--deb aka ecstasythrumusic

PHOTOS from the Event

On a rainy Monday night in New York, at least 350 women gathered to get a glimpse of Jennifer Beals accompanied by Ilene Chaiken for the NY Times Talk event, "After the L Word." The event staff were very accommodating, letting us hang inside to await for entrance into the small theatre. On line I met many fans who were just as ecstatic to be there as I was. We talked about the finale and the show overall from our favorite characters to the woman we were all there to see. I talked to a women who had seen Jennifer in Philadelphia who spoke to us about how different Jennifer is from Bette Porter. I would come to that same conclusion.

Security was tight not wanting anyone to take pictures or video. Those that did were caught and had to get rid of everything. A camera crew from the City University of New York filmed the event, which will air locally in New York next month. The time finally arrived and we were escorted inside the small theater. I found a seat in the first row on the right side of where Jennifer would be sitting. I was very excited and nervous at the same time waiting to see one half of my favorite couple of all time. I hoped I would not be disappointed. The house lights went down and a women came up to the podium to introduce the panel .The moderator Kim Severson who writes for the Times as a food critic would lament later about the written word slowly fading in the world of digital media, followed by Ilene and Jennifer. At the mere mention of Jennifer the room erupted in applause and screams.

When they both came onto the stage my stomach was doing flips. I was just blown away seeing Jennifer walk up to her seat. She was beautiful like I imagined her to be, dressed in black and her hair down to her shoulders. She seemed skinner than she looked on the show. Before the discussion began they showed a brief film that might have been used to announce the final season. The audience cheered and jeered in all the right places.

Jennifer wanted the final season to be about friendships and not dark. The failed spin-off The Farm was slightly mentioned in the beginning of the discussion as not going into development. Ilene spoke about her and Jennifer working on a project but that it was too soon to reveal the particulars. The pilot was mentioned in that they didn't expect to get any A list actresses for the roles. At the time Jennifer was meeting people for a tv show where she would play a prostitute on the same day that she talking to Ilene, at the same hotel. She said it was either play a lesbian or play a prostitute. Prostitute- Lesbian. Prostitute-Lesbian. Lesbian won and after meeting with Rose Troche it was a done deal. Ilene talked about how in the pilot the Kit character was a sea captain with the chart tattooed on her back. We all know that Kit became Bette's sister. Talk went to how Jennifer handled the intimate scenes with Laurel. Jennifer said that she trusts Laurel explicitly, they had each other's backs. Laurel even suggested that they have a glass of wine. Jennifer had us wooing when she said that some people think that Laurel and her are really lovers. Jennifer said that the set was a safe set. The re-shoot of the love scene after the failed threesome was discussed once again. The moderator tried to get some tidbits from the set such as were there any fights or blow ups. Ilene mentioned that there was but they were able to re-group and talk about it. The show's open door policy was discussed when the question was asked of Ilene if she was a solitary writer.

Somewhere along the line the topic of humus began, I guess because Ms. Severson is a food writer at the paper. I think she was using it as an analogy for the nights topic. She asked Ilene on whether she had an idea or if the L Word was her life's political work. Ilene said "I had an idea." I mean, I just don't think it works to say, "I'm going to change culture" or "I'm going to do something political." You start out saying, "I really want to tell good stories and entertain people" and if it works then that would be a glorious thing. But, you know, I think we got swept up in the midst of a cultural change, and it was thrilling to be a part of it, and if we nudged it here or there, that was even more thrilling. But I would never take it any farther than that.

Then Jennifer said Well, I ... first of all, I don't really watch that much television, so I hadn't a clue that it was the first show of it's kind. I didn't know. And then it came time for us to do press, and uh (to IC) and I remember talking to you, and you told me "Oh, it's not political." (to everyone) And I thought .... the first thing I thought is, "The personal is political." And then I thought, "I'm very excited about the notion of helping some young girl in the middle of nowhere who has no access to any larger community, who can find herself represented in however flawed a way on television and realize how wonderful she is." And if that's political, I felt very political.

JB said that she didn't want to make it seem like such a big deal. Kim and the rest of us said that it was a big deal. Jennifer went on to say that giving someone the safety and the room to be authentic is incredibly important and that everybody needs to be heard, their true voice. Kim then asked Jennifer about what she knew and learned about during her time at Yale and on the show about L.G.B.T issues. JB said that she learned what a dental dam was, what a twink was but what she clearly learned the most was how connected we all are and that "gay issues" are also women's issues because homophobia is a form of misogyny. She also feels much more motivated to speak out when something she sees or something that she smells is wrong. She also said she sees how all women are connected.

Kim asked Ilene "How did you develop a thick skin when there was criticism from mainstream Hollywood and within the community from why do these women look so pretty, why is one character having too much sex or not enough to what's the deal with the guy with the beard who is a girl. Ilene answered by saying " It developed over time but that's how you know that you have a successful show where people are engaging at all levels, when you're making people angry when their debating,when there throwing their stuff at you if nobody was talking and nobody was inflamed about it we wouldn't have been on the air for six years."

We cheered to that and then the discussion turned to the year that Ellen came out. Queer as Folk was still on and Will and Grace was on the air a year prior. Ellen paved the way for the L Word even though according to Kim and IC it was painful to watch. Ilene said that she first pitched the L Word back before Queer as Folk after working with Showtime on Dirty Pictures. She had also wrote an article about babies and lesbian parents for L.A. Magazine. Am I the only one who though they made up the name L.A. Magazine just for the show. They virtually laughed her out of the office. She realized that it just wasn't going to get made so she accepted it, she knew that it was true , she just went away, she did not beg and say that it would change the world but it did. Six months later. Showtime brought the format that was QAF, that's when she went back to them and said give the lesbians a turn. The time was right and they said yes when tv was receptive to gay characters. Kim asked Ilene if she believed the L Word would be green lighted today. Ilene said that no it wouldn't because there was already a show like it on tv and that even Showtime's president said the same thing. IC blames part of it on the economy. Jennifer said how about a lesbian cop show and we laughed. IC spoke about how she and Jennifer talked about them carrying the torch but at the moment the dessert is dry.

