Why I Hate Ally McBeal

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So I’ve been complaining about the show for a while. And before you ask: I keep watching because it was original and clever last season. I keep hoping that cleverness will resurface. It hasn’t.

This is obviously a show written by a man on what he thinks a 30 year old single woman’s life would be like. It’s insulting. I’m proud to say that I am a feminist, and this show enrages me.

Why I Hate Ally McBeal
By SwimmingRiddles
[ul]
[li]On last night’s episode, the last I shall ever watch, Ling proclaimed the only reason she works is “to show off her outfits.” That was a cute line two seasons ago when Ally said it. The fact that it was recycled is evidence that David Kelley thinks that women work to “show off my outfits.” While we’re on that topic, Ally’s famously short skirts, and Ling and Nelle’s equally workplace-inappropriate wear is silly. The men wear business suits, why don’t the women?[/li]
[li]Ally is not happy. The reason Ally is not happy is because Ally can’t find a man. When she voices this concern to her friends, instead of asking her why she needs another person to be happy, they nod and say “Yep, no one will deal with you. You’re neurotic.” She even attempted to join a church, because she was so deperate to find a man, she figured God would have to do in a pinch. The Biscuit, on the other hand, is as neurotic as Ally is, yet, until recently, was dating easily the most beautiful woman in the cast. So neurotic behavior in men is endearing, but in a woman, it’s a BACK off signal.[/li]
[li]Ally refused to date a bisexual judge/coffeehouse owner because he was bisexual. She also refused to date a formerly homeless/mentally ill man who was now faithfully taking his medication and had housing. If I was an advocate for the mentally ill or if I were a bisexual man, I’d be royally pissed at the generalizations involved here.[/li]
[li]Also in last night’s episode, Ally was arrested for having computer sex with a 16 year old. Last season, she had a date with an 18 year old. Um…Mrs. Robinson syndrome, anyone? She can’t get a man her own age to deal with her, so she has to seduce teenagers?[/li]
[li]Last year, David Kelly’s two main shows, Ally McBeal and The Practice both had their female leads, both professional, sucessful lawyers in their 30s, living with roommates. I don’t know ONE 30 year old woman who lives with a roommate. Ally still has a roommate, but Lyndsay on The Practice moved in with her boyfriend. From what we’ve been shown, none of the men on either shows has a roommate.[/li]
[li]Nelle and Ling. Perfect power-hungry women. They use sex to intimidate co-workers. Last night, Nelle announced that she was thinking about leaving for a bigger firm, where she planned to make partner. Ling expressed doubts, as it is harder to make partner at a larger firm. Nelle’s responce? “With my clients, my hair and sexual harrassment laws, I’ll be partner in a month.” Compare Nelle to Ally. One is powerful. One is often found crying in her office. You have the archetypial stereotypes of the “modern woman.” One’s purpose is to endlessly hunt down men, with the sole purpose of procreating, one endlessly hunts down men, with the sole purpose of getting more money. [/ul][/li]
There are other reasons, but those are all that I can think of rightnow. Basically, I find the “mythical woman” aspect disturbing. This woman isn’t happy unless she has a man to give her identity. She’s got a good job, but she only goes to work to “wear her outfits.” She’s so dependant on other people that she can’t even live alone. She’s so desperate to find a man, that she’ll date teenagers, but if the person is less than perfect, forget it. She has her standards, afterall. And that myth can be dictated to a lot of the female characters on a lot of David Kelley shows.

Anyone agree/disagree? (I originally thought to put this in Great Debates, but I really don’t think it’s that great of a debate…)

2

And here I thought the reason was because Calista Flockhart (or whatever her name is) looks like a Cabbage Patch doll made from a broomstick and an actual cabbage.

3

That too. But it just seemed too easy. And her lips weren’t always that BIG. Check out The Birdcage, she’s the fiance.

4

“This is obviously a show written by a man on what he thinks a 30 year old single woman’s life would be like.”

And see, I never thought of it that way. I just saw it as a show written by a former lawyer who decided to write something absolutely absurd and crazy about a bunch of wackos in a strange law firm. I’ve never tried to see it as a representation of what 30something single females are really like. It’s a parody. A spoof. It’s comedy. I like it. :slight_smile:

5

Swiddles, you’re spot on. I thought the show was humorous for about a month, then I got tired of Ally’s constant whining, the general unlikability of the rest of the characters and the banal absurdity of the plots.

One quibble though. Having lived in major metropolitan areas most of my life, it seems very common for single professionals to have roommates. I’ve always had roommates myself, living in NYC and SF. I think it’s more implausible that the male characters live alone.

6

I watched for a couple so seasons then lost interest. My daughter and I liked the Bisquit and Fish, they were so silly. Then there was the controversy over Alley’s rail thin body. I just thought she was unattractive, which was a little different you must admit for a leading role in anything. I watch The Practice but mainly for lack of anything better. Nothing on network television ever holds my interest longer than one or two seasons. I do watch Law and Order but mostly the re-runs on A & E at 11:00. I think network television is pretty much crap. The prime time game shows like “Who Wants to Be…” are driving me up a wall. I’ve been a long time Jeopardy fan, I used to watch it with my grandmother. But “Millionare” is just plain old boring.

I have not watched one episode of Alley this year, nor Hill St. Blues or ER, lost interest.

Right now, as usual, I’m hooked on A & E, Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, MSNBC, the E! Channel’s True Hollywood Stories/Mysteries, The Food Network, and HGTV. Occasionally I will get wind of a PBS production in time to see something I like. TV is pretty lame in the creativity department if you ask me, real life is much more interesting these days.

Needs2know

7

I’m with Swiddles (can I call you Swiddles? I believe Ukulele Ike came up with that one, but I like it.)

