Still, I really can’t see where Close is being sexualized here, unless you think that any woman in a victimized position is therefore sexualized, which I don’t.

Because I knew Close by sight, but not Byrne, and I was too lazy to look it up. :)

Look at the photoshop disaster blog to get an idea:
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

So simply there could be no other explanation behind the “strangeness” in this but laziness and lack of attention to details.

The cover of the first series DVD has this kind of problems too:
http://telemania.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/damages_s1_dvd_early.jpg
So that wouldn’t be a first.

I’m not saying i’m sure this is the case (and there would still be the issue of why they choose to use the image anyway) but it’s something i wouldn’t rule out… Light (especially on Glenn Close hair) looks a little weird, after all…

Oh, and btw, a little question for you: why Glenn Close is Gleen Close while Rose Byrne is “the brunette”? ;)

M

I’m having a hard time getting down on this image right now, because Damages is one of the few shows in existence (particularly popular shows) that actually manages to follow the Bechdal Rule. If you’re not familiar, the rule is that movies/shows should have 1) at least two women, 2) who talk to each other, 3) about something other than a man. I am continually amazed at how few shows on television pass this test! (more from Bitch PhD, where I learned about it)

SPOILERS BELOW

Also, the show has violent undertones, but not violent in the normal “damsel in distress” way. The younger character’s whole motivation is revenge against the Close character. The both of them play roles that are normally given to males. They are both lawyers. The younger one lost her love (because of Close’s char.), and lives for revenge. She is very devious and has a long-running plan to bring Close down. She will seem friendly enough in day-to-day, but later she’ll do something that reminds the view that everything she does is for revenge.

Close’s character is cut-throat to the core and seems to have absolutely no remorse. Her character is the stereotypical old white male’s character. The very powerful one who will do anything for money and who is behind the most devious schemes.

So, yeah, this is not your average show from a feminist standpoint.

All of that being said, Tyrone could not be more correct in saying “Why aren’t these women dressed in their professional garb? Why is the photograph even set on a street rather than in an office or a court?” Why indeed. I guess that “normal” views have to be lured in by the same old sexist crap since this show breaks the mold in other ways. I guess I got over having a hard time getting down on the image!

1. The colours. I’m a former art student, so they stood out for me. In art, yellow and purple are meant to be eachother’s complementary colours (like green is to red, purple is to yellow – though there’s actually some debate about that). Yellow and purple were two colours that were definitely chosen for deliberate contrast, probably to reflect the power struggle between these two women in the show. So to me, with my art-student mindset, this poster reads like a battle between Yellow and Purple, with both colours looking assured that they’ll win or that they have won the fight (Rose Byrne doesn’t notice or pretends not to notice Glenn Close’s body on the pavement, Glenn Close smiles calmy despite having a *blood red* high heel sticking into her neck).

I have a lot of other issues with this picture but I think most of them have already been mentioned in the comments above. It is bizarro though.
2. Is there something of the paparazzi shot about this image? A glamourous young woman emerging from the back seat of car? Her outfit suggests red carpet, as does Glenn Close’s. Are they trying to add a Hollywood glamour to the show? This is, afterall, a program about lawyers. Why aren’t these women dressed in their professional garb? Why is the photograph even set on a street rather than in an office or a court? Would viewers be turned off by the idea of a show depicted as being about professional looking women rather than the glamourous types we’ve become used to from shows such as “Sex in the City” and “Lipstick Jungle”?