An Incomplete List of Inappropriate TV References to Sylvia Plath
In a recent episode of The Bold Type, they make an inappropriate joke about Plath’s suicide when someone was sad. It got me thinking about the ways in which Plath has become a cultural stand in for suicide and women’s emotions (which are always perceived as extra). Here is a list of totally inappropriate references to Plath. Can we not just focus on her brilliant work?
- The Bold Type, Season 2, Episode 3.”Writing alone is real lonely.” “Why do you think Sylvia Plath put her head in an oven?”
- Roseanne, Season 2, Episode 10. “How you doing there Sylvia Plath? “Who’s Sylvia Plath?” “Oh, she was a brilliant poet. Full of passion, angst, whatever”
LORELAI: You can evaluate a significant experience that’s had an impact on you…or you can write about a person who has had a significant influence on you.
RORY: You?
LORELAI: Or one of your authors, Faulkner or…
RORY: Or Sylvia Plath.
LORELAI: Hm, might send the wrong message.
RORY: The sticking her head in the oven thing?
LORELAI: Yeah. Although she did make her kids a snack first, shows a certain maternal instinct. (Episode 3.3)