‘Yellowstone,’ ‘Countryman’ and the Problems with ‘Sexy Characters’ in Taylor Sheridan’s TV Universe

Amid the high-stakes Dutton family drama, that was the case Yellowstone Showrunner and series creator Taylor Sheridan’s storyline became a talking point after the December 8 episode.

Sheridan, who also has a small acting role as horse trainer Travis Wheatley in the series, sparked online conversations among his fanbase when he appeared in the penultimate episode and cast supermodel Bella Hadid as his character’s girlfriend.

Besides the stunt casting bit (Hadid recently joined the cowgirl fray himself), the two also spent their screen time playing strip poker with “half-naked women” at a time when fans are eager to see storylines. ahead of what Paramount+ is calling the show’s “special season finale event” on December 15.

Female fans in particular vented their frustrations on social media.

“As if Taylor Sheridan wasted one of the last episodes of this show by inserting himself so he could parade around half-naked women. We could have had eight more episodes of Kevin Costner instead of this bs,” one person posted on X.

“Last night’s episode of #Yellowstone really showed the extent of Taylor Sheridan’s ego,” another person wrote.

The episode has also raised questions about the way women in general are portrayed in Sheridan’s library of TV shows, much of which he writes himself.

“Sheridan casting [Hadid] since his girlfriend is primarily a show of self-confidence and a certain kind of machismo, which I think people in general are kind of like, ‘Oh, okay, you really think that way about yourself.’” Elle culture writer Lauren Puckett Pope, who wrote about Hadid’s cameo, told Yahoo Entertainment.

“One of the main points of contention was the significant age difference between Bella Hadid, 28, and Taylor Sheridan, 54, in their on-screen relationship. This dynamic is an exaggerated Hollywood cliché, where older men are often paired with much younger women, which many find self-indulgent,” Billie Schwab Dunn, pop culture and entertainment reporter for Newsweek, told Yahoo Entertainment. “For female viewers in particular, this choice seemed emblematic of a broader issue in Sheridan’s work – female characters are often underdeveloped or used in ways that serve male-driven narratives.”

Puckett-Pope said Hadid’s character also served a self-aggrandizing function on Sheridan’s part.

“If you put someone like Bella Hadid on your show and don’t give her a real character with a meaningful background, we don’t learn anything about this character other than her name and that she’s his girlfriend,” Puckett says. – said Pope. “She’s really just there to be a representative of the allure of Travis, which is Taylor Sheridan.”

She added, “All of her dialogue is meant to elevate the kind of mythology surrounding Travis himself. And so when you have a female character whose sole purpose is to do that, and it happens to be the character who plays the creator of this universe, that’s obviously going to draw some criticism.”

That said, Sheridan could have poked fun at his own reputation based on Beth Dutton’s (Kelly Reilly) and Sadie’s (Hadid) dialogue.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, in the episode Beth tells Sadie: “[Travis is] probably the most arrogant man I have ever met in my life. Misogynistic. Self-righteous. Twenty-five years older than you. Can you explain the call?” Sadie replies, “Have you ever seen him drive before?”

Sheridan did not respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.

Hadid’s character is just the latest female role in the Sheridan TV universe to come under scrutiny. Some have also criticized Sheridan’s latest series, Husbandmanin which Billy Bob Thornton plays the lead role among oil company executives and oil rig workers.

While Thornton’s performance and Sheridan’s portrayal of his character have been praised (Thornton recently received a Golden Globe nomination for his work on the show), the actresses who play his ex-wife and daughter – Ali Larter and Michelle respectively Randolph – did that. described as ‘largely empty caricatures’ and the on-screen depiction of ‘male fantasies’.

“The objectification of women on screen has been a norm since the dawn of Hollywood,” Claire Sisco King, chair of film and media arts at Vanderbilt University, told Yahoo Entertainment.

