All right, we're two days away from the start of Season 6, the last one for the L Word. Boo hoo. When I last left off about my L Word obsession, I'd semi-stalked Mia Kirshner, who plays Jenny Schechter on the show, and this was well before all this tawdry "Who killed Jenny Schechter?" teaser bullshit. (Why couldn't the show just go out with class?) I'd just made plans to meet up in Boston to interview her about her social activist book, I Live Here. I'm at a dangerous crux. I am a fan of hers. I am also a fan of the work she's had to do to get I Live Here into existence, even though I don't care for the book itself. She's clearly done a lot of research on topics most people would consider politically passé (Oh, those missing women in Juarez? Heard about it years ago. Bo-ring." Fuck you!) but I would've preferred to see a book that's a little meatier. As it is, it's separated into four small graphic books full of very sad first-person accounts and naive diary entries, metaphorically smeared with tears, that try to relate to the pain. It's just too artsy-craftsy for my taste, and to be truthful not much in the writing in there qualifies as good. So what do I do with this interview?Do I continue my Mia fan hunt/conquest/stalk to try to get her to like me? Or do I go all serious because she's earned it?Or…or! Since she was kind of doing in real life what her character does on the show, what if I also play on a character who's passed through Jenny's life? But hmm, do I take the route of Stacey Merkin, a journalist who fakes kindness and interest in Jenny's book, Sum of Her Parts, only to trash it? Or do I go the way of Adele, Jenny's meek assistant who begins as a fan, Single White Females her, and ends up taking over her life? Let's weigh the consequences. If I pick A. Stacy Merkin, she could retaliate by putting a poor dog to sleep (check Season 4, episodes 2-6, for details). If I pick B. Adele, I might end up with a job as a fancy film director (see the second half of Season 5 for reference). Definitely I'm picking B.For our interview I dressed as closely as I could to how Mia dressed when I saw her in New York. Short black dress, black tights, black shoes, black sweater, blue fringey silk shawl casually thrown over my shoulders, hair in a ponytail. What about the Star of David necklace though? I'm not Jewish, I don't have that kind of stuff lying around. Oh! But I do have a trashy ankle bracelet made with tiny little stars…if I just pull out my jewelry-making pliers and an old necklace I can work some magic. And ta-daa! Fake star necklace.We decided to say I'd have a photographer with me, aka my L Word-obsessed friend who took me to the book reading in New York. We were jumping up and down, super psyched, planning how we could clear out her friend's big Boston apartment and use it as a photo studio for Mia, really stage a shoot where we'd get to spend lots of time watching her look pretty. Just for us! But then the night before we left, Mia's publicist sent me that photo way up above and told me she didn't want to do a shoot with me. Shit. Well, too bad. My friend was coming along anyway. If asked why she was there, we'd just say we already bought the ticket for a photographer and didn't want to waste it.The ticket was the cheapest available, $18 each way via Bolt Bus, which, unlike those awful Chinatown busses, offers non-broken, actually comfortable and roomy seats plus internet while you ride. My laptop's from 1942 so it didn't do so well with the internet on the bus, but my friend's was bursting with power. Before I left I'd made a list of all the people Mia thanked in I Live Here (Stephen Hopkins, Mike Bender, Leisha Hailey, Rose Rollins, Jodie Evans, Kathryn Stockwood, Chris Abani, Robin Ulster, Jennifer Beals, Rachel Shelley, Ryan Kroft, Natasha Wagner, Daisaku Ikeda), all of whom we Googled to see if any one of them seemed like she may have possibly been a current or ex-girlfriend. No.With that task completed, we moved on to the L Word site and found a live virtual reality chat room where you get to pick an avatar that actually moves around the Planet, the café where they all hang out on the show, and talk to other people in the room. Sweet!My friend picked a busty, vaguely Asian character in a tight-fitting nude-colored outfit and called herself Vaginawig. Everyone lined up at the counter to order drinks and she started to chat.It was all fun and games until Mia's publicist called me and asked if, instead of meeting at the bookstore where she was reading that night for the interview, I could meet her in her hotel room. My stomach hit the floor. I felt like