File this under “things that make you go… oy.”
Contact Music is reporting that Hayden Panettiere, or Claire from Heroes, is “preparing for girl-on-girl love scenes in the next series of HEROES.” According to them, she will be sharing a kiss with her college roommate.
But wait — we’re not at the “oy” yet. Here’s where it gets exploitative and just plain weird:
A source tells British newspaper the Daily Star, “It’s just girlie fun at first. But it might progress into something more serious. It depends on how viewers respond.”
Um. Urm… are they suggesting a call-in poll? Because we all know how well that worked out for Jason Todd. All in all, this feels less benign and more exploitative, less of an appeal to the LGBT community and more of the cheerleader fantasy crowd. Valerie D’Orazio, who I picked this link up from, has a nice takedown of the whole process. All I can say is: if this is true, who thought this was a good idea?
July 6th, 2009 at 8:41 am
My guess is that they’re hedging their bets in case viewers organize boycotts and sponsors threaten to withdraw their commercials. Which has, let’s face it, happened.
As for Claire experimenting with same sex relationships in college…* shrug *. She wouldn’t be the first.
PAD
July 6th, 2009 at 9:30 am
anyone who is against this is CLEARLY a homophome
(note the sarcasm)
July 6th, 2009 at 10:06 am
In all fairness, I disliked the idea of Willow falling for Tara all those ages ago on Buffy. Until we actually saw it. In the right hands, a young woman discovering who she is can be an amazing thing to watch. Willow and Tara was so well done that I still haven’t forgiven Joss for killing Tara.
The problem here is that I can’t see anyone attached to Heroes as being “the right hands” at the moment. And that Claire has gone from the best written character to the worst. And that her skeevy relationship with West still leaves a bad taste. So, yeah, I am not optimistic despite Willow and Tara long ago.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:44 am
who thought this was a good idea?
The network executives who realized that a majority of the show’s core audience would love to see Hayden Panetierre get it on with another girl? It’s a ratings grab. Just a desperate attempt to save a show that’s been losing viewers as each season goes by.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:23 am
As much as seeing Hayden get it another with another hot female, admittedly, has a certain appeal to it (I’m not going to deny that, or act all high and mighty about it either), it’s also not going to get me to tune in to what is a truly terrible show. It’s not what I’m looking for out a show. If it were, I’d be better off getting DVDs of “The L Word” instead. That show has its (ahem) charms too, but it’s not something I’m interested in regularly viewing. Life’s too short for that. What’s the big deal?
Notice that Lost didn’t feel the need to have a scene where, after Kate discovered the shower in the hatch, she showed Juliet how to use it, one thing led to another and then… You get the idea. That show’s got plenty else going for it, and it continues to make viewers think. Heroes, OTOH, must really be getting desperate to get anyone to watch at this point. Sad. The show honestly had some potential, but it never realized it.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Ironically, I just came across this… If you’re really interested in truly seeing more of Hayden, here’s a better bet. The book this film is based on was actally pretty decent. Bonus!:
http://www.popeater.com/movies/article/hayden-panettiere-bares-all-in-movie/551716?icid=main|main|dl7|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2Fmovies%2Farticle%2Fhayden-panettiere-bares-all-in-movie%2F551716
July 6th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
And you thought the fans were only one watching the calendar, waiting for hayden to turn legal…
And how exactly do you “prepare” for such a scene? May I see these practice sessions?
Please?
July 6th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I don’t have a problem with Claire being a lesbian, my problem is that they should have established that she had conflicted feelings in the first few seasons and now she more comfortable about exploring them.
This just feels like a desperate last minute attempt to save the series by putting Hayden Panetierre in some “hot girl-on-girl action”
July 7th, 2009 at 10:10 am
The unmistakeable stench of desperation.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
If people don’t stop thinking of same sex relationships as special, as something that should be always treated as a difficult topic that NEEDS to be accompanied by a serious conflict regarding being homosexual, HOW on earth should it ever become manifested in people’s minds as normal?
If Claire happens to experiment with the same sex, let her. If she then decides that maybe she isn’t straight, so be it.
But drama regrading someone’s sexuality, as I see the show, will be the very least of plotpoints spiking the next season. Just… let it be what the writers make it to be.