Pretty Little Pantoum

Many characters kill people
in the show I watch with my daughter.
What is this teaching her?
The men take their shirts off, often.

In this show I watch with my daughter,
the star got fat but wasn’t fired.
Women took their shirts off, often
when I was growing up;

a star who got fat would get fired.
The dork with bad hair and glasses,
just like when I was growing up,
transforms easily to beautiful.

The former dork-with-bad-hair-and-glasses
is held prisoner in an underground bunker.
Despite her easy transformation to beautiful,
she’s an outsider, desperate for friends.

Keeping prisoners in an underground bunker,
an unbalanced twin impersonates her sister.
She’s an outsider, desperate for friends.
Much of the story takes place in the past.

Unbalanced twins impersonate their sisters.
Just like in real life,
much of the story takes place in the past.
The girls rescue each other.

Just like in real life,
Plotlines repeat, grow tiresome.
The girls rescue each other –
is this a feminist statement?

Plotlines repeat, grow tiresome.
Lovers end up dead, or engaged.
Is it a feminist statement
that the heroines are talented and smart?

Lovers end up dead or engaged.
What is this teaching our daughters?
Though the heroines are talented and smart,
most of them kill people.