Day: April 4, 2003

Doug Atkinson said exactly what I was thinking.

See, I was thinking to myself, Hunh. Okay. Here’s all these people crabbing (notice I didn’t say “bìŧçhìņg”) about a marketing hook (which, as Kathleen noted, she actually came up with. All I did was suggest it to DC) but that’s all that’s happening. Crabbing. So what else could be offered? “Broad Strokes?” “Lady Killers?” And then I thought, Hey. Wait. So many folks here seem to know so much better what will work and what won’t.

All right: A marketing hook. Five words or less, preferably, to sell the concept of three titles emphasizing female empowerment, at least one of which has a noir-ish tone to it, and all of which have a more risque slant to them in terms of story matter than the average DC book (although not *quite* as risque as Vertigo.) Oh, and it can’t be offensive to any woman anywhere.

Sing out, Louise.

PAD

You know, the entire direction into which the “Marketing Fallen Angel” thread has skewed puts me in mind of “Soul Mates,” one of the two episodes I wrote for “Babylon 5.”

For that episode, I developed a storyline that, to me, made great sense: Delenn, with her newly acquired human characteristics, has a spectacularly bad hair day because she has no cultural clue how to care for her new mane. Ivanova is brought in to help the flummoxed ambassador cope with it, only to find herself speechless at the end when Delenn inquires as to these “odd cramps” she’s started experiencing.

When that episode aired, I got hammered by a number of female fans (and, of course, male fans expressing outrage on behalf of the females) for writing an episode that had two strong women worrying about haircare and periods. Interestingly, when I first arrived on the set of B5 and met Claudia Christian, Claudia told me with genuine enthusiasm, “I was so thrilled when I read this script! Finally, an episode in which we get to act like women!”

I’m sorry. I know it’s annoying to have one’s arguments dismissed as politically correct. But you know what? Women have curves. Men notice them. Some women like that notice. Some don’t. Some are flattered. Some aren’t. To me, the problem stems from the notion that women can *only* be appreciated if sexuality is ignored, as if it’s some part that can be surgically excised and set aside.

It’s a crock. Sexuality is part of everyone. It’s part of the package. Women and men are not the same, and sometimes emphasizing those differences can be fun. And sometimes it’s even fun to act like our genders.

PAD