On most male-focused crime shows like True Detective, the most important women are the dead ones, says Willa Paskin. But HBO's Sharp Objects, based on Gillian Flynn's first novel, is a reminder that women can do anything. "This is an overdue development, spurred, perhaps, by recent events finally revealing to male executives just how dark the female experience has always been," says Paskin. "It seems to me to be a necessary next step, advancing the parameters of 'prestige' to include female creators—not just female characters—who are permitted to be as dark and serious as men, with the full and robust backing of a major network and its marketing department. But Sharp Objects also seems to me to be utterly burdened by the clichés of prestige TV—if very likely to reap all of that format’s awards."
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TOPICS: Sharp Objects, HBO, Amy Adams, Gillian Flynn, Jean-Marc Vallée, Marti Noxon, Women and TV