She noted that in Sheridan’s case, in which his shows take place in “traditionally masculine spaces – the ranch, the prison, the oil fields,” he also uses tactics to target “a presumptively heterosexual male audience…where women are hypersexualized and really be turned on. display.”

Take for example Thornton’s on-screen daughter, who is supposed to be 17 years old.

King recalls a “very striking moment of the male gaze,” in which Randolph’s character Ainsley “walks around in her underwear” while a friend and roommate of Thornton’s character watches.

“It makes him uncomfortable, but we still see him taking her in,” King said. “So the type of look is doubled. Like we look and see how men look at them.”

This is in addition to another criticism of Ainsley’s portrayal, this time involving the character sleeping in the same bed as her father during one episode.

‘The fact that Tommy Norris [Thornton] The 17-year-old daughter is also sexualized on the show, leaving viewers with a bad taste in their mouths,” Dunn said.

Thornton recently defended both Sheridan and Larter’s roles on the show.

“Taylor has had a tough time with the critics over the years. I mean, he’s such a powerful guy. It’s easy to take him down. But it’s gotten the best reviews it’s ever had Husbandman,” the actor told Deadline. “Some of them mentioned the women and that Ali’s character might be a little cartoonish or something. And I have to tell you that I grew up there in Arkansas and Texas, and women like Ali exist.

Larter previously praised Sheridan to Yahoo Entertainment, saying he adapted the role for her as it developed.

“The amazing thing about Taylor is that he starts writing for his actors,” she said. “I think that’s really special: when someone writes for you, there are moments that are close to the vest, which is quite amazing. So I like that.”

Be that as it may Yellowstone, Husbandman or even Lioness, many of the female characters are “identified through some kind of sex appeal,” Puckett-Pope said.

“Some of it is very traditional sex appeal or stereotypical sex appeal, and some of it is a little bit more of a different archetype. You know, it could be: oh, the sexy cowgirl, the sexy ballbuster lawyer who tries to pretend she’s a man but in reality she’s still a woman, the sexy environmentalist who sleeps with the governor of Montana going,” she said. “Even some of the older characters still have that kind of presence of beauty.”

A female character who stands out for her independence and strength is Beth Dutton Yellowstonewho plays the daughter of patriarch John Dutton. But even Beth has come under scrutiny as her storyline has developed.

“While [Beth] is fierce, independent and layered, her story often leans heavily on trauma and serves as a counterbalance to the men around her,” said Dunn.

Puckett-Pope echoed that sentiment.

“For example, I used to really feel like Kelly Reilly’s character was in it Yellowstone was one of the more nuanced female characters on the show, and I really enjoyed her performance at the time, and I don’t feel that way anymore,” she said.

“The more and more it became about Beth protecting the ranch and saving the ranch and… like anyone who tries to attack her father’s legacy, it stopped feeling like her storyline was about her and what she actually did. wants as a character apart from [her husband] Tear.”

In the December 8 episode of Yellowstoneit’s Beth who advocates for Sheridan’s character and says multiple times that she “needs” him, creating an unlikely rescue situation for an otherwise minor character.

As these conversations continue online – amid the confirmation of a spin-off for a show based on the characters of Beth and Rip, as well as another Yellowstone spinoff, The Madison There is speculation about what this could mean for female audiences in the future.

“If Sheridan continues on this path, he risks alienating female audiences who want more powerful and layered portrayals. Viewers are beginning to notice a similarity between his work and if this pattern continues, his projects may struggle to maintain broad appeal, potentially limiting their cultural relevance and commercial success,” said Dunn.

For Puckett-Pope, it’s not the “sexy characters” that are inherently a problem.

“If these characters are always defined by the perceptions of the men around them — and the unique man who writes them — there is a flattening effect,” she said. “That approach could work for a while if Sheridan makes enough noise and makes enough money, as he certainly is doing now. I mean, props to him for that. But I don’t think this can last forever.”

Yellowstone airs December 15 at 8pm ET on the Paramount Network.