Social and Cultural Themes: A is for Activism

[Lady Calypso]

True though I was thinking of Hanna's random turn towards being a genius.  The writers fairly clearly showed that Hanna being the fashion obsessed queen bee was her compensating for her insecurities and that she was hiding the fact that she was smart.  Now that doesn't mean she necessarily would have gone into one of the hard sciences but I thought the writers were going to have her do something with science or technology to show how much she had changed.  Also Spencer spent the past like four seasons rebelling against her family, but she seems to have gone into the field that most closely embodies everything she hates about her family.  I guess my complainant isn't entirely about the fields that the girls choose but also that the writers seemed to have regressed the characters back to who they were at the start of season 1, which I found particularly frustrating with Hanna and Spencer who are were portrayed as extremely intelligent and, in Spencer's case, hardworking.  Again I know that in large part that has to do with the mediocre writing on this show, but it still bothers me.

 

Also I would just like to add that nursing, a field that is overwhelming female, is considered one of the hardest, if not the hardest, undergraduate degrees.  Nursing or premed actually would have been a good fit for Spencer if they wanted to have her choose something other than law or business.

 

I actually like that the girls went into these career paths. Hanna has always seemed to be more into fashion, so for her to suddenly go into the sciences and become a nurse, for example, wouldn't make much sense. Just because she's smart, doesn't mean she can change that much in five years. Her strengths are in fashion, and the show has always established this, so I'm happy about it.

 

Spencer, and to a lesser degree Mona as well, has been shown to be able to go different routes, either in politics, in law or in the technology/business field. So for both of them to choose politics isn't that much of a stretch. Plus, I think it's actually cooler to have them in politics. If Spencer became a lawyer, I would think that's too TV-esque, as 85-90% of character on television either become a police officer, a lawyer, or a doctor of some kind. We don't have that many politicians/lobbyists on television, especially when they're not part of a politics-focused show. I get what you're saying, that Spencer doesn't seem like the type now to go into politics, especially with her past history of her parents, but I think it does make sense for her to fit in better with politics. 

 

Alison...honestly in my opinion, I would think it would be highly difficult for Alison to be a teacher, at least this soon. She didn't go to high school for two years. She missed a lot of school and she would have to make up for credits. That would mean she would have had to pick up a hefty workload in order to make up for missing so much school. I'm also going to have to assume, or at least hope, that she's just a TA or something, as she should only be in her early twenties. She would have had to go through a few years of college/teacher's college. She may be able to become a teacher by now, but it's just less realistic for her to be one now. But I guess I could definitely be wrong; I don't quite know the logistics of becoming a teacher, especially in the States like Pennsylvania. 

 

Emily and Aria's career paths do make sense for them, somewhat. I guess they'll be exploring Emily's last five years more, so I won't comment on hers yet, and Aria's hasn't been focused on much either, but her going into the writing field (I think?) fits. 

 

But I agree that it doesn't feel like they've fully grown or matured. I feel like the show is wanting to actually keep them stuck in Rosewood and, thus, keeping them in their high school-filled lives. It doesn't make sense for any of them to stay, especially if this show goes on beyond season 7. Realistically, they would stay for a little bit and then leave right afterward. It's why the time jump is tricky; sure, they've been gone and free for five years, but they shouldn't be sticking around for a long period of time. So unless 6B happens in a span of a couple of weeks, it's just not going to work. 

[Jack Shaftoe]

Even Heather Hogan is starting to find it hard to defend certain aspects of PLL.

 

And of course, the way to cope with it seems to be "But Ezra is just as monstrous as Charlotte, you guys, because I don't like him". Yes, okay, you convinced me. Not.

 

Also this gem: "Treated with dignity, afforded the same opportunities for redemption as the rich, handsome, straight white men on this show." - because the female characters aren't just as likely to be whitewashed? Mona, Alison, Melissa, Shower (probably). And in any event, Ezra is the only one who fits the description and him being rich had nothing to do with him being redeemed. The writers give Toby and Ezra a million undeserved chances because they are popular characters - and do the exact same thing with Mona and Alison but that's supposed to not be as bad because they happen to be female even though their transgressions are worse? Come on.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[itainttippithebird]

LOVED Heather's recap/post this morning. So much more satisfying and in-depth than her finale post, which itself was a pretty good breakdown of the issues.

