[New York, November 13. Image via Splash.]

Writing in the LA Times, Caramanica bemoans the lot of Alicia Florrick, Julianna Margulies's wronged-political-wife-turned-lawyer on The Good Wife, and Jules Cobb, Courteney Cox's "older woman" returning to dating on Cougar Town. He says,

[B]y the strictures and bylaws of network television, Alicia, Jules and characters like them essentially are incomprehensible invaders: independent, single (or single-ish) older women seeking change in their lives and succeeding (sometimes, at least). As a result, they're treated like fragile, curious creatures that might implode on contact. Or lash out.

No one wants to accommodate them on their own terms.

Caramanica thinks both Cox and Margulies acquit themselves well in trying circumstances — he writes that "there's a winning quality to Cox's readiness to erode traditional boundaries" and that "what saves Alicia from being reduced to cliché is her gravitas and competence, poses that Margulies has had down cold since her time on E.R." And, as The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin points out, The Good Wife does examine what it might be like to be, say, Silda Spitzer. The show "doesn't hinge on headlines and it isn't restricted by what we can see from the outside-the merely poignant, infuriating, sad awfulness of it all." It deserves some praise for focusing on the actual life of a political wife, not — as so many news outlets have done — on her public shame. Still, this life is heavily circumscribed, and it's hard to tell if life is imitating art here or vice versa.

A more extreme example of the middle-aged-woman-as-alien trope was on view in the most recent story arc of Law & Order: SVU. I cringed the minute Christine Lahti appeared as ADA Sonya Paxton, a Ball-Busting Career Woman straight out of central casting. She snapped at people, she used bad judgment, she was ridiculously abrasive and obnoxious — all because, we soon learned, she was damaged and insecure. And then last week we found out she was also a drunk — when she staggered into the courtroom to prosecute a man who claimed, in a piece of very blunt irony, to have alcoholic psychosis. She left for rehab, completely humiliated in front of the other characters and the audience — who, if they were anything like me, breathed a sigh of relief because her character was so totally repellent.

The idea that single middle-aged women must be totally unhinged isn't new on TV — every time an unaccompanied lady scientist of a certain age appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation, for instance, you knew who really planted the evil robots in the Jeffries tubes. Of course, Detective Olivia Benson, played by 45-year-old Mariska Hargitay, is allowed to be sexy and appealing as a single woman on SVU — but there's also a suggestion that her continued torment over her mother's rape and alcoholism have prevented her from forming lasting relationships. Rather than hookers, victims, and doormats, unmarried women over 35 on TV are either irrevocably fucked up, irrevocably fucked up and downright evil, or beset by enemies on all sides.

The last category — into which Alicia Florrick falls — may be the most interesting, and the most true to life. While you don't have to be an insane villain to stay single in your 30s, 40s, and 50s, you do have to contend, if you're a woman, with a lot of increasingly nasty criticism. And while few women are publicly humiliated by lying spouses — Florrick and her husband aren't divorced on the show, but he's in jail for his dalliances with prostitutes, and she's forced to support the kids on her own — the challenges depicted on The Good Wife may be a more extreme version of the ones middle-aged women face every day. It will be interesting to see how Margulies meets these challenges as an actress. Luckily for her but unluckily for us, other shows have set the bar pretty low.

Images via gilmoregirlsnews, NBC.

'The Good Wife,' 'Cougar Town': Outsiders In A Man's World [LA Times]
Screwed [The New Yorker]
Episode 11004 Recap [Law & Order: SVU Official Site at NBC]

[New York, September 24. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

[New York, July 8. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

• Here's the first picture of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick with their new twins, Marion and Tabitha Broderick. Big brother James, are you ready for double trouble? [TMZ]

