ABC found the sequel to Desperate Housewives and it is cut from the same conflicts. The newest ABC hit, Mistresses, seizes upon the idea of marital conflict and raises the bar by hitting the notion of infidelity from every possible angle. Mistresses is sexy beyond comparison with stars whose names you’ll know from other hit shows (Alyssa Milano, Yunjin Kim), and secondary stars that sizzle (Shannyn Sossamon, Rochelle Aytes, Jes Macallan). Perhaps most interestingly, Mistresses represents the new normal. The show presents ABC’s version of multiculturalism with their standard of black, Asian, white, homosexual, and of course, blonde.
To begin, black beauty still doesn’t mean dark-skinned. While we’ve seen progress in the media, black beauty still must conform to european standards. You must be light-skinned. You must have straight (or appropriately curly–not kinky) hair. The Asian standard is the same, but not much change is required by Asian women to meet this standard. As we know, the standard of beauty is blonde and no show would be complete without the standard setter. Interestingly enough, IMDB lists the blonde actress first though Milano and and Kim are clearly the more well known and more important players in the show. That choice reflects the dominant ideology that being blonde and beautiful is supremely important when it comes to sexual attractiveness.
Sex sells and ABC is Avon. All of the people in the show are beautiful. Much like The L word, all Lesbians are viewed as Lipstick Lesbians, which is entirely in keeping with the show’s all is beauty theme, which though powerfully unrealistic is what draws the viewer’s eye.
Maybe I love this show because I don’t have enough drama in my life or maybe I still have a crush on Alyssa Milano. At any rate, I believe the show works to perfection in replacing Desperate Housewives and capturing an audience that is looking for something frivolous, detached from reality and super-engaging in that soap opera way. I haven’t seen the numbers, but I think this show is going to succeed in a big way.