The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Women a whole lot funnier in real life!
ISPEND a lot of my time in the company of women and that’s no accident; I like them. Very much. They are my sounding-boards, levellers, counsellors; they are my common sense, fair perspective and beautifully-placed sign-post. They are important to me so this makes me defensive of them.
You see, I have caught sight of the recent spate of comedy/ dramas to which women are central. We have ‘Finding Joy’ (even though I keep calling it Chasing Amy) and in the same week, we had ‘Women on the Verge’. Quite the downpour – of women.
Believe me, I really want to like these programmes because I really like the women who created them and I really like the fact that it is women who created them. But I just don’t like the shows.
I accept that comedy comes with characterizations, exaggeration and inflation but I am tired of the clichés. I want women even in comedy to have more nuance, more intelligence and a whole lot more conviction, because that is how women are in real life. Actually, in real life, women are a whole lot funnier too.
I am wondering why I’m so bothered; I mean it’s just the world of light entertainment, a bit of nonsense, no big deal.
I think it’s the whole self-deprecation thing; why are the Bridget Jones, Finding Joys and Women on the Verge the popular representations of women? Why do they appear to hit a chord, especially with women? Are they actually truer to life than I give them credit? Is that what has me so irked? Why does a fictional protagonist feeling inadequate resonate so much with...women?
Then, I caught sight of something else, something from a different world entirely; Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech from 1994, words he borrowed from a woman – Marianne Williamson.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. “
“We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
No one likes a boaster. But shining is a different thing. And why should anyone feel inadequate when everyone is relevant.
All said, I will continue to watch those shows about women by women, because the fact that women are making them ironically proves my point.