The shock of the old
Oh Friday, thanks so much for turning up as you always do straight off the back of that blah-fest that is Thursday. It's nice to know there are some things in life that can be relied upon since previous sureties such as Robbie Williams and his former bandmates dying to scratch each others eyes out, and Russell Brand not being the marrying type (look, I accept that all the good ones are taken but I thought I could rely on at least the notoriously dodgy ones being available) are no longer the "chiselled into stone, nay, expensive marble" certainties that they once were. The next thing you'll be telling me is that Yvonne off Shortland Street is being "romanced" by her daughter's former boyfriend.
For those of you who don't draw breath just to daily be entertained by the dramas of a group of imaginary characters who live in Ferndale, let me break it down for you. 
Older lady, doting grandma may potentially get it on with much younger man. For someone whose formative television-watching experience included being transfixed by such proto-cougars as Joan Collins (personal mantra = those legions of animals weren't really using this fur anyway) and Sue Ellen Ewing (I forget what her real name is) you would think that I would not be shocked by this.
It's Shortland Street, after all. They've done every storyline under the sun including "Whoops, I've just suddenly turned into a lesbian", "let's get it on because I've been electrocuted and forgot that I'm repulsed by you", and even "Jetty-hiffed engagement ring turns up inside a fish". And did I bat an eyelid? No. Okay, well there was probably quite a lot of eye-rolling but none of these unlikely plot turns made my skin crawl.
But I am deeply weirded out by the notion that the nice motherly, matronly character might embark on a torrid affair with a much more youthful ambo officer (even if he's not one of the hot ones). Even the act of typing the word "torrid" in the previous sentence made me feel a bit odd. And here I was thinking I was unshockable. What is my issue with this?
After all, older men and younger women is very much par for the course in Shortland Street, as it is in life. Even I've been the noticeably younger woman once but have never seriously considered the possibility of "taking a younger lover" myself, no matter how pale and interesting Robert Pattinson might be (and not just because his hair always looks a wee bit dirty). I don't know, I just tend to think that younger men are a bit idiotic. Obviously that's a wee bit of a generalisation, I mean, even Albert Einstein was a young man at one point, but that's my general impression.
Mind you it could be the reason that the Yvonne/Ben/Tania love triangle weirds me out is that Yvonne is so mumsy. Maybe it just concerns me because I have a hard time thinking about my own mother getting it on with someone of roughly the same age as myself. Actually, judging from the shudders currently snaking down my spine, I think we might just have hit paydirt on that one, though I'd rather not go into why the idea of that enervates me so. This isn't one of those "psychotherapy blogs", at least I hope it's not and heck, it's Friday. No one really wants to hear about my relationship with my mother, do they?
So, what do you think about the great romance of Yvonne and Ben? Weird and wrong? Or do you think it's kind of sweet? Do you think that they'll eventually get around to a bit of sexy scrabble? (brrrr) Any thoughts on the older lady, younger man dynamic in general?
Follow NZStuffBlogs on Twitter and get fast updates on all Stuff's blogs.
Sponsored links
Newest First
Oldest First
Ooooh I love a good young man ha ha!! I will be a cougar one day. Whats the age you can actually be defined as a cougar? 35?
But being a total hypocrite - the Yvonne and Ben thing grosses me out. I think my issue though is that he was her daughters boyfriend so that should be what made him "out of bounds" rather than his age. Im not sure I would have such an issue if he's just straight shacked up with Yvonne without Tania ever being on the scene.
Maybe it's just that there's like 30 years between them? I would find that gross with either sex quite frankly. Anna Nicole Smith anyone (ew!). 10-15 years is a little more acceptable.
Deeply weird. Not as weird as the disease propogating flatmate - but weird enough. I had horrid images last night of Ben being on of those adult baby fetishists - and Yvonne bottle feeding him and <shudder>
More importantly - Suvivor: Samoa. Wow! Their first certifiable sociopath and he's tearing things up! Survivor is again, worth watching.
I got the end of this and wondered where the CF5 questions were as I was sure I was reading Jane's blog. I really had to check.
I have only started casually watching Shortland Street after many years and am fascinated about this potential relationship. It’s so gross and random, like watching a car crash about to happen. I certainly hope the Ben is paid handsomely by SPP for having to smooch her!
It's Friday! And that's about the only part of your blog I followed with any amount of understanding. This could be a result of the greatness of Friday (even if I still have an entire day of work ahead of me), or it could be the fact that I don't watch Shortland Street ;)
Its a little weird, you got to wonder about gerontophiles, however I hear/read about much more disturbing things most days at work.. I'm becoming a near unshockable person.
Shorty street has a bit of a problem though, they're running out of ideas for story lines, soon they'll have to recycle old material again or introduce new characters.
Moata, I too was deeply distressed to hear that Russell might be off the market for good. Let's hope he returns to his dodgy ways soon!
Thanks a lot Paul. Now I have a mental image of Ben rolling around on a rubber mat, wearing adult diapers, while Yvonne prepares for a bit of breast feeding. I just sicked up a little in my mouth!
It's not the older woman/younger man thing - it's that Ben has slept with Tania. That's the grossness of it all.
It grosses me out, big time. It's very, very unappealing. And I am not sure why, even if he hadn't slept with Tania I'd still be grossed out. I guess it's because Yvonne is not someone I could imagine a younger guy seeing in a sexual way. She's a grandma! (I bet lots of grandmas will now be offended by that comment).
Schoolgirl sex video man guilty
Sir Richard Taylor named New Zealander of the Year
Dazzling Adele silences critics
Wellington earthquake fear: No way in or out
Kiwis in cruise ship cocaine bust
'Starved, beaten' teen weighed just 32kg
Sonny Bill Williams finds rugby boring: mate
So weird and SO WRONG. The main issue I have with it is Ben has already shagged Tania, who is probably the hottest woman on Shortland Street, but he'd rather have her Mum? WTF? If he only like Yvonne from the beginning then it wouldn't be so bad.