(from “Small Opening”) “Darling, tell them I’m not mad.”
“What’s happened?”
Eddie’s neglect of her daughter has left Saffy bitter and disillusioned, and Eddie’s failure to remember how old her own daughter is is one of the many examples of her lack of attention, however it is clear that this is not because she does not care, rather that she is simply too wrapped up in her own life to notice.
Patsy’s masculinity is accepted by the show itself, with the self-parody of Patsy’s play, in which Patsy is played by a man. She is perfectly at home in this role, such as when Eddie’s mother asks for a ‘strong pair of arms’ and she willingly obliges. Her addressing of Eddie’s mother as ‘Mrs N’ brings to mind a teenage boy meeting his friend’s parents, and also contributes to her air of masculinity. Patsy often argues with Sasffy, who feels her mother and her childhood have been stolen:
“You had everything I never had!”
“No. You took it!”
and there is a large amount of jealousy between the two.
Language is also important here, such as Eddie’s continual repetition of ‘darling’ and ‘sweetie’. This is an attempt on her part to appear up-to-date, with “Hollywood speak”, but is also a way for her to patronise Saffy and is symbolic of their relationship.
“Gimme Gimme Gimme” is centered around a heterosexual woman and a homosexual man, with the contrast between them being the key element of the show, The humour here is much more direct than that of “Absolutely Fabulous”, with great emphasis on sexual innuendos and crude elements. “Gimme Gimme Gimme” transgresses boundaries, with the two protagonists (Linda and Tom) subverting traditional gender roles. They resemble a married couple, but in reverse – Linda is masculine, while Tom is effeminate.
Tom is middle-class and cultured, and sees Linda as beneath him – in the ‘Millennium Special’, he describes her as ‘frighteningly working class.’ He is also houseproud, as shown by his Christmas punch and his dismay when Linda broke the decorations (‘Whatever happened to Timothy tree?’) He gives the impression of intelligence and often loses patience with Linda, also finding her crude humour too much on occasion: ‘You know, sometimes you make me physically sick.’
In contrast, Linda is very masculine and uncultured, loud and direct, yet also childlike and naïve. She is plainly of low intelligence and enjoys insulting Tom – ‘I ain’t homophobic, I just can’t stand ‘em.’ She frequently calls him ‘homo’, but in reality this is probably a term of endearment. Although she pretends to despise him, Linda and Tom are dependant on each other, as shown by the scene where Linda is about to go out and Tom clings to her. Linda’s naiveté regarding her father is a point of humour as in her eyes he can still do no wrong. Her words ‘Daddy wouldn’t lie to me!’ bring to mind a small child. Tom frequently uses abbreviations such as ‘ridic’ and ‘phenom’, which adds to his camp image, and strengthens the audience’s perception of him as a stereotypical gay man. Linda’s character, as well as contrasting with Tom, also has elements of contrast within herself: her surname (LaHughes), suggests a far more upmarket woman than she is, and the way in which she dresses is at odds with her naiveté.
“Gimme Gimme Gimme” has strong elements of sexual frustration in both characters , although Tom desires a long-term relationship and domesticity, and Linda simply wants a man.
Both the house in “Absolutely Fabulous” and the flat from “Gimme Gimme Gimme” are not domesticated, but for different reasons – Patsy and Eddie are always out at work or parties, but Tom and Linda are always at home simply because they have nowhere else to go: “Phone a bloody friend? What if you haven’t got any friends?” intertextuality is present in both comedies – from the obvious in “Gimme Gimme Gimme” (Linda and Tom’s discussion of “Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire” and her referral to the Royle Family as ‘northern ponces’), to the more subtle use of Western music in “Absolutely Fabulous.” Both programmes involve dysfunctional parent-child relationships, although there is a difference in that Linda’s relationship with her father is off-screen, and Saffy and Edina’s is very much on-screen. Both also have ‘children’ in – Eddie is a wild teenager and Linda is a spoilt younger child. Masculine women are present in both, in the form of Patsy and Linda, although both are masculine in different ways and take on different roles.
The use of flashbacks in two episodes (“Small Opening” and “Millennium Special”) sum up the attitudes of the two programmes – “Gimme Gimme Gimme”’s shows how the protagonists want life to be, and the show is based upon them wanting better lives. The flashback in “Absolutely Fabulous” shows how life sued to be, and the characters here are living in the past. A key difference is that Eddie and Patsy truly believe they are in control of their lives and are happy, whereas Linda and Tom are perfectly aware of the fact that they are going nowhere.
While “Absolutely Fabulous” is a satire, there is also a fantasy element about Patsy and Eddie’s uninhibited, hedonistic lifestyles. Both shows’ characters are representative types of society, and there is an absence of men in both – the main theme of both shows. However, in “Absoultely Fabulous” this is shown to be a positive thing and Patsy and Ednia show no need for them, however “Gimme Gimme Gimme” is about its protagonists’ loneliness, and is centered around their quest for men (hence the title.)
“Gimme Gimme Gimme”’s comic representation of gender is based upon stereotypes, role reversal and class contrast, whereas “Absoultely Fabulous” plays on the common idea of how a mother should be, the traditional values they have and women’s independence. Both shows use subversion of roles to great effect in their comic representation of gender.