• Britney Spears has dark hair and something that looks like an engagement ring. What does it mean??? [NY Daily News]
• Uh-oh: Us Weekly dropped $120,000 for exclusive rights to Kendra Wilkinson's wedding, but the death of Michael Jackson will push her bridal bliss off the cover. [Page Six]
• Will Michael Jackson's body be put on display in a coffin of glass, like Eva Peron? [The Sun]
• Michael Jackson's mother has been granted temporary guardianship of his three kids. [LA Times]
• According to a source, Michael Jackson almost died once before — in 2004 — he was unconscious and had to be revived. [Fox News]
• Michael Jackson's doctor didn't call 911 for a half hour after finding MJ unconscious. [TMZ]
• The LAPD is trying to identify and interview "multiple doctors" who treated or prescribed medicine to Michael Jackson. [LA Times]
• Michael Jackson's mother Katherine is worried about people stealing from MJ's estate. [TMZ]
• Debbie Rowe has been reaching out to the Jackson family, but has been unsuccessful. [People]
• A will drafted by Michael Jackson in 2002 may be released this week. [WSJ]
• "Michael Jackson's Last Art Purchase." A wicked witch painting. [TMZ]
• "Michael Jackson was spending £30,000 a month on prescription drugs," says this paper, which lied to us yesterday. [The Sun]
• "Michael Jackson's Death: Sorting Fact From Fiction." A run down of all the claims and contradictions. [NY Daily News]
• Two weeks before he died, Michael Jackson completed a video project; his last. [AP]
• Expect some "instant" Michael Jackson books — some due by the end of the week, one coming in July. [AP]
• Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour is being transformed into a tribute concert in September, and Madonna may take part. [MSNBC Scoop]
• Here is Lindsay Lohan posing like Michael Jackson. [NY Daily News]
• Ladies and gentlemen, a statement from Jon and Kate Gosselin: "During this very difficult time we will be working to focus solely on the needs of our family. This includes no longer commenting publicly or reacting to media stories and speculation. Our goal is to do the very best for our children and that will be done as privately as possible. We appreciate the understanding, support and well wishes from so many. Thank you." [TLC]
• Chris Brown was not at the BET Awards because Al Sharpton and Jay-Z were "very vocal" with producers about not letting him appear. [Gatecrasher]
• A source says: "Jay-Z wasn't having it. He threatened to pull out of the show if Chris was involved, so BET dropped Chris." [Page Six]
• Chris Brown's friend Teairra Mari says: "He's sorry. That's my friend, and I love Chris. He's a good kid-he just made a mistake. He knows that and feels terrible about it." [E!]
• Justin Timberlake went out boozing with Guy Ritchie, and guess which one went home at 2:30am and which one stayed in the pub? Guy was in it til the bitter end. [The Sun]
• How is the filming of The Runaways going? Well, Joan Jett made Kristen Stewart cry. So. [Gatecrasher]
• Some GQ Brüno pictures in which the character is posing with a high school football team have infuriated a school official in L.A., who says: "We've allowed our students to be used, and not in the most glamorous circumstances either." [UPI]
• Susan Boyle on Ugly Betty? Why, yes. [Telegraph]
• Amy Winehouse has been banned from taking in any more stray dogs after resort management had to fumigate her house in St. Lucia. [The Sun]
• George Clooney is not dead. Why are there so many death pranks? That shit is not funny. [TMZ]
• Kate Moss's boyfriend Jamie Hince is getting tired of Kate's lengthy karaoke sessions and is limiting her to half an hour a day. [The Sun]
• Lady GaGa visited an HIV Support Centre in Manchester, UK yesterday, and said: "I've been doing volunteer work since I was two." She also said: "I want to make it fashionable to have safe sex. You must be safe. You can have sex with hundreds of people with a condom on and get nothing. If you have sex without one, then you could get all sorts of problems." To which this paper asks, "Speaking from experience?" [The Sun]
• Ashton Kutcher is Tweeting for the White House. No, really. [Politico]
• Kathy Griffin on NPR! "NPR listeners, I know who you are. I know you guys read books, which I find tedious. You guys might try a book called Us Weekly. OK? It's a really good book. It has a lot of pictures." [NPR]
