Why must this modern heroine be so neurotic?

DissappointedInSociety says:

07:47am | 14/09/10

The fact that Nina has anxiety issues, as shown clearly in the pilot, obviously contributes to her low self-esteem. I don’t think, Tory, that by writing this piece you are helping any of those people with low self-esteem. If there are, as you suggest, a whole bunch of women like Nina out there, I bet they’re not feeling better now you have ‘hoped’ against them.
I believe your article just contributes to the societal agreement that people with mental health problems are to be pitied instead of helped. The concept that - She should just get over all her problems. We don’t know if she has genetic anxiety, if she has had something happen in her life to bring her to this point.
Further , why should you disqualify her inspirational value. Do you yourself suffer from anxiety? Clinical anxiety?
As someone who does, I find it very difficult to go about my everyday life. I admire Nina for continue to work. I don’t care if she feels threatened by other, more sexually forward people. I don’t care if she can’t string words together. She is there. Once you are there, you can work on all the other things.
God help these women underwhelmed by their own selves, because from this article, Tory Maguire will not.

T.Chong says:

08:18am | 14/09/10

I think you nailed it in the 8th para- she is like this because it is in the script.
A script determines all things televisual, including empowering characters , as we see in the “Mad Men “frenzy - its all scripts.
The appeal of the character identification seems very old fashioned- the nervy lady with a heart of gold, not listened to, but really does know her stuff type of stereotype.- always an audience for that type of martyr.
No different from those awful psychic type police shows , where the gal crime fighter who has visions is never listened to, but always right, and everyone finally acknowledges by the final ad break.

ibast says:

08:35am | 14/09/10

Even being male this show makes me want to throw a brick at the TV.  For years we bemoaned the lack of Australian drama on out TV but what is being dished up at the moment is just drivel.  We’re back to cops and doctors again and this show is the very smelling icing on an unpalatable cake.  With all those top rate actors it should be a great show, but the script, story line and basic premise is just plain dumb.

Dexter Morgan says:

08:59am | 14/09/10

I think there is a third type of character we like to watch.

The one you look down on or pity.

I don’t like Alan Harper because he is a spinless twit but Charlie is awesome (the paragon of modern man in a post-feminist world). We pity Alan. We laugh at him. We thank god we are not like him. We are entertained and comforted by the fact that we are not him.

Similar to Betty Draper. You don’t want to be her and you (hopefully) don’t relate to her. But it makes for compelling viewing. You pity her.

Justin says:

09:41am | 14/09/10

If your ex-husband expressed his love & commitment to you by blowing things up, then you have every right to have confidence issues.

Her character is designed make the viewer want to grab her by the shoulders & tell her to snap out of it. The fact that she draws such emotional interactivity makes her a good character, not a bad one.

Lau says:

09:54am | 14/09/10

Wow, I didn’t realise that we should be analysing a television show that never purported to be anything other than entertainment.  I really must try harder when watching television.  For some reason, I thought that when watching this enjoyable show, it was for entertainment and humour.  Next time, I will sit to attention as I do when I watch Foreign Correspondent and Four Corners.  Really, who cares that she is a little nuts….  Asher Keddie and Don Hany are what make this show, great acting!!

neil says:

10:06am | 14/09/10

The neurotic female lead is an effective tool to attract female viewers. I first noticed it in the mid 90’s and dubbed it The Brigitte Duclos Syndrome. In those days Brigitte was the most popular female radio personality in the country, she was beautiful, an A lister, had a great job surrounded hot guys and she was single and miserable. Basically she validated the lives of her adoring 30 something female audience, she had much more than them but her life was just as crap as theirs.

Then Brigitte went on a holiday and when she came back announced she had married a hunky football player and her dedicated followers dumped her like a hot potato, she was playing a character and her real life was great. The breakfast show’s rating plummeted, she was moved to the drive slot and Channel Ten dropped her midday chat show.

We have seen the same characters in Bridget Jones, Ally McBeal, Friends, Sex and The City, Secret life of us and now Offspring. If the producers ever give Nina a happy ever after the show is dead. 30 and 40 something women need constant reassurance that their unsatisfying lives aren’t their own fault and characters like Nina provide that.

G says:

10:19am | 14/09/10

I’m just thankful for once there is a show about a character that’s unlucky in love, not confident, and yes, gets walked on by other people.

And this character is a FEMALE!

bella starkey says:

12:17pm | 14/09/10

Looked like Secret Life of Us with a less breathy voice over.

not going there. was crap and vaccuous the first time round.

Elizabeth says:

12:19pm | 14/09/10

I love Offspring ... and I think of it as just entertainment.

