Happy Orange Is the New Black Day and Wavery/Haught Doin’ It Day and DELPHINE CORMIER WEEK. I’m going to do a full write-up of last night’s Orphan Black finale, hopefully for tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s what else is happening on queer TV this week!
Lady Dynamite
Streaming now on Netflix
Written by Stef
So I really like Maria Bamford as a comedian and for some reason I’ve been really putting off watching her new show, Lady Dynamite. After seeing some rumblings on Twitter about a biphobic episode, I decided it was time to sit down and see if this show was really all that bad. The premise of the show is that Maria is playing a character very loosely based on herself who’s trying to get back into comedy following a nervous breakdown. The show is structured well and complements Maria’s zany comedy style, but yeah: episode two, charmingly entitled “Bisexual Because Of Meth” is a DISASTER.
Maria’s character is being faced with a bunch of weird decisions, and some are easier to make than others. When her agent offers her a role on a Japanese commercial selling an instant ramen called Pussy Noodle, she’s able to say no quickly and confidently. When she’s set up on a date with a guy who’s both bisexual and a recovering meth addict, things are apparently not so clear. She isn’t sure about going on the date, but decides that after her recent past, she shouldn’t trust her own instincts. The guy seems nice enough and jokes a lot about both his sexuality and his addiction in a way that doesn’t ring super true, but again, this is a comedy show.
Maria ends up deciding that the meth addiction and bisexuality probably go hand-in-hand (which is a problem in and of itself), but later as she’s deciding whether or not to sleep with him, an omniscient radio host tells her to wear a condom, because “after all, he is bisexual.” Cool! As she arrives at his place, ready to do the damn thing, she catches him with their (male) waiter. As she’s yelling at him, her date’s boyfriend shows up, and this is where things get really icky. The guy explains to his boyfriend that his date with Maria isn’t a problem because she’d be a woman relationship, which wouldn’t interfere with his male relationship. Then it turns out they’re on a Japanese game show, talking about how Shane (the guy) is looking for both the pussy and the noodle. Nice tie-in! In the end, Maria decides not to continue dating the greedy bisexual.
I thought the show was sort of cute otherwise, but after this episode I’m not sure about watching the rest. For what it’s worth, Maria Bamford has acknowledged how problematic this episode is and has apologized for it, but I’m having trouble understanding how it was made in the first place.
Veep
Sundays on HBO at 10:30 p.m.
The Marjorie-looks-like-Selina gag Veep has been dangling all season finally came to fruition in “Camp David” and not in the way I was expecting. Honestly, Stacy and I were both pretty sure Marjorie was going to get shot protecting Selina because this show has never really let Catherine be happy, and Selina trying to comfort her daughter about her dead girlfriend while also celebrating what would surely be a rally-’round-the-flag style bump in the polls is so very Veep it seemed impossible that it wasn’t going to happen. Also, you know, I just don’t expect any lesbian/bi character to make it out of TV alive anymore after enduring these last six months of terrible showrunning decisions.
Oh ho, but no! What happened instead was that the Chinese government saw Marjorie and Catherine kissing and thought it was Selina and Catherine kissing and it got so slimy so fast. Honestly, I have never cringed like that watching TV in my life. It was more Veep than Veep‘s ever been, more Veep that murdering Marjorie to advance Selina’s presidency even. I mean that in a good way. If you don’t want to cringe, don’t watch Veep. It’s half the fun.
This turn of events had the added bonus of actually allowing us to see what Catherine looks like when she smiles. Clea Duvall is so good in this role. She’s somehow an even more earnest arrow than Catherine. She loves the robe Selina (re)gifts her because it feels like Catherine’s hair. And she loves the idea of turning Selina’s dad’s favorite house into a large animal rescue farm. And every time she compliments Catherine (in the weirdest fucking ways), Catherine is just so happy. What a crazy surprise!
Best, though:
Catherine: Hey, Mom, I just wanted to let you know that Marjorie is a raw food vegan and she’s turned me into one.
Selina: Oh, so that’s two things she’s turned you into.
Actually, no, the Mr. Bingley joke was the best joke that show’s ever done, but only probably if you’re me.
Wynonna Earp
Fridays on Syfy at 9:00 p.m.
