Lack Of Female Main Characters

[ralmcg]

I noticed that "The Dukes of Hazzard" had a Smurfette problem.  That is the show only had one female main character, as opposed to recurring characters.  That meant that the show placed the female characteristics onto one person.  My idea would have been, in addition to two male cousins, two female cousins.  That would have even out the character traits.  What do you think?

[RogerDuke]

The Smurfs were created in Belgium in 1958. (That's 2 years before John Schneider was even born). Dukes came out in 1979. It seems a bit silly to judge them by 2023 standards. 

Besides, they are 2 of the most popular shows in history and still have millions of fans worldwide. It's hard to argue with success. 

[ralmcg]

30 minutes ago, RogerDuke said:

The Smurfs were created in Belgium in 1958. (That's 2 years before John Schneider was even born). Dukes came out in 1979. It seems a bit silly to judge them by 2023 standards. 

Besides, they are 2 of the most popular shows in history and still have millions of fans worldwide. It's hard to argue with success. 

I won't argue about their popularity.  However, even in 1979 there were programs that featured more than one regular female character, i.e. "Charlie's Angels" and I wonder why the creators of "The Dukes of Hazzard" only created one regular female character.  The show ran on the Smurfette principle, meaning that there was only one female character to represent women in a sea of male characters.

 

If there is a future program set in Hazzard County maybe it should have more than one female character.  For example, make the mechanic a competent woman.

Edited December 22, 2023 by ralmcg

[HossC]

I like to see a good mixture of male/female ratios across TV shows. Some environments are predominantly biased to towards a single gender, so it wouldn't reflect reality if we try to keep them all even.

Two of my favorite British sitcoms are 'Porridge' and 'dinnerladies'. The former is set in a male prison, which doesn't give the opportunity for many female roles. The latter is set in a factory cafeteria where seven of the nine main actors are female (including the one who also wrote the show). Others I like may have a male or female in the lead role with a mixed supporting cast.

So long as there's a good variety across the shows, I'm fine with that.

[RogerDuke]

14 hours ago, ralmcg said:

 

If there is a future program set in Hazzard County maybe it should have more than one female character.  For example, make the mechanic a competent woman.

It will never happen. The Dukes are toxic to Hollywood and the entertainment industry is not a forgiving place....unless you are left wing.....sorry, talking about politics violates the terms of service. On the other hand, as I recall, Meadowmufn made an exception when it comes to defending the flag on a certain orange car. Hollywood is no fan of Southern culture because it doesn't fit their narrative. They claim to support diversity but clearly they lie about that. 

[ralmcg]

3 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

It will never happen. The Dukes are toxic to Hollywood and the entertainment industry is not a forgiving place....unless you are left wing.....sorry, talking about politics violates the terms of service. On the other hand, as I recall, Meadowmufn made an exception when it comes to defending the flag on a certain orange car. Hollywood is no fan of Southern culture because it doesn't fit their narrative. They claim to support diversity but clearly they lie about that. 

And if there is a show set in Hazzard County that has more than one female character, and are not tokens, some conservatives will cry "Woke", especially if they are similar to Bo and Luke Duke in prominence.

[Hobie Hartkins]

1 hour ago, ralmcg said:

And if there is a show set in Hazzard County that has more than one female character, and are not tokens, some conservatives will cry "Woke", especially if they are similar to Bo and Luke Duke in prominence.

Why experiment or even mess with something that's as  successful as the Dukes??

[Hobie Hartkins]

What about Golden Girls and that show about Charlotte Rae ( don't know her character's name)  and those school girls who board with her? It's ok to have nobody but females but reverse it and somebody always wants to say something  about women being disrespected, etc.

[ralmcg]

7 hours ago, Hobie Hartkins said:

Why experiment or even mess with something that's as  successful as the Dukes??

Why not tweak the Dukes of Hazzard formula and have female versions of Bo and Luke Duke.  Just because the originals were men doesn't mean that a remake with women being the main characters wouldn't work.

