The Diplomat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You women commenting are the worst. What a bunch of misogynists you all are judging a woman on her looks not her talent!

Horrible horrible commenters you are.

We are commenting on a tv show that cast a gorgeous woman who is literally known for her hair as an ugly duckling “in need of a haircut” as the plot line with styling with greasy unbrushed hair, no makeup, and multiple scenes where they fixate on her armpits and smell.

We are not commenting on a real person.

Geez.

Call it what you want but you are all misogynists and sexist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My coworker and I were talking about it this morning. We're so proud of Felicity all grown up! Look how far she's come.

It seems weird that they named her husband Hal. That's such an old man name (nickname for Harold). Keri Russell is like 47 or 48 - it'd make more sense if her husband's name was Stephen or Matt or Scott or David.

I'm only three episodes in, but will keep watching.

Rufus Sewell is 55 and is a stud. Is it weird that I am 3 episodes in and couldn’t tell you what Keri’s character’s name is?

It's Kate. Katherine. Rufus is hot, but his name being Hal is ... not hot. Honestly RUFUS would have been a better name for his character than Hal.

He is a terrible actor. Punchable in every role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Au contraire! These are all the things I like about her character. She’s supposed to be serious and dedicated and sincere. And come on, wouldn’t you be a little put out if you thought you were going to do one job and then got told to do a totally different one?

You can be serious and still wash your hair and not fall apart when you need to put on a show in order to do your job.

As someone who works in Washington, I just don’t find this character believable. Even the most serious women wear lipstick.

Separately, I can’t help but feel like The Night Agent had better casting than this for the supporting characters. Rufus and Keri are terrific, but everyone else seems less interesting than their counterparts in shows like The Night Agent, The Recruit, etc. Weird.

Plenty of "serious" (and successful) women don't wear makeup, stylish hair or clothes, etc.

Show me a frumpy ambassador without makeup. I’ll wait.

Plus, fat chance anyone is swooning over Kate with her clean face and greasy unbrushed hair and sweaty pits that have become a bizarre plot line.

Oh it's the "I'll wait" poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s consider the irony of how much this discussion talks about the actress’s wardrobe/styling vs. her actual acting…I think that is the point her character is trying to make by getting so annoyed at the vogue photo shoot.

Loved the princess of Genovia wave at the end, she knew what to do and didn’t need a fairy godmother to do it.

There’s a fine line between obnoxious arrogance and confidence. I think her portrayal of this character is coming off as arrogant with a bizarre dash of social anxiety. I also think her acting is “off” in that she’s speaking quickly and constantly looks annoyed. While Rufus comes across as confident and authentic, she’s coming off as annoying.

And I say that as someone who loves her in virtually everything else she’s ever done.

Shall we blame the director?

That's just typical State

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You women commenting are the worst. What a bunch of misogynists you all are judging a woman on her looks not her talent!

Horrible horrible commenters you are.

Yep...and funnily enough, that's the point of this ambassador character! It's like she was proven right.

+1

[Anonymous]

I haven't watched it yet but I have a raging crush on Keri Russell, makeup or not. Gorgeous woman. I hope to age like her.

[Anonymous]

Watched first ep last night. Agree the mistake with her hair was glaring because they were emphasizing that the character needed “a haircut” and was not interested in her appearance, and then she suddenly had a glossy blowout and then didn’t. I assume they had to go back and reshoot parts of that scene in a hurry, but couldn’t they have sprayed on some dry shampoo and messed it up a bit? It’s a literal plot point, not just me being fixated on her hair.

I otherwise like it though. I don’t care that it’s unrealistic (political/spy thrillers are never realistic, it’s escapist — I don’t WANT a realistic show about diplomacy, that sounds boring AF) and I like how fast paced it is. I think the dynamic with Kate and Hal is really interesting and unexpected, and now I’m curious where it will go. Also love the dynamic between them and house staff and her team at the office — just the way people’s expectations don’t line up in funny and interesting ways.

Also like how the show is playing with the divide between career diplomats and the appointees who get plum postings as political favors. I have several friends in FS and find this aspect of their job really interesting and annoying — it feels ripe for dramatization and is something these political thrillers never address.

