Women as tough as (their) nails
Claws is a full-figured, colourful, big-haired working-class answer to Big Little Lies
Five women, multiple secrets, murder and more than a few big little lies.
Female co-conspirators and their tangled web of crime, deceit, bad men and big mansions have captured the zeitgeist of Sunday night TV post “Game of Thrones.” The series finale of “Big Little Lies” on Sunday means the end of one fraught story, at least for now, but the action is hardly over, thanks to another very different group of ladies and their roller-coaster narrative.
The drama “Claws,” a fullbodied, multiracial, workingclass answer to HBO’s affluent, low-carb drama, is midway through its third season. Although the hour-long comedydrama still hasn’t cracked the cultural conversation or become part of the peak TV buzz like some cable series starring Hollywood’s A-list, it should — it’s the perfect show for our time.
Set in the aging mini-malls of South Florida rather than the scenic cliffs of Monterey, the colourful, smart, wickedly funny series follows five manicurists as they try to beat a class system and economy rigged in favour of the 1 per cent. But like the middle-class folks the show depicts, “Claws” has been overlooked by an entertainment media still enamoured with unattainable levels of wealth and zero body fat.
“Oftentimes, you see heroines of stories are women in their 20s or early 30s, but you don’t see women who are in their 40s, women who work in the strip mall that you pass by every day,” says “Claws” showrunner Janine Sherman Barrois. “They are the women at Target finding an amazing outfit, who go out at night with their girls and drink margaritas. They don’t feel like they are the wallpaper of the world. They’re struggling every day to gain power because they feel like they’re going to get a piece of the American dream.”
Starring Niecy Nash, “Claws” has an average audience of 7.6 million viewers per episode, which puts it in the top five among ad-supported dramas. Niecy Nash, Judy Reyes, Jenn Lyon, and Karrueche Tran in "Claws." Nash plays Desna, the shop’s owner, and her crew is a diverse mix of misfits, oddballs and individuals most people wouldn’t give a second chance. Perky redhead Polly (Carrie Preston) may look preppy but she’s a con artist and convicted felon. She works in the salon alongside ex-stripper Virginia (Karrueche Tran), tough girl Quiet Ann (Judy Reyes) and Desna’s confidant and childhood friend, Jennifer (Jenn Lyon).
They face the struggles of bluecollar working women — paying rent, child care, birth control, moving up the economic ladder — until a brush with organized crime sends them down a road of fantastical plot twists.
“This is a series about women who are doing things that would typically be reserved for men,” says Nash, who directed an episode this season for the first time. “And I love that they’re unapologetic about it. Desna represents a lot of women that I know who are on the south side of 40, not married, no children and having sex for their own pleasure. And believe it or not, she’s not a Size 2.”
“Claws” broaches serious subjects such as drug addiction, abortion and domestic abuse inside a larger satire about life below the line. It’s a risky balance that could have come off as a not-so-funny parody of working folks who are barely making it. The series, however, is an artful balance of real-life problems, absurdly funny situations, emotional depth and the occasional syncopated dance number or water ballet.
Show creator Eliot Laurence said his intent was to create a show he wanted to see but couldn’t find on TV. “I’m always seeking balance in my work, and I knew ‘Claws’ would only run properly if the stunning nail art was balanced with shocking violence ... If the deeply heartfelt moments were balanced by wickedness and irreverence,” he said. “‘Claws’ is a tightrope, tonally. Balance is essential to the physics of the show.”
The hot, humid Florida setting was inspired by his own time in the state and “... every bad neighbourhood I lived in as a struggling artist,” he said. “Even if these neighbourhoods looked like a war zone, there was always a nail salon, and business was always booming.”
And looks definitely matter in “Claws.” The nails themselves tell a story with their shapes and designs. Scenes often open or close with nail art setting the tone — Desna’s set is sharpened to deadly points when she’s out for blood; the other women’s are loaded with charms and Swarovski crystals when they’re aiming to slay the competition at nail shows, parties or the casino.
To tell a new story with each episode or scene, the show relies on chief manicurist Morgan Dixon. She brings in nail artisans from around the country, employs local talent and has nails flown in from overseas. All their efforts have resulted in a robust, first #ClawsUp nail competition on Instagram, with themes like “Bling,” “Neon,” “Clear.”
“Claws” represents a vibrant world of big teased hair, expert weaves, feather earrings, furry cheetah print cellphone cases and other electric wardrobe choices that set Twitter alight during each episode.
Call it frivolous or shallow, but most women do care how they look, and “Claws” is brave enough to go where other shows won’t with their clothing choices.
“I don’t start with how Desna’s feeling,” Nash says of capturing her character’s mood. “I start with how she looks, because that informs me. I go from the outside in. Are these clothes covering something or exposing something? When I created her, at the beginning, she did not have a lot of time and that’s why she wore a lot of jumpsuits. It was a one-stop shop and very monochromatic: denim shoes, purse, jumpsuit. Done ... And in the beginning, she was always eating Lean Cuisine, but we let that go. She’s got too many problems to try and find diet food right now. That ship has sailed.” NEW YORK — Dutch film actor Rutger Hauer, who specialized in menacing roles, including a memorable turn as a murderous android in “Blade Runner” opposite Harrison Ford, has died. He was 75.
Hauer’s agent, Steve Kenis, said Wednesday the actor died July 19 at his home in the Netherlands.
Hauer’s roles included a terrorist in “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone, Cardinal Roark in “Sin City” and playing an evil corporate executive in “Batman Begins.” He was in the big-budget 1985 fantasy “Ladyhawke,” portrayed a menacing hitchhiker who’s picked up by a murderer in the Mojave Desert in “The Hitcher” and won a supporting-actor Golden Globe award in 1988 for “Escape from Sobibor.”
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro in a tweet called Hauer “an intense, deep, genuine and magnetic actor that brought truth, power and beauty to his films.” Gene Simmons, the KISS bassist who starred opposite Hauer in “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” described his former co-star as “always a gentleman, kind and compassionate.”
In “Blade Runner,” Hauer played the murderous replicant Roy Batty on a desperate quest to prolong his artificially shortened life in postapocalyptic, 21st-century Los Angeles.
In his dying, rain-soaked soliloquy, he looked back at his extraordinary existence. “All those moments will be lost in time. Like tears in rain. Time to die,” he said.
“It’s so much fun to playfully roam into the dark side of the soul and tease people,” the actor told The Associated Press in 1987. “If you try to work on human beings’ light side, that’s harder. What is good is hard. Most people try to be good all their lives. So you have to work harder to make those characters interesting.”