[Mabinogia]

I just read that recap, well, the start of it, and IDK what it says about me but when Charlotte was killed the last thing on my mind was that she was transgender. Kind of forgot. I knew she was a psycho and a murderer but neither of those things triggered an "oh, right, cause she's transgendered" moment.

Really, the only reason I think Charlotte is transgendered is because the show didn't expect to make that particular actress A and when they decided the just LOVED the actress soooooo much and she should be A they totally did an "Oh shit! But we gave Jason and Ali a brother, not a sister." "Ah, fuck it, we'll just have him have a sex change, then it can be Charlotte". I don't think for a second the show set out to have a transgender character or to portray her in any particular way. It was just lazy writing and favoritism.

[Lady Calypso]

I just read that recap, well, the start of it, and IDK what it says about me but when Charlotte was killed the last thing on my mind was that she was transgender. Kind of forgot. I knew she was a psycho and a murderer but neither of those things triggered an "oh, right, cause she's transgendered" moment.

Really, the only reason I think Charlotte is transgendered is because the show didn't expect to make that particular actress A and when they decided the just LOVED the actress soooooo much and she should be A they totally did an "Oh shit! But we gave Jason and Ali a brother, not a sister." "Ah, fuck it, we'll just have him have a sex change, then it can be Charlotte". I don't think for a second the show set out to have a transgender character or to portray her in any particular way. It was just lazy writing and favoritism.

 

I would buy this, except they only added Charles in at the end of season 5. So that just confirms that they didn't know who A would be until at least the beginning of filming season 6, even though I'm pretty sure Marlene King tried to play it all off as that she knew who A was very early on, which meant she lied. The fact that Charlotte's actress Vanessa was only considered the final 'A' ten episodes before her reveal (so roughly two months or so? Maybe three?) is absolutely ridiculous. Six seasons, five years, and they decide on 'A' in season six. 

 

I think that the more likely scenario is that Marlene threw a hissy fit when people figured out her true final plan for who 'A' was, and decided to slap on Cece/Charlotte as a last resort to make the reveal 'surprising'. Honestly, the whole transgendered thing was a mess because they decided on it on a whim of at least three months. It doesn't seem like they tried to put any effort into it at all, so I agree that it was lazy writing, but I wonder if it is also favouritism, seeing as Vanessa Ray has not been in a ton of episodes, and if she was a favourite, you'd think she would have been in many more. 

[Mabinogia]

I only think favoritism because of the tongue bath she gets from Marlene and the Gang. Now, they could be doing that after the fact but the way they write the show I'm thinking they really liked Vanessa and decided to make her A because they like her, not because it makes sense, or fits with everything we know about A and about the story so far but because, awe, Vanessa's pretty good, let's make her A.

 

I do like your scenario that there was going to be a different A but too many of us have a brain cell and figured it out so Marlene decided to "show us!" and just picked this ridiculously convoluted idea.

 

At any rate, I doubt there are many of us out in fandom who believe this was a long term plan that was well thought out and hinted at/written early in the shows run.

 

And I would bet money on the fact that CeCe was a) not going to be A when she first arrived, B) not meant to be related to Ali at first and C) certainly not transgender until they randomly decided to make her A and related to Ali and decided to make her Charles instead of some random love child because it would be oh so SHOCKING!!!!! Only it wasn't, well shockingly stupid maybe.

[rho]

Mabinogia, I kind of understand where you're coming from. For me, I cringed during the entire summer finale and it's been months since I watched it. The show has so many characters coming and going through a revolving door, that I have to constantly remind myself that Cece is now Charlotte. For some reason I keep confusing her with Shower Harvey (who I have so many problems with) and even Bethenny Young. The whole reveal is convoluted with too many fucking red herrings that I literally have no idea who anyone is. Plus I think they made a huge mistake in not including Charlotte on camera after she's released. That scene with Ali putting flowers in a vase was so useless. Then the next time we see Charlotte, she's in an open casket. I know there's a lot to cram into a time jump episode, but I really think reformed Charlotte needed a lot more screen time for me to feel sympathetic when she died.

