Trust David Tennant----Billie's new role as a happy hooker

[rabid1st]

Okay...so I saw Secret Diary of a Call Girl...part 1.

Never you mind how. Suffice to say ITV's secure link may not be as secure as they would imagine it to be in the face of computer nerds.

And, well, I'm not a fan of prostitution and I've been cringing for a long time over Billie taking this role. But it's about time we start admitting David Tennant is right...Billie can act. Also, the outrage in the press has been sickening in my opinion because I see no line between Billie playing a prostitute or her playing say...an assassin. Nobody would be claiming in hysterical tones that Billie, sweet girl next door, is setting an example for our children by making paid killing fashionable and cool.

The problem with a lot of the reviews I've read is no one wants to admit that despite the dangers and the ickiness of the job there might be women who turn to prostitution willingly...for the money...or because they like having sex with strangers in secret. However, anyone who is getting fun, fun, fun out of Billie's performance in this pilot just isn't paying attention to Billie's performance. In spite of all the hysteria in the media...Billie gets on with telling this woman's story. And it IS indeed a complex and fascinating one.

David Tennant mentions how effortless Billie is with her emotions...and there are scenes in this that show that off. She made me cry. Not because Belle is damaged but because she is cold and calculating, and yet has something human at her core. She's not a hooker with a heart of gold. Or rather...she is...because what she loves is money. You can see that she's not as proud and untainted as she'd like us to believe. But only because Billie gives a very subtle and nuanced performance. Belle tells us one thing...but Billie shows us something else...something not quite as breezy and unfettered as the press has been claiming.

Billie lets us see that Belle could be lying to herself. All balls and glitter, she's a woman who makes no apologies for what she does. I can easily believe this is a real person. Someone Billie met, spoke to. Belle is a woman who understands she's playing a role for men, acting. She knows there's a line. One it's best not to cross. She knows that there is no chance of making friends or meeting a love interest while working. This is a woman who knows that her cohorts are pimps and whores and her family would be ashamed and appalled by what she does.

She's, also, a woman who knows her own worth. She puts a dollar figure on it. She's a very lonely woman, isolated by her choices. By society's judgement of her. Because let's face it...that's what we are doing...judging her. She's not abused or in danger...we aren't protecting her...and our outrage over Billie playing her isn't helping anyone else. We just want Belle and Billie to be contrite...because it's WRONG.

And I can hear my friends, many of whom are feminists, snorting at me. They don't like the idea of any woman "selling out"...allowing her worth to be measured by pleasing men. Fair enough. But at the same time...I see the irony in getting too worked up over such an old profession. Women have been in this business for eons. Not all of them were forced into it. Here's a woman that is making the business HERS...owning it and all the emotional baggage that comes with, setting herself above it in a way. Isn't it ironic that, on the whole, we would like Belle a lot better if she was a victim?

Billie is amazing. The scene that made me cry is her alone, just lying there listening to an answering machine. Trust me (and David Tennant) on this, the girl can act.

Comments

[tsukara.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen this yet, but hearing that Billie Piper was going to be in this made me seek out and find the priginal blog. The blog is very interesting and, if one reads it with an open mind, instead of flying in there going "omg, what you're doing is WRONG", it's bery interesting, and a very fresh, clear, and honest view of a world that some people would prefer we not see.

The thing is, he profession allows her to see sides of humanity that are also usually hidden. Telling her own story anonymously, and allowing the television show to be made, is an act of courage which I think should be applauded.

Of coures Billie can act. Some of us have none that for ages. :)

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Yes, some of us have known it for ages. But the fact is too many people look at her and see Rose Tyler. "Oh, she can't do this...or that." David Tennant has corrected any number of reporters on this issue, even going so far as to list her as his inspiration in his alma mater interview recently.

Rae

[beck1.livejournal.com]

I just love Billie to bits, so I do want to see this. Personally I don't want to see her act in a series of roles to mirror the character of Rose, and why is it offensive that actors want to challenge themselves. Can you point me in the direction of the David interview you were talking about?

Sure...well...there are quite a few...

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

...but most recently...check out what he says about Billie in Academy Magazine...find the article at

http://www.davidtennantfan.com/

Middle of the page there is a close-up of David's face in black and white from the magazine cover. Click on the link and there's the magazine...scroll down to David's interview and look for the question about actors that inspire him.

Rae

[webeh.livejournal.com]

And I can hear my friends, many of whom are feminists, snorting at me. They don't like the idea of any woman "selling out"...allowing her worth to be measured by pleasing men.

I don't think it'd be correct to suggest that all feminists are anti-prostitution. Only a certain faction of them are and only in certain circumstances. Because you can look at a prostitution from different angles.

First, there's the more obvious angle of seeing prostitution as women being taken advantage of by men. In many cases, this is completely true. The women are forced to sell their bodies and the majority of the money doesn't even go to them. Rather, the pimps are making money off the bodies of women.

On the other hand, prostitution can also be about women taking control of their bodies and using it to make money for themselves. (Firefly offers a really good example of this perspective.) Depending on the client, it can be a really good amount of money too. I've heard of prostitutes earning $1000 in one night. I don't make that much in a single day's work. If the woman is in control of the situation, I can see feminists being in support of this. Afterall, the men are the fools doling out hundreds of dollars for only one or two hours worth of sex.

This may surprise people, but this is precisely why I think soliciting should be legalized. We all know prostitution will never disappear as an industry, so we might as well make the best of it. Make the job safer for the workers, put some of the control back into the hands of the women, enforce taxes and health restrictions, etc. It just seems silly to continue to prosecute women for trying to make a living in a field where if the conditions are safe, no one gets hurt (physically).

[webeh.livejournal.com]

By the way, I'd call myself a feminist and my feminist beliefs is why I feel this way about whole prostitution issue.

And on a random note, can you guess that I haven't seen the mini yet? I had no idea that it was even out yet.

[webeh.livejournal.com]

On a third random note, you should look up the background story on this woman named Diablo Cody. She's not very famous, but she definitely offers an interesting perspective on a related field.

[webeh.livejournal.com]

I saw a little bit of the mini and the role does seem to suit Billie quite well. I think her strength might be playing characters of modern or futuristic time.

[inwe-amandil.livejournal.com]

I can also agree that if you're desperate enough ITV's "secure" link isn't as brilliant as they like to think. :) Really I just have to say hello people lets just breath take a step back and see Billie Piper is not Rose Tyler. okay so she played the character of Rose Tyler really well and obviously we all loved her, and since we did love Rose Tyler well lets think about this maybe that means that we loved her because billie portrayed her so well. I mean if the acting was shite no matter how brilliant the plot was we still wouldn't all have fallen in love with her. And although it pains me to say it Rose Tyler is not going to be a character in doctor who forever, in fact she's not even in it anymore so sticking billie in the role and acting like she's only any good as rose Tyler is not only unfair to her, it also means that you're going to miss out on watching something which you might actually like just because Billie isn't been all Rose Tylerish like she was in doctor who. Honestly the fact that she can branch out into something so different is something I really admire. No matter what you're thoughts on prostitution or the way in which the program is presenting it (and all those comments on how they are trying to make prostitution look all glamorous and ignore the issues that go along with it I just have to say were we watching the same program?) I think it's fair to say that Billie can act just by the fact that she was chosen for the role and that it is such a different role and a very different person to who she is and yet she's still potraying it obviously well enough for people to get into the show and then complain about the moral values she's representing so like the show or not people clearly found her acting good enough to get into the story and complain about the script!