Sometimes I can be a total dumbass. That's okay. We all have our moments, but hey, I finally got the new LJ design working with the sidebar information. Took all day because I had to replicate the sidebar links from scratch. (They were lost the instant I transferred over to the new design.) Thus, I didn't get any writing done. However, step one in updating the website is complete: the LJ is shiny. Now, to do something with the cobwebby landing page that hasn't been updated since 2009. Around the house: the holiday stuff has been packed away on schedule, and the cat is officially discombooberated. It took him a while to get adjusted to the flashy-but-dead tree sitting where his water cup is usually stored[1]. Now that he's adjusted, the tree is gone. (Stupid humans.) Anyway, the New Year begin-eth and so starts the ceremonial sorting out of the crap I don't need. It's traditional.

And now for something less fluffy.

Netflix now has The West Wing, and I've been watching it from episode 1 season 1. For the most part, I like Aaron Sorkin--at least, I've really enjoyed The Newsroom. WW hasn't grabbed me yet. I can see why it didn't do anything for me when it first aired. Mind you, I do understand the concept of rough-ish starts and then improving over time.[2] Therefore, I'm sticking with it. This, in spite of Sorkin tap-dancing on some really not good buttons for me when it comes to his female characters. Most of his mistakes have been made in the background.[3] They all appear to be honest mistakes too. (The 'These Women' bit was patronizing but sincere.) That's fine. It was 1999, and feminism had been declared a dirty word. But... then there came the episode when the president's daughter, Zoey, goes to a bar with the gang. I can't even tell you which episode it is because the author of the summery on IMDB didn't deem the event worth noting. For me, it was a show-stopper, and I had to rant to my husband for a while before I could move on. The reasons why aren't entirely Sorkin's fault.

Here's the set up: the president has acquired a new assistant. He's young, a person of color, and his name is Charlie. (I like Charlie. A lot. At once--before they even go into his back story.) Charlie, a new orphan, doesn't have a lot of friends and hasn't had a lot of free time due to taking care of his little sister. Josh is ordered to take Charlie out for a guy's night at a Georgetown bar. Zoey and a few others decide to go along. The bar is full of young college kids. It's obvious that the drinking age in the area at this time is 21. Zoey is 19. Inexplicably, she goes out for her night on the town dressed like a teen boy. (Baseball cap, baggy jeans, baggy jacket, baggy shirt--ha! So very not on this planet, Earth Boy. But hey, Zoey is a Good Girl.) All goes well until Zoey volunteers to go to the bar and ask the bartender about C.J.'s as-of-yet-undelivered grasshopper.[4] In doing so, Zoey leaves her Panic Button at the table. A group of frat boys circle Zoey. At first things are okay. They're just flirting with her. Then things move from vaguely disturbing into all out dangerous. The Drunken Date Rapey Frat Boys tighten the circle around her like jackels. It's clear they have Bad Intensions.

Unfortunately, this is the very moment where Sorkin messes it up big time.

Charlie is the first to notice that something is wrong. Mind you, I'm good with this writer-choice--not because we're supposed to understand Charlie is crushing on Zoey, and Sorkin is playing the White Knight Card.[5] I'm good with this choice because Charlie is a PoC in a bar packed wall-to-wall with DRUNK

privileged

, wealthy, young, white people. His defenses would be up. He would not feel at home. He absolutely would not be relaxed. Bonus: I'm really, really good with the way Charlie handles the situation. He gets up and quietly confronts Zoey's potential-attackers with, "You don't know who she is, do you? Okay. I'm going to do you a favor. I'm telling you to step away. Because if you don't, you will have a very, very bad night. Possibly the worst of your life." Drunken Date Rapey Frat Boys being Drunken Date Rapey Frat Boys and Racist Date Rapey Frat Boys at that--they not only don't back down but threaten Charlie. The next writer-choice for person who notices is one of the white male characters. BAD MOVE. The next person who would notice something is wrong would be one of the females. They, like Charlie, would have their Spidey-sense on. No woman goes into a bar without bein

