Incident #22: In this third of the 'Grand Canyon' series, we find the family sitting around the campfire singing songs. I look around the campfire and see everyone but Alice! I could cry and here's why: In the next scene, we find Alice -- alone and eating her dinner in the dark away from everyone else. Just a little light to make her "area" not so dark. And of course she's right by the camping stove because THAT'S where the Maid belongs, right????? I think that this has to be the #1 atrocity so far in this blog. I really do want to just stop writing this right now and CRY! Ok, well maybe not. In any case, this is so incredibly sad!
This first image is how we initially find Alice -- take a look at the expression on her face!
And then a few seconds later a wider shot:
Isn't this the saddest thing you've ever seen? She looks so incredibly sad and lonely! She must be! I mean, she even LOOKS sad and lonely. Who wouldn't feel this way given the same circumstances! Oh my god -- and notice in the first picture especially that she's FACING the fire -- as if she longs to be over there singing songs with the family, but she knows better than to interfere. No one wants Alice around unless they need her for something. This is Family Time in the most intense way possible (alone together in the wilderness -- this always brings people closer together because it's a shared experience), and under those circumstances, Alice is undeniably NOT part of the family! No one in their right MIND would want to have a shared experience with Alice -- she's just the slave! Guess who's going to be "free" to clean up all of this? You guessed it, my good-natured reader. Ta da da da! A * L * I * C * E
In the same scene, we see Cindy and Bobby getting their plates filled (again) by Alice, who is located in the position I describe above. You see? Alice is THERE when they WANT something, but otherwise isn't there at all otherwise she'd be with the rest of the humans and not the cooked meat on the campstove! Boy, now I've gone from being very very sad to very very angry! Those sons of bitches! How could the writers come up with this and why didn't anyhow point out the TERRIBLE message this sends to the viewers! Something MUST be done about this and by golly that's what this blog -- Alice The Happy Slave -- is all about. So read on!
Incident #23: Next we find Carol and Alice cleaning the dishes. So I guess I jumped the gun a little bit on my prediction in the previous Incident about Alice being the one stuck with the dishes. She is, but Carol is also doing them. When it comes to changing the water, Alice is the one who decides that the water needs changing (a la 2nd wife mode), but then Carol proceeds to tell Alice where the water is (in a stream just beyond the boulders -- she "can't miss it"). Alice diverts her very obvious pain and agony caused by once again being reminded who is the master and who is the slave by making one of her "man" jokes. She's got a million of these and I should probably also document them. So here we go:
Man Joke #1: "If I'm not back in ten minutes, send out a forest ranger. On second thought, even if I don't get lost, send out a forest ranger. About 6 - 2, broad in the shoulders and grey at the temples."
These kinds of comments always diverts attention away (far, far away) from the protagonist (Alice) and get everyone involved (including the viewer) completely not being aware or remembering the terrible atrocity that has just been perpetrated.
In the next scene, we watch Alice stumble over rocks as she carries herself to the stream just beyond the boulders and laugh at the way she's fumbling and stumbling. She them happens upon a Native American man, which leads to the next item:
The 2nd Wife Theory: You've seen, by dear reader, a couple of references to 'The 2nd Wife'. My theory is simple -- Alice is Mike's other wife. Carol is the "pretty one" and the one that takes care of the kids when there's something important to attend to. Alice is the "slave" who is available at any time for any task (not a one is too difficult or impossible) just call her name and thunk she's there. Or at a minimum, Alice jumps into that role of 2nd Wife as needed. Whether she ACTUALLY is or not, is never revealed (to my knowledge -- but wow I have something like a kagillion episodes left to watch!).
Here we have a CONFIRMATION of the fact that the writers had the idea of a 2nd wife in their heads which "leaks out" from time to time. So in this scene, the Native American man asks Alice flat out: "Mr. Brady has two squas?" Alice flatly denies this, but it's very obvious to me that she's hiding something. Notice the tension in her expressions:
The look on her face at this moment is nothing else but "Oh my fucking god! How does he know????? How did he find out????? Who told him????? Wait 'til I get ahold of the motherfucker who told him! Who else has this person told?????" She explains to him that she "sort of a squa, junior grade". If this isn't a completely unambiguous admission by everyone involved in this show that Alice IS the 2nd wife!!!!!
Anyhow, even if she actually isn't a 2nd wife, she most certainly believes that she is -- and that's all that matters.
Non-Alice Atrocity #1: I've noticed for the first time that the atrocities are not solely delivered to Alice, but anyone of a "lesser class". In the very next scene, we find Mike, Carol, and the Native man and boy talking. The Native American man is thankful to Mike for getting his grandson (the boy) to return to his home from which he'd run away. Anyhow, this guy keeps offering Mike his thanks. He says, "I offer you thanks, many times". Now -- the correct response is "thank you". This guy has given Mike a gift, but Mike refuses it. Why would he do that? Well, because maybe he's trying to be humble. Ok, fine. Bu then the man offers it again by saying "I offer you thanks". Mike's response is "Well, you're welcome". What an incredibly ignorant fool! Can't he HEAR what this guy is doing? He's giving a gift of thanks to Mike, and stupid Mike tells him "you're welcome"??? What an asshole! All of this is done with a very uppity tone as if the Native dude isn't too sharp because, well, he's a Native dude and they just aren't all that sharp as we all know. The Native man is made to look the fool for talking the way he does by "offering thanks" and all Mike does is pat him on his little head before sending him off to homey home home.
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