It is just possible that my very first crush - even before Rhapsody Angel, the willowy redheaded fighter pilot in her slinky white jumpsuit - was Lady Penelope here. Again, a fibreglass puppet! Damn - what was the appeal of those crazy Gerry Anderson shows?!It is very hard to resist the allure of what we Brits call 'posh tottie': the aristocratic hauteur - and the isolating wealth - is daunting, yes, discouraging, alienating; and yet it's also very much a challenge. Oh, how often we have fantasised about wearing down that chilly reserve and taking these snooty glamourpusses for an horizon-stretching "walk on the wild side".
The great thing about our Penny - as I always liked to think of her - was, of course, that she was on the wild side already. Although outwardly a very prim and proper, not to say somewhat vacuous society hostess, she led a double life as a secret agent (probably the world's least plausible secret agent, but never mind).
Alas, I fear that Penny raised the bar way too high for all the subsequent flesh-and-blood women in my life. Beauty and charm are not enough for me: no, I expect my women also to have a shrewd intelligence and ruthless cunning, to be utterly unflappable in the face of danger, to be adept with firearms and skeleton-keys, and to be fluent in several languages. And elegant dressers too, of course. Being a multi-millionairess is a bonus.
2 comments:
Now if she'd only been a brunette eh?
Quite so. Blondes have never really been my thing.
I liked to think that it was just a blonde wig, part of her 'disguise'....
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