vigilant

. It might be on a low level--particularly if accompanied by powerful males, but it's going to be there. In an American bar THE STRAIGHT WHITE MALES WOULD BE THE VERY LAST TO NOTICE. I know this from personal experience. There are reasons for this. The main one being that unless things go horribly, horribly awry they have nothing to fear. on-seedy bars aren't considered dangerous for straight males, not anything like they are for anyone else. Think about it. Bars are places where straight white males relax. Even if a white male is a geek, if he is in a group with other white male allies he's safe. There are a whole host of other potential targets before he's served up on the menu. So, not so much with th

vigilance

, bats and gouls--unless he's wearing a dress. And none of these guys is wearing anything but power suits. They work with the most powerful man in the country, and a pack of Federal agents is outside the door thanks to Zoey. No way in Hell would they feel even remotely threatened. Nonetheless, the straight white males save the day since one of the straight white males picks up Zoey's Panic Button and presses it. Federal Agents storm in and Drunk Racist Date Rape-y Frat Boys have a Very Bad Day. I would've cheered but for the Hey-Wait-A-Minute. Because how cool is it to watch a person of color face down a pack of Drunken Racist Date Rape-y Frat Boys and be backed up with a pack of armed to the teeth Federal agents? If you ask me, very, very, very cool.

Okay. Not as perfect a moment as Sorkin would've liked. Not the end of the world.

Then we move to the president alone with Zoey for the Upset Father Moment. The very first words out of his mouth are: "Were you flirting with them?" I wanted to punch the screen. How the ever-loving fuck is ANY of what happened her fault? Apparently, she was Standing While Female. (We won't even go into The Wrong of her dressing in the +3 Holy Virgin's Unappealing Cotton Sack of Protection.[6]) So, here we have Zoey being chewed out for being female in a bar. he puts up a token resistance. The president blinks. It's his only concession. Because then he follows it up with Thou Shalt Carry Thy Panic Button or The Dire. (That part, okay. Timing? Bad.) Not once does the president console his frightened daughter. Not once does he hug her and blame the Drunk Racist Date Rape-y Frat Boys. Not once. he was Female In A Bar. That is, not until Zoey is gone, and he pats all the white males on the head for protecting his little girl. Oh, and Charlie is the last to be congratulated. And Charlie is the one that saved her life and possibly the lives of a number of innocent bystanders and the reputation of the president in the bargain.

Yeah. That.

It isn't Sorkin's fault that this week I heard about what happened in Steubenville Ohio warning: there be triggers) an Amanda Todd. It isn't, and I don't hold it against him in the slightest. Sorkin is a writer and no writer is perfect--even the good ones. I too have an inner misogynist that I struggle with. So, I can't very well hate him for doing the same. But I'm glad I saw this episode when I did--in spite of the rage-making. Because back in the day my straight white male friends would've told me I was being overly sensitive. Because this particular confluence of events demonstrates that my "buttons" are justified. We have to do something about this, America. We have to stop pretending that misogyny isn't a huge problem.
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[1] Sebastian being Sebastian, he drinks his water out of a vintage tea cup.
[2] All good writers hope to get better over time.
[3] For example: the moment when a male character uses a picture of a new mother and her baby to distract a female coworker and she stops dead in her tracks while he escapes.
[4] A grasshopper is a mint-flavored girlie drink. The fact that tough as nails, super smart, C.J. drinks a silly girlie drink is kind of endearing. Mind you, I love grasshoppers. So, she and I have that in common. It was my first drink of choice. I'd still drink them but for the grief I get when I order one. [pause] Well, that and I've found some lovely whiskey's to be my friend.
[5] Okay, that's so a Mary Sue moment, Sorkin. But okay.
[6] Ah, Rape Culture and your "If a woman is wearing anything revealing then she's a potential rape victim because males are animals without any self control." routine.