God was calling my bluff. After I ended the phone call my friend narrowed her eyes at me and said, "What?" Clearly I was giddy. But shit, this golden opportunity meant I couldn't bring her along with me. I swallowed hard and said, "Mia wants me to come do the interview IN HER ROOM!" My friend was intensely jealous but understood. I was the journalist here. I was the reason we were even doing this. Wait. What were we doing? We were on a six-hour bus ride to go talk to someone for 20 minutes about a book we don't even like. That sounds like something only a loser would do. Oh my god, I am a loser.This revelation sent my self-esteem into a spiral of shame, and my friend was left to pick up the pieces. After a serious pep talk, I found my courage again and decided after the interview I was going to ask Mia if I could just leave my bags in her room. That way, I'd have to go back and who knew what could happen? Because oh yeah, we were going straight to see her with our overnight luggage like a couple of hobos.As it turned out, traffic made our bus quite late. We ran from the bus station to the train, ran down the steps and got on just as the doors were closing. It was a quick enough ride to Cambridge, but where the fuck was the hotel? We ran down the streets, our bags flying, and found some towne square-looking building with the right address. Inside was all curlicue carpets and frescoed walls, trays sparkling with crystal stemware, squishy sofas and regal chairs. No one in there was happy to see us. My friend plopped down and started chugging a tumbler of vodka-cran she'd ordered while I searched for the publicist.She was pissed but she called Mia anyway. Mia didn't answer. I'd missed my window of opportunity for the interview. Godmotherfuckingdammit. Mia bounded out of the elevator just then, all gorgeous in a black velvet dress, apologetic for not answering, and extremely gracious about doing an interview later. After another book reading.Unlike the one in New York, this one was packed full of the lezzers. Which meant, when the whole thing was finally finished, they all wanted to fucking talk to her. And she let them, the peach.In the meantime, I went down the block to Duncan Donuts and used the bathroom to wash my armpits because after that long bus ride imagining meeting Mia in her hotel room—in my mind she'd be wearing a white silk robe—my B.O. was out of control. We went back to the bookstore, looked for the occult section, realized it didn't exist, and resigned to sitting in the children's section, which was the nearest part of the store to her that didn't involve commingling with her other fans. I went over to the adjacent sex/culture/queer section (strange organization system there, folks) and grabbed the lesbian sex book with lots of real pictures, and plopped right back down in the midst of all the kids' literature. Fuck it, I was bored.By the time it was over, we were all really tired. We went back to that weird hotel, Mia ordered herself a glass of Pinot Grigio, my friend and I each a glass of Pinot Noir, and we began. Sort of. She was totally on guard—and who could blame her? We must've totally smelled like we were up to something, because we kind of were, even though it wasn't to snipe her or do anything really that bad. But it made me really nervous.She basically told me right away that I'd better not fuck around. "Listen, if I were promoting a film," she said, "go to town. But with something like this, you can have an opinion on the content, but please, just let it do what it's gonna do because it has a good heart." I'm sorry Mia! I totally fucked around, but I hope you don't hate me…Mia: So you're from Vice. Is this going to be sarcastic?
Vice:Well, um, went to your reading as an L Word fan. And then you talked about your book and I was like, "OK, I need to snap out of fan space and get on it."
Mia: Yeah, OK. I hope you enjoy it.What struck me the most is that it seems like you've done a lot of reporting. Do you know what I mean?
Um, well, sort of. But reporters don't ask people to write about their lives themselves.You sort of answered this question in your many questions tonight, but you've done a lot of footwork as a reporter, whether or not that was your intent.
I wanted to be well-prepared.I mean with the people you talked to and how you got involved in their lives. And meanwhile, the war reporters you met were just like, "Eh whatever, there's nothing going on here," as if suffering was a trend.
I think it was more like it wasn't going to sell newspapers. These are quiet stories.Did you feel like you had to present these stories in a softer way?