 

I agree with a lot of the criticism that the transgender "storyline" is a no more than a mere plot twist. It propagates a dangerous sterotype and frankly, the show suffers from poor storytelling and there is no chance in hell they could pull this off.

 

My biggest issue though, is that I don't understand Charlotte's motivation for becoming A. They sold her as an innocent child who was merely the victim of circumstance. There's really no explanation (or maybe I missed it during the expositional episode from hell) for how she went from vacationing with the DiLaurentis kids, rubbing shoulders with the ivy league elite to a revenge plot against Ali's friends, especially after she infiltrated their group. It seems like her hatred is misdirected. It would be a lot easier for me to believe if Mr. D suffered at her hands, but he pretty much makes it out unscathed.

 

Basically, the only way I can continue to watch this show is by operating on the assumption that A was really Bethenny all along. Here is a kid with a mysterious agenda that's already been established as a murderer. She looked enough like Ali for a dozen people to mistake them on the Never Ending Labor Day. Maybe she escaped in Charlotte's place, assumed her lavish life of luxury as black sheep of the DiLaurentis family, and continued her evil warpath. It's not an idiot proof theory, but this show is brimming with plot holes. A few more wouldn't hurt, especially if they can salvage the bullshit.

[Jack Shaftoe]

So, Heather Hogan's latest recap. Some highlights:

 

 

How great would it be in PLL used this storyline to do something good? Spencer, being the savvy politically-minded person she is, could talk about ways to help trans women, donating to the SRLP or TLC or local trans organizations and fighting for politicians to protect trans rights. Emily, being a queer woman, could talk about how her community is affected by Charlotte’s murder and every other murder of a trans woman. Ali, being Charlotte’s sister, could talk about how the trans women who are being murdered are people who deserve love and happiness.

 

The hell?!? If someone tortures me for years, I wouldn't give a damn to what marginalised minority he or she happens to belong and the very last thing I would do after the passing away of my tormentor would be to start a campaign to help that minority. Not to mention that the million reasons every other character in the show has for murdering Charlotte have nothing to do with any transphobia, (except possibly in Jason's case but there is also the whole incest angle to consider). If the Liars want to defend the rights of trans women, great, I don't see how Charlotte's murder can plausibly be the catalyst for that. I don't recall any viewers demanding the Liars start a campaign against racism after Lyndon or Shanna's death.

 

 

And when you’re killing her and making Ezra Fitz into a hero; making Ezra Fitz express outrage that “people like Charlotte” never face consequences; giving Ezra Fitz, who stalked and preyed on his own students, a sympathetic backstory and the chance to stay alive and be redeemed, you’re whispering a really ugly thing into the world: “The trans girl deserved it.”

 

Grasping for straws much? You know who else had a sympathetic (outright manipulative, even) backstory? Charlotte. Heather keeps comparing apples and oranges, as if all crimes are equal and one character being easily forgiven means they all should be easily forgiven or all harshly punished. And with obvious undertones that men deserve punishment much more than women do... for reasons. I don't like defending Ezra freaking Fitz but if you are going to analyse a show, a bit of objectivity helps. For instance, I dislike Alison more than Charlotte but you won't see me trying to prove her crimes are so much worse because they simply are not, period.

 

 

Ezra will never face consequences. And to take that a step further, Ezra will get to walk around in a wounded, self-righteous huff making a distinction between himself and “people like Charlotte” and the audience will believe him, because we live in a real world where we manufacture reasons to believe white men didn’t commit the crimes they obviously committed, and where people of color and women (and trans women of color, especially) are punished for simply existing.

 

Well, there is the small problem that there is a distinction between Ezra and Charlotte and it has nothing to do with their gender or skin colour - one thoroughly enjoyed making peoples lives hell, the other does not. Making it sound as if one gets more sympathy because of his gender only is patently ridiculous. And oddly hilarious, considering the number of characters who get more sympathy in these recaps for precisely that reason.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[Bort]

I used to like Heather's PLL recaps but the past couple of years, she's heavily favored the LGBT community in them and I certainly understand why but if she's going to write reviews/recaps, a bit more objectivity should be in order.

