Ive gone on and on about how much I love Cady McClain, not only because she is a beautiful, talented actress.. but because she is an amazing woman. The following is a post she recently wrote on her blog. I really suggest people check out her blog, because for me there's nothing more interesting than getting insight on the world from a different set of eyes. I always say I want to meet people I can learn from, and who can learn from me, and Cady McClain is def one of those people.
"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/movies/02carr.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=arts
Check this out if you get a chance. It’s an article in the times that I think is pretty empowering. It’s about a girl who was a stripper and became a writer and got a film made. She’s young and pretty, but in a unique way, which I love. She has a lot of insights into being who she is. I appreciate her candor. Perhaps I will have to let some of my feelings rip more than I do.
I know so many of the women on daytime are total victims waiting to be rescued by their man. Can you say barf? Whose fantasy is this? How dated is this? I don’t understand how writers in this era can think stories like this are anything but insulting to their audience. Even in the breadbasket of America, the Christian right-est must be asking themselves, “what the heck is going on with my stories?”
It’s not the 50’s, the 60’s, the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s. It’s 2007, soon to be 2008 and more women want to know how to TRUELY love, HOW to chose between revenge and forgiveness when they are hurt, want to see women who can be tough like only a woman can be tough, not copying a man’s behavior. Women, I think, want to see beauty that doesn’t look like either a skeleton or a weightlifter, to see characters that struggle with their LOOKS, even if they are pretty, because it’s this endless pervasive comparing that makes us feel bad about ourselves.
Writing female friendships is NOT easy, but there are a lot of stories out there that don’t have to be about the man and the baby, for god’s sake. Why does melodrama have to include endless focus on the uterus? How about a friend stealing another friends money? How about the friend that borrows your stuff to an annoying degree until you come home one day and she’s helped herself to your whole life? How about the jealousy that can live for a lifetime between two women that really care about each other, be they sisters or friends, that comes from having different abilities?
RELATIONSHIPS. It’s not rocket science, soaps are about RELATIONSHIPS and CURRENT SOCIAL ISSUES we are having these relationships in.
Am I wrong? I’m not saying men and babies and love and all that aren’t going to be a part of the whole she-bang, but it just seems like the stories start there, like “Ok, she loves him and they want a baby… go.” WHY does she love him? HOW do they stay together? These shows don’t have to be MILDRED PIERCE anymore, they really, really don’t.
What happened to COMMUNITY? How the girl’s actions affect the community and what does Pops at the local grocery think about the fact she’s pregnant and unmarried? Does everyone have to be a saint now or the audience will hate the town? Can’t characters be judgmental?
Oh for heavens sake, I’m ranting again, but I must admit. It feels good. Thanks stripper/writer lady. I needed that."
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