Speaking of crazy TV ladies called Brenda, let's not forget the original - Rachel Griffiths' character - Brenda Chenowith - in "Six Feet Under". And the even crazier Toni Collete character - Tara Gregson - in "United States of Tara".

Strong woman - yep. Quirky women - tick. Weird - no worries. Unshaved. unplucked and unprimped - cool. Creative, outspoken, five standard deviations form the cultural norm ... all excellent. Fine with everything up to the batshit crazy part.

In my experience BSC folks are often the first folks to select "nice" partners.

Perhaps there is a recognition that BSC x 2 carries a distinct possibility of spectacular emotional conflagration and self-destruction. Not to mention the collateral damage to family and friends and poodles.

I was beginning to worry about the author, and worry about women in general.

Every other article written previously by the author has been about men, such as male authors, male actor or male producers etc.

There could have been two reasons for this:
A/ Women were not significant or interesting enough to write about.
B/ The author wanted to be critical of men, and every article previously written about men does contain maligning and denigrating comments about men.

But now, an article written about women that describes them as “Strong women, flawed women, screwy but ultimately thoroughly captivating women.”

And it was about fictional characters, and all made up.

Spookily I have just finished watching The Closer on Gem.

What can i add about Brenda - I have loved watching her for years. I have never seen ANYONE on the telly
expose herself in the most intimate way as does the amazing K.S.
And Fritz ! Yep stuck with his gal when she was SOOOOO infuriatingly Brenda......

There are holes in some episodes you can drive a truck thru, but in the end who really cares.

The last episode was a sad day, but at least we have re-runs.

I know it's only the telly, and I know it's hardly reality, but SHE was something to look forward to each time.

C'mon Dale you're having us on right?

the vast majority of Australian women to be highly self-important, and also highly boring, highly non-appreciative, and take far too much for granted.

thats highly speculative and highly improbable...........................perhaps the one or you've dated, but surely not about 5-6 million adult Australian women!

Now you are an analyst, I think you need to take yourself in hand.

Hi Dale

tell me you're kidding...please.

Years ago I was working for the Vic govnt in promulgating throughout the Barwon-South Western region the then new Equal Employment & Sexual Harassment policies.

We were in Hamilton and speaking to the area principals...all men.

After our presentation I was talking to one of Hamilton's principals and he casually mentioned -
"we all know that women are intellectually inferior to men"
The rural areas around the city supported many one teacher schools, and all the teachers were mostly male as many parents ( I guess male-dominated households) did not want women teaching their kids.

I only mention this because in part your comments take me back to those days.

I add another anecdote - this one from none other than Barbra Striesand. She was considered a "bitch' and "difficult" in her movie-making heyday. She insisted the reason was because she refused to accept poor decisions made by male directors & producers, and felt she had an opinion of worth to offer.

Its still a relatively male dominated workplace, and perhaps those women throwing "hissy fits" may have worthwhile opinions but are frustrated by men with ideas dating back to cave men days.

Where I'd like to start in this one is by asking why it is you, as a writer, felt a woman who was depicted as stepping out of the "normal" pattern for a female life plan (career oriented, childfree by choice) automatically qualifies as being mentally ill? You refer to her several times in this piece as "crazy" - a long-time synonym for insane, or mentally ill. Is there any evidence (aside from some minor neuroses such as stress eating) for your armchair diagnosis? Your profile at the head of the page doesn't mention which discipline you're a senior lecturer in - are you qualified to diagnose mental illness in persons you've never actually consulted with?

When you equate mental illness with unconventional behaviour, you're participating in a centuries-long pattern of patriarchal repression. You're contributing to the myth of the "normal" woman who is happiest when occupied by family duties - "kirke, kuche, kinder" - and to the myth which says wanting anything other than those is, for a woman (but not a man) a clear symptom of mental illness. You're contributing to the myth of the "normal" woman who is happiest in secondary roles, where she doesn't have control of her future, and to the myth which states only mentally ill women want to control their lives. You're contributing to the myth of women being inherently less stable, less capable and overall LESS than men.

