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Thinking About The Golden Girls
Mar. 24th, 2012 01:19 pmI've been watching the late night reruns of this show. I've always loved it but now I'm realizing why. It's not just that it was often genuinely hilarious and well written. It's kind of an example of a type of show that doesn't get made anymore.
I love the way the characters are named.
Dorothy: I think of Dorothy Parker and Dorothy L Sayers, in other words, sharp witted, opinionated female intellectuals.
Blanche: Obviously a shoutout to Blanche Dubois, the ill fated, quintessentially southern heroine of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Sophia: It means “wisdom”, and she frequently dispensed advice based on the experiences she'd had in her 80+ years (in between the nonsensical stories and snark).
Rose: Well, it speaks of someone who is traditional and romantic and sweet, but it’s also a little generic, the sort of name someone would pick for a baby found on the doorstep of an orphanage.
Additionally, the names “Blanche” and “Rose” mean “White” and “Red/pink” and seem to be found together a lot. My mother has two aunts named “Blanche” and “Rose”, and there’s also the tale of Snow White and Rose Red. A woman named Rose is an obvious counterpoint to a woman named Blanche. And it’s fridge brilliance that the one named Blanche is promiscuous and the one named Rose though she has a healthy sex life, is more monogamous and traditional, but it’s more important to note that she’s pure of heart and mind.
( On Women Who Talk To Each Other )
I love the way the characters are named.
Dorothy: I think of Dorothy Parker and Dorothy L Sayers, in other words, sharp witted, opinionated female intellectuals.
Blanche: Obviously a shoutout to Blanche Dubois, the ill fated, quintessentially southern heroine of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Sophia: It means “wisdom”, and she frequently dispensed advice based on the experiences she'd had in her 80+ years (in between the nonsensical stories and snark).
Rose: Well, it speaks of someone who is traditional and romantic and sweet, but it’s also a little generic, the sort of name someone would pick for a baby found on the doorstep of an orphanage.
Additionally, the names “Blanche” and “Rose” mean “White” and “Red/pink” and seem to be found together a lot. My mother has two aunts named “Blanche” and “Rose”, and there’s also the tale of Snow White and Rose Red. A woman named Rose is an obvious counterpoint to a woman named Blanche. And it’s fridge brilliance that the one named Blanche is promiscuous and the one named Rose though she has a healthy sex life, is more monogamous and traditional, but it’s more important to note that she’s pure of heart and mind.
( On Women Who Talk To Each Other )
