TV: The new Showtime (darn if I don't have it) television show starring Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds, was discussed in the Arts section of the NYT today. It concerns a newly widowed soccer mom type that sells marijuana on the side, and promises to be a controversial and sardonic look at suburban life. I like Parker as an actress, including on the stage (I saw two of her plays), though her role on West Wing was written lousy. Ugh. Therefore, I hope to be able to watch the movie on DVD, not having immediate access to the channel (they should allow selective purchase -- instead, you cannot even get HBO or Showtime itself, needing to buy packages of their largely useless companion channels).
It's hard to imagine a TV protagonist more flawed than Nancy, the pot-pushing anti-heroine of "Weeds," a character so reprehensible that not even the actress who portrays her will stick up for her. "She's kind of a loser," Ms. Parker said "She's not virtuous, and she's not Robin Hood. She just wants to keep her housekeeper, go to the nice grocery and keep buying her $4 smoothies."
The piece is interesting, but curious in a view ways. One, it is deemed "unforgivable" for the mom to sell marijuana. Really? Come on now. Also, it is deemed particularly striking that the show includes some hard hitting comments such as a mom who says to herself that she wished she had an abortion. But, real people do at times think this way. Anyway, the character is played by Elizabeth Perkins, who is a good actress deserving of more chances to shine.
The line was left in, but its controversial nature highlights to me a patently annoying (and instructive) taboo respecting this subject. Millions of abortion since Roe v. Wade, and still the matter is rarely if ever discussed in much detail even in non-mainstream channels. Ironically, the same can be said in a serious way regarding religion -- other than Seventh Heaven and so forth, serious (surely respected) examinations of religious faith are rarely present, especially when not dealing with "trouble" spots. This is sad.
Books: The author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series also has an interesting editorial on teen reading materials that is worthy of a read, including the questionable value of rating systems. This message stands out:
Reading is possibly the safest and best way for young adults to explore challenging, complicated subjects, including sex. Readers take in books at their own pace. They can read one word a minute or one thousand and stuff it under the pillow if it gets too much. They supply the pictures in their own minds; no one else's are forced upon them. Probably most of us agree we'd like to expand their reading, not restrict it.
This is how I was when I was a teenager and continue to be, including the "pictures in [my] own mind." I'd add that The Historian was just too much for me right now, but The Washingtonienne is a wickedly good read so far.
Uneven Baseball: On a separate subject, I am just planned annoyed at the state of baseball these days. There are only a few really good teams out there, the rest a bunch of mediocre talent, even certain league leaders. Thus, only the Cardinals and Braves (and perhaps the Astros) really have any real shot in the National League. The AL is somewhat better, though I bet the Yanks might sneak into the playoffs almost by default.
It is patently ridiculous that no NL East team can challenge a team that had to rely on minor leaguers for almost half of their positions, including pitching -- even the Yanks, with their pitching woes, have an overpaid line-up to compensate (and teams like the Angels choking*). The woes of the Mets, who only get over .500 to fall right back to that line, hit me the most -- but it is really a consistent theme. This is not really good for the sport.
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* After last Fall, I am tired of the Yanks. Their pitching woes suggest they are due to lose, but suddenly their hitting is making them a team hard to beat. Still, especially when the Mets didn't win when they simply had to (against Houston's two back enders), when the Yanks managed to survive a bullpen meltdown when the Angels had one of their own (the 9th inning was hard to watch, while their closer simply could not get an out ... the death was slow, but minus a single out, it was complete), I was quite honestly pissed.
The Mets got one today (two out of seven vs. Rockies and Astros -- pathetic), but the Yanks managed it again: errors and so forth led the Angels to blow a large lead and later lose the game in the 11th. This is baseball? I don't want it. I would add that even the revival of the As from the scrap heap is getting old. Bad two months, then crazy winning streaks from mid-June on. Greek mythology wasn't this predictable.