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| Discovering that they had been robbed. |
Rose is probably the central character in this episode, but Dorothy's attitude and display of character completely steal the show in my book! She really proves that she's the strong, reasonable one of the bunch time and time again. I love how she handles herself when that creep of a salesman tries to scare the girls into buying a 10,000$ security system! His nonsense about how 1 in 4 people will be the victim of a violent crime is such an obvious ploy to squeeze money out of them. As a woman, I find it offensive and disgusting that a man would try to take advantage of a woman by making her feel afraid and vulnerable. Additionally, they are all older women and I am always sickened when I hear stories about elderly people getting scammed. Dorothy keeps the girls from making an imprudent decision, however. She tells the man that they will buy a security package from a competing security company and then kicks him out of the house!
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| Rose's encounter in the parking garage. |
I am also interested in the girls' debate about whether or not the presence of men makes a group of women safer. Rose says that she feels safer if a man is present, but Dorothy calls it a false sense of security. Of course, Dorothy's assertion is more logical, but personally I feel safer when I am with a man, too. I think this is a social construct that is hard to escape sometimes. Girls are raised to be very cautious of strange men. In fact, sometimes I don't think men realize that a woman walking at night by herself is going to be very suspicious of a man if he approaches her abruptly or comes too close to her. I've had discussions about this very thing with my girl friends and there seems to be a consensus that when we're alone we are more suspicious of others. Walking with a boyfriend, brother, father or male friend (etc.) tends to lessen this feeling, however.
Rose is such a sweet character! It's very hard to watch her be so helplessly afraid because she's easily the gentlest spirit on the show and the one whom the audience will feel the greatest need to see protected. The idea of Rose wielding a gun is just totally disturbing. If one of them has to handle a gun, it should definitely be Dorothy! Rose is truly lucky to have such a good friend in Dorothy. Rose is able to break down in her friend's arms as she does without fear of being judged or harshly criticized. I'm glad that Rose is able to put her fear aside finally, but I wonder if she would have been able to do so if she had not had that encounter in the parking lot. I also wonder how long her fear would have crippled her if she had not had that encounter, though. It's kind of a sad prospect if you think about it in more realistic terms and outside of the context of resolving something in a 30 minute story.
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| "I'd rather you shot Lester!"- Blanche |
Enough of the tough stuff! There are some great moments in this episode. First of all, I love that the girls were at a Madonna concert the night they were robbed. I like how they are painted as hip and trendy despite their age! Additionally, I love how Dorothy quotes Dirty Harry in order to try to intimidate the robbers! You don't even have to watch the episode! Just imagine Bea Arthur's voice quoting Clint Eastwood's most famous line from that movie. It's just too much! Oh...and Blanche maces herself in the face.
One minor thing--Blanche makes fun of Dorothy's mink stole for being out of style, but it's the same stole that Blanche borrows on her date with Harry in the very first episode. Maybe styles changed very quickly at that time?
***Cheesecake count: 1
References: Madonna...I'm not linking anything to her name. You know who she is!
St.Olaf vs. Sicily: 0 to 1
Quote of the day:
Rose: [The robbers] were probably looking for drugs!
Dorothy: We have Maalox and estrogen! How many junkies have gas and hot flashes?
Interesting point about the sense of security we feel when accompanied by a male! It's funny that we feel so much safer from strange men when with a man we trust, and I'd have to argue that the sense of security isn't false, just because I feel such a difference in vulnerability between being alone and with a male. It seems rather unfortunate, either way, that women must be fearful and often dependent on another male to feel safe.
ReplyDeleteCasey, thank you for your thoughtful comments! :)
ReplyDeleteI certainly feel safer when I am with a man whom I trust. However, I generally feel safer with just about anyone else given that when it comes to physical strength, I am definitely lacking! Haha!