How 'Desperate' can you be?

Has anyone been watching that much-hailed soap, Desperate Housewives? It's pretty unmissable - Star World repeats the same episode about thrice every week, such is its popularity (Desperate Housewives', that is, not Star World's). I've been watching it more or less regularly, actually, since the day, around 3 months or so back, when Simi Garewal stared me soulfully in the eye during a commercial break and asked me which one of these women was me (or should that be I?). I had to find out- as also figure out why this show is so popular.

So. Am I the wimpy, weepy Susan, whose only role seems to be running after a particular murderer-turned-plumber in the belief that said man was just a very hot plumber and then calling the relationship off when his murdering tendencies became known, going all to pieces and having to be looked after by her extremely sensible 14-year-old daughter, all with this save-me-I'm-vulnerable expression on her face? Or am I the obssessive compulsive Bree, who is so immersed in religion, patriarchy, motherhood, and all things known as 'traditional values' that she (however unwillingly) agrees to participate in her husband's s/m fantasies even after husband has been caught cheating on her and treating her pretty shabbily? Or perhaps the harried Lynette, who decided to give up her career and life so she could look after her husband's home and give birth to his four children, and then live to regret that decision? Or maybe Gabrielle, the rich, spoilt, materialistic, fairly slutty (forgive me for using this term) ex-model, who ostensibly hankers for her husband's love and attention, but is actually far more distraught when faced with the prospect of losing his fortune?

The answer is: none of the above.

So why do I keep watching this show, then? Partly because there's quite an intriguing mystery happening in the periphery of the show - there's this evil, evil man who's a cold-blooded murderer and is messing with his son's head, and I do want to know how things turn out for him. And partly - I don't know. Maybe I'm sticking around to see if I can find some meaning somewhere, though I doubt it. I mean - by exposing the very hollow and shallow life of middle-class American suburbia, and questioning the notion that marriage and motherhood are the greatest achievements any woman can aspire for if she needs to feel 'fulfilled', the show could be called a critique of the middle-class values that most people take so much for granted. But is it, really? Susan was dumped by her husband who traded her for that cliche, his young blonde secretary, but all she can do once she decides to move on, is chase the first available man so she can repeat her history.

Lynette bitches and complains, but does nothing to improve her situation, Gabrielle's answer to every problem is sleeping with an underaged boy, and Bree would rather stay in her dysfunctional family than live what would definitely be a far healthier life on her own. They all return to the same trap that makes them so unhappy - and, at least according to the creators of the show, there apparently is no alternative in this cosy heterosexual paradise. And why the hell do none of these women work? Why is 'career' such a dirty word?

And why do I keep watching this show that I just trashed? (Actually, a lot about it bewilders me, so be warned - there will be more on Desperate Housewives in later blogs.)