Gender Fuck Thursday: Scoop Edition

I’m not what you would call an avid royal watcher. Yeah, OK, I watched some of the weddings back in the day. And Diana’s funeral. But otherwise I don’t really care what our former ruling monarchy is up to. (Though, clearly, it’s beyond immoral for them to use the sex trafficking services of their pals who are known pedophiles.) I know I didn’t watch the Prince Andrew interview that inspired “Scoop” in full – though of course I don’t live under a rock so I saw clips of the most egregious bits.

So, in theory, it would be a tough lift to get me to watch a movie about Randy Andy’s disastrous Newsnight appearance. But then they cast Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes and Billie Piper. So, well, I had to watch. It confirmed that, yes, Andrew and the royals are grotesquely rich, privileged people who have gotten away with everything for way too long. And, also, that Gillian, Keeley and Billie should team up more to take down bad men (even if that result was not intended from Keeley’s character).

So in honor of this trio’s good on-screen works and red carpet camaraderie, I thought I’d share all three women in excellent suits. Granted, “Scoop” is really Billie’s movie with Gillian and Keeley offering strong support. But you get to decide who wins their suit-off, since it’s a Thursday an all. (I know, throwing in Kitty Butler isn’t fair but neither is life so there’s that.)

Love, sweet love

Right, so remember when I watched “The Real L Word” because I downloaded the wrong episode “True Love.” Well, mischief managed! I managed to get my hands on the right copy (and for those still wanting to do the same, I believe you’ll find some help in the comments here). And now that my curiosity has finally been satisfied, let’s discuss our BIG LESBIAN FEELINGS about the episode.

First things first, a little background. “True Love” is a BBC five-part miniseries where each 30-minute episode is a snapshot of love in all of its highs and lows. The third episode, titled “Holly,” revolved around a school teacher (played by Billie Piper) who starts a relationship with one of her 16-year-old students (played by Kaya Scodelario). Yes, I know – it’s the student-teacher taboo again. Yes, I know – we also saw this in “Mädchen in Uniform” and “Loving Annabelle” and “Bloomington.” And, I know – it’s kinda icky.

What I will say about the episode is that Billie and Kaya are simply lovely. They say so much without saying hardly anything at all. Which is good, because the episode is sparse at best. It asks viewers to fill in football-field sized gaps in the storyline for themselves. The framework is simple. An unhappy is woman having an affair with a married man and finds comfort with a student. The details of what exactly made them fall in love are largely left to our imaginations. Art? Loneliness? Kaya’s ridiculously mesmerizing saucer-sized baby blues?

But the connection between the two, well, that actually works. Yes, sure, clearly – there is the ohmygodsheissixteenyuck factor. While the age of consent in England is actually 16, there is still the very troubling teacher-student dynamic at play. But that aside (which, granted, is a very big aside), what I liked about the episode was its hopefulness. Yes, these are two people who are probably not right for each other for a multitude of reasons. But they still get to have (spoiler alert) some sort of happy ending. Or, at the very least, hope of a happy ending. Because in the end that’s really what love is – hope. It’s a hope that someone else will understand you, accept your flaws, see your worth and love you for all of it.

And then there’s the shallow bit where I like seeing Billie and Kaya kiss. See it for yourself as long as YouTube will allow it.