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House M.D., Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives – these series have a multi-million audience and it is unlikely that their popularity can be explained only by a successful script and first-class acting. What attracts us to these stories and what do they tell us about ourselves?
About it
“Desperate Housewives. X-Files and juicy details by Leah Wilson
The author writes about the psychology of the heroines and the ups and downs of their relationship (both shown in the series and those left behind the scenes) with great knowledge of the matter. It is reasonable to assume that Leah Wilson herself lives next door to desperate housewives on Wisteria Lane (Peter, 2011).
House and Philosophy. Everyone lies!”
Ten American philosophers at once could not pass by the phenomenon of the popularity of “Dr. House”. The collection includes essays on the most pressing issues of philosophy and their interpretation in the television series (United Press, 2010).
Philosophers are breaking spears about “Dr. House”, psychologists dedicate essays to “Desperate Housewives”, and very busy people rush to the screen so as not to miss their favorite series. The best of TV sagas fascinate many of us by referring to something very intimate, to our life story. For the first time, the country watched with bated breath “Slave Isaura” and “The Rich Also Cry”*. They had everything: love and betrayal, friendship, deceit… Despite the costumes, unusual names and a different era, viewers (in any country) saw traces of their family saga in these stories, guessed their secret hopes and shameful deeds. And that is why the heroes of these stories became something like close relatives.
The series has changed because times have changed: we want to better understand ourselves and our lives. The first sign was the American “Sopranos” **. The gangster on the psychoanalyst’s couch, entangled in family problems, has gained immense popularity in many countries. But in Russia it was not taken seriously: the first show of the series on NTV in 2002 was ahead of its time. It took us another five or six years to get on with our daily lives and make sure that the words “happiness”, “meaning” and “money” are not necessarily synonymous, and the psychoanalyst is not at all exotic. And then new series arrived, though exclusively American ones: for some reason, the domestic producer preferred Sisyphean labor and tried to make laugh and captivate the entire population at once, not wanting to notice that the television audience had long been no longer monolithic. But in the US it is well understood. “The series have reoriented from the average to a smart, advanced audience,” says culturologist Daniil Dondurei. “They have become high-quality, more complex, relying on people who are intellectually sophisticated, enlightened, able to read subtle aesthetic things related to the perception of the context”***. “The best of them affect the national socio-cultural unconscious, and in this sense they are more “objective” compared to cinema,” TV producer Alexander Dulerain agrees. They address universal issues and are often able to teach important lessons. Let’s see which ones.
* The Brazilian TV series Slave Isaura (idea by Gilberto Braga) began airing on CT on October 16, 1988, and the Mexican TV series The Rich Also Cry (idea by Ines Rodena) on November 18, 1991.
** Idea by David Chase.
*** Art of Cinema, 2010, No. 2.
“Doctor House” Thinking is better (at least) together
An outstanding diagnostician and no less outstanding misanthrope Gregory House is literally obsessed with the search for truth. And he doesn’t even have to wonder what it is. The truth in the case of each individual patient is the correct diagnosis. And everything else is a lie. “Everyone lies,” House proclaims, and therefore prefers to communicate with patients, colleagues, and in general any representatives of the human race as with inanimate objects. And perhaps the shrewd doctor is right. But, once asking the question “Do I really need a team?”, House is forced to answer “yes”. He cannot do without his assistants, without the only true friend of Wilson, at least without a hospital janitor, to catch and formulate the right guess. Emptiness produces nothing but emptiness, and brilliant ideas are not born in a vacuum.
“DOCTOR HOUSE” (HOUSE, MD), USA, FOX, 2004.
The author of the idea is David Shore, eight seasons, the show of the last one ends in the USA in the spring of 2012. In Russia, it was shown on the Domashny and Hallmark Channel channels; now on Universal Channel.
Desperate Housewives Looks can be deceiving
“Are you sure you know these people you see every day – your husband, your children, your friends? – asks herself (and us) one of the heroines of the series Mary Alice Young. “You never really know who you can trust. It happens that loved ones betray us … And it also happens that complete strangers come to the rescue. As a result, most people trust only themselves. It’s the best way to avoid getting burned.” The series can serve as a detailed illustration of the famous essay “Dissatisfaction with Culture” by Sigmund Freud*. The pursuit of happiness and life in society are still combined with work. Surrounding us at every turn restrict our freedom, restrain our impulse to pleasure and omnipotence – and yet we desperately need them. We need, even knowing that we will never really know them. After all, even on the decent street of Wisteria Lane, where the plot of the series unfolds, one of the neighbors will end up as a killer.
