The show stars Jennifer Beals as Bette and Laurel Holloman as Tina, a couple that have been together for some time. Erin Daniels as Dana, is an in-the-closet pro tennis player. Leisha Hailey plays Alice, a bisexual reporter. Katherine Moennig appears as Shane, a promiscuous hairdresser. Mia Kushner’s Jenny, moves in with her boyfriend, Tim, played by Eric Mabius. Finally, there’s Karina Lombard as Marina, the predator owner of a West Hollywood coffee shop/bar where the whole group, and the story, comes together.
The language is today. The sex is graphic and definitely lesbian and the people are typically drop-dead gorgeous, and the emphasis is on sex, sex, and yes, sex. There are enough straights involved to keep the interest up for the heterosexual audience, but the show is truly geared toward women and men who get their rocks off watching women make out. That’s a huge audience as any real lesbian will tell you.
I’m a lesbian, but sex isn’t the end-all, be-all, most important thing in my life. I’m a writer, a poet and a historian. I’m extremely hopeful that The L Word will show that sex isn’t the only thing that drives these woman’s lives. If it come down to that, which it is giving every indication that it will, I don’t think I’ll like it. I’m afraid the show will underscore the traditional belief that the only thing involved with being gay is sex. It will strengthen the position of our opponents who think gays are consumed with sex and nothing else. The series might do little to show the lesbian lifestyle as normal, unless your opinion of normal is being consumed by your sexual drive.
While I fear that The L Word will concentrate on sex rather than sexuality and have a negative reaction on straights who really don’t understand us as everyday people, the reviews I’ve read seem to suggest that I’m wrong. So far, they’ve been mostly positive. I’ve read that the show portrays lesbian relationships in many different ways and the sex isn’t gratuitous. I’m hopeful and looking forward to seeing for myself.
Okay, I saw it. Not bad at all.
I felt all the characters were fleshed out nicely, with no truly typical lesbian or bisexual stereotypes. Each girl had her own agenda, her own way of coming to terms with who she is and her own subset of individualized problems (with the possible exception of money problems, which effect everyone’s lives).
I didn’t think the sex scenes were overdone or thrown in to juice up the script. They occurred naturally at places one would expect them to occur. My only concern was that they there wasn’t a sense of how long the girls were together. I got the feeling they were mostly quick encounters with little romance, foreplay or afterplay (snuggling, cuddling, giggling, whispering, etc.), which has been my experience but mayhaps it’s just me looking for something they can’t really do on a TV show.
My sister, Baby, was over to give us the obligatory “straight” point of view and she said she didn’t think anyone but a very conservative individual would be grossed out by the girl-to-girl relationships. People whose skin crawls at the sight of open-mouthed same-sex kissing are going to be offended but what can one do?
I liked Shane, she reminds me of my older sister, Lucky. Alice reminded me of our roommate, Java Jennie, after she came out. And we all thought Marina didn’t come across nearly as predatory as was suggested. The way she eased Jenny into a finding a side of herself that she had only a cursory acquaintance with in the past was excellent. There was no suggestion of “the hunter” involved in Marina’s style at all. And Mia Kushner’s Jenny was superb. The internal struggle with self-identity and life’s realities came across as highly believable.
The polls I’ve seen rated Marina as people’s favorite character. Viewers felt the show would be watched by both straights and gays, and concluded that the pilot was extremely successful. Good job, Showtime!
In my opinion, the show exceeded my expectations. I’ll watch again to see how the various story lines play out. Did you have a favorite character? Did anyone remind you of someone you know? Let us know on the message board.
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