By doing so, you're also painting a trivialised and condescending picture of what mental illness actually entails, which harms persons who are actually mentally ill. Mental illness is one area of the medical spectrum where any diagnosis has to be made based purely on behavioural cues. By painting a comparatively ordinary list of behaviours as being "abnormal" for one expressed gender (but not, of course, for the other - were her male colleagues "crazy" for being focussed on their careers rather than their kids?) you effectively participate in the social marginalisation of the mentally ill as well as the social marginalisation of women.

I can accept you like the character. I can accept you enjoy the fact she's unconventional, she's less-than-perfect (and more human because of this). I can appreciate your approval of the writers of the series for letting her be less-than-perfect, and remain less-than-perfect throughout multiple seasons of the series. I can appreciate your appreciation for the way her partner is written as supportive and appreciative of all the factors of the character, both the good and the bad. But can I ask, in future, that you express your appreciation for such unconventionality in ways which don't play into prevailing myths about mental illness and femininity?

Hi Kim

never heard that one......she was married and divorced prior to fritz and had a seemingly tense relationship with her parents. But incest...........who knew!

Where did your info come from?

again a touch weird to be talking about a fictional character.......but hey that's life

I absolutely detested Barb from Big Love!! She was such a bloody over achiever, yet weak as piss at the same time. Nup! I agree with everything else ;). Oh...and for the record, Ruth from 6ft Under is my most hated character of all time, followed closely by Nate.

Now listen up Ms R... I hate to be bringing the ice cold water of truth to this public gushing of empathy - but see, a lot of the things you'll be seeing on TV aren't actually true. That's right Miss Lauren, folks just make them up ... out of thin air. It is just lying for money. Not even as truthy as Big Brother.

Worse, rather than base these characters on their bipolar friends and dysfunctional families and other more or less real folks, these characters with whom you "identify" - who strike a demographic chord - are often written by focus groups feeding "feelings" and the demographics of the target audience to the rows of faceless writers who work in a bunker - a converted multi-story car-park, without ever seeing natural light.

At best we are watching a fantasised notion of nuttiness - where your strong, flawed yet capable hero persons are fabrications - derangements are sanitised and their delusions and quirks pampered and indulged. A crazy world where Tara's sybilling about is sort of sane and understandable - tolerable and endurable for all concerned... where some meddling know it all stick insect with cheekbones and an inside line to the script writers - outsmarts all her dullard workmates week after bloody week.

In real life these heroines of yours would be found at the bottom of stairwells. They would be psychopathic boss from hell. Their kids would be suicidal - the victim of taunting and bullying from Tara's bouts of being someone else. No - life would be full of crap like ours.

Have you noticed how none of these hero persons actually have any real friends? How they never get invited to wild parties, get legless, throw up in your shirt pocket or have illegitimate children to Black subordinates. Food just appears and they can sleep without messing up their make-up of hair. They can shoot people without messsing up their hair.

They do not spend hours embedded in traffic. They have adventures at the supermarket. They are in the thick of it - life, struggle, dilemma... Every week. And they win. Always.

These are dead giveaways that someone made it up and that the folks in question aren't real Lauren. And most likely these characters are born of marketing strategists, profilers and yes writers (appropriately anonymous or pseudonymous).

Look at what you like and why Ms R. What positive role models are you being fed? What do they buy? How do they live? What do they wear? What are the product placements and ads telling about who is watching? Look for the hooks.

The've got you in the slip stream Ms R... dangling shining baubles before your engrossed unfocussed eyes ... etrancing you with the rarified "realism" of your complex characters. It's all to a soundtrack of cash registers and demographics Ms R... the music of the spheres. That at least is real.

Oh Peter you spoilsport

we all love to dream, to escape , to imagine.

Of course none of it is real in La La Land.......................but surely you've read a book or watched a movie that has transcended your/our dreary lives and enjoyed the thrill of another possibility.

To sleep, perchance to dream.