"Rescue Me"
Posted July 19th, 2006 by RD Heldenfels
Once again, I've been a techno-idiot. Wrote this yesterday ago but neglected to post it on the blog. So here it is. The "tonight" references refer to Tuesday, when I wrote this.
(Note: Some content may be unsuitable for younger readers.)
I have tried to put "Rescue Me" behind me. I tried to shrug off Denis Leary's comments to TV Guide, suggesting that those of us worried about the rape episode either hadn't watched the show or were just being politically correct. I even talked about the show recently with a New York City firefighter — who is a 9/11 survivor — and tried to take in his relaxed view of the show generally. (He thought it was unrealistic, but that such treatment w as hardly unique to firefighters. Police officers, he noted, have been portrayed unrealistically on TV for years.)
But when I sat down to watch a preview copy of tonight's "Rescue Me," the smoke was coming out of my ears — so much that no firefighter could have stopped it. Leary's egomania hits new highs in the episode, and its distaste for women is even more noticeable.
The issue is, simply put, foreplay. Not one but two different women in the episode are supposedly so enamored of Tommy Gavin and his, um, endowment, that they have their way with him in a briskly mechanical manner that appears to involve no warmup at all — minimal activity before coitus, and a lot of clothing kept on during the act.
You might concede that some of the covering up is intended to meet FX's content standards, but the show has pushed those limits beyond what we see here. Instead, there's an incredible self-congratulation on display, an insistence to the viewers that women find Gavin's endowment not only irresistible but all they require for sexual satisfaction. And that fits all too sadly with the rape episode, where Gavin's prowess was supposedly so great that it overwhelmed any objections his ex-wife had at first when Tommy assaulted her.
Of course, there were other plot strands in the episode. And I admit that I have been watching the show differently than I did before the rape episode. But that's what television can and does do — change how we think about characters or a series in a moment in a single telecast. And ever since that rape — I'm not falling for Leary's claims that it was something else — "Rescue Me" has felt very, very wrong.
July 20th, 2006 at 8:57 am
But what about the fact that, unless I imagined it, TOMMY himself was raped by means of a roofie and a viagra being mashed up in his drink. I think they jumped the shark with that bit of business. COuld someone please address this? I feel so alone…
July 20th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Rape is a topic that can reveal a lot about gender power dynamics, even when a show, novel or film presents it in unsavory ways. I must say I haven't seen this show yet but will watch to find out what's going on.
This ongoing discussion reminds me of the Dustin Hoffman film, "Straw Dogs." The wife was raped and seemed to enjoy it, at least at the beginning. Then she seemed to blame her husband, who wasn't aware the rape occurred.
I never completely figured out where the film was going with the rape scene, but suspect it was much more about gender roles and marriage than actual rape.
July 20th, 2006 at 9:24 am
I have rape fantasies myself, a lot of women do, but that does not mean I want to be raped in reality, unless it is by two very handsome gentlemen….
July 20th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Not funny, Trilby. And other critics are addressing the issue, among them my colleague Alan Sepinwall at http://www.sepinwall.blogspot.com. Maureen Ryan has also written a lot about what's happened to "Rescue Me," at featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com (no www in front of that address), including the transcript of a conversation between reporters and a top FX executive at:
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/07/rescue_me_and_t.html#more
July 21st, 2006 at 3:47 am
You're absolutely correct, Rich. Tolan and Leary tried to defend the indefensible. No matter how much silk fabric is used to explain away that rape scene, it is still a cow's ear.
What I find interesting is that a very good show was reduced to ashes with this storyline. What began with a premiere that transcended most dramas on the air today has become an ode to Tommy Gavin's nether regions. It is laughable and incomprehensible. Tommy 'ain't all that'.
The women on his show are caricatures and an insult to intelligent women everywhere. Supposedly another writer penned these objectionable episodes, but the buck still stops with Tolan and Leary, and they should both be ashamed of themselves.
I'm not impressed with Tolan's authorship, either on this show or his attempt at a defense on TWoP (where I've been banned, by the way, over this abomination), but I expected more of Leary. His past writing and acting were awe inspiring. With this storyline, he has descended to the level of television without conscience. Never mind the lack of morality or insult to females he has portrayed, it is just bad television.
July 21st, 2006 at 7:51 am
Out of curiousity I went back and read past "Rescue Me" posts on this blog and it strikes me that men who comment on the rape scene seem much more offended than the women who comment.
Trilby, in fact, makes light of the matter, only to be lightly scolded. She also asks about the rape of the male character, which is never acknowledged.
I'm not being critical, it's just interesting and might show how the myth of heroic manhood, gender identity and sex/violence/rape are intertwined in very complex ways.
I guess I'm playing devil's advocate, but I suspect the show's writers may be aware of those complexities.
July 22nd, 2006 at 8:18 am
Thanks for noticing, Larry. Yes, I am still waiting for commentary on the fact that Tommy was RAPED this past week. Was it maybe a response to the outrage expressed about his "rape" of his ex-wife?
You know, yes, I made light of it, but let's be clear, rape is a lot of things. The rape of an 8 year old girl is different from the rape of an experienced woman. The rape by a repulsive stanger at knifepoint is different from the "rape" by an ex-husband with you have had sex countless times. It just is!
I was once raped by two gorgeous men, one of whom I had been in love with. Too much information? Sorry, but I want to defend my comment (above). It is a "whole nubba leval" so to speak.
Rape enters some women's fantasies. Again, that does not mean you wish it to happen or, especially wish to be BRUTALLY raped by a stranger.
Tommy's wife was not all that offended. Should WE be more offended than she was?
I'm just saying'…
July 22nd, 2006 at 8:43 am
Oops. Forgot- Tommy's wife is a character, not real. Still, who hasn't had sex with an ex, I ask you!
July 23rd, 2006 at 4:23 am
She not only raped him, she stalked him on his date with Marisa Tomei's character and acted as if she was living at his place when he returned home (as a spouse, with pot roast and everything). Of course it would be viewed as very creepy if the gender roles were reversed.
There was another female, "marital" rape of sorts in the latest episode, too: Tommy's sister pretty much exchanges monogamous sex with a firefighter for the chance to see him get beaten up on the street.
July 23rd, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Instead, there's an incredible self-congratulation on display, an insistence to the viewers that women find Gavin's endowment not only irresistible but all they require for sexual satisfaction.
How do you know that Sheila wasn't warming herself up while talking to Tommy at the table while he was losing consciousness?
Besides, that's not how I see it as all. Sheila's rape of Tommy was a nearly exact parallel of his rape of Janet. After their relationship earlier in the series, she feels that he is hers. It is obvious that she has been trying to get back together with him (notice how she tried to come on to him when he was crying about his son). She has been trying (unsuccessfully so far, as far as I can tell) to get him to make a sufficient deposit at a sperm bank so she can have his kid. And now she finds out that he is having an affair of sorts with a women she considers a friend.
She's reclaiming her "property" just as Tommy was with his wife. And perhaps trying to get herself pregnant in the bargain.