Christmas bling

So I spent most of the morning and early afternoon watching the first season of The L Word. It was interesting. But maybe watching 13 episodes at once was overkill. The sex scenes titillated at first. Then they became routine. By the last few episodes I was off making tea while I waited for the plot to continue. It did make me think, however.

I get the sense that the intention of the series is to take something considered alternative, allow you to enter the world and then 'normalise' it. (I hate using the word normal. Let me not digress. Damn am doing it already. Okay end these brackets now. Aaaargh.)

It reminded me of the novel, Middlesex. The book jacket prepares you for a story about a hermaphrodite - a topic that pushes the alternative nature of alternative. But by the end of the story, it is irrelevant that the protagonist is a hermaphrodite. The reader is guided into embracing the humaness in the story. That is what The L Word represented for me. It is almost as if the director/s intended me to wander off to make myself something to drink. Because it really was just another sex scene.

I was also captivated by the portrayal of straight couple extras. The combination of good acting and cinematography meant that they consistently appeared prudish, uptight and distant. The viewer was watching the series with the eyes of a lesbian. This world was not distant, rather more real than the socialised representation of normality.

Back to the sex. (Doesn't it always seem to go back to that? Which is a good thing if you are getting it but verrrrry frustrating if you are a reluctant born-again virgin.) The initial portrayal of lesbian sex contrasted strongly with the portrayal of heterosexual sex. The former was positioned as more tender and gentle, even in the height of passion. Straight sex almost seemed animalistic in comparison. While both were raw, lesbian sex appeared more considered and more of a partnership.

However, as the series progressed the portrayal of sex changed. More tenderness was brought into heterosexual sex and more violence into lesbian sex. But this gradual change was balanced out with the viewer's acceptance of this world as a norm. The sex was no longer about fascination, in either case, but it reflected the state of the given relationship.

I must now hunt down season two.