Desperate Housewives is an insightful look at the nature of man as a “social animal” torn apart by the need for and fear of others. The relationship of the heroines is not easy, and it often seems that the best way out for each is to hide in saving loneliness. And yet, says Mary Alice Young, “life is a journey best traveled in the company of a companion… the neighbor across the street or the man across the bed. A companion may be a well-intentioned mother or a child who will do stupid things. But if we lose this companion, the journey becomes unbearable.”
* Z. Freud “Dissatisfaction with culture”, in the collection “Psychoanalysis, religion, culture” (Renaissance, 1992).
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, USA, ABC Studios and Cherry Productions, 2004. Concept by Mark Cherry, eight seasons, final airing ends in the US in May 2012. In Russia, it was shown on the channels STS, Domashny, SET. Now airing on FOX Life.
Grey’s Anatomy Growing Up Through Others
Become an adult, get out of parental care, and at the same time finally make sure that our dreams do not come true on their own, with the wave of someone’s magic wand – this is the path that aspiring doctors from Grey’s Anatomy overcome in front of the audience. The hospital in which the heroes work is a symbolic cocoon, where the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly takes place. Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang and their colleagues not only help their patients, but also grow. They grow internally, ready to recognize themselves as adults. But when their hospital is suddenly merged with another institution, our heroes feel threatened by their new colleagues: as if the life-saving cocoon is infected with an alien and dangerous virus. Engage in guerrilla warfare, flattering your ego and rejoicing in the mistakes of strangers? It seems so logical, so right. But in essence – so childish … “Anatomy of Passion” unobtrusively and wisely suggests to the viewer an idea as simple as it is deep: being a truly adult is just a fantasy of a child who idealized his parents too much. It may turn out that until the last days a person remains a big child, irresponsible and frightened, doomed to make the same mistakes again and again and fight fate. And continue, continue to grow up.
GREY’S ANATOMY, USA, ABC, 2005. Idea by Shonda Rhimes, eight seasons. In Russia, it was on the STS channel; now going to SET and FOX Life.
“Dexter” Execution is impossible
Is everything permitted to correct injustice? The answer to this question will have to wait a couple of years: in December, the creators of the popular series Dexter announced that they would release at least two more seasons. And the series is exactly about this – about whether it is permissible to do evil in the name of good. Forensic Examiner Dexter neatly does his hard work during the day. And at night, just as carefully and methodically, he destroys the villains, who cannot be reached by justice. Probably, we can assume that he is on the side of good – with big and heavy fists, but still good. However, the unwritten law of American cinema says that a goodie can kill in order to protect himself and others. But, having just appropriated the right to administer bloody justice, he inevitably dooms himself to death. Because establishing guilt, executing or pardoning is the exclusive prerogative of the Lord God and the American court. And you can make fun of such limitations as much as you like, but it’s hard to argue with the statement itself. Whether they make an exception for Dexter will have to wait. But so far, his chances seem slim. The main character looks too psychologically one-dimensional. He never hesitates, and, perhaps, this absolute confidence in his own rightness is more frightening in the series than the abundance of blood and dismembered corpses. It’s easy to imagine the infamous Anders Breivik, the terrorist assassin from Oslo, who also arrogated to himself the right to execute in the name of higher causes, among the fans of the series.
“DEXTER” (DEXTER), USA, Showtime, 2006. The author of the idea is James Manos Jr., the sixth season ended in December 2011. In Russia, it was shown on the DTV channel; now on FOX Crime.
“Gossip Girl” Find your place
‘Gossip Girl’ reveals what the New York elite is doing their best to hide,” a voice-over announces in the very first seconds of the first episode of this series. It was created for a teenage audience, but it is also watched by those who do not belong to this age group. This is an extremely educational dive into the closed world of the sons and daughters of New York billionaires. However, immersed, we will find a picture that can hardly be called unique. The heroes are obsessed with the desire to find their place, to join the right group, not to be either excluded or ranked among the “others” – nonentities, mediocrities. And in order to take a place in the right pack, these young predators are ready for anything. Here is an X-ray of a generation that is preoccupied with its image, convinced that privacy exists only to post it on Facebook and expose it to the paparazzi. The cutest, most level-headed Gossip Girl characters are the poor. Or rather, not so – the least rich, because there is no place for the poor here. But one should not think that the authors thus gradually convince the viewer that happiness is not in money. Maybe not in them. However, the world of big money is shown in the film ironically, but definitely without the desire to stigmatize and denounce. And why? To cling to a pack is a reflex of young human predators in any social environment.
GOSSIP GIRL, USA, Warner Bros. Television, College Hill Productions and Alloy Entertainment, 2007. Contributed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, five seasons so far. In Russia, it was shown on the DIVA Universal Russia channel.