"Unhinged Female" storylines on Eastenders
Just my opinion, and feel free to disagree with me, but I'm really disappointed with the directly they've decided to take with Bea this week. The whole collection of dolls , and cutting off the head of the "Billy" doll was one thing- even after that I tried to keep an open mind. Then early this past week we had the cleansing ritual, burning the T-shirt, Bea's face looking ominous in the glow of the fire. By then I started getting skeptical. Then came Thursday, with the showdown with Billy, the raw meat on the floor, the blood smearing. Then came Honey's "I think Bea has framed you for murder" and the final duff-duff for the week. By that time I was done. The whole thing was cartoonish and bizarre, and it's very poor material for the actors to work with.
I'm always wary when it comes to "Unbalanced Woman" storylines on soaps, since I think it's easy for the writing to veer into the territory of caricature and sensationalism.. I think it's easy for these storylines to become misogynistic, and reinforce stereotypes about women's mental stability, especially those who have reached midlife and haven't been married or had children. Indeed, this fact about Bea has been thrown in her face a couple times by various characters.
In the past Eastenders has taken a nuanced approach that didn't insult viewers' intelligence, when it comes this "Unbalanced Woman/Woman who Snaps storyline. Dr. May Wright, Sarah (who stalked Martin about 20 years ago), and Vanessa ("Bubbly's In the Fridge") Gold are great examples. The storylines involving these characters were well-written and entertaining, yet the writing was nuanced and unique, rather than cliched, cheesy or cartoonish.
However, I think this week they took a wrong turn with Bea. :-(
Any thoughts?
