Enter your username and password.
-
posts about #beaarthurdies more →
The Internet Celebrates The Feminist Legacy Of Bea Arthur
We Will Miss You, Bea Arthur
| posts about #beaarthurdies more → |
The Internet Celebrates The Feminist Legacy Of Bea Arthur |
We Will Miss You, Bea Arthur |
04/26/09
I watched groundbreaking shows like All in the Family and Maude as a young teen, and later watched reruns of Golden Girls while nursing my first child who is now in college. God, I feel so old lately! RIP Bea...
04/26/09
04/26/09
DorothyZbornak 4-EVA!
RIP, Bea. :(
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
"...she created a legendary character in her own right by showing Maude wrestling with serious issues for a TV sitcom-alcoholism, drug abuse, and famously in 1972, abortion, as her character decided to terminate a pregnancy late in her 40s. (Even today, it's extremely rare for a TV female lead to make that choice.) What endeared Maude to us, beyond her quick wit, was the fact that she was a person with doubts, not just a paragon of liberal rectitude."
I mean, why the use of "liberal"? Is he praising the character for having doubts about her abortion?
04/26/09
I'm trying to put this quickly, since I literally had an hour long conversation about this yesterday (I'd been rewatching Golden Girls this last week, not knowing Arthur was sick) - in the episode, for example, where I believe it's Blanche's daughter wants to get IVF, all of the ladies are totally grossed out by the idea. And yet, they reason through their disgust, and though still somewhat uncomfortable, decide that this is a solid option that will end up with a lovely result (happy daughter, new grandchild). I think that sort of openness and willingness to reconsider one's own opinions is sadly lacking in contemporary culture.
04/26/09
The show, MAUDE, covered many topics. Maude wasn't the only character who challenged the status quo, but she was the main 'mouthpiece'. However she wasn't just a mouthpiece, but a very real fully fleshed character as written by the brilliant Norman Lear.
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
Bea Arthur by artist John Currin.
04/26/09
I just don't know what to make of that.
04/26/09
In all seriousness, I think Bea would be flattered. I know I'd be.
04/26/09
I had to google John Currin to see what his stuff was all about. I would not suggest doing an image search on him while at work.
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
*sob*
(lovely tribute, hortense - thanks for this)
04/26/09
Seriously, I get none of this news from European newspapers. If it's not on Gawker media or in the Guardian or Independent...when I'm at school in England I simply will not know about it!
04/26/09
Close to my birthday last year (at least he was still alive the actual day), so I did no celebrating. I'm so sorry.
[gawker.com]
[en.wikipedia.org]
04/26/09
I feel like an idiot. A really sad idiot.
04/26/09
04/26/09
So my 8 year old self would sneak down to the basement to watch it in secret. I didn't have a full grasp on the issues, but I knew that they were somehow important.
Of course a decade later my mom loved THE GOLDEN GIRLS.
And another thing Bea Arthur and the costumes are the only things worth watching in the remake of MAME.
04/26/09
Thanks, Hortense.
04/26/09
Fucking loved her. LOVED HER!!!!
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
@Your Screenplay Sucks: I think you're exactly right. I can't think of one sitcom that really deals with issues of any sort (at least on the big 4..or 5..whatever).
04/26/09
04/26/09
04/26/09
And storylines aside, the actresses on Murphy Brown & Cagny & Lacey are either too old or plain to play leads today. Same goes for movies - it's unlikely that actresses who look like Linda Hamilton or Sigourney Weaver would be handed billion-dollar franchises today.
04/26/09
I could've sworn that just a few years ago, I could think of respectable, strong female characters on television (and film, where I think it's only slightly more possible) that are known for a reason other than their knockers or heart-shaped kisser, and at this very moment I'm hard-pressed to think of any. All the characters that could possibly fit into this category are crazy.
The last really strong showing was the Frances Conroy-Patricia Clarkson-Kathy Bates triumvirate on Six Feet Under. They were problematic, for sure, but independent, unpredictable and well-written.
I miss Dianne Wiest. Her character in Parenthood was monumental.
04/26/09
04/26/09