Were the women really just decorations in the original DALLAS?

Laurie!

Laurie!

Telly Talk Fan
Snarky's Ghost said:
Absolutely. Wasn't Angelica Nero, created by Uncle Lenny, designed to steal Pam's thunder??
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One could actually assume that. That character would appear to be self-made but she was made to be over the top flamboyant and then they threw in the scene where the viewers were left wondering if her and Grace were a couple....as if to say that a strong female would of course need to be a lesbian.
 
Angela Channing

Angela Channing

Telly Talk Veteran
Willie Oleson said:
A character doesn't have to be strong or independent to be significant.
I love the sulky trophy wives!
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That's very true. Maybe I should have worded it better and said they evolved from being mere decorations on the arms of their husbands to being strong and significant characters in their own right.
 
Jock's Ghost

Jock's Ghost

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
the only female character that was given a shit deal was Lucy. For no reason what so ever her men picks were terrible and she continued on until she left the show.
I wanted to see Lucy straightened up by the time JR and Sue Ellen married the second time. They could have given her a cause, direction, become a lawyer? Make her a true Ewing,, she's part Valene by being nice and true and she's inherited her fathers gambling and boozing. Shes tired of her MIA father and his self righteous jags and blaming JR for his addictions.
Once she finds her way, she's the female JR and begins to lose her hostile feelings towards JR, they become almost buddies and embraces the perks of being a Ewing.
Imagine she becomes a gambler and gets involved with some real sketchy thugs and JR has to bail her out.
 
Jock's Ghost

Jock's Ghost

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
So no, the females had plenty to do. That statement applies more to DYNASTY. They hated strong women. Claudia? Kirby? Seocnd Fallon, Lady Ashley? Ugh.
As awesome as Alexis was they always said her being a bitch or her actions sprung from her feelings toward Blake. The point of the show but still... Alexis was not a bitch. She was an opportunist. A little too man-hungry but not a bitch. An asshole, yes, but not a bitch.
 
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DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
I’ve always said Lucy should’ve been turned into a big villainess at some point and schemed and plotted with J.R. Not a friendship necessarily but two trouble stirrers that don’t trust one another wreaking havoc together once in awhile if their interests just happened to coincide. I for one would’ve loved this.
 
Willie Oleson

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
Jock's Ghost said:
So no, the females had plenty to do. That statement applies more to DYNASTY. They hated strong women
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Sable Colby's main goal was to be somebody's wife, and yet she was the show's biggest mover & shaker.

Jock's Ghost said:
Alexis was not a bitch. She was an opportunist. A little too man-hungry but not a bitch. An asshole, yes, but not a bitch.
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I don't understand this comment at all. What is your definition of "bitch"?
 
Billy Wall

Billy Wall

Telly Talk Dream Maker
I’ll have to say yes. I’m currently watching the episodes right after JR got shot the 1st time and I come across a scent that bugs me. Merilee, who’s husband just committed suicide after JR ruined him in the Asian oil deal, automatically drops her lawsuit against Ewing Oil after Bobby pretty much threatens her, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she strongly implies that she wants to sleep with Bobby.

It just seems that you didn’t have to do much to get the women of Dallas in bed.
 
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DallasFanForever

Telly Talk Supreme
Point taken on Marilee but I can’t agree that she was just a decoration. She was a very strong character that proved she could survive among the big boys of the oil industry and be very successful. Was her character one track minded to a fault at times? Absolutely but I can’t honestly call her a decoration.
 
Angela Channing

Angela Channing

Telly Talk Veteran
Marilee was a great character but they just used her a a vehicle to further the plots of the men, namely Cliff and JR. She was never made to look like a credible business woman who stepped up to run the family's oil business after her husband's suicide. Instead they preferred to portray her as being endlessly gullible and a desperate slut who would base business decisions on whether or not she could get a shag out it it.
 
CeeCee72

CeeCee72

Telly Talk Star
Billy Wall said:
It just seems that you didn’t have to do much to get the women of Dallas in bed.
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Dallas writers and producers wrote women as being motivated mostly by either money (a man to take care of them) or affections and sex (again, needing a man to be happy). None of the women on Dallas were truly independent or strong (I would argue that Pam post divorce came the closest).

It always interested me when I would see a woman's name in the writing credits (Susan Howard wrote several episodes) because I found it fascinating that those female writers didn't push harder for more rounded and stronger female characters.
 
Seaviewer

Seaviewer

Telly Talk Warrior
Angela Channing said:
Marilee was a great character but they just used her a a vehicle to further the plots of the men, namely Cliff and JR. She was never made to look like a credible business woman who stepped up to run the family's oil business after her husband's suicide. Instead they preferred to portray her as being endlessly gullible and a desperate slut who would base business decisions on whether or not she could get a shag out it it.
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Well, she was only a supporting character after all, but I wouldn't call her a slut. She was perhaps ahead of her time in that she was as horny as JR and didn't care who knew it.
CeeCee72 said:
It always interested me when I would see a woman's name in the writing credits (Susan Howard wrote several episodes) because I found it fascinating that those female writers didn't push harder for more rounded and stronger female characters.
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I'm not sure we know how hard they pushed, but the credited writers of individual episodes would still have to adhere to the overall plotting laid out for the season.
 
Crimson

Crimson

Telly Talk Star
There was a TV critic in the mid-80s who called the ladies of DALLAS "decorative and tangential", so it's a point that has been made almost as long as the show has been around. Decorative is debatable; many of the ladies of DALLAS had strong, forceful personalities. Tangential has more validity. DALLAS was often more of a business drama than a true soap; the writers were more concerned with corporate battles than romantic entanglements. Since the Ewing ladies -- Ellie, Lucy, Sue Ellen, Pam -- had little to nothing to do with Ewing Oil, this left them peripheral to many of the main stories.
 
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lbf522

Telly Talk Well-Known Member
Jock's Ghost said:
the only female character that was given a shit deal was Lucy. For no reason what so ever her men picks were terrible and she continued on until she left the show.
I wanted to see Lucy straightened up by the time JR and Sue Ellen married the second time. They could have given her a cause, direction, become a lawyer? Make her a true Ewing,, she's part Valene by being nice and true and she's inherited her fathers gambling and boozing. Shes tired of her MIA father and his self righteous jags and blaming JR for his addictions.
Once she finds her way, she's the female JR and begins to lose her hostile feelings towards JR, they become almost buddies and embraces the perks of being a Ewing.
Imagine she becomes a gambler and gets involved with some real sketchy thugs and JR has to bail her out.
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I agree. I preferred Lucy in the mini series as a mini JR. There were so many options to do with her never explored.
 
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