Thoughts in Response to TV: The L Word

I've been particularly stressed out lately. Some of you have been following along with my life for a while now. I appreciate you. I really do.

Because of certain triggers, I have felt my C-PSTD much more acutely lately.

I was raised by a narcissistic mother. I have also experienced too many instances of sexual assault, including incest. This story is not about that, though.

One of my trauma responses is to shut down and escape the stress of my reality. I used to escape by using drugs.

I no longer use drugs to escape. I use healthier techniques. My two favorites are reading and streaming.

I read a lot. I prefer books in a series.

I stream a lot. I prefer shows with many seasons.

The L Word

I've just finished 6 seasons of The L Word.

I have to say I loved the show. It was 6 seasons. I became invested in the characters and their stories.

The show centers around a group of friends in Los Angeles. Most of the members of this group are women and most are lesbians or bisexuals. There are main characters who are straight allies, and one main character who is transexual female to male.

The main characters in no particular order are Jenny, Marina, Bette, Tina, Alice, Shane, Kit, Helena, Max, and Dana. With more characters as special guests stars. The cast is full of Hollywood heavy hitters like Jennifer Beals (Bette), Pam Grier (Kit), Roseanna Arquette, Marlee Matlin (Jodie), Cybill Shepard (Phyllis), and Jane Lynch (Joyce).

Each season the characters date, get into committed relationships, consider having families, cheat, forgive, hook up, break up, question their sexuality, stay in the closet, or come out, sleep around, stay single, sometimes all of the above simultaneously.

In the first season, Alice makes a chart demonstrating how small and interconnected the Los Angeles lesbian community is. She goes on to have a radio show called The Chart and a website of the same name.

The key component of this show for me had nothing to do with sex (as hot as the sex scenes were - and they were very hot and very many), sexuality, or gender identity. It had to do with love. It had to do with acceptance, redemption, and self-image.

Each character loves in different ways. Each character screws up in different ways. The show at its core demonstrated to me, how appearances don't always match reality. And all of humanity is interconnected.

Of course, I had my favorite characters. And of course, the characters and my favorites changed from season to season and situation to situation.

Notably, two of the main characters are killed off at some point in the show. I won't give any spoilers.

I appreciated some other aspects of the show. Two of the main characters, Alice and Jenny, are writers. Bette is an art curator. Jodi is an artist. I felt a deep connection to the writers and artists because I am both of these things.

If you want a good show to watch with lots of seasons, you can't go wrong with The L Word. It is currently available through Amazon Prime Video with a Showtime subscription.

Go watch it. You'll fall in love.

I did.