I’ve been thinking a lot about bodies when I watch TV lately. And that’s new.
I’m pretty savvy to how TV treats gender and sex, mind you, but I’m also a believer in the suspension of disbelief. So I guess you could say it’s been my viewing posture to generally “go with the flow” of the American TV aesthetic—its genres, its (sometimes pretty bad) special effects, and how “normal” looks—at least while I’m watching. Later, when I’m reflecting and critiquing, I’m happy to deconstruct or otherwise call out the ideologies at work in just about anything.
This has been my bargain with myself for maintaining some pleasure in front of the boob tube while still working as a cultural historian and critic: Think later and while the TV is on, try not to be distracted by the seams that show in how stories are put together.
But now I’m distracted. Continue reading Foreign Bodies
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