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rabid1stOkay...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.
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.