FNL 1.10 - It's Different for Girls
Dec. 21st, 2009 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieWe had to stop last night at ep 10 of Friday Night Lights because it was late and because I was worried any more marathonning and I'd pick up a Texas accent.
I think this may be my favorite episode so far, maybe because I really really like Lyla. OK, like is a wrong word because I don't think she's a cool person or similar, but I think it's because of all the characters on the show it is her character which is the most relatable to me. I went to high school in a very small, very Churchy Southern town and she is like so many girls I went to school with. (I myself was very socially conservative when younger and see a few of my traits in her, though I never had any interest in boinking my boyfriend's friend, :P) She also physically reminds me of someone I am very close friends with so...
So yes, I feel terrible for Lyla because out of all of the kids on the show she is the one who has the best bet to actually get out of Dillon and make something of herself - she has straight As and her family is well-off - she would have no problem getting into college. But she is trapped in that self-inflicted (Dillon-pushed) brand of good-girlism - football above everything, cheerleading is the be-all of ambition, unless you actually marry a football star, etc. It's terribly limiting.
It's a horrible thing to say, but Jason's accident may be the best thing that ever happened to her, depending on how she reacts ultimately. She would have gone along, done the perfect girlfriend bit, perfect wife etc - no ambitions of her own, or even knowledge she can have ambitions of her own, but his accident left her world all out of joint and she should grab the chance to escape.
It's a cruel thing to do to someone but I wish she'd finally stop stalking Jason and end it forever. It would be different if she was in love with him but I do not get this vibe at all - she is in duty with him, she needs the image of herself as a kind of woman who does NOT cheat on her paralyzed boyfriend etc.
So yes, she needs to let go of Jason (who deserves to find a woman who actually loves him, thanks), but that does not mean she should go and hook up again with Tim Riggins (I ship them rabidly and it would be hot like a South Carolina July but it would not be good), she needs to get out of Dillon and discover what it is she really wants. She as a person, not an appendage to some man or other.
The slut-shaming stuff in this ep - that is so real. Guys express their displeasure through violence (the way the other players bashed Tim's car) but then ultimately it's done. But the passive-agressive verbal harassment that women inflict on each other can go for a very long time, and Lyla's fall is worse because she was at the top of the hierarchy for so long (also - it's realistic that it's not as if any of these girls are Jason's friends and thus are acting on his behalf - it's just a social thing to do). I loved Lyla finding her spine and her nerve at the end of the episode SO VERY MUCH. Now move past the whole Jason/Tim thing and be your own woman!
I also loved that Jason was there to watch her perform and that Tim is the one who encouraged her to go. Awwwww. For someone who's basically inarticulate, he sure talked a lot in that ep - to Jason, telling him it's Jason that Lyla loves (which seeing that the show is clearly indicating he's in love with her himself - once again, awwww. But I think he loves Jason even more than he loves Lyla) and then talking to Lyla in the rain. Of course, I've stopped worrying about his career prospects - seeing the way he broke into Lyla's house in ep 4 and into Jason's in this ep - he has a promising career in burglary. He seems to have a skeleton key to every house in Texas.
I think this may be my favorite episode so far, maybe because I really really like Lyla. OK, like is a wrong word because I don't think she's a cool person or similar, but I think it's because of all the characters on the show it is her character which is the most relatable to me. I went to high school in a very small, very Churchy Southern town and she is like so many girls I went to school with. (I myself was very socially conservative when younger and see a few of my traits in her, though I never had any interest in boinking my boyfriend's friend, :P) She also physically reminds me of someone I am very close friends with so...
So yes, I feel terrible for Lyla because out of all of the kids on the show she is the one who has the best bet to actually get out of Dillon and make something of herself - she has straight As and her family is well-off - she would have no problem getting into college. But she is trapped in that self-inflicted (Dillon-pushed) brand of good-girlism - football above everything, cheerleading is the be-all of ambition, unless you actually marry a football star, etc. It's terribly limiting.
It's a horrible thing to say, but Jason's accident may be the best thing that ever happened to her, depending on how she reacts ultimately. She would have gone along, done the perfect girlfriend bit, perfect wife etc - no ambitions of her own, or even knowledge she can have ambitions of her own, but his accident left her world all out of joint and she should grab the chance to escape.
It's a cruel thing to do to someone but I wish she'd finally stop stalking Jason and end it forever. It would be different if she was in love with him but I do not get this vibe at all - she is in duty with him, she needs the image of herself as a kind of woman who does NOT cheat on her paralyzed boyfriend etc.
So yes, she needs to let go of Jason (who deserves to find a woman who actually loves him, thanks), but that does not mean she should go and hook up again with Tim Riggins (I ship them rabidly and it would be hot like a South Carolina July but it would not be good), she needs to get out of Dillon and discover what it is she really wants. She as a person, not an appendage to some man or other.
The slut-shaming stuff in this ep - that is so real. Guys express their displeasure through violence (the way the other players bashed Tim's car) but then ultimately it's done. But the passive-agressive verbal harassment that women inflict on each other can go for a very long time, and Lyla's fall is worse because she was at the top of the hierarchy for so long (also - it's realistic that it's not as if any of these girls are Jason's friends and thus are acting on his behalf - it's just a social thing to do). I loved Lyla finding her spine and her nerve at the end of the episode SO VERY MUCH. Now move past the whole Jason/Tim thing and be your own woman!
I also loved that Jason was there to watch her perform and that Tim is the one who encouraged her to go. Awwwww. For someone who's basically inarticulate, he sure talked a lot in that ep - to Jason, telling him it's Jason that Lyla loves (which seeing that the show is clearly indicating he's in love with her himself - once again, awwww. But I think he loves Jason even more than he loves Lyla) and then talking to Lyla in the rain. Of course, I've stopped worrying about his career prospects - seeing the way he broke into Lyla's house in ep 4 and into Jason's in this ep - he has a promising career in burglary. He seems to have a skeleton key to every house in Texas.
