Monday, March 5, 2012

Patsy and Edina

Vogue March 2012
I had a wonderful Christmas ... and with that being said, I should have been in England! On Christmas day, Brits got three very special presents from the BBC.

One, the start of a multi-segment Great Expectations! No, not the Tim Burton one that is in production in the States, but a mini-series ... more than a 2-hour feature. Oh, how delightful. The young man who plays Pip is handsome and broody if I remember him correctly from a magazine photo.

Two, the first installment of Downton Abbey Season 2 was shown. No need to comment on the fabulousness of that now!

And la piece de la resistance?! ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS 20th anniversary special. Oh how I would have loved to have seen it ... and, oh how they'll make me wait to see it on this side of the pond. What could those girls be up to? I'm dying to find out.

sister Karen as Patsy
My favorite episode of their's is Donkey. I like it for two reasons. One, it considers the idea that in every relationship, one is the race horse and the other the donkey. For them, Patsy is the race horse and Edina is the donkey. Of course Edina is very happy with this notion! She thinks that she is the race horse ... and in some ways, she may be. It seems that Edina is the one who banks their escapades. We never see Patsy's house ... and so on. Edina is her caregiver. Yes, that might be a stretch .... certainly it seems that she needs one of those too. Oh! she does. Saffron! The best line for this vein of the episode is when Patsy explains that two race horses cannot be together because they would, 'kick the shit out of each other.' I imagine that to be true.

me as Edina leaning on a bee
The other vein is that of labels or crutches or things about oneself that everyone else knows to be true of you. Patsy has her fringe ... Edina is fat. Edina, stunned by this revelation, decides to do a de-tox and boot camp exercise regimen. It seems so like something I would do .... something that I have done! Oh yes, I can prove to the world that this fat arse can move and I can lose a stone or two. In the end, even though she is lookin' good, Edina is still fat. That's what the perception of her has been by her friends, and it is one that won't change even if she were the opposite of it. People get stuck into typecasting ... it doesn't just happen in Hollywood.

So the bigger theme is: can one get out of what one's role is? Can someone who has always been one thing, change into another ... in the eyes of others. For Edina ... no. I am more hopeful for those around me. Of course the bit about the race horse and the donkey? That's spot on.

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