Yet another take on True Detective

[David Robson]

That's a pretty shallow reading of True Detective by Nussbaum, if you ask
me (no one did).

A stronger feminist reading would acknowledge that, yes, the show relies on
some of the "dark-drama clichés" of detective stories we've grown
accustomed to - brooding males with strange powers over women who are out
to save them all from evil, even while reducing them to objects and
subjecting them to the male gaze. And yes, there's plenty of TnA, it is HBO
after all. But better reading would take at least some time to explore how
the show exposes the creation and maintenance of patriarchal structures.

None of the men in the show come off well. Whether it's Rust, Marty, the
bikers, the preachers, the other cops, whoever. Rust probably comes off the
best, and that's only because he at least tries to stay the hell away from
women.

When the story line focuses on various patriarchal cadres who participate
in the sex-trade, and worse, then yes, it contains misogynist elements. But
is the show misogynist? Obviously not.


On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 9:45 AM, jochen stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com>wrote:

> What I find interesting here is the racial aspect, the two "true," "deeply
> flawed" detectives being white, and the two obviously not so true and not
> so deeply flawed revising them and the case being black. That's quite
> inspired, too, in my eyes. And Marty's "coon hound" remark seems to be the
> only racial slip of the tongue (in cheek because he can easily retreat to
> the safety of racoon hound). Or are there more?
>
>
> 2014-02-25 15:30 GMT+01:00 Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>:
>
> Agreed.  Hart and Cohle aren't exactly presented in the most flattering
>> light.  These are deeply flawed characters, the fact that they also happen
>> to be male and the leads shouldn't be that big of a deal.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 9:26 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> the other shows she mentions Top of the Lake and The Fall were very good
>>> and just as good as true detective, with strong female leads. neither is
>>> really likable  as are the detectives in True detective. But to criticize a
>>> show for not having a strong female lead is like whining that the
>>> aforementioned shows above not having a strong male lead (they really
>>> don't). Moreoever, the focus is on these two male detectives with all their
>>> shortcomings--thats the strength of the show. Woody Harrelson's wife doesnt
>>> strike me as a weak character. The circles of whores, junkies, rural white
>>> trash, the overly sexualized religious atmosphere, the characters they come
>>> across fits the story. thats how I see it anyway
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 11:50 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Yeah, the woman to bimbo ratio is pretty miniscule.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2014/03/03/140303crte_television_nussbaum?currentPage=1
>>>>
>>>> LK
>>>> -
>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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