I don't think this is presenting them in a soft way. In fact, there were images that Amnesty International wanted us to take out, like the image of the man masturbating in the Burma chapter next to a pre-pubescent girl, which is what happens. And the stick being put inside… No, it's not soft, it's the truth.Right. I didn't mean to put you on the defense. Just the way it's all presented, with comics and art, the way this is presented as stream-of-consciousness is in a much softer style than you usually see these stories.
I wanted to make a book that my friends would read, friends I love to pieces who aren't necessarily interested in these things. What do we all read? Comics.I'm talking about the way it feels.
Oh. Yeah, I guess I wanted people to be able to relate.It's gotta be kind of a bummer, to be going on tour, talking about this stuff over and over again.
No! Without sounding like a suck, I feel like I'm really lucky. The publishing business isn't doing so well. If one person in an audience digs what I'm saying and they read it and it speaks to something in their experience, then… I mean, I have the cynical thing too, I get it. After seven years of working in a box.I don't feel cynical about your project. But I do wonder if people have a hard time reconciling the character that you play, and how you play her as a writer, with actually being a writer now and putting out a book.
That's funny!It is!
But I don't care. At this point it's like, just read the fucking book. Really, I'm so pragmatic about it. I love the girls who I work with on the show and I made everybody these necklaces [showing gold chain wrapped around her wrist with a small gold disc pendant]. It's all of our initials.Oh my gosh!
Yeah, to commemorate the end.It's like what they did on Lord of the Rings, how they all got tattoos, mixed with one of those machines where you pull a lever and can punch out initials on a token.
Kind of, yeah! But everyone has one. I'm proud of the show. It spoke to many, many women. And on a deeper level, it paid for the book. So I don't care what people say. When I read about all those mean things—oh my God, she's such a hated character.Oh yeah, totally, she's so hated.
Whatever, what're you gonna do?What have your audiences been like?
Like the one tonight. Young women, not L Word-heavy. This was a bigger one, actually. It's been a nice surprise, people who're interested in what we're talking about. I'm not ultra famous so I don't really have that. But women, mostly.I think you have fans. Those were fans tonight.
This was more than normal, I don't know why. Normally it's a lot of refugees, people who're interested in the issues.The audience in New York was a lot different.
That's great. That means the book is doing something right. And the audiences keep on getting bigger, which is great…. Nobody makes any money off this book, except Amnesty [International] gets my royalties. My attitude is it's been seven years of savings, and my time, and I am so hell-bent on getting that book in schools because if they're not teaching the countries and the issues, if the kids look at this and think they can use this as a springboard for collecting stories in my own community and using them as a means of telling their own stories then we've done a really good job.It seems like you've done a good job of listening to people, and that's why I'm harping on this reporting thing. That is reporting—is hearing someone talk, and synthesizing it in a way that does them justice while connecting their story to other people. I feel like you should be a reporter!
Journalism is a funny thing, because they're writing about their interpretation of the story. And their editor's selecting what goes in depending on what the readership is, and I prefer to collect the stories. They're writing about it themselves.I dunno, I feel like you're just right there. It's good as it is but I think it could be better.
I don't think a newspaper would let me collect information and present it like this.Yeah. You're right. Sigh…
A lot of people gave up a lot. My partners Mike [Simons] and Paul [Shoebridge] just gave up long distance in their office for this, because they can't afford it. The spirit of community on this project is really extraordinary so I'm careful with interviews. You know? Like, don't fuck around.[Gulp. Pause.] Do you always have someone from Amnesty holding your hand?
No, Amnesty hasn't done a lot for the book up until now. They've started supporting the book because I asked them to. They were the reason why in high school I became an activist.You were an activist in high school?
Well, whatever—you know how you are in high school…Yeah, all "I care about stuff!"
Exactly. But I said to them, "You guys are getting my royalties, you have to do more."You're kind of a hard-ass.