I cracked and watched the Buzzfeed exclusive WayHaught sneak peek of tonight’s Wynonna Earp episode and whoooo boy. I am excited to see it in context, at least three times, and then retumblr about fifty gif sets. If you’re not watching Wynonna Earp, you should know Waverly and Nicole are absolutely going to survive the season (Emily Andras told me so), they’re totally in love, and Waverly came out last week in the most adorable way possible. She got shot and Wynonna told her dudes dig scars and she said, “Do chicks?” And Wynonna’s face was like ooooohhhhhh. And that was that.
i feel bad for the wyonna earp show runners and actors, they’ve been all over the net trying to get the queer community to engage in the show. they first tried to be coy about how the season ends but now their outright spilling that everybody will survive. i know i’m not the only one who’s stated that they’ll never take a show runners word after the debacle that was the 100, i know some are eating the show up but i feel like at any other time my tumblr feed would be overflowing with more wayhaught love proclamations. i’v been wondering if we as a community are burnt out. I know i am, kinda dont have the interest in this show, forcing myself to watch oint. I quit person of interest after root died. i quit orphan is the new black after delphine died. happy she’s back but i’m not going to watch the show.
Is it possible for us to have ptsd? I’m genuinely asking
There’s nothing wrong with limiting your media content and engagement if you feel like it would help you. I’ve gone through periods where I just didn’t watch any TV in my life (sometimes for reasons similar to what you describe, sometimes for others) and those media fasts were often great for my mental health and other parts of my life. I would encourage anyone to do that if they feel the need; sometimes creating a deliberate distance feels better than forcing yourself to watch something.
Whether what you’re feeling is part a larger phenomenon is a bigger question. I do think there’s a core of people who were powerfully affected by the 100, and it’s easy to find a bubble of people who were on line, but in reality those reactions vary widely depending on millions of individual differences. Age, the length people have lived out, and how much you are plugged into a supportive and/or queer community in real life make a very big difference; so do other things going on in your life.
I’m not sure how much you can build an argument for community-wide PTSD on the lack of attention for Wynonna Earp–it’s a small-budget Canadian fantasy show still in its first season, and it’s almost impossible to watch legally online. (Lost Girl didn’t get all that much attention early on, and its queerness was more central from the get-go and it was much easier to watch online.) WE probably needs as much time to build up a fan base as you do to recover.
Also, I feel like Wynonna Earp can be particularly gruesome and violent with actual on screen depictions of gore and violence, which is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Please don’t joke about PTSD, it’s horribly disrespectful.
No, no one has post-traumatic stress because of shitty television. That’s a gross misunderstanding of what PTSD and mental illness are.
“PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) is a mental health problem that some people
develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural
disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault.” – National Center for PTSD (http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/understanding_ptsd/booklet.pdf)
I’ve felt the frustration you describe with queer women dying on TV. I also have PTSD (from experiencing a life-threatening event, not from watching television). Being disillusioned with TV shows is nothing remotely close to what PTSD is like.
Using real mental health conditions colloquially like this – “That’s crazy”, “You’re totally psycho”, “I’m so OCD about that”, “That’s so schizo” – is unfortunately a common problem in modern language. It’s helpful to those of us with mental illnesses to choose words more carefully.
Heather, thank you for your perspective on Lady Dynamite! I have loved Maria’s standup for years, and I spent that whole episode feeling like WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I love Lennon Parham and Bridget Everett, and I think I will eventually finish the season, but it feels like something is missing from the show that’s in her standup. Like, maybe a lack of perspective on how irrational Maria’s thoughts are? In theory, that’s the purpose of a lot of the cringe moments, but it doesn’t land as well in SitCom format as it would on stage.
That said, June Diane Raphael’s lady kissing game is ON POINT.
I loved Lady Dynamite and recommend watching more. Maria Bamford apologized so… not sure what else should be happening at this point? Feminist comedy is so rare and no one is perfect. I think her show was super brave especially exploring issues of mental illness.
This comment makes me really uncomfortable. This wasn’t a minor error in judgment; this was an entire episode based around maligning and stigmatizing an already maligned and stigmatized sexuality. An apology doesn’t make it retroactively okay, and people are well within their rights to decide that they don’t want to watch any more of it.
I am also hesitant to label someone a feminist after they’ve produced an episode of a show based wholly on biphobia (and attendant slut-shaming).
“Feminism” that throws other people under the bus isn’t feminism in my book.
I laughed so hard at the Mr. Darcy / Mr. Bingley joke. So perfect!
That picture! I think this is the gayest I’ve seen Clea DuVall look in a long time
That Lady Dynamite episode sounds TERRIBLE. A real slap in the face to bisexuals everywhere. From what you describe, an apology just doesn’t cut it; she literally made biphobia the backbone of the episode.
Super happy to see the Veep recap! That show just keeps getting better.
I know Veep has been hilarious this season!
HOGAN, why haven’t you been recapping this whole season of Wynonna Earp?!?! I feel like I’m missing a huge part of my television experience.