the world of desperate housewives
i was recently introduced to ''desperate housewives'' by our friends the hungarian tornadoes. having first ignored the hype aruond it and then shrugged it off with utter disdain without even having watched it once, i must now confess that i am hooked. as u probably know, the 4 main characters have impossibly super bods. they all look 22 (even if one of them has 3 small kids and 2 others have teens) and live in swanky houses. despite this, the serial strikes a chord. it raises questions pertinent to our life and times, and does so with humour...sometimes wry, at other times morbid and often ironic.
consider some of the events: oh no, today my kids disappeared on me and i don't know where to look for them! oh no, my hubby is home early and i'm in bed with the gardener. oh my god, the new man i fancy is just like my ex-husband! oh hell, my son drove over and almost killed a person and feels no remorse.
the questions raised, i think, are mostly to do with value-systems. how does one cope with the transition from a hot-shot corporate star to a harried mother of 3 who fails to get her kids even to buckle their seat-belts. why is there a lack of trust and respect among spouses? how does one find a lasting, fulfilling relationship? how does a mother ensure that her teens are not walking the wrong path?
the serial may communicate these events in a casual or even comic way, but i think it is underpinned in serious and complex issues. at its core, it deals with the daily madness in people's lives: the challenges and fire-fighting, the inability to cope effectively (or effectively enough), and the consequent sense of failure by the end of the day. and then again, the next day's challenges & fire-fighting...the anger and dishonesty portrayed are mere manifestations of a cumulative sense of failure and dissatisfaction. but why is it that people are increasingly unable to respond appropriately, or healthily, to a given situation? in short, how and when did we get into such a sorry state? the serial forces the viewer to engage with this very bald fact, and it is here that it hits out at the very heart of the problem. it offers no answers, of course. but it encourages the search for it.
of course, the mystery element is a big hook as well. but this is different from a regular spy-story or thriller, or even the X-files variety BECAUSE it plays out mundane and daily insanities of life rather than the aberrations. also, this everyday insanity of life and its repercussions are not experienced by housewives alone. the jet-setting CEO, the college nerd, the beach bum, the boy/girl-next-door, all experience their own insanities, their own fire-fights. perhaps this is why its popularity has crossed all segments: its ability not only to talk to but dialogue with a much wider audience. it just may be that housewives ostensibly need the greatest sympathy.
consider some of the events: oh no, today my kids disappeared on me and i don't know where to look for them! oh no, my hubby is home early and i'm in bed with the gardener. oh my god, the new man i fancy is just like my ex-husband! oh hell, my son drove over and almost killed a person and feels no remorse.
the questions raised, i think, are mostly to do with value-systems. how does one cope with the transition from a hot-shot corporate star to a harried mother of 3 who fails to get her kids even to buckle their seat-belts. why is there a lack of trust and respect among spouses? how does one find a lasting, fulfilling relationship? how does a mother ensure that her teens are not walking the wrong path?
the serial may communicate these events in a casual or even comic way, but i think it is underpinned in serious and complex issues. at its core, it deals with the daily madness in people's lives: the challenges and fire-fighting, the inability to cope effectively (or effectively enough), and the consequent sense of failure by the end of the day. and then again, the next day's challenges & fire-fighting...the anger and dishonesty portrayed are mere manifestations of a cumulative sense of failure and dissatisfaction. but why is it that people are increasingly unable to respond appropriately, or healthily, to a given situation? in short, how and when did we get into such a sorry state? the serial forces the viewer to engage with this very bald fact, and it is here that it hits out at the very heart of the problem. it offers no answers, of course. but it encourages the search for it.
of course, the mystery element is a big hook as well. but this is different from a regular spy-story or thriller, or even the X-files variety BECAUSE it plays out mundane and daily insanities of life rather than the aberrations. also, this everyday insanity of life and its repercussions are not experienced by housewives alone. the jet-setting CEO, the college nerd, the beach bum, the boy/girl-next-door, all experience their own insanities, their own fire-fights. perhaps this is why its popularity has crossed all segments: its ability not only to talk to but dialogue with a much wider audience. it just may be that housewives ostensibly need the greatest sympathy.
posted by sattva at 12:11 AM
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