The Golden Girls: Character of Dorothy Really Gets on My Nerves
Too bad I never tuned into The Golden Girls when it first ran on prime time, because that would have been the best time to criticize one of the lead characters, Dorothy, played by man-voiced Bea Arthur. The more I watch reruns of The Golden Girls, the more this character (or the actress?) really grates on my nerves. Who in their right mind would want to live with Dorothy? If a roommate ever spoke to me the way Dorothy speaks to her Golden Girls roommates, I’d smack her upside the head, the way she’s always doing to Rose.
Dorothy is a shrew, plain and simple. She can’t go five minutes without snapping at Rose, played by Betty White. Alright, we all know that Rose can be a real ear sore with her dimwittedness and St. Olaf stories. But Dorothy’s treatment of her is uncalled for. In fact, Dorothy is flippant with Blanche (played by Rue McClanahan) as well. Don’t get me wrong: I think The Golden Girls is hilarious. But someone really needs to take Dorothy to the woodshed.
You can’t make a simple innocent comment to Dorothy without her getting all facetious and sarcastic about it. Have you ever noticed this? It’s human nature to make a comment about something that someone is doing, or to ask a question that has an obvious answer. This is called “starting a conversation” or “being social.” You can’t do this with Dorothy. She’ll snap at you as though you had a lot of nerve asking the question.
Example: Rose sees Dorothy in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Rose says, “Gee, Dorothy, it’s 3 a.m. Are you unable to sleep?”
Dorothy responds in her harsh masculine voice, “NO, ROSE, I’ve been practicing vampirism and I now sleep during the day! OF COURSE I can’t get to sleep!”
In one episode, all the bedrooms had ceiling leaks that let in water. Dorothy was in the living room. Rose entered the living room with a bucket in each hand. Dorothy asked Rose, “So Rose, is your ceiling leaking too?”
Rose snapped, “NO, DOROTHY, I’m milking the cows I have hidden in my closet.” Then Rose says, “Gee, with only three hours of sleep, I can be as bitchy as YOU, Dorothy!” That was one of the greatest scenes.
Another thing about Dorothy that irks me is that she always…always…always wears real baggy tops. Is she trying to hide a few spare tires? Every episode, every scene, she is in an oversized, flowing top. I wonder if this was Bea Arthur’s call, or the director’s. Well, these ultra-baggy tops don’t fool me; Bea Arthur was carrying extra weight in her middle and tried to fool people that she was thin all over.
Another thing: Ever notice that whenever Dorothy is involved in some kind of conversation, while she’s supposed to be eating, she never actually gets the fork or spoon in her mouth? What was THAT all about? There was one scene where she was looking forward to a slice of cake and finally sat down with it. She began raising the fork to her mouth as another character was telling her something. Just as the fork was an inch from her mouth, Bea stopped and stared at the other character. She set the fork down.
Then Bea made a second attempt and lifted the fork again, but stopped it just shy of her mouth as she became consumed by what the other person was saying. I thought, “For Pete’s sake, eat the damn cake!”
Was Bea Arthur scared to death she’d gain weight by eating during scenes with food?
Finally, Dorothy has a hard time getting through explaining something (when she’s in a good mood) without cackling. Ever notice that?