I believe in what I believe in. I'm passionate. If Amnesty is collecting my royalties, I would like them to work on the book. I think it's the least they could do. I asked them to create an action on behalf of the book. In regards to the child soldiers in Burma, I asked them to have a big letter writing campaigns to do something stop the use of child soldiers there. Who knows what that's going to do? I hope they do it. It's funny when Amnesty introduces the book because they've had so little to do with it.What's up with the creative writing program that's come from the boys in the Kachere Prison?
Yeah, the boys have nothing to do there. There's no toys, no books. We just got our check. It'll run throughout the year and they'll make a zine…. How long have you been watching the L Word?I've seen it all, every single episode. Um, we both have.
You have? Oh my god. Who's your favorite character? Shane?Um, no actually yours was until Season 5.
Until Season 5? And then she lost you?No, she didn't lose me, but it was just a little much. You do a good job playing a villain.
I don't think she's a villain. I just think she's crazy.I don't think she's that crazy, I think she just gets hurt so easily. And then the lashing out is like "All right, wow."
Yeah, this season will really elicit a reaction from people.Hm. I hope it doesn't go overboard. Like, when Jenny was stranded at sea I was like, "Come on now."
Yeah, well, know that no one is happy about this season. No one. What do you write about for Vice?Lately I've been writing about nerdy stuff.
I would want to write about gadgets and technology.What's your favorite new gadget?
Oh! You'll understand what a big geek I am…there's a new device that you can put into the soil in your garden and you leave it there for a while and then it translates what's in the soil and then you put the USB thing into your computer and it will download what types of plants are appropriate.I love that!
Isn't that so cool?Do you have a garden?
I do.What's in it?
Right now it's a lot of lavender and rosemary.Lesbian! You have an aromatherapy garden!
Really? Is that a lesbian garden? But I want to have a wild English garden. I don't like manicured gardens. But those stereotypes crack me up…. I got into a fight with a guy at a Prop 8 rally.Huh?
This guy had WHAT'S NEXT on a sign, and instead of the X he had a swastika. I was like, "You know we're all here wanting the same thing, but how are you better than all the people who voted yes by promoting this kind of hate?" If that's the image a photographer will get and put it in the newspaper, he'll seem as extreme as they do. And you're not, what you're asking for is fair.Right, it's like all the wacky people who go to a protest dressed all clowny. You in the thong, you're going to be the one in the news and we're all gonna look nuts.
Exactly. [To my friend:] I like your haircut. I can't do that. I have curly hair.
My friend: You have curly hair? How's it so straight?
Mia: Japanese perm. It's a great chemical straightening system that will kill an environment.You know, I'm curious. I'm not busting you on anything—I wear my fancy shoes and I love products too. But what is it like for you to be wearing Chanel right now after having seen what you saw?
My shoes were a gift. I couldn't afford these. It's fine. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice and wear nice clothes. I'm so lucky to get to wear this dress. I worked really, really, really hard for my money. There's no shame in wanting to look pretty. I think most women around the world would say that they want to look nice in the morning. But it is a funny thing to reconcile.I know I should've pressed her about the bi stuff—is she or isn't she?—but she'd mentioned visiting France with her "lover" and I felt like she was being a little purposely mysterious, trying to make me super curious. Which I was. But I don't like to be baited like that, so I left it alone. Toward the end I casually asked her what she was doing tonight, mentioned it was early, you know… yawn, put my arm around her. Just kidding. But I did blatantly try to get her to come hang out with us. She sweetly but firmly said no. And then I tried to get her to come with me to the Prop 8 rally the next day. She had to fly to another city for an afternoon date and then come right back. So I went alone. Damn.LIZ ARMSTRONG(Image of Mia Kirshner by Mike Bender)
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Vice:Well, um, went to your reading as an L Word fan. And then you talked about your book and I was like, "OK, I need to snap out of fan space and get on it."
Mia: Yeah, OK. I hope you enjoy it.What struck me the most is that it seems like you've done a lot of reporting. Do you know what I mean?
