This view depends on the notion that her close personal relationship with Mitch didn't deserve to be scrutinized as part of the inquiry into why his behavior continued at TMS for as long as it did. There are people who are persuaded by Alex's view of herself, which is that she's a victim, first of a betrayal by Mitch and now of unfair prying into her personal life and, of course, of the dreaded cancellation. Much of your reaction to this season, I have learned, will turn on whether you are fundamentally sympathetic to Alex or not. It should! But if the aim is to generate sympathy for her, this is kind of like using the microwave, compared to the slow roast that would be actually writing her complexities into the show.Īrts & Life A new question for an old religion: Should non-Jews play Jewish characters on-screen? And yes, this activates a gut-level sympathy for people who are suffering. (In fact, this rapid route to redemption also feels like the reason they killed Mitch!) Alex has been reckless, nasty, dishonest, inconsiderate, and hurtful, but now she's sick, and she's shivering, and she feels terrible and scared. But it feels like her illness is supposed to serve the same purpose here - it's a shortcut to resolving the conflict between the way the character has been acting and the way they want you to see her. Giving Alex COVID is much more palatable, so please understand I'm not drawing an equivalence. Using that device thoughtlessly inspires at best sympathy and at worst pity.
There were two problems with that, of course: first, that it's offensive to use violence as a device in that way second, that it doesn't actually make a woman any more likable, as violence happens to pleasant and unpleasant people alike. It used to be that shows that wanted to "humanize" women would have them stalked, beaten up, or sexually assaulted. Television Netflix's 'Gentefied' feels real - because Latinx creatives are behind it AlexĪlex has COVID, of course, and.