• Megan Fox spent the weekend in Las Vegas with Brian Austin Green. Back together? [E!]
• Someone threw a drink on Anna Kournikova at a club in Vegas and the tennis player "sprang into action," showing and screaming at the lady. [Page Six]
• Marissa Jaret Winokur continues to blog about her "weight loss journey." She writes: "I downloaded the video of Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' and started to learn her dance. Let me tell you, if I ever did that dance in a club I would still be a single lady!!! But what a workout! It was free and fun and it kept my son very entertained – it was like a real-life Muppet danced out of his TV and into the living room. It kept him and, sadly, my husband very amused for almost an hour." [People]
• "Hollywood stars Antonio Banderas And Melanie Griffiths' Garden Seized As Spain Cracks Down On Illegal Coastal Homes." They'll lose their 40 foot swimming pool! [Daily Mail]
• Is Antonia Kidman — sister of Nicole and TV personality in Australia — addicted to exercise? [News.com.au]
• Redmond O'Neal with be allowed to leave jail to attend his mother Farrah Fawcett's funeral. [People]
• Law And Order: SVU fans, take note: Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have finally signed on to stay for two more seasons. [Variety]
• Amy Adams is in negotiations to star alongside Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in boxing drama The Fighter. [Variety]
• Some kind of drama involving Kanye West's bisexual girlfriend Amber Rose and a singer named Nicki Minaj, who Amber hit on? [ONTD]
• Here's a Q&A with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, who says: "We did get word that whoever's in charge of loading [Barack Obama's] iPod requested the record and we got the record in." [Time]
• Best wishes to 92-year-old Zsa Zsa Gabor, who is out of the hospital after a 6-day stay for flu-like symptoms. [AP]
• The Nutty Professor is coming to Broadway, and Jerry Lewis will direct. [AP]
• Whatshername and Whatshisname: fighting in public. [Mirror]
• Blind item! "Which former boy bander looked oh-so-strung-out over the weekend? His diet of booze and nose candy certainly isn't helping his skin-and-bones appearance." [Gatecrasher]
• "I don't watch TV comedy in the UK anymore. We've got some poor copies of Curb Your Enthusiasm, some poor copies of Entourage and some poor copies of Seinfeld. With a few exceptions the Americans seem to be ahead of the game." — Ricky Gervais. [The Sun]
• "I pointed to a spot where I told him I wanted to be buried. Michael had a meltdown right then and there when he heard this. He shrieked and bent over and said, 'No, no, no.' [He said,] 'Don't ever talk about your dying. Don't ever think about it.' I couldn't pretend to understand him. There were so many complicated signals. Did he want me to be his 'older woman' friend? He gravitated to older women. For solace? Succor? A beard? Did he want me to teach him the ropes? I never could quite figure it out." — Jane Fonda, on her relationship with Michael Jackson. [E!]
• "I wish I could say that I was inspired by him for a role, I was inspired by him because I think he was a great artist but he was not the inspiration for Willy Wonka contrary to what most people say. No no no, I never ever thought of playing Michael Jackson in a film, I think if anyone should play Michael Jackson in a film it should've been Michael Jackson. A mother and a father have lost a son, siblings have lost a brother and millions of people around the world have lost someone they love. Children have lost a father so it's obviously a very sad, sad moment." — Johnny Depp. [The Star]
• "At the moment I feel like I need to go away and figure out what I want to do and be myself for a bit. I just want to take a step back from it and not rush into stuff. I need university to give me that break. People think because I'm going to university I'm never going to act again, but it's actually me… I want to… figure out how I feel about everything first. Maybe I'll keep acting, maybe I won't. I just want to find something where I feel I have to do this. Maybe that'll happen when I read a script. It felt like that with Hermione. I want to feel like that again." — Emma Watson, who will attend Columbia University in the fall. [Elle UK, NY Daily News]

