to the homophobic sensibilities of straight America with stereotypical portrayals such as: Tina NOT coming to her senses until she has the Penis she craved after Angelica's birth or Jenny as downright lunacy personified.
But it's Okay I guess if a lesbian sells us out right? Gosh I hate glib comments that don't reflect reality.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
excuses, eh?
i don't know many people who made excuses for the miserable writing on the l word.
i think we all pretty much watched just to see the boobs.
You don't
"i don't know many people who made excuses for the miserable writing on the l word."
Well you must lead an extremely sheltered existence.
When one fails to cite the very same tactics that Ilene used that are similar to the tactics that Rescue Me used to appeal to the largest demographic of viewers by calling the show "Groundbreaking" over and over and over (as if the same ground can be broken more than once) Or, like on the show's now closed message boards write: "Maybe next time Ilene will do better" or "I don't care what Ilene does just let me see Bette in a power suit". Maybe you've never read the comments on this very site that alludes to the fact that it's a good show because at least one gets to see lesbians on television.
Well you all got to see lesbians on Rescue Me so stop bellyaching and they were as gay as the straight actresses on the L Word.
Look I don't mind the occasional counter perspective but at least be inclusive and reflective of all that has been written about the show on this site.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
@SapphicDay I haven't read
@SapphicDay
I haven't read all your posts (and I dont plan on it) but the basics I get is that you love Rescue Me and are defending their previous positive shows on lesbians..
Yet you also can't stand Illene & the L Word? Well, regardless of how many GREAT moments the L Word had, you seem to blast the show & its fans.. completely forgetting all the good stuff the L Word brought us.
But you're doing the opposite for Rescue Me.. remember the good times.. and blast anyone who brings up the bad times.
In the words of Dr. Evil: Riiiiiiight.
Thanks TRISH, oops, I mean StuntDouble for such a great topic/blog. I would not have been able to sit through this episode.
...
I understand that my comment was a little bit of an exaggeration. I'll agree with you that neither shows are perfect. I never watched the episode of Rescue Me, so I wrote a response based on my understanding of what occurred, and reacted accordingly.
I'm a pacificst, so I have no interest in getting into an argument. However, there is no way that I will take you seriously if you begin by telling me to "be quiet."
We should be sticking together rather than tearing each other down!
Cheers,
Kiwisav
Ha! Sounds less like a
Ha! Sounds less like a setback for gay rights and more like a hilarious and pathetic spectacle, existing as an example of how things shouldn't be.
...Penis!
Typical...
Sadly, this whole tragic episode reflects the views of a lot of MEN that I've had the misfortune to meet (and get hit on by) in my life. Lipstick lesbian = probably not really a lesbian, right?
I work every day at proving that misconception wrong. Keep your penis away!
I hear you.
'I work every day at proving that misconception wrong.'
Me too. It's a battle. Femmes really need to stick together. Women in general, but especially femmes.
Joey wrote:Femmes really
*hearted*
I'm with you, ladies. I get
YES! We need a femme
YES! We need a femme revolution.
Stilettos don't mean I'm hetero, son.
Exactly!
I'm just as gay as my girlfriend who gets mistaken for a boy daily!
The cattiness among femmes has got to stop, too (and certain TV shows don't help). Drama among women (of any sexual orientation) is extremely anti-feminist. As femmes, a subculture of a minority, we should make an extra effort to help one another because we know what it's like to be invisible, even in our own community. We are not competitors; we are sisters.
theyr're stupid
and its the seventeenth ep
Good catch!
What a stupid show
I never watched that show. It's probably written by guys who wished they had girlfriends that want them.
www.myspace.com/segavo
www.myspace.com/guitarrachica
wtf
I assume that you...
Were equally critical of the L Word when that show pandered to close minded v=\\viewers because they also watched the show you know if only to add to their arsenal of homophobic rhetoric.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
UGGG
Who's the real critic? Where is your column? Do you have one here? I already had stated I have never watched ANY of the shows. So Ms. Know-it-all....calm down. I would have no idea if Nurse Jackie would offend me or be realistic. Nurses are only human too.
P.S. I never liked or watched the L Word. I don't watch a ton of TV so it is nice to know what not to waste my time on.
Where's my column?
My BLOG is at:
http://hypervision.blogspot.com/
I don't write for After Ellen I have my OWN mind, uh where your column?
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
OF COURSE!!!
Harsh
I wasn't very critical
at all towards the L word... Probably because I went through a mild obsession with it lol. But the differences between the L word and this here episode of,, whatever it is that this is, are numerous, I feel like. First of all, the L word doesn't degrade women, like this particular episode did. I just feel that way...
No hate please, eh?
All I can say is...
Thank god I'm a lesbian and don't have to put up with guys like that...except on my TV, and at work...and just about everywhere else.
I know oodles of really nice guys, it's a shame that a lot of them are just as they're shown here.
Crap storytelling, I don't watch the show...and I won't.
i liked it
its a mentrual show. they might as well have those blk people in
Isn't that already happing on Meet The Browns, there's an unwritten code that as long as it's "self" deprecating then it's all right. Thanks Tyler Perry.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
A mentrual show?
?
Having watched ALL seasons of Rescue Me....
I am wondering where were you Trish Bendix when the show did an outstanding job with its storyline on lesbian domestic violence, or when the character Tommy Gallagher (played by Denis Leary [sp]) was supportive of his daughters temporary lesbianism?
Granted the "Lesbo" schtick got pretty old after 30 minutes but given the high quality the storylines have taken over the past 6 years I will excuse this one episode. Besides the term: "They call me "Dyke" Tyson" was pretty funny.
