Lifetime Movie Network
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Lifetime Movie Network.gifLifetime Movie Network is a sister network to Lifetime which shows women-oriented movies exclusively, especially made for television movies. Some of its movies are Lifetime Originals first shown on Lifetime.
On 1 February 2006, Dish announced they were readding Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Network to their service.[1]
Lifetime's formula for original films
Most Lifetime Original movies feature a woman as protagonist. Many of these made for television movies were part of a series that labeled them A Moment of Truth Movie. These movies tend to be alarmist, formulaic tales, such as Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life.
Lifetime characterizations tend to be thin and unvarying from movie to movie. A list of character archetypes that appear in Lifetime Original Movies follows:
- Good Girl
- this is the innocent girl and usually the protagonist of the story who falls victim to one of the following situations: kidnapped, murdered, corrupted by drugs and/or alcohol, gets raped, becomes a gambler, becomes a prostitute, is being stalked, gets pregnant, or a variation of these themes.
- Bad Molly
- the "friend" who corrupts the Good Girl and urges her to have sex, drink, stay out late, lie, etc. The Bad Molly is sneaky, manipulative and is usually at odds with the Good Girl's Mom.
- Good Molly
- the friend that tries to help the Good Girl but is ignored in the beginning and middle of the movie. (see Good Boy)
- Bad Boy
- the cool older guy in high school who has sex with the good girl, rapes her, gets her pregnant, stalks her, threatens her or a variation of the above. But in the beginning he seems really nice, she really likes him and he always cons the parents. This type of character is meant to caution female viewers on the less than honorable intentions of many high school boys.
- Good Boy
- the friend or lame dude who tries to help the Good Girl but is ignored until the end of the movie when the heroine realizes he is the one for her. In some extremely clever Lifetime movies the Good Boy is secretly the Mean Man (see below), only to be revealed as such after the heroine's epiphany and right before the end of the story.
- Mean Man
- this character is a completely scary guy in appearance and behavior. He plays the part of the kidnapper, stalker or murderer, usually in a plaid or flanel shirt. Lifetime has some of the best shady villains.
- Weak Mom
- the mother who can't control her kids because she is naive or has her own issues going on.
- Dad
- Yells a lot, tries to control his daughter's antics. But sometimes he can be involved in something shady himself.
- Mistress
- Has an affair with husband and causes drama at home. Aka "Home Wrecker".
- Religious Mom
- Preaches religion but does not realize her daughter breaks most of the 10 commandments on a weekly basis. This role was played perfectly in She's Too Young.
- Younger Sister
- she looks up to the Good Girl but is slowly becoming a Bad Molly because of the drama she is influenced by.
- The Black Friend
- the protagonists of most Lifetime Movies are always Caucasian, with very few black characters. However, it is typical for the white protagnist to have a black best friend who is very wise. Little is given about the black friend's life, aside from her willingness to help the protagonist.