• David Carradine's death is now being described as "accidental." He was found naked, hanging by a rope in a closet of his hotel room in Thailand, where he was shooting the movie Stretch. [Daily Mail]

• Lindsay Lohan has reportedly been pawning her jewelry to pay her bills. [Pop Crunch]
• In other recession-ish news: After filling eight shopping carts worth of household items (tallying about $7000) at Bed, Bath, and Beyond Paris Hilton's credit card was declined. She paid for half and went back the next day to pick up the rest. [Pop Crunch]
• A picture has surfaced of Jon Gosselin vacationing in Park City, Utah with 23-year-old school teacher Deanna Hummel. (You can't even see her face in it.) Jon's Utah visit was filmed for an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8, focusing on how he helps handicapped kids. Kate was at home in Pennsylvania with the kids at the time. [Us]
• More bad photography: TMZ has dug up a blurry picture of Richelle Olson, the 39-year-old woman who is suing Sasha Baron Cohen over an alleged violent attack while the star was filming Bruno at a bingo parlor. Olson says she suffered "brain bleeds" and has been forced to use a wheelchair and walker since the alleged incident. [TMZ]
• Whitney Houston will release her first album in seven years. The as of yet untitled album will come out on September 1. [AP]
• Her ex, Bobby Brown, has some good news, too—someone actually hired him to perform! Oh, and also, during the performance, he announced that his girlfriend/manager/Whitney's ex-BFF Alicia Etheridge gave birth to their baby boy, Cassius, four days ago. [TMZ]
• George Bluth Sr. is expecting a couple of bundles himself. Jeffrey Tambor, 64, and his wife Kasia Ostlun, 41, are expecting twins. We hope they don't leave claw marks on her uterus á la Buster. [Star]
• Is Marilyn Manson dating porno's "Best New Starlet" Stoya? If you believe that MySpace friend order is any indication, then yes. [ONTD]
• Susan Boyle will be reunited with her cat Pebbles for daily visits while she's staying in the clinic The Priory. The Mirror suggests that "her anxiety at being apart from the cat for long periods of time is believed to have contributed to her breakdown." [Mirror]
• Denise Richards has had three "boob jobs." Good to know? [Us]
• Janice Thibodeaux, the woman accused of attacking Simon Cowell's ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour, has pled guilty to battery. She received 36 months probation, has to complete 20 days of labor. [TMZ]
• According to "sources" American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert has an attitude problem. "He is such a diva. Rude to everyone—from fans right down to the lighting folks." Proof that makeup doesn't make you beautiful on the inside. [MSNBC]
• Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, and James Van Der Beek were "monstrous" and "made life miserable for any writer or producer" on Dawson's Creek, according to Tom Kapinos, who worked on the series before moving on to create Showtime's Californication. [E!]
• A lawsuit will halt the release of the Jack Black video game "Brutal Legend." [AP]
• More lawsuits: Mel Gibson's pregnant girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, is suing her former manager for selling "racy lingerie photos" and some songs she recorded in 2005. [TMZ, TSG]
• Katy Perry is "not impressed" with Gossip singer Beth Ditto's comments that she is "offensive to gay culture" for making faux lesbiansim trendy with her song "I Kissed a Girl." Perry said that Ditto's "insult" was "tacky." Maybe they'll kiss and make up? [Daily Express]
• James Franco has canceled giving the keynote speech at UCLA's graduation ceremony, due to scheduling conflicts with an upcoming film, and not because of a Facebook group that many students have launched in protest, because Franco—who only graduated from UCLA last year—was only an "average student" who used to sleep in class. [TMZ]
• Elle MacPherson, Stephen Fry, and Sienna Miller are among the celebrities boycotting Nobu because the Japanese fusion restaurant is still serving bluefin tuna, an endangered species. Alicia Silverstone has joined the boycott as well, even though, judging by the menu, there are only about two dishes the vegan star could eat there. [Telegraph]
• Melissa Joan Hart blogged about her mom's brain surgery. All went well, and her mom is recovering. [People]
• Chris Pine will follow up his starring role in Star Trek by playing opposite Denzel Washington in the Tony Scott-directed Unstoppable, about a runaway train. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Natasha Henstridge is getting married in various places at some point. [People]
• Are you totally psyched for New Moon? Peter Facinelli certainly is. [E!]
• It looks like Dets. Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler will be back for an 11th season of Law & Order: SVU. [TV Guide]
• A&E's drama The Beast, starring Patrick Swayze, has been canceled due to low ratings. [Variety]
• "[Danielle Staub] walk up to me at a Reality Cares party and said, ‘Countess, we have to talk.' And I looked at her and said, ‘About what? What could we possibly have to talk about?' But maybe she wanted my advice. In retrospect, I think maybe she really needed to talk to me. Maybe she was going to ask me who my lawyer is." - Countess LuAnn de Lesseps on the Real Housewives of New Jersey star with a troubled past. [People]