[SadieT]

I used to like Heather's PLL recaps but the past couple of years, she's heavily favored the LGBT community in them and I certainly understand why but if she's going to write reviews/recaps, a bit more objectivity should be in order.

 

Well she's a LGBT writer writing for a LGBT site, so I have no issue with her writing in that vein. My issue is that her recaps are no longer funny. And I'm all for calling out the hypocrisy of the show's treatment of Ezra Fitz, because I do truly think he’s an awful person and a sexual predator and the writers ignore all that and instead present him as some sort of romantic hero, but I think HH is too heavy-handed in her reading. And she takes the show way too seriously and seems more concerned with the social implications than with viewing it as entertainment.

 

I get that the entertainment we consume contributes to our ideas about culture and certain patterns and tropes displayed on tv can be damaging, especially to a marginalized community, so it's important for media to recognize that and try to foster some positive change, but it's a show called Pretty Little Liars on a network called Freeform. It's much more enjoyable if you lower expectations and just enjoy it for the pretty people and cheap thrills.

 

But I do think the writers’ decision to make Charlotte trans was stupid and ill-advised. Because even though Charlotte presumably wasn't murdered for being trans, it's always troubling when a show kills minority characters because that means less visibility and representation. Not that Charlotte was a good representation of trans people because she embodied so many harmful stereotypes, like that trans women are out to trick straight men into falling for them, but point is they had one trans character and she was a crazy, evil, scheming villain who was brutally murdered, so that doesn’t look good. Plus it seems obvious they only made her trans for shock value and because it's a topical issue. 

[mac123x]

Grasping for straws much? You know who else had a sympathetic (outright manipulative, even) backstory? Charlotte. Heather keeps comparing apples and oranges, as if all crimes are equal and one character being easily forgiven means they all should be easily forgiven or all harshly punished. And with obvious undertones that men deserve punishment much more than women do... for reasons.

 

She's also assuming that Charlotte's sympathetic and tragic backstory is actually true.  Everything in the midseason finale was from her PoV, and she's the very definition of "unreliable narrator".  I for one don't buy that anything she said that night wasn't distorted or an out-right fabrication. Not that the show will address any of this (unless they need to retcon something for plot reasons).

[CloudySky]

Some parts of her recaps are still amusing, but the harping on Charlotte's murder is getting tiresome and will get more so if it continues as the season progresses...I too get the issue with that writer's choice but it's done. We all knew it was gonna happen and there's nothing we can do about it now. Trying to whitewash Charlotte's crimes and put her in the same slot as innocent trans women who are victims of senseless murder simply for being who they are is a completely inaccurate comparison and kinda makes HH sound like irrational ezria shippers who whitewash all of Ezra's wrongdoings simply because they have taken that stand and are on that side and darn all the evidence on the contrary.

 

And I like Mona too, but it's pretty hypocritical to praise the Vanderjesus on one hand and crucify Ezra on the other when they are both just as guilty of stalking the girls with a dash of murder and harrassment on Mona's side.

 

I have more of a problem with 3 new hunky love interests being introduced and again all of them suffering from boring white guy syndrome. A little color wouldn't hurt, PLL casting team.

[Mabinogia]

Not to mention that the million reasons every other character in the show has for murdering Charlotte have nothing to do with any transphobia,

 

Hmmm. Could you imagine if, at the end of this story arch, so like 12 years from now, it turns out that some transphobic asshat killed Charlotte and her murder had nothing to do with the years of sociopathic torture she inflicted on 4 innocent (to her, sure they framed Toby which is probably the worst thing they did back then but all they did to Charlotte was have the nerve to befriend her sister) girls, or the fact that she nearly let her brother commit incest, and was the case of many deaths even if she did not do them personally?

