I've been thinking about this some more, about why I can see the male biases of the writers and, while I dislike them, I still watch and enjoy the show--and I do consider myself a feminist, no question, there--and I think it's because, when I think about what the show is and what it isn't and what I want it to be and what expectations I should reasonably have, I decide that it is not, in fact, an ensemble show. If it were, or if it were supposed to be, if they were actually intending and trying to write it that way, then I'd have more of a foundation to grouse from--not that I won't and don't grouse, anyway, because it's what I do. But that isn't what it is; it's a buddy show masquerading as an ensemble show, but not actually pretending very hard. It's the John and Rodney show, the same way SG1 was the Jack and Daniel show. It's a show written by geeky white guys about two geeky white guys saving the universe, two buddies, one a (quirky) scientist and one a (sort of odd) military man, white, middle-class (or upper-class, as we now know) white males who like each other, despite their differences (which, really? Not so vast, considering the similarities) and have a fun, funny, interesting, possibly subtextually homoerotic relationship. (That last part is debatable, I know, but, sheesh, where are they going with John and Rodney, lately, if not there?) And that's both SG1 and SGA that I'm talking about; that could describe either show, obviously. It's Jack and Daniel andSamandTeal'c, or John and Rodney andallthoseotherpeople, not an ensemble. Everyone but the two main dudes, the two buddies, are secondary. It's been that way since the Stargate movie.
So these shows aren't BtVS or AtS, they're TS or SPN or even XF. There are more secondary characters on these two shows, and they get more screen time than on the average buddy show, and the core four-person team on each show comes in at a strong second place, but, really? It's about the two white guys saving our asses with their mad white guys skillz. So, if the female characters and the characters of color get short shrift, it's not only because the writers are blinkered morons; it's because they're intended to--everyone but the two white dudes will be secondary, underused, afterthoughts, because that's how buddy shows are. (They don't have to be, but they usually are.)
Even the actors can be mistaken (or fooled) about the ensemble/buddy dynamic thing, I think--some of what Torri's said about her role struck me as her having been surprised at the limits of what she was given to do. Back on TS, the actress who played Carolyn left after the first season because she'd believed it was going to be an ensemble show and that she'd have a bigger role. The people creating these shows may actually be representing them as ensemble shows, may actually think that's what they're doing, to a point. But they're really making Starsky and Hutch with some other people thrown in, some of whom have boobs for the guys (and the guy viewers) to enjoy looking at.
I dunno, maybe that's a little harsh. That's what I think is going on, though. Doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the shows, or that I don't wish they'd make them true ensemble shows, but it is what it is, so I go with it. So maybe I'm going to be less "they're doing it wrong!" about it and more "I wish they'd do it this way, instead, but, whatever," which is probably what you're doing already. I just take longer roads to get to the same places other people do. *g*
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So these shows aren't BtVS or AtS, they're TS or SPN or even XF. There are more secondary characters on these two shows, and they get more screen time than on the average buddy show, and the core four-person team on each show comes in at a strong second place, but, really? It's about the two white guys saving our asses with their mad white guys skillz. So, if the female characters and the characters of color get short shrift, it's not only because the writers are blinkered morons; it's because they're intended to--everyone but the two white dudes will be secondary, underused, afterthoughts, because that's how buddy shows are. (They don't have to be, but they usually are.)
Even the actors can be mistaken (or fooled) about the ensemble/buddy dynamic thing, I think--some of what Torri's said about her role struck me as her having been surprised at the limits of what she was given to do. Back on TS, the actress who played Carolyn left after the first season because she'd believed it was going to be an ensemble show and that she'd have a bigger role. The people creating these shows may actually be representing them as ensemble shows, may actually think that's what they're doing, to a point. But they're really making Starsky and Hutch with some other people thrown in, some of whom have boobs for the guys (and the guy viewers) to enjoy looking at.
I dunno, maybe that's a little harsh. That's what I think is going on, though. Doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the shows, or that I don't wish they'd make them true ensemble shows, but it is what it is, so I go with it. So maybe I'm going to be less "they're doing it wrong!" about it and more "I wish they'd do it this way, instead, but, whatever," which is probably what you're doing already. I just take longer roads to get to the same places other people do. *g*