However, I will NOT excuse you Ms. Bendix as it's unfathomable how you go on and on about the L Word with its LOUSY writing and yet slam Rescue Me, which has (Unlike the L Word) portrayed lesbians quite realistically bringing attention and visibility to domestic violence and teenage homosexuality. DID you even watch the episode in question?
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
*confused*
Trish Bendix didn't write this.
Trish Bendix didn't write this.
After a while ALL of After Ellen's writers morph into a singular entity for me so SORRY, Lo Siento, Entshuldigen. Pardonnez Moi just flog me with a wet noodle (In fact I may enjoy that). Is ANYONE going to address the context of my posts as opposed to the knee jerk reactions about who I attributed the original column to?
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
LOL, what!?
A 'noodle'? ^_^ Okay.....
"Dyke Tyson"
Rescue Me
Hi Sapphic Day,
For starters, Trish Bendix didn't write this post; I did.
Let me speak first of all to your specific issues with this post: No, I have not watched all five seasons of "Rescue Me." Regardless of how they've handled lesbian storylines in the past, last night's episode, "Lesbos," was offensive and homophobic and exactly the kind of thing that we fight against all the time in the media. (And in real life.) I am not a person who jumps onto the "homophobia" bandwagon easily, but the portrayal of men's attitudes toward lesbians in last night's episode was so appalling that I only sat through it so I could recap it.
Secondly, no one in this comment thread is trying to juxtapose "Rescue Me" with "The L Word."
It seems like you've taken offense to our blog editor, Trish Bendix's, most recent post about the potential "L Word" movie and now you're taking it out on our commenters and bloggers, which is unfair on a variety of levels.
We have always taken a balanced approach to "The L Word" on this site. See our coverage of the last two seasons in the form of regular recaps, Facebook recaps and just plain old blog posts, and you will see that we diligently called out the "L Word" writers when we felt like their character portrayals were harmful to the LGBT community. (See also Sarah's end-of-series analysis about the hits and misses of the show.)
I always appreciate feedback from readers, but please try to be respectful. And maybe you could stop blasting Trish. She was doing her job reporting on the potential "L Word" movie. Maybe that's not something you're interested in, but honestly most of our readers do care about it.
Hear, hear!
Tactfully stated, StuntDouble. Please let my voice be one of appreciation for the work the site diligently does to bring all pertinent pop-culture news to its audience of queer women, and the effort its writers exert to make those presentations humorous.
Your recap is a service to those of us who were unable to view the episode when it aired, and a pleasure to read. Don't be dissuaded from those facts.
Oh here we go...
Do you know what a mistake is? Good grief I've already apologized so I await whatever defensive tactics lay ahead cause GODDESS forbid After Ellen allow free speech.
frankly I am rather tame on After Ellen as I save my more volatile commentary for my website and blog and guess what? No one ever tells those who write: "Ssshh Be Careful don't make the author cry".
Now I am assuming that by a "balanced approached" you are alluding to slapping the the show with your left hand while petting it with your right one?
Of course the readers care about an L Word Movie in fact didn't I speciffically write that all some care about is seeing Bette in a power suit again? I also care and would LOVE to see Helena reunite with Dylan for good but I cannot afford to waste anymore time hoping that Ilene will get it right.
Trish Bendix was "just doing her job eh"? Hmm where can I get a job like that? Apparently my education in knowledge mnagement precluded me from such positions.
I apologized numerous times about the incorrect attribution, but this will be my last apology on this topic.
There is NOTHING wrong with wanting closure to The L Word, but why won't the readers demand quality? Most act as if Ilene is a heavenly essenger or something and that we have no right to want better.
Finally being online in a forum if you are claiming to be journalists then you must take an opposing view and none of this banning nonsense either, if the readers identify as adults then they should be able to withstand an alternative viewpoint. That leads to emotional growth.
Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It.
the topic is about how this
"Blackmail always works better then bribery."
Vast differences of opinion about offensive material
StuntDouble - I just want to thank you for your review, as the resulting comments have outlined the vast differences in our own community about what is deemed "offensive". Maybe I'm so used to the barrage of offensive content in Rescue Me that I barely flinch when it's aimed at me?
Just a thought
"Lesbos," was offensive and homophobic and exactly the kind of thing that we fight against all the time in the media. (And in real life.).......
It's a TV show. I repeat, It's a TV show. You can't fight it. It's not real, and it's a comedy, a dramatic comedy, but a comedy. The guy talks to dead people throughout the whole show, isn't that offensive to religious groups? They constantly mock mentally disabled, people of color, and the traditional american family.... because its a TV show. It is not to be taken serious because it's entertainment. I'm sure you belong with the same people who think Bruno is setting the gay community back. THE GAY COMMUNITY IS SETTING ITSELF BACK. If you want to be taken seriously and treated as you would like to be treated you don't have to blend in, you can still be an individual but you do need to cooperate with others and others ideas, likes and wants because we all share this one world. My grandma is supportive of the gay community but she doesn't want to watch shows like Gimme Sugar and the L word. If you don't like Rescue Me, do yourself a favor and don't watch it or review it because you think you are making a triumph for the gay community or homophobia. You didn't like how lesbians and women were portrayed, Ok great you have a right to your opinion, but to say your fighting against offensive, homophobic material is like a straight book store fighting against putting gay sex books on the shelves because they are offensive. All you are doing is further trivializing actual, real homophobia, and violence against gays and lesbians.