Um, well, sort of. But reporters don't ask people to write about their lives themselves.You sort of answered this question in your many questions tonight, but you've done a lot of footwork as a reporter, whether or not that was your intent.
I wanted to be well-prepared.I mean with the people you talked to and how you got involved in their lives. And meanwhile, the war reporters you met were just like, "Eh whatever, there's nothing going on here," as if suffering was a trend.
I think it was more like it wasn't going to sell newspapers. These are quiet stories.Did you feel like you had to present these stories in a softer way?
I don't think this is presenting them in a soft way. In fact, there were images that Amnesty International wanted us to take out, like the image of the man masturbating in the Burma chapter next to a pre-pubescent girl, which is what happens. And the stick being put inside… No, it's not soft, it's the truth.Right. I didn't mean to put you on the defense. Just the way it's all presented, with comics and art, the way this is presented as stream-of-consciousness is in a much softer style than you usually see these stories.
I wanted to make a book that my friends would read, friends I love to pieces who aren't necessarily interested in these things. What do we all read? Comics.
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Oh. Yeah, I guess I wanted people to be able to relate.It's gotta be kind of a bummer, to be going on tour, talking about this stuff over and over again.
No! Without sounding like a suck, I feel like I'm really lucky. The publishing business isn't doing so well. If one person in an audience digs what I'm saying and they read it and it speaks to something in their experience, then… I mean, I have the cynical thing too, I get it. After seven years of working in a box.I don't feel cynical about your project. But I do wonder if people have a hard time reconciling the character that you play, and how you play her as a writer, with actually being a writer now and putting out a book.
That's funny!It is!
But I don't care. At this point it's like, just read the fucking book. Really, I'm so pragmatic about it. I love the girls who I work with on the show and I made everybody these necklaces [showing gold chain wrapped around her wrist with a small gold disc pendant]. It's all of our initials.Oh my gosh!
Yeah, to commemorate the end.It's like what they did on Lord of the Rings, how they all got tattoos, mixed with one of those machines where you pull a lever and can punch out initials on a token.
Kind of, yeah! But everyone has one. I'm proud of the show. It spoke to many, many women. And on a deeper level, it paid for the book. So I don't care what people say. When I read about all those mean things—oh my God, she's such a hated character.
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Whatever, what're you gonna do?What have your audiences been like?
Like the one tonight. Young women, not L Word-heavy. This was a bigger one, actually. It's been a nice surprise, people who're interested in what we're talking about. I'm not ultra famous so I don't really have that. But women, mostly.I think you have fans. Those were fans tonight.
This was more than normal, I don't know why. Normally it's a lot of refugees, people who're interested in the issues.The audience in New York was a lot different.
That's great. That means the book is doing something right. And the audiences keep on getting bigger, which is great…. Nobody makes any money off this book, except Amnesty [International] gets my royalties. My attitude is it's been seven years of savings, and my time, and I am so hell-bent on getting that book in schools because if they're not teaching the countries and the issues, if the kids look at this and think they can use this as a springboard for collecting stories in my own community and using them as a means of telling their own stories then we've done a really good job.It seems like you've done a good job of listening to people, and that's why I'm harping on this reporting thing. That is reporting—is hearing someone talk, and synthesizing it in a way that does them justice while connecting their story to other people. I feel like you should be a reporter!
Journalism is a funny thing, because they're writing about their interpretation of the story. And their editor's selecting what goes in depending on what the readership is, and I prefer to collect the stories. They're writing about it themselves.
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I don't think a newspaper would let me collect information and present it like this.Yeah. You're right. Sigh…
A lot of people gave up a lot. My partners Mike [Simons] and Paul [Shoebridge] just gave up long distance in their office for this, because they can't afford it. The spirit of community on this project is really extraordinary so I'm careful with interviews. You know? Like, don't fuck around.[Gulp. Pause.] Do you always have someone from Amnesty holding your hand?
