Friday, June 22, 2012

Random Thoughts on Sexy, Sexist Hawaii 5-O

I was ambivalent about CBS attempting to resurrect the glory of the original Hawaii Five-0.  As a kid in a landlocked state, I loved Hawaii Five-0.  The catchy theme song, the beautiful scenery, and the cool Jack Lord as the cool Steve McGarrett.  Icy cool, not hip cool.  I have only seen the show twice, but there are a few things that I have noticed.

First, what is up with the car?  Why are they always showing me the man with his car?  I know in Magnum P.I. the Ferrari was front and center, but Magnum doesn't count.  Magnum isn't Magnum without the Ferrari and a Chevy Camaro is not a Ferrari.  I think Camaros were pretty popular when I was in high school...in the '80s.

Second, everything is incredibly attractive, the people and the scenery.  One thing I do like is the location montages between scenes, like the original show did.  The Oah'u Tourist and Visitors Bureau thanks you.  The actors are very pretty too.  Alex O'Loughlin as the new Steve McGarrett is cool, but not icy.  It seems very important that the man arrive at work in a form fitting t-shirt or with his shirt unbuttoned.  The tattoo on his very well muscled bicep is always visible.  Scott Caan is Danny Williams (Danno).  He, at least, wears a tie, but neither gentleman appears to own a fully functioning razor.  Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly is the third outrageously attractive man on the team and the alleged "bad" cop attempting to redeem himself.  As such, his is the only razor that gives a clean, close shave.  He is also a fan of the form fitting t-shirt.  Have police uniforms and suits been outlawed on the Hawaiian Islands?  Finally, there is the token female.

Let's talk about the token female.  Grace Park plays Kono Kalakaua a new police officer and former surfer.  Who knew Kono was an unisex name? Kono in the original Five-0 was a guy.  Kono is attractive and wears form fitting, but not flashy clothes, because after all she is a serious police woman...who is always getting saved.  She gets paired up with the McGarrett or Kelly and she never gets to give directions.  As I said, I have only seen two shows and in those two hours she has been: kidnapped, beaten up, snuck up on from behind by a bad guy and saved by McGarrett and sent into a shelter with a mom and kid.  She doesn't get to clear the house with the big boys, she gets to check out the garage and find the dead body and call in the big boys to show them.  I thought this was some elite, crack team.  If she is so good that she gets to be on the special team, then let her kick some ass.  Let her save the men occasionally or come up with the genius idea that breaks the case.  If not, then get the girl some clothes that show her cleavage and get the sexual tension going with someone.  Her dialogue isn't interesting , humorous or smart and she never smiles.  Clearly her entire reason for being is the fact that she has breasts and ovaries and thus brings diversity to the testosterone laden crew.  Maybe she needs some inspiration.  Grace.  Go home and watch some old "Police Woman" shows from the '70s.  Angie Dickinson was awesome as Pepper Anderson.  She was sassy and sexy and kicked felonious booty.  Sorry, alleged felonious booty.  Always innocent until proven guilty.

My final thought is that these people have no life except for when they are at work.  This happened with the original show and it happens with other shows too, but these are young, sexy people living in Hawaii in 2011.  They probably aren't going home and putting on their fuzzy slippers and pjs and watching tv.  Well, Kono probably is, because she is just that boring.  I don't need to see it, but maybe they could allude to it to try to make these characters more three dimensional.  Pretty scenery, whether it's nature or human, will only go so far.

Book him, Danno.

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