Cagney and Lacey

The two clips shown in the course module for the week show the difference between the opening credits of the TV show Cagney and Lacey. I have never seen this show but from the opening clip I gather it is a show about two women cops portrayed as a comedy and a drama. After viewing both clips there is a huge difference between them and a slightly disturbing one at that. In the first clip, the original, it features the two women running around doing police duty. One would think that would be acceptable for a crime show but after viewing the second opening credit, it is obvious it is not. The second clip features a new actress and one of the previous actresses from the show and instead of running around doing police work, they are hanging out, window shopping, stopping by to kiss their boyfriend. The difference between the two shows that they producers or whoever was behind the change decided that the first opener was too masculine for the women. They looked tough and intimidating and that is not the right stereotype women should be portraying in the media apparently. Even if the show is about crime fighting women, they must be window shopping on their way to work and dressed very feminine as if someone might mistake them for a man or a homosexual. They even make a point in the second opener to have one of the women kiss her boyfriend as if they are trying to prove a point “hey, I’m a girl even though I am a cop.” Why does the media think they need to portray a women in that light to get the point across that she is a women. After all you would think it was pretty obvious. Television has gotten slightly better about addressing these issues now but is still hanging on to those stereotypes for dear life. They wanna give you a taste of something but god forbid they go all the way. This reminds me the of the Will and Grace episode where Jack is addicted to this show that features two gay men and he gets really excited when they get together because gay men will kiss on tv for the first time. In the end they do not end up kissing and Jack is furious with the network. While that may seem somewhat off point it seems that there is a line that has been constructed by media and instead of trying to blur it, advertisers and producers are acting like its the plague making sure to stay on the right side of it. They do not want to offend anyone but it seems that by doing so they have locked themselves in this stagnant bubble. Media will never progress if no one pushes it to and this is shown in Cagney and Lacey because they give you a taste of a women working in a “man’s job” but they make sure to make her feminine and inviting. I will give credit where credit is due and things have changed since then but they need to keep going because there are a lot of areas out there that are in the same position Cagney and Lacey was in back then.