more betty.

the new ms. magazine is out, and surprise, surprise, they've got an article on my girl ugly betty. the piece, by yeidy rivero, does a good job of not just lumping betty in with other "pioneering" (read: not supermodel) women characters on tv like murphy brown, roseanne, and ally mcbeal. to wit:

...a colleague recently asked me to compare Ugly Betty’s leading character, Betty Suárez, to Ally McBeal. “Well, they probably both have vaginas,” I replied. Gender is about the only identity that Betty shares with previous and contemporary
women television characters. How many working-class, Mexican American, clumsy, allegedly “ugly,” intelligent women with an illegal immigrant father have been portrayed on U.S. television? Until Betty’s arrival, none.

and that is what's great about betty. not that she's all these things that are considered "deviant" by tv character standards, but that she's (and therefore, the show is) nonchalant about that difference. the show encourages us to like betty because she's a well developed, interesting, likable character, not because she fills some political correctness network void!

and so my betty lovefest continues unabated. and likeohmygodseriously, did you hear that tim gunn is guest starring for two episodes in february? my girlish squealing is real here, people - if they finagle a "make it work" into the dialogue, i will be unable to refrain from doing a flailing dance of joy on the couch.