media journal entry #1

This past Sunday, January 18 2009, marked the beginning of the sixth and final season of the network Showtime's original series The L Word. I have been watching this series avidly since its start and considering the monumental nature of the show, I feel it is an appropriate subject matter for analysis and deconstruction as a means of a media literacy journal entry. I deem this show monumental not because of specific plot lines or characters but due to the fact that the L word is the first regularly aired, televised sitcom to depict the lives of lesbians. It follows in the network HBO's foot steps after HBO's broadcast of the series Queer as Folk, one of the first shows to illustrate homosexual culture, particularly gay men.
Despite my liking and loyalty to The L Word, I have many criticisms in regard to the way lesbian lifestyles are represented. The show utilizes popular culture's conventional image of women and creates this illusion that the lesbians of L.A. are not only gay, but the epitome of America's sexy. It is ironic that this show takes on the role of depicting lesbians for the first time on television, yet also in the same sense perpetuates lesbians as the image males stereotypically drool over. The assumption that bisexual women seek out same sex relationships solely as a means of attracting men should be deterred by such a show, however the L word unfortunately serves to perpetuate these assumptions and similar ones. Men are more prone to continue viewing lesbians as sex objects rather than changing their prior mentalities due to revealed truths.
The L word also portrays each of the characters to be living lives of unrealistic high socioeconomic status, with a hairdresser living the life of an esteemed celebrity and similarly the show portrays a struggling novelist to make it big, publishing wise, in months. This is quite unrealistic considering how hard it is for the best of novelists to "make it big" in the world of publishing.
Aside from the many illusory traits this show attributes to lesbians I understand the demand of the general populace and considering the convention of the media, in order for the show to sell these unrealistic qualities are necessary. Thus it remains, creating a homosexual lifestyle based sitcom in such a heterosexual "square" world will always result series that fall short of reality.
Regardless, I enjoy the show thoroughly, despite the fact that the passionate love scenes keep just as many heterosexual males as lesbians, the show carries a very comic script and dramatic plot. The appeal lies in the fact that the show serves as a sort of alliance between gay and straight audiences. Although it will be the shows last season, and despite the many setbacks and shortcomings, the series continues to illustrate the lives of a very under-represented portion of society, and thus remains at the top of my list.