The conversation turned to the other issues tackled on the show that were universal such as cancer, alcoholism, sexual abuse, racial issues and adoption. Jennifer mentioned her going to Ilene at their first meeting to ask her to make Bette biracial. Then she asked what were their proudest moments. Ilene said that she confesses to being a Bette fan, enjoying her rants. Jennifer said that one of her proudest scenes was the fight "love" scene between Bette and Tina because it was very complicated. Tony Goldwyn just kept the camera rolling and her an Laurel just keep going. It was very exhausting but they felt that at the end of the day they accomplished something. She said that she had never done a scene like that and may never will. The question was then asked if she has changed as an actor. Jennifer said that she is more vocal and confident to express her opinion . She also says that they don't have to agree with her but that she believes in having dialogue and understanding direction of a character and doesn't believe she needs to apologize for asking for that. She said that she always asked but it was such a completely different experience working with Ilene and the cast. She applauded the directors who were predominately independent film directors. who were very engaged and passionate about what they were doing and in the re-writing process. IC said she felt that they were making little movies. Kim asked if it was difficult for Ilene to give over the reigns like that, Jennifer said no then laughter erupted. Kim was able to throw in a who killed Jenny again?She apologized for asking again, then asked if she even has an idea about who killed her. I shouted out that Jenny killed herself. Ilene said that she loves the collaborative process and that the work got much much better when it was opened up to other people's voices and opinions. Even though she is a control freak by her own admission in that context she welcomes collaboration, welcomes input and has changed directions if a better idea was presented."

The next question was if they had any regrets. Kim said Dana Fairbanks. Defending herself Ilene said that "I didn't kill Dana Fairbanks. Dana got sick." People told her. "You can't kill a lesbian." for which she says that "yes lesbian's do die too". She also said that drew parallels because in Season 1 and 2 she was attacked because Jenny was Jewish.Which was changed when Mia Kirshner had said to her "Jenny's Jewish, right?" Then when Jenny started to get crazy they were angry at her her for making the Jewish character crazy.

Kim asked whether or not she was Jenny. Ilene said that in the 1st season and maybe the second Jenny and Bette were the characters she most identified with. Ilene said that Jenny reflected her own early coming out experiences, she was a writer like she was, and that she is Jewish like Jenny. On a superficial basis she was her. With Bette because she was a career driven woman, trying to have a family, and trying to keep work and relationships afloat while having a partner who was resentful. As time went on she could see all the characters in parts of herself. J

The discussion went on to talk about who Bette was based on. I am still confused about who they were talking about. Then they went on to talk about the wardrobe. It was funny when Jennifer said "That's what I miss the most". Jennifer gave props to Cynthia Summers for the clothes. Ilene said that the girls had a lot of input on character stylistic choices. I can't see this being the case because of the blouses they'd put Bette in. Jennifer said she missed the cufflinks then went on to talk about hoarding clothes at the end of each season so they could buy them at bargain prices.

Next they talked about guest stars. How they got people to guest on their show. Jennifer mentioned Ossie Davis. Guests were either brought to the show by other actors re: Marlee Matlin, or agents would call and say that so and so wants to be on the show. Kim asked if stories were written specifically for each guest star and the answer was no. Jennifer talked about how Alan Cumming was mean to Bette and laughed and said "I'm Bette Porter" why is he being mean to my character.

The discussion turned to the internet and how the show was affected by it. Our Chart was mentioned which was affiliated with CBS. They did not allow content to be more organic. Showtime owns the rights to the characters. The movie was talked about . Jennifer said she'd do it if Ilene abandoned the dark side. Ilene said she wants to do a movie about love, romance and friendships. Ilene asked if we liked weddings. There was a question and answer portion after.

Some of the questions were funny even awkward at times. Questions were asked from why the show ended at the 6th and Ilene answered that in the world of cable shows usually don't go past five. Jennifer was asked about the photography book that she want to release with pictures from the set. She said that she wants to do it and if we knew people in publishing let her know. Some one asked about her running which she was more than happy to discuss. A question was asked about the Interrogation tapes and would there be more of them. Ilene said that it is up to Showtime but that she did it to answer some lingering questions. A girl asked Jennifer if she saw Laurel's acceptance speech on the A-list awards. Jennifer said no that she hadn't so the girl paraphrased and told her. Her response was something like she always speaks her mind. The one question and answer that made me laugh the most was when a older gentleman asked why Marina was dropped as a character. Ilene wanted no part of the answer so she told Jennifer to take it. "I don't know why Tina was raped by her sister. I don't know why Jenny was peeing on someone. I don't know why Dana died". The Q @A lasted about an hour.

In closing I have to say I enjoyed the night highly. I wanted to hate Ilene but that night I just couldn't. Even though Jennifer is not Bette Porter she is articulate and down to earth. At times as she spoke I thought she was going to cry even telling our own BandT4Ever that she wasn't going to cry. I am proud to have been there that night to see a true talent and a wonderful human being. The night would have been even better for this fan for Laurel to have been there. God I'd probably would have been more nervous. Thanks to Jennifer and Ilene for being a part of my life for the past six years.