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Early Addition
Gothamist is a big fan of the FX show, Rescue Me - it's incredibly funny, realistic, and riveting but also difficult to watch. And last week's episode was no different, as Denis Leary's character may or may not have raped his estranged wife in the final scenes. The ambiguous scene, where firefighter Tommy Gavin overpowers his wife into having sex (she protests some, but seems to have enjoyed it by the end; he leaves with a smirk), has prompted a lot of debate in the news. And executive producer Peter Tolan even went to the Television Without Pity messageboards to explain and defend the scene. We were distressed by the scene, but it seemed to work with Tommy's overall moral depravity and lack of control when it comes to his personal life (another recent example - Tommy beating his brother to a pulp over said estranged wife in front of his children). And while some critics say the show is merciless towards women, it's actually merciless towards everyone.
What did you think of the episode? And here are a few articles about the scene:
- The NY Post's Adam Buckman has an interesting analysis: As for the rape scene, sure it was tough. But the only thing it symbolized is how permissive TV has become. For better or worse, TV is filled with such scenes. To express shock over this one seems disingenuous.
- The Daily News is in the other camp: "Rescue Me" may have won awards for being edgy, but if edgy means relying on shock value, it's time to step back.
- Chicagoist alum Margaret Lyons writes on Time Out Chicago's blog: Finally, when discussing Rescue, you can’t ignore the fact that the women on the show are universally written as manipulative, sex-crazed, and emotionally unstable. I’d raise a giant stink about it, as I’m prone to do for other shows, except….the men are written the same way.
Rescue Me airs tonight at 10PM on FX.
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Sounds a little like the scene in "A History of Violence" where Viggo Mortenson's character overpowers his wife on the stairs.
The TWOP 'Rescue Me' board is so jammed, I can't get in. They made a big mistake giving up synopsizing Rescue Me this year.
www.forgotten-ny.com
It seemed to be more of a WTF moment when I saw it, but given the totally screwed up relationships of the Gavins it wasn't as much of a shock if it was another character.
A basic rule of thumb for TV, if right wing nutjobs hate it is usually good.
There is a pretty active Rescue Me fourm here:
http://www.rescuemeforum.com
Yeah Kevin, I agree. And they put for their reason for discontinuing coverage purely on opinion, not on lack of interest or artistic merit which I think is silly considering they cover things like Deadwood and the Sopranos.
Tommy Gavin is one of the most depraved/sympathetic protagonists on television. He is so personally corrupt and given to poor impulse control, it's almost a stretch to ID him as a protagonist. Are women portrayed as severely damaged people on the show? Sure, but only in equal measure to how the men are portrayed. Tommy's own brother had a smug smirk on his face as he was bedding Tommy's wife at the end of the last episode--and he seems to be the voice-of-reason character!
Rape is shown on tv all the time, i.e. every other Lifetime Channel movie. Putting it in the context of severely dysfunctional relationships without excusing it is called "drama for adults". I think Leary's and Tolan's efforts to tell their characters' stories without glossing over their sometimes abject ugliness makes "Rescue Me" one of the better shows on tv.
If it's so good why is it on Cable?
And, for the record, Lifetime does not have "rape" movies on regular rotation.
That's the Eighties Lifetime, now it's Strong Medicine and other strong female character shows.
Hopefully this show will go the wayside of other Leary projects.
From the few episodes of "Strong Medicine" I've seen, it appears to be the exact opposite of more real shows like "Rescue Me". Again, I've only seen a few episodes, the earliest ones, but the characters are saged and put-upon women with benighted men they have to explain things to. It's condescending, over-obvious, and under-entertaining on all levels. I'd rather take Meredith Baxter Birney in a Movie Of The Week any day.
uh oh ... bring on the womynists
Shocker that Gothamist digs this generic grabage; you all are about as predictable as a herpes sore.
Do people not realize that these are fictional characters on a fictional show?
re: nascar on fox
what is "if its so good then why is it on cable" supposed to mean? over the last 5 years, the only station (cable or not) that has come anywhere near HBO has been FX.
Tommy Gavin is one of the most depraved/sympathetic protagonists on television. He is so personally corrupt and given to poor impulse control, it's almost a stretch to ID him as a protagonist.
I believe the term you're looking for is antihero.
Thanks anonymass, "antihero" is the word I should've/could've used. I just wanted to spell it out.
Mark this as the first time I've been compared to a herpes sore!
And I, too, wish TWOP was recapping Rescue Me. I mean, Windfall, really?