To boot, the girl's frustrated father had also just been laid off from Lehman, due to the economy, which initially led detectives to think that perhaps he had been the one beating her. The high school girl, Kimberly, was arrested on kiddie porn charges mainly because older bruises and cracked ribs indicated that she'd been suffering from long term abuse, and she wouldn't identify who had been doing it to her out of fear. (It was one of two boys, both of whom denied involvement, of course)

After her arrest and appearance in court, she finally admitted that it was her boyfriend who had been beating her up regularly, so the prosecution moved to drop all charges. But the judge (Swoosie Kurtz) was a hard ass, found the girl guilty anyway, and sentenced her to a year in a juvenile lock up in Ohio. It was then discovered that the judge's cousin ran that facility, and she had been receiving a commission for filling up beds, and had been convicting underage kids for frivolous charges for quite a while in order to make extra cash.

• And then there were seven?!?! Angelina Jolie reportedly told one of the Slumdog kids that she is planning to adopt an Indian orphan. The papers will surely turn this into a race with Madonna. [Telegraph]

• So you know how Lindsay Lohan has a $115,000 Maserati but no job? Turns out a "porn king" loaned her the car, no strings attached. Uh-huh. Right. [TMZ]
• This UK paper is calling Madonna a "manipulator" who will "stop at nothing" to adopt a second child. They're saying she dressed conservatively for her court appointment, when she actually is way more wild, divorced and a Kabbalah enthusiast. Apparently Malawaians "take their Christianity seriously." Well, she did date Jesus! [Daily Mail]
• Hmm. Madonna wore a $2800 Chanel tracksuit while in Malawi. [Telegraph]
• The mark on Katie Holmes' back is indeed troubling. Scientology? Melanoma? [Perez]
• Countess Luann de Lesseps of Real Housewives has split with Count de Lesseps. He is "with an Ethiopian woman" now. Does this mean Luann is still a countess? Are any of the Housewives actual wives? So many questions. [Page Six]
• Meanwhile, Vicki Gunvalson of the California Real Housewives has been receiving death threats from an obsessed female fan who "takes the show way too seriously." [Yahoo via E!]
• The latest on Britney Spears is that while her dad was away, she hooked up with a backup dancer. His name is Glo, and she bought him some clothes and shoes. But now that her dad is back? "It's basically over," says a source. As you'll recall, the last time Brit picked up a backup dancer she got married and had two kids. [Gatecrasher]
• Halle Berry is "mentally ready" for more kids, FYI. [Mirror]
• "I'm not engaged. If she is engaged we have a problem." — Justin Timberlake on Jessica Biel. [The Star]
• Miley Cyrus says there won't be any more Hannah Montana movies. Also, she says if you're a young kid trying to decide between college or potential stardom: "Be a freak. Go to Hollywood." [Yahoo News via AP]
• The rumors that Rihanna is not cooperating with the D.A.'s office? Untrue. A rep for the D.A. says: "We have been in contact with her attorney, and he has always said she is a cooperating victim." [E!]
• Queen Latifah is being sued by a makeup artist and a fashion stylist, who claim she failed to pay them. At stake? $1 million. [Yahoo News via AP]
• ScarJo and RyRen went on a motorcycle ride. [Socialite Life]
• Drew Barrymore is back with Justin Long — in the movies, at least. He'll play her boyfriend in a romcom called Going The Distance, about what else? A long-distance relationship. [E!]
• Zac Efron dropped out of the Footloose remake, and now Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford is auditioning. Similarly pretty, but charismatic? Uh… [E!]
• Michelle Rodriguez will kick your ass if you try and snap her picture when she is not feeling well and sitting in a wheelchair at the Mexico City airport. [E!]
• Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are still friends, in case you were wondering. [People]
• When Jennifer Lopez arrived at LAX from Japan yesterday, Jenny from the block had 11 bags. [Daily Mail]