I saw it once in my life. In the episode I saw, she was defending in front of a judge her right to wear a mini-skirt in court. The premise seemed too stupid to bear. Why don’t the men in her law office show up to work in shorts?

If I wanted to follow the travails of an office bimbo, I would read Cathy in the comics section.

8

What I have to wonder is how someone so pathetic even made it through one year of university, let alone law school, then manages to do well enough to get hired!

In my experience people that needy don’t succeed. They marry the first idiot who asks and then pop out three babies by age twenty.

But of course, this is TV, so reality gets bent. But then, on the other hand, a lot of people can’t distinguish TV from reality … where was I going with this?

I just started watching the show this season, and I stopped watching it last night. I just can’t stand Ally. I do like Fish, though. I like people who speak their minds and tell the truth, brutal though it may be.

Maybe that’s why I don’t like Ally. She lies too much and never seems to learn.

9

Suo Na:

Are you kidding, or have you never
[list=a]
[li]been around a college or university?[/li][li]met a lawyer?[/li][li]been employed?[/li][/list]
I can count dozens, if not hundreds, of annoyingly pathetic and not particularly bright college graduates among my acquaintance, including a fair number with advanced degrees from prestigious professional schools (Harvard Law, Yale Medical School, Wharton). All of them (or nearly all of them) have jobs. While I can’t claim to have seen more than bits and pieces of a few episodes of Ally McBeal, I don’t think you can make a case that the title character is worse than many a real-life figure I can think of.

10

I like the show, but I don’t like Ally. I find Biscuit is funny in court, but then I’m a lawyer and that’s all I watch it for anyway.

Ally is way too whiny and skinny to even be watchable, and could never hack the pace in a real law firm. Most of the women are too skinny in fact, except for Ally’s roommate (Renee?). She is by far the most attractive as far as I am concerned.

I don’t want to get drawn into a feminist debate, but Ally doesn’t exactly seem to be a good role model for any young girls watching - way too pathetic, nevermind the weight issues.

We are at least one season behind here in the UK, so I can’t comment on the current standard of shows, but I guess I’ll continue to watch it as long as it makes me laugh and Ally is not too unbearable to watch.

Having realised how pathetic a reason to watch a TV programme is, I might get a life instead …I understand they’re very interesting.

My favourite US programme they show over here? Vengeance Unlimited with Michael Madsen - and it’s just been cancelled!

11

I didn’t watch last night’s episode except for about five minutes at the end. I gather the rest of the show was just as annoying as that little bit. I’ve pretty much lost all interest in Ally McBeal lately.

I didn’t watch the show the first season it was on, the revelation of which fact elicited constant amazement from my female coworkers and classmates (“Oh my God! You don’t watch Ally? We all watch it together! It is, like, so much like my life!”) Uh, okay. :rolleyes:

I started watching it fairly regularly maybe about six months ago, partly to see what the deal was, and partly because I liked the quirkiness of some of the characters. I didn’t see what it was about Ally, the character, that made all these women I talked to identify with her. In fact, the character of Ally has always been what I liked least about the show. All of the other characters are caricatures, but for some reason Ally is put forth (by many of her fans and some of the media) as some kind of 30-something everywoman who is representative of what young professional women want. And that’s pathetic, because for all the reasons SwimmingRiddles said, she’s pathetic.

12

All these points are well and good, everyone. But the fact remains that the reason Ally McBeal is hated by people is simply because the show is annoying, it sucks, and should have left the Who Framed Roger Rabbit effects at Disney.

13

I’ll second SingleDad’s observation about singles living in large cities. Essentially all of the 30ish single women and most of the single men whom I know who live in NY, SF, or Boston have roommates unless they work on Wall St., for a major law or accounting firm, or for a dot-com that has gone public. Money is a big reason of course, but personal security is another. Despite declining crime rates, it is a good idea for singles, especially women, to have a roommate.

But yes, the show started to suck pretty much after the first few episodes and has not recovered, mostly for the reasons identified by SwimmingRiddles.

14

Just a quick comment…

I’m not a fan of the show, and I agree that the character is not a good role model, but I don’t think her being skinny should have anything to do with it. It’s the attitude that makes for a poor role model. Who cares what she looks like.

15

I do think the character Ally McBeal is completely pathetic. I was in my 20’s and early 30’s during the 90’s and i was definitely money hungry, probably closer to Nelle. I definitely did not watch Ally McBeal back then because it seemed stupid. Now just got through with some other lawyer show and wanted to check out Ally McBeal. No wonder i thought it was stupid. I can’t believe the writers wrote a female lawyer so unbelieveably insecure and idiotic. Anyone who gets through law school is brainy! A brainy woman who is pathetically insecure about men? Forget it! That doesn’t exist, does it? That is ridiculous! That is why i hated the show. I was a good-looking super smart woman so I do not get a smart woman being insecure. Doesn’t add up so that is why it is so stupid :roll_eyes: maybe i’m a bad judge though. I never had any respect for pathetic women. Smart good looking women, esp when young, had a ton of power, esp back in the 90’s so I agree, all the writers must have been idiot men with no concept of how a smart good looking woman functioned at all! :rofl:

16

Apropos of nothing, is this the oldest zombie resurrection in Board History? Gotta be close.

And I watched Ally McBeal when it came out and I can take it or leave it; like many situation comedies, I never found them particularly well-written or funny.

OK, press on…or not.

17

I wonder what ever happened to Swiddles.

18

I can’t stand that Mary Tyler Moore, the woke airhead.

19

Dang, this thread is old enough to buy its own beer.

20

There is nothing contradictory about the two. I’ve known many accomplished and intelligent women (and men) who were insecure about their preferred sex.

That said, Ally McBeal? Damn, I haven’t thought about that show since I was in my 20s. All I remember is that weird 3D CGI baby dream she had.