[Anonymous]

I like this show a lot.

[Anonymous]

Any chance the relationship between Kate and Hal is an homage to the Clintons?

I find it very interesting that they made Hal impotent except with his wife. Doubt that just came to a writer out of nowhere.

The old president quietly preparing to ditch his female VP is also an interesting plot, eh?

[Anonymous]

The cia operative dating the chief of staff has even worse hair, it’s super stringy and distractingly awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watched the first two episodes last night and am really enjoying it so far. They're clearly trying to send a message by having Keri Russell looking so unkempt. It's a little ridiculous but whatever. We get it. She's not a typical diplomat, she's a passionate international policy wonk who has rose up the ranks and was supposed to go to a non-sexy posting to make real change. Her acting is phenomenal so I can forgive the clumsy projection her hair and non-makeup is sending. If I were here I would've punched Hal in the face by now, so I applaud her for her restraint.

It’s so absurd. Living in dc we all know multiple unkempt passionate policy wonks and none of them have the slightest problem with dressing up and doing hair/makeup to go on tv representing their employer or country. So unrealistic that anyone would give a damn about this, it really takes me out

Oh, I totally disagree. I know plenty of state department and policy types, and there are many who would feel awkward about suddenly having to go to a very high level event. Getting a blowout to go on some small cable news show is pretty simple. Dressing up and going to a high level reception is a different level. I find the premise of a serious, wonky foreign service officer struggling with a sudden promotion to a high profile post to be very DC-authentic. Foreign service folk that I know tend to be quite nerdy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Au contraire! These are all the things I like about her character. She’s supposed to be serious and dedicated and sincere. And come on, wouldn’t you be a little put out if you thought you were going to do one job and then got told to do a totally different one?

You can be serious and still wash your hair and not fall apart when you need to put on a show in order to do your job.

As someone who works in Washington, I just don’t find this character believable. Even the most serious women wear lipstick.

Separately, I can’t help but feel like The Night Agent had better casting than this for the supporting characters. Rufus and Keri are terrific, but everyone else seems less interesting than their counterparts in shows like The Night Agent, The Recruit, etc. Weird.

Plenty of "serious" (and successful) women don't wear makeup, stylish hair or clothes, etc.

Show me a frumpy ambassador without makeup. I’ll wait.

Plus, fat chance anyone is swooning over Kate with her clean face and greasy unbrushed hair and sweaty pits that have become a bizarre plot line.

That’s the whole point - she was not an ambassador. She was a foreign service wonk, promoted suddenly to ambassador.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cia operative dating the chief of staff has even worse hair, it’s super stringy and distractingly awful.

Disagree. I think it's a really cute, unusual cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Au contraire! These are all the things I like about her character. She’s supposed to be serious and dedicated and sincere. And come on, wouldn’t you be a little put out if you thought you were going to do one job and then got told to do a totally different one?

You can be serious and still wash your hair and not fall apart when you need to put on a show in order to do your job.

As someone who works in Washington, I just don’t find this character believable. Even the most serious women wear lipstick.

Separately, I can’t help but feel like The Night Agent had better casting than this for the supporting characters. Rufus and Keri are terrific, but everyone else seems less interesting than their counterparts in shows like The Night Agent, The Recruit, etc. Weird.

Plenty of "serious" (and successful) women don't wear makeup, stylish hair or clothes, etc.

Show me a frumpy ambassador without makeup. I’ll wait.

Plus, fat chance anyone is swooning over Kate with her clean face and greasy unbrushed hair and sweaty pits that have become a bizarre plot line.

That’s the whole point - she was not an ambassador. She was a foreign service wonk, promoted suddenly to ambassador.

DP. As I read this thread, it occurs to me that in her role as wife to a charismatic ambassador, she probably would have had to do the glam thing once in a while, right? Hal is known for his star power, not just his diplomatic genius, so there had to be occasions where she accompanied him to dressy events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cia operative dating the chief of staff has even worse hair, it’s super stringy and distractingly awful.

Disagree. I think it's a really cute, unusual cut.

No, it’s bad. Maybe it’s meant to be a version of the “wolf cut” or something but it’s bad.