Thanks to book blogger Maud Newton, I caught up to this amusing year-old clip for a fake TV show about young intellectuals (‘llectuals — “it’s summer reading you can watch”) that’s part of a supposed effort to sex up PBS (“the Peeb”) with CW-style Gen Y cheesiness.
But it got me thinking, why don’t we see more genuine intellectuals — or even just plain old book readers — in movies and TV shows? Ever since Rory Gilmore graduated from primetime, it’s rare to find a character engaging with the printed word in any meaningful way. (Even the actors in this ‘llectuals clip seem to be uttering the “intellectual” terms as if they’re in italics, for future SAT test-prep purposes.)
Dan Humphrey anyone? He’s the epitome of “bookish”…at least in the Gossip Girl books…
But Dan Humphrey’s intellectualism is more of a pretension. Some of the kids on Friday Night Lights, like Landry and Julie, are known for liking academics in a realistic way (and characters like Dr. Reid on Criminal Minds are intellectuals taken to the extreme, but at least his love for books is genuine, as opposed to Humphrey, who uses books as a way to differentiate himself from the rich kids he resents). For example, Julie compares her father’s quest for a state championship to Moby Dick, the book she is reading on the couch.
Dan Humphrey is a poser, or maybe just a poorly written character–I never get the sense that he’s truly passionate, or knowledgeable, about books.
Truth be told, I kind of blame shows like Friends and Sex and the City for this state of affairs. Those were too hugely popular shows about characters who really weren’t interested in or passionate about anything except hanging out and, in the case of Sex and the City, buying shoes. Seriously, Carrie was a “writer” but didn’t seem to care about books at all.
That said, Rory Gilmore was a truly unique character, and we may never see the likes of her again, ever.
How about some of the characters on Lost? We know Ben reads extensively, and Sawyer spent much of the first few seasons catching up on the classics (I guess that’s what you do when you’re stranded).
Sawyer was the first bookish type to pop into my head, with his makeshift glasses and his Winston Churchill quotes…oh, and that whole reading everything he can get his hands on thing. But I agree, there should be more bookworms on TV and, just in general, more literate TV.
I don’t think these folks have ever met any actual intellectuals.
A big part of it might be the fact that it’s really hard to write a bookish, intellectual character well without them coming off as pretentious or hopelessly nerdy. Not that TV writers shouldn’t try, but it is hard to find the right balance between showing the characters’smarts and moving the story. Because of the medium, TV can’t stop and show the characters pondering the events and philosophical implications of a book they just read. The character’s inner thoughts have to be externalized in actions and dialogue, which is really hard to to with intellectuals, without them coming off as arrogant or worse, boring. Literary references that a huge chunk of the audience doesn’t get generally don’t go over well.
Also, I think TV shows tend to reflect the culture that watches them, and the mainstream culture seems to be becoming less and less bookish as time goes on. I think most people working in TV don’t write for the bookworm crowd, because it seems they’re not watching TV, they’re, well…reading.
I’m not saying that any of this is an excuse for there not being more intellectuals on TV, and I’d love to see more. But I don’t think things are going to change any time soon.
Charlie Crews on Life was bookish. Well, he was forced to read Zen books in prison, but I’ll take it! God, I miss that show : (
I’d hardly blame Sex and the City or Friends for dumbing down television. Miranda on SATC was a big reader, and Ross on Friends was definitely intellectual.
If television shows aren’t encouraging reading though, is that a surprise? If you buy a book, you aren’t going to watch tv.
Giles on Buffy was bookish. Also, while not “bookish”, the characters on Mad Men are frequently engaged in reading or writing (Don with Meditations in an Emergency, Betty with Hemingway, Ken wrote a story that was published in the Atlantic). Finally, Emily Deschanel’s character on Bones is extremely intelligent, and unabashedly arrogant about it too, (which is why we love her!).
I would so watch this. And lust after Emerson.
As others have commented, Lost is a great place to look. Ben and Sawyer are always reading, and the Others even had a book club! Precious. Plus, it’s an ingenious way to involve viewers by giving us things to read that we know are relevant to the show and its mythology.
Gil Grissom, when he was a regular character on CSI, was an intellectual who enjoyed learning new things. Not to forget, all his quotes usually were from some of the great novels; Shakespeare, Emerson, Poe, etc.
And I totally agree with Rory Gilmore….if only they didn’t cancel the show…
Tara from ‘True Blood’was reading in at least the first episode (but I thought I remembered her reading at the bar as well). They’ve talked about books on ‘HIMYM” and, though I’ve never watched it, I bet the guys on “The Big Bang Theory” read stuff. Hey- they have a book club on “The Office.” That’s all the current shows, besides “Lost”, that I can think of that have featured reading characters.
THey may not be bookish – but if you watched True Blood this week – MaryAnn and Eggs were both reading when Tara found them… Funny, I agree with your point of not enough reading on TV – which is probably why I remembered those two scenes so clearly.