 

Sadly, I wouldn't put it past them because OMG what a shocking twist!!!! But that would be beyond ignorant. Funny as hell that they would be that stupid, but also horrible that they would be that socially inept.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Mabinogia

[Jack Shaftoe]

 

Could you imagine if, at the end of this story arch, so like 12 years from now, it turns out that some transphobic asshat killed Charlotte and her murder had nothing to do with the years of sociopathic torture she inflicted on 4 innocent

 

Well, they already did something like that with Maya whose killer turned out some random misogynist, so it wouldn't be entirely new ground for them. Or they could try the tried and true approach of "Ooops, I murdered the wrong person".

 

 

I have more of a problem with 3 new hunky love interests being introduced and again all of them suffering from boring white guy syndrome.

 

Dr. Rollins is so forgettable that I was literally about to ask "Jordan, Liam and who is the third guy?" before I remembered him.

 

 

And I like Mona too, but it's pretty hypocritical to praise the Vanderjesus on one hand and crucify Ezra on the other when they are both just as guilty of stalking the girls with a dash of murder and harrassment on Mona's side.

 

Indeed.

[lion10]

Some parts of her recaps are still amusing, but the harping on Charlotte's murder is getting tiresome and will get more so if it continues as the season progresses...I too get the issue with that writer's choice but it's done. We all knew it was gonna happen and there's nothing we can do about it now. Trying to whitewash Charlotte's crimes and put her in the same slot as innocent trans women who are victims of senseless murder simply for being who they are is a completely inaccurate comparison and kinda makes HH sound like irrational ezria shippers who whitewash all of Ezra's wrongdoings simply because they have taken that stand and are on that side and darn all the evidence on the contrary.

And I like Mona too, but it's pretty hypocritical to praise the Vanderjesus on one hand and crucify Ezra on the other when they are both just as guilty of stalking the girls with a dash of murder and harrassment on Mona's side.

I have more of a problem with 3 new hunky love interests being introduced and again all of them suffering from boring white guy syndrome. A little color wouldn't hurt, PLL casting team.

The praising of Mona is why I always read Heather's recaps with a critical eye. I have no problem with Heather skewering Ezra for being a stalker and a sexual predator, or attacking the Rosewood men for being authoritative creeps, but her praising of Mona who hit Hanna with her car and harassed the Liars and Jenna who outright raped Toby leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

But can we talk about how this show piles so much misfortune on Emily, the most prominent LGBT Liar? She's the only who doesn't go to college and now she has some sickness (nvm, has to sell her eggs for some CA$H).

Edited January 28, 2016 by lion10

[Jack Shaftoe]

Heather Hogan is once again pissed that Ezra is thriving while minority characters are... not.

Quote

When you really shake Pretty Little Liars down to its core, the storytelling crutch it has leaned on again and again is: pinning a bunch of mysterious nefarious actions on an underdeveloped queer or trans woman and then murdering her.

Well, yes, but they also did the exact same thing with Garret, Wilden and Ian (who admittedly was better developed than, say, Sara but still his actions remain an enigma). Honestly, the show is riddled with enough unfortunate implications that there is no need to exaggerate them to make a point. Plus, as usual, it needs to be noted that while Ezra might well be the most boring character ever, his crimes are not in the same ballpark as Charlotte or even Jenna's. Not to mention describing Alison as "a do-nothing" and Ezra as "a fully realized TV character"? Even the current version of Alison is far more involved in the main plot than "I-have-a-show-within-a-show Fitz". I bet that if the roles were reversed Heather would complain that Alison isn't involved enough with the main plot, while claiming that once again the white male male gets the chance to shine in dramatic scenes.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[mac123x]

Yeah, that article is a little unhinged.  

 “Why Do We Humanize White Guys Who Kill People?”

I'll stop right there and reject the premise.  "We" do nothing of the sort -- the national news media and click-bait websites do that shit.  I don't humanize mass murderers because, and I know this is hard to follow for someone who has a chip on her shoulder, they're mass murderers.  The people who attempt to humanize these monsters are doing it to drive an agenda, so they can blame-shift onto whatever their preferred target is.  "Oh, he's not responsible for shooting up a pedestrian mall!  I blame X" with X being guns, video games,... or "a world made for and shaped around white men."

[insubordination]

I don't know if it's a theme, but have you noticed that most (all?) the titles for this season have been from either movies or songs. Is this a new thing?

[dwmckim]

It's something they've done frequently.