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The L Word ended on Showtime in March. For people like me who don't have Showtime, the final season is just now coming out on DVD. We are finally getting to see season 6 and watch how the series ended.
I say "watch how the series ended" carefully, rather than "watch how everything turned out." The series ends with a lot of unanswered questions. Even though I haven't seen it yet, I know it made a lot of fans unhappy to be left with plot lines hanging and odd character developments. I remember leaving the theater after seeing John Sayles' Limbo, so angry about the ending that I wanted to kick the walls. I'm hoping with the last L Word DVD has played and I've seen it all, I won't contemplate kicking the walls. I'm hopeful, but I see how other fans have reacted. I might want to wear tough shoes when I roll the last episode, and stock up on sheetrock.
The wait for season 6 to arrive on DVD has given me some distance from the story lines and my interest in knowing what is going on in the lives of the characters. That distance has led to some reflection about the phenomena of The L Word and its rise to success.
The L Word started in 2004. It was a cast of mostly women–usually at least 8 or 9 major female characters in the story line at all times–and few men. That fact alone is big. BIG. The L Word wasn't a series with 4 men and 1 woman who just tags along doing whatever the men do. Not 5 male cops and 1 female cop. Not 4 male lawyers and 2 female lawyers. Not 4 men friends and a couple of occasional female sidekicks. Not 6 male doctors and 2 female doctors. No, this was women's stories, women's lives.
Grant me that: a series about women is a big deal. As it would be if another one made it on air today.
These women were different from the usual stories about nurses or doctors or army wives that deal with women. That's because all the main characters except one were some variation on not straight. That's another BIG deal. Gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and several other points along the gender scale were depicted by major and minor characters in the course of the series.
@chookooloonks tweeted a TED Talks video by Chimamanda Adichie about "The Danger of the Single Story." I hope you take 20 minutes to listen to this video, but I'll summarize by saying that we form opinions and stereotypes about people, countries, cultures, religions, and many other things based on a single story, a single idea. That can include a single idea about gender or sexuality. My reply tweet was that the single story of most American television is white, male, and straight. To me, The L Word is important simply because it departs from that monovision.
Grant me that: a series about lesbians is a big deal. As it would be if another one made it on air today.
The dramatic hooks that come with stories about women who are not straight are both personal and political. You get stories about relationships and character development, work life and everyday life.
You also get politically charged plot lines about things like:
- dealing with family reactions to sexuality issues
- dealing with the medical establishment when a loved one is ill
- having children
- adopting a child in a lesbian relationship
- dealing with hate-related discrimination
- dealing with work-related discrimination
- dealing with don't ask, don't tell
- wanting to marry a life partner
- coming out to family, but also to the public when it may affect a career
- changing gender identification
- abortion decisions and services
The two big-name stars, Jennifer Beals and Pam Grier, play half-sisters. Women of color filled other major character roles as well. This allowed story lines around racial politics.
The political climate of the Bush adminstration factored into the show, too. It could hardly be avoided at a time when progressive thinking was gaining political traction and a majority of people were eager for change.
Gays and lesbians were in the news. From propositions on state ballots to famous lesbians getting married, sexual identity was on people's radar and under discussion.
Let's narrow down the discussion to the star of The L Word–Jennifer Beals. Jennifer Beals was in something like
