Okay, I watched, probably every episode in the 1970s. (in reruns/syndication - I was too young in 1968 to watch a drama. Kids were put to bed by that hour!)
Yeah, that's the 1960s early 70s for ya.
But, I'm just finding this show again, and...one thing I see is the back-story on her. She had a childhood that made her that way, to some extent, as well. You'd think, a woman, able to get away from her (probably abusive) hooker mother, would be stronger than she is, but she's just a pretty meek, mild, sad person. This is, as mentioned in the pilot, the first time she's ever belonged to anything, yet she's afraid (at least at the beginning of the series) to even talk to Pete (I remember her becoming more accustomed to being around him as the show went on...partners, and all). She's actually SHY about the fact that he's a rich kid, and she's the daughter of a hooker.
But, yeah...she's put in a position (as a character) to just be the rescued little woman, a lot of the time.
It wasn't until the mid-70s when we had "Police Woman" and "Charlie's Angels" to start creating the tough women that we have today.
Remember, there were extremely few women in the police departments, then...mostly working traffic duty, in any case.
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spayer
10 years ago
After having watched almost the whole first season, I want to amend the previous post.
Her mother was described as a hooker in the first episode, but in the episode where she actually appears, she is more...a single mother, always looking for the man to rescue her (something that might have rubbed off on Julie, somewhat). It's called the Cinderella Complex, and was widely studied by psychologists in the '70s. But I digress.
It also seems that the men in her mother's life tended to try to get her to go to bed with them, and there's always the possibility (they never mentioned it), that she was raped by one or more of them. The one in the 14th episode does try to talk her into going out with him, and she shrinks away from him. It sounded like they were all pretty creepy.
Again, it's important to realize that we young girls/women looked up to her as a great heroine. She was amazingly liberated for the time! Remember, on television, we had Diana Rigg, as Emma Peel; Marlo Thomas, as Ann Marie; and that was about it for unmarried women to look up to. (Maybe April Dancer, the Girl from U.N.C.L.E., but that only lasted a short time...a whole season?) It wasn't until Mary Tyler Moore came along, that there was ANYONE to look up to as an independent woman who wasn't looking for a man to protect her, and Julie was amazing! She lived alone. She was a freakin' cop, for pity's sake! She didn't depend on anyone, and she only had a few romances, because they were right, not because she needed a man to take care of her. That was amazing back then!
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onwardsandupwards
10 years ago
Again, no one is saying that Julie wasn't a good character or that Peggy Lipton didn't do a good job playing the role. The problem is that as a police officer Julie (despite being smart and brave) seems easily overpowered in every physical confrontation she has with a bad guy. Plus it allowed the writers the easy (and dare I say it - lazy means) to constantly set her up as being the one member on the team whom the others would have to save on a regular basis
So much so that in several episodes, Julie isn't even present at the finale when Pete, Linc and even Capt Greer swoop in and put the villians in their place. From today's perspective, it's hard watching a show when the guys are so proactive and Julie gets stuck in reactive mode. This was obviously a source of concern for Lipton who stated in interviews that creatively she found it frustrating to play a passive role on what was a action cop series.
I applaud British television writers of this period because they avoided all of the stereotypical trappings that their American counterparts fell into when writing for female characters on drama shows. Diana Rigg's character on "The Avengers" is every bit as smart and brave but NEVER was she ever made to feel as though she needed to be protected the way Pete and Linc (and even Capt Greer) behave towards Julie. She is as resourceful and tough as her crime fighting partner Steed (Patrick Macnee).
Simply put, Julie is a good character with depth and substance. There is an emotional core about her which is appealing. But unfortunately being the "only woman on the team immediately qualifies you as the go to character who should be endangered the most" was a real drag to watch......
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spayer
10 years ago
Just watching "Mother of Sorrow". Sooo funny, that the guys go after Bell in the Rinoceros pen, and Julie is just standing there, in a quite relaxed pose, hands draped over the railing, one leg hanging, bent, loose, relaxed. They even show her face close up a couple of times. She looks like she's just staring into space. She doesn't even try to go get help, call the police from a pay phone (I tend to forget they didn't all have cell phones in their pockets back then! I have to keep reminding myself that they can't just reach into their pockets and call Greer.)
Sort of odd.
As for Diana Rigg...I'm not sure all British women were treated that way. She was an anomoly, even for them. In a good way. She was always a great role model for women who wanted the action! She and Julie Newmar. No one looked as good as they did in leather cat suirs!
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onwardsandupwards
10 years ago
You'll find that there were british television shows from the late 60's that actually had better written female characters (as oppose to their american counterparts). Other noteworthy shows from this period include "The Champions" & "Department S". These programs along with "The Avengers" depicted the women as smart, hardworking, independent and capable whilst being treated much more as an equal within the teams they worked in.
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