• Andie MacDowell, Mike Myers and Ed Westwick (!) took part in a kilt fashion show. Men in skirts! [The Star, Daily Mail]
• André 3000 was busted for going 109 mph in a 65 mph zone. He drives a Porshce? You'd think it would be a model T or something to match his plus-fours. [E!]
• Congrats to Alyson Hannigan, who had a baby girl — on her birthday. [ET]
• If instead of sparkly vampires, you like actual boodsuckers with fangs, take note: True Blood returns June 14. Season 2 photos at the link. [E!]
• Epic! Law & Order: SVU will be shooting at the U.N. [CNN]
• Star Trek hasn't yet hit theaters but they're already talking sequel. And Lost cocreator Damon Lindelof could be on board. [E!]
• The Karate Kid remake will be called Kung Fu Kid, says Jackie Chan. [EW]
• Friends, here is a picture of Sir Paul McCartney with his fly open. [Daily Mail]
• Friday Night Lights: Renewed for two more seasons. [EW]
• Blind item! "Which pretty young songbird is freaking out male paramours with her overly hairy tummy?" [Gatecrasher]
• "It doesn't mean no more musicals forever, but right now I had so much fun doing (new comedy film) 17 Again that I think that's the direction I want to head in." — Zac Efron, on why he pulled out of the Footloose remake. [The Star]
• "Max and I are really good friends. We were just too young. That's all it was. I still love the idea that we did it. I love the idea I can tell my kids one day about it and I know he does too. It just got really crazy. It was something that exploded. And then it ended. And now we're just back to being friends, which is so much better." — Peaches Geldof, 20, who doesn't regret her six-month marriage. [The Sun]
• "After this album and tour I have a brand new business I am setting up, but i can't say what it is yet. I am definitely considering quitting music." — Lily Allen. [This Is London]
• "If you've got a character, particularly on TV, you can watch him doing nothing if you like him. If you haven't got a great character, you could be delivering the greatest lines in the world, but who cares? There are stand-ups that just aren't likable. They can have the best lines in the world, but you go, (yawn) 'Yeah. Brilliant. Don't like you though.' Whereas, someone shambles out and they're a putz and they get their hands dirty and they tell you what a bad day they've had, you want to hug them. They don't say anything funny, they are funny." — Ricky Gervais. [Yahoo via AP]
• "I think they prerecord the backgrounds in the studio and maybe the backgrounds are a little lip-synced. But I think the solos are definitely live. Because these kids aren't dancers and they're trying to do choreography, that's why it happens … if it happens at all." — American Idol judge Randy Jackson, on the lip-sync controversy. [Gatecrasher]
• "Kissing him wasn't bad at all. Justin's a sweetheart, and the whole shoot felt very organic. It all flowed so well." — Ciara, on smooching Timberlake in her new video for "Sex Love Magic." [Gatecrasher]
• "We were going to a Mexican restaurant and he and I were the first ones in. We sat opposite each other. He looked at me. It was a look that wasn't sexual; it was almost evil. It was like rape except it wasn't sexual. I just burst into tears. I never forgave him for it. It was cruel. I think maybe he fell into what he does sometimes with women. He had no right to do that. I was helpless. I got mad at him, and I never talked to him again." — Cloris Leachman on Marlon Brando. [LA Times]

Almost all of the issues brought up by Melissa can be easily dismissed with the simple excuse: it's television, and television is ridiculous. She calls Special Victims Unit unrealistic, but in an age where "reality" TV is about as close to real life as an episode of Lost, bemoaning lack of accurate representation seems almost beside the point. The same can be said of her other issues: producers' ridiculous tendency to put a huge twist into every episode that completely changes the original case? Necessary for entertainment value! The absurdly attractive victims (including cherubic children)? Well, on American TV, even a character named "Ugly Betty" is played by a stunning actress, so what else would you expect?

