When I heard that ABC was launching an American version of the BBC drama Mistresses, which follows the trials and tribulations of four women who behave as mistresses by choice and sometimes by happenstance, I was intrigued. I immediately wondered if ABC’s new show, which has the same title, could match the high production value, superb writing and measured performances of the four lead actresses in the original, who convincingly demonstrate the complexity of the definition of a mistress. For those who have not seen the BBC version, the definition is sometimes symbolic (a woman who comes second to her husband’s job — job is the wife; wife is the mistress), not literal (a home-wrecking harlot).
I was wondering what would get lost in translation, as is often the case with shows that make their way across the pond in either direction (such as The Office and Law & Order: UK). What I was not expecting was the hoopla in the blogosphere over the ABC version, which supposedly makes a mockery of the institution of marriage and holds up mistresses as something to celebrate.
Come again? Call me crazy, but one of the most popular shows on television — Scandal, another ABC program — centers on Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), a political fixer who is also a mistress. In fact, evidence of the strong writing on the show can often be found in scenes about President Fitzgerald Grant’s (Tony Goldwyn) ongoing affair with Pope. I find it interesting and quite hypocritical that some of the same folks who are up in arms over Mistresses are die-hard Scandal fans.
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article courtesy of TheRoot.com
