The Wife, The Daughter and I love "Outlander." But sometimes, the writers have a fail that is just too funny to resist comment.
Last week, Claire and Bree, mother and daughter, were reminiscing in North Carolina circa 1771 about America and Great Britain circa early 1971. Bree somehow said she missed listening to "Led Zeppelin." Right away, I'm thinking, Bree, you have not shown us you liked Led Zeppelin at all. Young Bree traveled through the stones of Inverness to the 18th Century before Zep released the woman-friendly "Stairway to Heaven" in November 1971. The hardest music Bree would have listened to would have been Creedence Clearwater Revival. From everything about her, she was at best a CSN&Y fan (I don't know why "Deja Vu" was not in Bree's head the whole time she is traveling back in time...."We have all been here before/We have all been here before."). If Bree was a CSN&Y and CCR fan, that would have made sense and any guy worth his salt at the time would say, great for Bree on both counts! But why did the writers push us to think she liked Led Zeppelin? They may as well have had her say how much she likes Jethro Tull!
Then, Claire, who was born in 1918 (!), and left the mid-20th Century for the second time around 1968, really goes full anachronistic. Claire tells her daughter she, Claire, would "probably" like Led Zeppelin, too. Really, Claire? My grandparents were born in 1916, and they thought the Nelson Riddle arrangements for Sinatra were "edgy." Sorry, Claire. You showed no interest in music before, except as radio background as you did other things, and there is no reason to believe you would have understood Elvis or The Beatles--and if you got used to early Beatles, certainly not later Beatles.
It is amusing to see anachronistic, forced dialogue in time-travel stories or alternative histories, though it is less amusing to see it in shows like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." To me, I just never understood, until I started writing an "Outlander" fan fiction in my head, why Claire never took Jamie back to modern Boston, Massachusetts after Frank died in the car crash. People don't stink--they take nightly, not weekly baths in the mid-20th Century. There are indoor flush toilets, anesthesia, and general conveniences, which the mother and daughter did say when reminiscing, which was great for them to finally acknowledge. Jamie, for his part, could see how silly it was for the Scots to have shed so much blood at Culloden in 1746 when Scotland was doing fairly well in the post-William Beveridge welfare state, circa 1971. But then, I figured out why...
OUTLANDER FAN FICTION SUMMARY: Dissolve to 1971 Boston as Jamie is walking down the street near Massachusetts General Hospital. An advertising guy stops Jamie in the street, and says, "How'd you like to model our new shirt line?" Jamie is unsure what the fellow is talking about, but he needs money as he has no land, makes a little as a handyman, and is generally depressed as he sees Claire, the doctor, earning the money in a society that defines self-worth more by money, as opposed to land or feudalist power relations. Jamie gets paid, the ad goes up on billboards, and Jamie is a hit. As Jamie starts finding women asking for his autograph in the street, Claire begins to be wary. Jamie then starts making big money from modeling, including television ads, all in a matter of months. Then, a Hollywood producer calls--and Jamie travels to Los Angeles, and passes his film test. Jamie tells Claire he has to stay for a time in Los Angeles, and quickly ends up being invited to parties in the Hollywood Hills and the beaches in Malibu. "Girls"--as they were called then--are everywhere, and they all want their Jamie! Life magazine does a short squib on the rise of this dashing fellow, who seems so old fashioned and so modern at the same time. Women across North America and Great Britain begin to positively swoon over Jamie. Claire is now very, very nervous (and so is Robert Redford...:)). Claire says to herself, I'm taking this guy outta here and back to Scotland 1772. I don't care if everyone stinks from once a week baths. I don't care if there is no flushing indoor toilets or anesthesia. "Bitches, he's MINE!" Yeah, Claire must have done her own fan fiction in her head to keep Jamie in 1771, and endure all the hardships of life, and high risks of death.
Oh, and Claire does not give two shakes of a lamb's tail about Bree, her one and only child. Claire never did, and never will. From the start of "Outlander," I have said Claire is like Meryl Streep's character, Susan Traherne, in the now obscure, but still powerful film, "Plenty." For Claire, and the character in "Plenty," life is about the personal thrill, and personal connections are hard to sustain, particularly with children. Claire never got over her thrill of being in WWII, and that is what really drives her to endure the personal uncertainty of the 18th Century. The Daughter and The Wife laugh along with me every time this season Claire says she misses or loves her daughter. She doesn't. But still, we love the show, and I love the way the show has developed overall, and most of the time, the dialogue is sharp, intelligent and emotionally touching--though also recently, we have really wondered about Roger's judgment and judgmental ways. Roger, pal, we expected more from you. You are a historian. You think you just walk out on Bree, and leave her alone at night to walk through a dangerous area? You really have to think about whether Bree is worth it if she doesn't want to remain a virgin until marriage?
