I know I've been complaining about Grey's Anatomy lately, about how the cast members, and even the patients sound the same because they repeat themselves for emphasis, so you can tell that it's the same writers writing for everyone or maybe the writers are all just picking up each other's way of talking, like how everyone started saying "Seriously" all the time because of Grey's Anatomy. And I've complained about how Callie and Arizona have no chemistry and it's totally not believable that they're a couple, probably because they're not gay in real life, and it would seem that I complain about tv shows (don't even get me started on Glee) because I want to feel superior for a moment and of course that's true but really it's because I need to believe that it's possible that there really is a hospital in Seattle with Dr. McDreamy and Dr. McSteamy in it. The lack of chemistry between the girls stops me from believing that the show is real. The characters all talking the same stops me from believing the show is real. I like to believe that my tv shows are totally possible otherwise I might as well be watching Smurfs.
That's what I don't like about Glee: None of the writing is realistic. Everyone sounds stupid. No one talks like people do in real life and I don't just mean the obnoxious cheerleading coach who plays the same character in every show or movie she's in. (Okay, so I'm getting started on Glee. I just couldn't stop myself.) If it were more campy, it would have the potential to be Ally McBeal but the writers don't know how to find the balance. They try to have some characters from an Ally McBeal-type world live in a normal world except the normal world written by old adults trying to write a teenager world. Gilmore Girls had unrealistic writing too but at least it was unrealistic that people would be that AWESOME and FUNNY and SMART, not inane, boring, and predictable. There's no way that drives-me-to-near-homicide cheerleading coach character would work at a high school where normal people work and the normal people would not always be like, "What is wrong with that woman? Let's kill her now." You know what I mean? Like, we're supposed to believe that the Glee teacher guy does not want to murder her silly every single day? On Ally McBeal, Portia de Rossi's character thought everyone was a nut job because they were and she was normal and that's called REALISM. She came to accept and embrace the nutty but she didn't start off that way because it wouldn't have been believable. Glee has started off with an imbalance of normalish people and other-worldly people. And the show starts off with the plot all laid out and obvious. You know how it's going to end from the first ten minutes.
Now, if they made a DVD collection JUST of all their dance and song numbers, I'd be all over that. And if the cute redheaded woman with the sexy-modest button-up 50's outfits, and the sweet little voice and meek demeanor was at my house, I'd just want to bake her muffins and stare at her with a smile on my face. Not in a gay way. Just in a "I love puppies, kittens, bunnies and the cute little meek redhead on Glee" way. And I don't even really bake, nor do I like muffins.
Now, some of you who know me might have been thinking, "Right, Natasha, like Alias is realistic?"
LET ME STOP YOU THERE.
Alias is TOTALLY realistic. If I didn't believe that it was possible for a sexy, slight-yet-muscular woman to take out five men with guns, using only her heels, martial arts skillz, mathematical calculations, gravity defying abilities, and lipstick, while wearing latex and a wig, and that therefore, the same is possible for me because I, too, am a kickass woman, then I might as well just find a cave in Afghanistan to wither away and die in because who wants to live in a world like that? If believing in Alias is wrong then I don't want to be right. The only thing not realistic is her name: Sydney. Sorry to all the Sydneys out there but wouldn't she be so much better off if her name was Natasha? Natasha is a badass name. It's all Russian and slightly evil or at least mysterious. Characters in movies whose names are Natasha are always cool and slightly scary. Like if you were to take them to bed, you'd better like nipple clamps. (Did I just say that?!) But I guess that's the point, actually, because Sydney is really just a wholesome college girl who got herself into a bad situation and is doing what she can to make it right.
GOSH I LOVE ALIAS. (Although, really just seasons one and two. Three was okay. Four and five sucked. It started to get a little bit unrealistic at season five.)
Which obviously brings me back to Grey's Anatomy. Last night's episode was nice because it focused mostly on one story and that's nice for a change. It was somewhat profound, did you notice?
I loved how the guy with the spinal tumour said to McDreamy (Derek): "Instead of being scared, be inspired." WHAT A GREAT MANTRA!
I loved how when Derek, after staring into the guy's body for 10 hours only to seal him back up, told him that his tumor was completely inoperable, he confidently said, "Go home. Sleep on it. We'll talk more tomorrow."
And then Derek goes home to his squinty-eyed sexy wife and spins the bed around and draws a diagram of the spinal tumour on the wall in permanent marker. It was so whimsical! Bring back whimsical!
Then when the chief told McDreamy he was fired, instead of getting upset, Derek had confidence and peace and he just said, "Go home. Sleep on it. We'll talk more tomorrow."
Sometimes, that's the best strategy, I'm learning. Especially with difficult relationships. Step back, find that peace and confidence inside yourself, and love the person back, instead of lashing out. The chief was SO blunt. He didn't cushion his words, he didn't give explanations. Just, "You're fired. Immediately. Get the hell out of my hospital." He obviously wanted to hurt Derek. Didn't you think that showed love, when instead of arguing or saying something to hurt him, Derek gave the chief a second chance to rethink things? He basically communicated, "I'm not going to be upset by that and I respect you enough to not argue with you. If that's what you want, I can handle it with maturity. But think on it. I'm willing to work on this. I'm willing to start over. I'm giving you that choice with me because I love and respect you."
LOVED IT!
Then, as he's walking away and going home, he says in that cliché voiceover: "Everyday we all experience these moments of peace. The trick is to know when they're happening. Embrace them. Live in them."
Speak it, brotha.
(Loved it.)
(Darn. I just noticed that I used the word "sexy" three times and each time I was talking about women. OOOPS. Coincidence.)
Daily Gratitudes
- We have no snow yet. I love it these Halloween tender mercies of no snow every year. See? God likes Halloween.
- Jude is better today than last night. He didn't just had the shakes-- he had the seizures. The Swine Flu Seizures. I had to put his socks on for him and he couldn't brush his teeth, he was shaking so much. Didn't even have a fever. But he's okay today in the sense he can be still and nap for three and a half hours and cough a lot.
- I'm not very tired even though I had a horrible night's sleep.
- My hips didn't really hurt after walking Izzy today.
- I am leaving this house (yay!!!) to be ALONE and listen to a CD course on Consciousness and Its Implications by an Oxford professor, then buy some white oil paint because I have none, which was really, really disheartening when I finally broke out my paints the other night. All I can make without white is like... emo rubbish.
