The L Word, Part 2
Despite preferences for characters or actors, the central figures of The L Word are Bette and Tina — and their relationship. We first view this couple in the pilot episode as a dysfunctional pair, trying simultaneously to conceive a child and reconcile their increasingly incongruent personalities. As the series progresses, we see their relationship decline, despite temporary periods of happiness and reconciliation. The relationship ends, the women attempt to live separate lives despite the shared custody of a child, and, last season, they re-establish a friendly bond. This season (so far) we find them embroiled in a passionate affair. Most importantly, we see them fully engaged as a couple who demonstrate a love that exceeds their former one because both have developed into more complete and compatible individuals.
So, what’s the moral of this fictional story? Can we earn anything from the predictable soap-opera romantic peaks-and-valleys of a made-for-TV lesbian relationship?
Yes, we can.
For all its flaws and television hyperbole, The L Word does manage to capture the essence of any successful relationship — that change is not only inevitable but necessary. Women derive their strength from their ability to adapt and alter themselves and their environment. Wise women realize that they do and must change as their relationships (romantic and otherwise) evolve. Our strength is not based in the rigid structure of steel, but, rather, in the finesse and infinitely changeable patterns of a spider’s web. Flexibility, adaptation, evolution reignited the sparks with Bette and Tina — and burn within all of us at all times. We shouldn’t fight against this.
Just a note of no consequence: there are plenty of other blogs and fan websites dedicated to the adoration and/or disembowelment of the actors on The L Word so I won’t spend much time in these practices. I do, though, think that Jennifer Beals is hot as hell and that the chemistry she shares on-screen with Laurel Holloman is great. That being said, my personal happiness or inclination to watch The L Word does not depend on whether Bette and Tina are a couple or not.