If having two women as the main characters in a show set in Hazzard County would bother some people, how about a new show with at least two female main characters, with the show being as light-hearted as "The Dukes of Hazzard" and set in a warm place.

Edited December 23, 2023 by ralmcg

[ralmcg]

8 hours ago, Hobie Hartkins said:

What about Golden Girls and that show about Charlotte Rae ( don't know her character's name)  and those school girls who board with her? It's ok to have nobody but females but reverse it and somebody always wants to say something  about women being disrespected, etc.

The Charlotte Rae show you're talking about was called "The Facts of Life".  Also when was a show mostly with all-male regular characters never ok.  The westerns had mostly male casts, at least in the regular roles.  Also shows cast in a war setting were mostly male-centric.  The only female-centric war program I can think of is "China Beach".

[HossC]

49 minutes ago, ralmcg said:

Why not tweak the Dukes of Hazzard formula and have female versions of Bo and Luke Duke.  Just because the originals were men doesn't mean that a remake with women being the main characters wouldn't work.

If having two women as the main characters in a show set in Hazzard County would bother some people, how about a new show with at least two female main characters, with the show being as light-hearted as "The Dukes of Hazzard" and set in a warm place.

I can't imagine a remake of Dukes being made anytime soon, no matter who's in it.

I'd certainly be in favor of any new show/movie with female leads and a decent script. I hope we've come to an end of the fad for remaking male led movies with a female cast. To me, that just says, "We couldn't think of any good ideas for original movies with women, so we'll rehash one with men and hope for the best!".

[ralmcg]

2 hours ago, HossC said:

I can't imagine a remake of Dukes being made anytime soon, no matter who's in it.

I'd certainly be in favor of any new show/movie with female leads and a decent script. I hope we've come to an end of the fad for remaking male led movies with a female cast. To me, that just says, "We couldn't think of any good ideas for original movies with women, so we'll rehash one with men and hope for the best!".

You are probably right.  It would be better to make a new program with female leads but I would find a new Hazzard County based program with two female leads interesting.

[RogerDuke]

17 hours ago, ralmcg said:

And if there is a show set in Hazzard County that has more than one female character, and are not tokens, some conservatives will cry "Woke", especially if they are similar to Bo and Luke Duke in prominence.

I don't believe that. If Daisy would have had a spin off show and was pursuing her singing career in Nashville with a bunch of female friends and few men were on the show, every Dukes fan would have loved it. Except for the fact Daisy was gone. Even then, I can say that I missed Enos being in Hazzard but didn't miss Enos. In fact I saw him even more because he got even more screen time with his own show. 

But if you are referring to modern times, I know of no Dukes fan who would complain about wokeism....unless the show had a hidden agenda of bashing men and/or Southern culture. 

Edit: just noticed you said "Hazzard County" and Nashville is not in Hazzard County so my example isn't good. But we could imagine Boss built a recording studio in Hazzard....nicer than the one in Daisy's Song...lol

Edited December 23, 2023 by RogerDuke

[RogerDuke]

8 hours ago, ralmcg said:

Why not tweak the Dukes of Hazzard formula and have female versions of Bo and Luke Duke.  Just because the originals were men doesn't mean that a remake with women being the main characters wouldn't work.

If having two women as the main characters in a show set in Hazzard County would bother some people, how about a new show with at least two female main characters, with the show being as light-hearted as "The Dukes of Hazzard" and set in a warm place.

They could try that but even if it had very subtle ties to Dukes nobody would fund it. Hollywood is unforgiving and views the Dukes and Southern culture as evil and toxic. The bias against the South in Hollywood is terrible, despite how they virtue signal and claim to be diverse. 

[RogerDuke]

4 hours ago, ralmcg said:

You are probably right.  It would be better to make a new program with female leads but I would find a new Hazzard County based program with two female leads interesting.

I agree. Sadie Hogg Day was one of my favorite episodes.