Michael says:

12:29pm | 14/09/10

Asher Keddie is pretty easy on the eye, but Love My Way still rocks the box in every way compared to this show.  It can’t seem to decide whether it’s a comedy, a drama, a dramatic comedy, or a drama that unintentionally became a comedy.  It’s also set in a pretty dreary and depressing-looking world, too; no Bridget Jones bright colours or bright sets here, we’re all living somewhere in Grey Limbo, as we always seem to do in Australian TV shows.

Tony Bee says:

12:31pm | 14/09/10

I think the depiction of a professional woman as a neurotic mess makes it too difficult to enjoy this show. Coincidentally, Claudia Karvan’s character in “Spirited” is also a professional woman (dentist) who is a total dysfunctional wreck. She’s disorganised, always running and totally disconnected from her kids. Again, also too irritating to watch.

Ben G says:

03:18pm | 14/09/10

Because why write your own character when you can just make Ally McBeal a doctor?

Anita says:

03:27pm | 14/09/10

I don’t think that the character of Nina *is* incapable in her profession. That’s kind of the point of the show, the juxtaposition between her ability to do a demanding job capably and yet be so ineffectual in her personal life. Might this not be a writer’s tool to give the chracter room to develop?

Amy says:

03:35pm | 14/09/10

I started watching this show because I have had a thing for Eddie Perfect since high school,  which is an admission as embarrassing as what I’m about to type…. 

Nina does exist.  Nina is me.  I do have a (painfully embarrassing for a 23 year old) crush on a dishy co-worker, who I have a terrible time conversing with, despite the fact that the ability to converse and communicate with others is actually my job description.  And here I am going all 13 year old over the dishy coworker, and having a ridiculous conversation in my head about what I should and should not be saying to him.  I do get walked all over.  When there’s a family crisis, I’m there, when there isn’t, I’m still guilted into going, I volunteer for thankless jobs, I get recommended for things I’d rather not do and I constantly think I’m not living up to my potential.  I’m also single, dress like a frump twice my age, bail early on nights out and eat the left over brownie when I know I shouldn’t.

To be perfectly honest, I can’t believe that Nina is the character you have a problem with.  Cherie and Darcy drive me crazy.  Darcy is clearly a sleazy old man and Cherie is simply annoying with her controlled crying and ability to fit into her pre baby jeans three weeks after delivery despite not actually doing anything at all, but randomly and awkwardly showing up where the other characters happen to be.

Daniel says:

07:29pm | 14/09/10

I like the show and themain actor that was in East West 101 is a real Aussie star but has b=not been picked up internationally.

iansand says:

07:52pm | 14/09/10

I agree.  They should make a show about a well adjusted woman who is on top of the issues in her life, is in a stable relationship and has a great work/life balance.  God it would be boring.

Annie says:

11:01pm | 14/09/10

The world must truly be your oyster if you are that confident and self assured. Good for you. I, on the other hand struggle with these things, crave them, and I think Nina is fantastic.

neil says:

11:18pm | 14/09/10

Why post an opinion piece on a blog of you’re not interested?

Barry says:

07:20am | 15/09/10

Tory, your expectations of this sort of guff are just too high. What else do you expect from commercial TV which makes a living from exploiting people’s insecurities or playing with their unrealistic fantasies. That’s to say nothing of the poor overacting and execrable scripts. If you want to watch decent drama turn to the ABC, rent a DVD or get out of the house.

Taylor says:

10:47pm | 31/10/10

Why do all women characters have to be the epitome of perfection or else they are deemed anti-feminist?  I don’t think making out women to be super-women is really helping the cause at all. I feel like shows like sex and the city just make me feel like I *have* to be immaculately dressed and a great socializer and sleep with whomever I chose whenever (batting off guys as I pursue- and concur- my ideal career), just make me feel like I have to be like their self-centered, shallow, materialistic and confident characters otherwise I’m not really a ‘woman’ and certainly not an attractive one. 

Nina sticks to her morals, she told Chris she didn’t want to be the ‘other woman’ and I think that’s what’s important. She doesn’t sleep around, she values her work more than shopping and she is constantly trying to improve herself rather than just reinforcing how awesome she is (as in Sex and the City). I relate to her so much better and she makes my shy awkward dressing self feel more feminine and attractive.
That’s why it really annoys me when people say she’s a bad feminine role model just because she isn’t a modern superwoman. It feels like you are all saying I’m not feminine because I relate to her so much more than I ever did with Carry Bradshaw (or whatever her name is) who just makes me feel alienated.
Just because she isn’t overly sexual doesn’t mean she isn’t comfortable with her sexuality and it doesn’t mean she isn’t feminine. Why are people so open to sexualizing women (and calling it ‘confidence’) rather than allowing them to have anxieties on TV?