However, these things that wouldn't bother me, that would be easy to dismiss in almost any other show, become problematic when pretty much the entire premise of the series is about sexual assault. McEwan notes that SVU has some very good episodes, which deal with surviving and prosecuting rape in a honest and helpful way, but the writers also frequently rely on plot twists that discredit victims and vindicate the wrongly-accused man. She's right in pointing out that SVU is designed to exploit victims' stories, but so is the rest of the Law & Order franchise. The fact that SVU deals primarily with "sex crimes" (some episodes are about child neglect/abandonment, not sexual abuse), makes it difficult to enjoy even a single episode without feeling vaguely uncomfortable about the whole thing.

But I do enjoy it, at least for the most part. I've seen almost every episode of SVU, and despite some feelings of discomfort, I keep going back. One of the greatest draws of the Law & Order series is that it asks you to think about the moral dilemmas surrounding each crime. SVU has been the impetus for some really important discussions about issues I might otherwise have never brought up, with people who may not normally think about the uncomfortable reality of sexual assault.

But unfortunately, many of the problems Melissa points out have become especially obvious in the most recent seasons. As the series struggles to stay entertaining, it has veered further and further into the realm of gratuitous violence and undisguised voyeurism. The most obvious example of this is an episode from Season 9 titled "Undercover," in which Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) comes terrifyingly close to being raped. The clip at left shows the attempted rape of Detective Benson in horrifically graphic detail. (FYI: the only clip I could find of the scene is a tribute video with a terrible song, so play it with the sound off.) Watching it is extremely unsettling. Even though they get the guy in the end, the prolonged struggle is disturbing. Was it necessary? Does this episode contribute anything to the discourse about rape? I would say no on both counts. If this is where Law & Order is going, I may have to stop watching.

Although McEwan's main gripe is that SVU does not accurately represent the reality of rape, I think the larger, more interesting issue is the fact that the show exists at all. There is something slightly off about using stories of assault for entertainment value, even if the larger narrative is one of justice and vindication. Which begs the question: is it possible to build a television show around the greater issue of sexual assault without exploiting the real-life victims or commodifying rape? Can the positives (increased discussion about rape, sexual assault, victim-blaming, and the like) ever overcome the negatives?

L&O: SVU [Shakesville]

The film, "inspired by recent events" will center around a grieving mother who "retaliates against those she feels were responsible for her daughter's death." So, not only is this movie a tasteless exploitation of the Meier family's tragedy, but it also entirely rewrites events vigilante-style! However, this is not the first time the Megan Meier case has "inspired" entertainment: an episode of Law & Order: SVU titled "Babes" featured a story line obviously ripped from the headlines of the MySpace Suicide case. There is no release date set yet for E-Venge. Who will play Lori Drew? [Cinema Blend]

Why? Well two reasons. One, it is sort of amazing that someone so mesmerizing onscreen can be so boring in real life, but there you have it. (Even Conan seemed a little underwhelmed, claiming that his cue cards simply read “kill time.”) Two: Boring or not, Meloni does not appear on this blog nearly as often as he should, and after Megan's post from earlier this afternoon, we all need some eye candy.

In this clip, Meloni shouts out something indecipherable (which we swear we heard as “Obama’s penis,”) before going on to discuss his many female fans, claiming that while he is frequently recognized by men, they always say “my wife loves you, man.” (Emphasis ours.) According to Meloni, guys do not watch Law & Order, or at least they refuse to admit it. This is his only amusing line.

[New York, January 17. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

[New York, October 22. Image via Bauer-Griffin]