The Puppy Episode

Back in 1997, Ellen DeGeneres had a sitcom, initially called These Friends of Mine, the series was quickly retitled Ellen. While floundering a little in early seasons, struggling to find a reason to exist, the show garnered ratings success and sparked national debate and controversy during the fourth season upon airing The Puppy Episode, an episode in which DeGeneres' character Ellen Morgan and DeGeneres herself came out of the closet, the title refers to the fact that the producers wanted to air an episode in which Morgan adopts a puppy. The episode was a huge success, drawing 42 million viewers.

The episode, which is a two-parter, revolves around Ellen Morgan, meeting a lesbian woman named Susan, whom she instantly clicks with, not bring honest with herself or her friends about her sexuality, Susan, and her therapist encourage her to open up about her sexuality to herself and to her friends. The episode featured numerous cameos and guest appearances. Laura Dern appears as Susan, a love interest for Ellen, whom Ellen becomes romantically attached to, and who is later revealed to be in a relationship. Oprah Winfrey also starred as Ellen's therapist, and DeGeneres also came out of the closet on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the same day as the airing of the episode. K.D. Lang, Jenny Shimzu, Demi Moore and Melissa Etheridge all have cameo's.

The show was a huge success, becoming Ellen's highest rated show drawing 42 million viewers, the show also spurned numerous cultural phrases and puns, in the episode, when Ellen accuses Susan of trying to recruite her, to which Susan replies, 'one more and i would have got the toaster oven', since the airing of the episode, coming out has often been ironically referred to as 'getting the toaster oven'. The episode also makes light fun of people who refer to an organised gay movement or a gay mafia, at the end of the episode, Susan takes Ellen to see Melissa Etheridge, who after filling out the necessary paperwork, congratulates Ellen on being gay and hands Susan a toaster oven.

The episode led to the show getting renewed for a second season, and has been referred to as one of the most significant LGBT television moments, and one of the first high profile coming-outs. Although the episode managed to give the show focus, however not in the direction that ABC wanted, the show became highly gay-centric, and whole episodes became focused around niche gay topics which were uncommon or alienating to heterosexual viewers. What saddens me somewhat is that few people of my generation have seen this episode, and although Ellen DeGeneres is still a public figure, and is still on TV every day, few people really know what a trailblazer DeGeneres was, and how brave it was of her to come out at a time when society was so unforgiving, The Puppy Episode remains a fantastic sitcom episode, and fortunately for those who have not seen it, both episodes are available on YouTube.

Susan: Damn, now I have to call headquarters and let them know I lost you. Just one more and I would have gotten that toaster oven.

TITANIC

I would normally begin reviews with a small introduction of the film, the year it was released and who directed it, but i don't really need to do that for this film do i? Everyone knows this film, everyone's seen this film and nearly everyone loves this film. I did have a small quibble with my Dad about this movie the other night after dinner, with my Dad feeling that it was a soppy, overly romantic melodrama. Ironically enough despite the argument i agree with him, and despite the melodrama, i absolutely love this movie.

Titanic sets a budding romance between a rich, attractive socialite named rose and a young, rugged worker traveling in third class named Jack. By setting a love story on board the ship, director James Cameron makes the sinking of the ship not only a physical and historical event, but an emotional occurrence as well. As Rose and Jack fall in love, so do we, we fall in love with their romance, with them as a couple and with the way in which they make each other better. As we fall in love with them, the sinking of the ship becomes heartbreaking to the audience, as we realize that if the ship sinks, they will not be together, and it's a heartbreaking, visceral experience.

Titanic also uses a highly interesting narrative structure, Rose, now aged 109 meets up with a group of scientists and discoverers attempting to find The Heart Of The Ocean, a large diamond her fiance once gave to her that might have ended up at the bottom of the atlantic. In what is essentially the 'present', Rose tells the story of her time on the titanic, how she met Jack and how the ship eventually sunk. Titanic is already a story of which everyone knows the outcome, and so James Cameron makes the smart decision to show us the sinking of the ship, via computer simulation, at the start of the film. This is intelligent as it takes any suspense out of the story, and by explaining the sinking of the ship in a dry forensic manner, the sinking of the Titanic as it is shown later in the movie becomes an almost purely emotional event, and we are also able to understand what is happening during the sinking of the ship.

The film is perfectly cast, and was once described as the ultimate date movie of the 90's. As a child of that decade i must concur, Kate Winslet is fantastic as the strong yet fragile, ballsy yet delicate Rose, a woman trapped into a future from which she can't escape, a woman engaged to a man she doesn't even know and treated like a porcelain doll by everyone around her. Leonardo DiCaprio is also fantastic, and we fall in love with him just as deeply as Rose does. Together the couple make one of the best and most iconic film pairings of all time. The chemistry between the two is palpable and visceral, and the couple have an erotic sexual chemistry apparent in 1940's romances.

The film was also a significant technological breakthrough, the film uses a large amount of underwater footage shot at the actual site of the wreck of the titanic, this was a first and is of significant interest.The Titanic is a real character in this film, and shooting at the sight of the actual wreck was a breakthrough in engineering and cinematography. The film was also a breakthrough in the fields of CGI and motion capture, many of the extras were filmed using motion capture techniques, and their actions replicated for ease and continuity purposes. The vision of the ship was also an entirely digital creation, again a first for cinema, as previously CGI had often been crude and cartoonish.

Despite all the nay say from my father, i absolutely love this movie. I love the fact that it is overtly romantic, slightly meladromatic and overtly erotic, the sexual tension between the leads is palpable and the chemistry is visceral and real. James Cameron has created a tangible world out of the myth of the Titanic, giving us a reason to care about the sinking of the ship, by tying the fate of the ship to the destiny of our leads, we have a real emotional connection to this ship, and a real reason to want the ship to survive. Titanic is a powerful heart wrenching romance, and i love every single minute of it. Rating: A+

Jack: I'm the king of the world!