No, Amnesty hasn't done a lot for the book up until now. They've started supporting the book because I asked them to. They were the reason why in high school I became an activist.You were an activist in high school?
Well, whatever—you know how you are in high school…Yeah, all "I care about stuff!"
Exactly. But I said to them, "You guys are getting my royalties, you have to do more."You're kind of a hard-ass.
I believe in what I believe in. I'm passionate. If Amnesty is collecting my royalties, I would like them to work on the book. I think it's the least they could do. I asked them to create an action on behalf of the book. In regards to the child soldiers in Burma, I asked them to have a big letter writing campaigns to do something stop the use of child soldiers there. Who knows what that's going to do? I hope they do it. It's funny when Amnesty introduces the book because they've had so little to do with it.
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Yeah, the boys have nothing to do there. There's no toys, no books. We just got our check. It'll run throughout the year and they'll make a zine…. How long have you been watching the L Word?I've seen it all, every single episode. Um, we both have.
You have? Oh my god. Who's your favorite character? Shane?Um, no actually yours was until Season 5.
Until Season 5? And then she lost you?No, she didn't lose me, but it was just a little much. You do a good job playing a villain.
I don't think she's a villain. I just think she's crazy.I don't think she's that crazy, I think she just gets hurt so easily. And then the lashing out is like "All right, wow."
Yeah, this season will really elicit a reaction from people.Hm. I hope it doesn't go overboard. Like, when Jenny was stranded at sea I was like, "Come on now."
Yeah, well, know that no one is happy about this season. No one. What do you write about for Vice?Lately I've been writing about nerdy stuff.
I would want to write about gadgets and technology.What's your favorite new gadget?
Oh! You'll understand what a big geek I am…there's a new device that you can put into the soil in your garden and you leave it there for a while and then it translates what's in the soil and then you put the USB thing into your computer and it will download what types of plants are appropriate.
Advertisement
Isn't that so cool?Do you have a garden?
I do.What's in it?
Right now it's a lot of lavender and rosemary.Lesbian! You have an aromatherapy garden!
Really? Is that a lesbian garden? But I want to have a wild English garden. I don't like manicured gardens. But those stereotypes crack me up…. I got into a fight with a guy at a Prop 8 rally.Huh?
This guy had WHAT'S NEXT on a sign, and instead of the X he had a swastika. I was like, "You know we're all here wanting the same thing, but how are you better than all the people who voted yes by promoting this kind of hate?" If that's the image a photographer will get and put it in the newspaper, he'll seem as extreme as they do. And you're not, what you're asking for is fair.Right, it's like all the wacky people who go to a protest dressed all clowny. You in the thong, you're going to be the one in the news and we're all gonna look nuts.
Exactly. [To my friend:] I like your haircut. I can't do that. I have curly hair.
My friend: You have curly hair? How's it so straight?
Mia: Japanese perm. It's a great chemical straightening system that will kill an environment.You know, I'm curious. I'm not busting you on anything—I wear my fancy shoes and I love products too. But what is it like for you to be wearing Chanel right now after having seen what you saw?
My shoes were a gift. I couldn't afford these. It's fine. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice and wear nice clothes. I'm so lucky to get to wear this dress. I worked really, really, really hard for my money. There's no shame in wanting to look pretty. I think most women around the world would say that they want to look nice in the morning. But it is a funny thing to reconcile.I know I should've pressed her about the bi stuff—is she or isn't she?—but she'd mentioned visiting France with her "lover" and I felt like she was being a little purposely mysterious, trying to make me super curious. Which I was. But I don't like to be baited like that, so I left it alone. Toward the end I casually asked her what she was doing tonight, mentioned it was early, you know… yawn, put my arm around her. Just kidding. But I did blatantly try to get her to come hang out with us. She sweetly but firmly said no. And then I tried to get her to come with me to the Prop 8 rally the next day. She had to fly to another city for an afternoon date and then come right back. So I went alone. Damn.LIZ ARMSTRONG(Image of Mia Kirshner by Mike Bender)
