Hmm, after last night's episode of Boston Legal I am less than thrilled with James Spader's character, Alan Shore. [Warning: Spoiler alert. Do not continue reading if you don't want me to spoil any surprises. Okay, consider yourself warned!]
When we last left Alan, he had started dating the beautiful Judge Gloria and it seemed like they were establishing a serious relationship. Last night, Alan and Gloria returned, still together, but this time, Gloria tells him she wants to have a baby with him. Alan is taken aback by this announcement, but don't think for a moment that his surprise justifies what he does later in the episode! Alan finds himself as the defense attorney opposite an old flame of his, Lorraine (I'm taking some liberties with spelling here, so forgive me if I've spelled any names wrong). Alan finds himself unable to resist Lorraine's come-ons, and he ends up cheating on Gloria (twice!) in an elevator with Lorraine. By the end of the episode, Gloria has NOT found out about the cheating and I'm left with a disgusting taste in my mouth.
Now, Alan is a notorious ladies' man. He doesn't date much, and when he does, the relationship is usually short-lived. He has a lot of sex with random women who come and go. The funny thing about this character, though, is that he is deeply emotional. Although his encounters with women are brief and many, he is a deeply feeling and thinking man. Every character on the show turns to him for help because he cares very deeply about other people and he is an excellent lawyer. His cheating on Gloria bothers me! I have this desire to see Alan settle down with a good woman and form a long-lasting, fulfilling, romantic relationship. Instead, we see him continually trash his opportunities to find happiness, at least the steady romantic kind.
Why do I care so much about this tv character and his love life? Why does it upset me to see him cheat? I think it's a deep-seated wish to believe that all men are capable of settling down with one woman. I want to believe that even "bad boys" are good people deep down inside, and to me, a good person is one who is able to commit and to resist temptation. By resisting temptation, he is putting someone else's needs above his own interests. Several months ago, I went on two dates with this guy who has some serious power over me. Just the sight of him makes me nervous and panicky: my heart races, I can't think, my stomach flips over itself, and I feel awkward and uncoordinated. The dates were okay; we hit a few bumps in our conversations but I didn't mind too much. But it turns out he might just be a classic bad boy, at least when it comes to women and dating. To make a long story very short, apparently I was more interested in him than he was in me, and we didn't end up going out again. Fast forward several months and after encountering him with all sorts of women (are they just friends? are they dating? how many women IS this guy dating anyway?!?), I have concluded that this guy is a player and I am lucky that I did not get very involved with him. I keep telling myself I don't like him, he's boring, and our conversations now are strained and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, he still makes me sweat, but as long as I stay far away from him, I'm safe. Like the old saying goes, if you play with fire, you're gonna get burned. This guy might be ridiculously hot, but I'm not interested in a relationship that's based on little more than physical attraction. Stay away from me, bad boys! I'm not interested. And I don't fall for your charms. Well, maybe I fell for one bad boy's charms, but it won't happen again.
2 comments:
Hi... I would like to see Alan settled as welll but NOT until the series is ready to end. If they settle him NOW, he will be boring - wasnt he sounds preachy last night telling Denny that hooking up with hookers as awfully, "needy"! This from the 1800-call lizzie guy, lol.
Gloria was less than the understanding partner last night too - dump on him you wana get pregnant and expect him to be willing to perform when you get home? Then not understand why he couldnt? A loving partner woudlnt be cracking the whip to get in there right off the bat, before he'd even said yes or no!
'I still want that baby'... Alan, did you leave them in the elevator?
Hello!
I agree with you that Gloria's behavior was not ideal and it's understandable that Alan may have been feeling confused and pressured by her. I believe, however, that individuals are responsible for their own actions, so even if Alan was feeling angry or confused about Gloria, I am still disappointed to see him succumb so easily to temptation. Alan is a deeply thinking man, so it's always a bit disturbing to see him respond to the heat of the moment with women.
You bring up a good point about when Alan should settle down relative to the lifespan of the show. I can see that as a good plot element; perhaps we will start to see Alan show more signs that he is ready to settle down. Clearly he and Gloria are moving at different speeds: Gloria is ready to have children with him, while Alan can't even articulate his thoughts about having kids with her. Gloria holds Alan to a high standard, which I applaud, but Alan might not be ready for that commitment. In that case, he should end things with Gloria. We'll see!
That was hilarious when Denny was arrested by the cop posing as a high-class prostitute! He was certainly lured into it, but my goodness, he has no qualms about paying for sex!
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