MANILA, Philippines?Last Monday, June 30, we caught the first telecast of ?Lipstick Jungle? on the 2nd Avenue channel. We made it a point not to miss the new series? premier episode because the show is top-billed by Brooke Shields, whose colorful career we?ve followed since she was a child actress.
Last praised for her star turn in ?Suddenly, Susan,? Shields now plays a movie studio executive whose success has psychologically emasculated her husband.
While the series details this unhappy relationship, it really is more interested in the deep and supportive friendship between the movie executive and two other upwardly mobile women?a top magazine editor, Nikko Reilly, and a hot designer, Victory Ford.
Sounds ?similar?? Fact is, ?Lipstick Jungle? is more than just ?Sex and the City? for older and more powerful women. It?s less concerned with both titillating and liberating sex, and more focused on what women can do after they?ve broken through the traditional ?glass ceiling.?
All three central characters have already made their mark in their respective, ultra-competitive worlds. But, it is quickly revealed that there?s a bigger struggle ahead: How they can hold on to the top-executive territory they?ve already claimed.
In the series? very first episode, all three characters? main conflicts are briskly brought out, presumably to be more dynamically dealt with in succeeding episodes:
The movie executive?s emasculated husband almost walks out on their marriage. The editor realizes that she could be replaced?and goes to bed with a younger man (are the two events psychologically related?). And the designer is swept off her feet by one of the wealthiest men in the US.
Best of both worlds
In all of these developing stories, a consistent theme is women?s attitude toward power?and how it in turn affects their view of love.
In an ideal universe, the series appears to say, most career women want the best of both worlds?a great career and love in overflowing abundance! But, as the show?s female protagonists quickly discover, it?s difficult, if not impossible, to successfully pull off that high-wire balancing act.
An interesting twist is provided by the designer who, instead of enjoying her wealthy suitor?s attentions, is turned off by them. Her explanation for her unexpected reaction is instructive: ?I don?t want to be rescued?I want to rescue myself!?
That New Woman declaration of freedom indicates how much traditional male-female relations are currently in dynamic flux. It hits at the core of those relations, but leaves it to individual couples to figure out its specifics in their own relationships.
On point of performance, the designer has the most visually interesting scenes, but it?s still Shields? film executive character who holds stage center. This is due to the fact that her character deals with the weightiest issues and challenges, while her two bosom buddies dally with younger lovers and weep-over fashion shows that flop.
Add to this Shields? stronger acting core, and the series? central focus is firmly established from the get-go. It is a concrete jungle out there, but she and her friends have more than lipstick to use in the daily struggle for domination that separates the empowered women from the simpering girls?and the male weakling who get in their way.
?Kung Sakali?
After its premiere telecast on Myx Music Channel last July 1, ?Kung Sakali,? Ogie Alcasid?s first single from his ?The Great Filipino Songbook? album, is now being played regularly on Myx. ?Kung Sakali? was composed by Marvic (Vic) Sotto and was first recorded by Pabs Dadivas.
?The Great Filipino Songbook? is Ogie?s tribute to Pinoy composers and singers. To vote for Ogie, text Myx (space) Vote (space) KUNG SAKALI to 2366.
?The Clone Wars?
?Star Wars? takes on a dazzling new look in the first-ever animated feature from Lucasfilm Animation??Star Wars: The Clone Wars.? In the animated film, Anakin Skywalker and Ashoka Tano are on a mission with far-reaching consequences, but Count Dooku and his henchmen will stop at nothing to fill their heroic quest.
