Angel…a little boy’s inspiration

Just a little blurb I wrote about Shelley Hack on Tumblr, submitted for your perusal my dear WordPress chums ^_^

So…in case anyone was wondering…why all the sudden Charlie’s Angels-related posts? It’s not just because I’m super-psyched about the September boxed set release of the entire series, though believe you me, I AM!! There’s something more. Allow me to explain.

When I was 17 and I began questioning my gender identity and exploring my own inherent femaleness more deeply than I’d ever been allowed to before, I took some time off to just meet myself for the first time. While living this life of leisure, my daily ritual included some Wai Lana Yoga at the crack of dawn. One day, after finishing my yoga session, I flipped through the channels and saw that a Charlie’s Angels re-run was playing on…TNT I think it was, or maybe TV Land. Either way, I’d always been intrigued by the show, having heard from my mother, aunt and grandma how much they enjoyed it during its original run in the seventies. My very first episode was a season 4 Shelley Hack episode, I can’t remember which but I know she wore a stunning wine red jumpsuit which made her jump out at me. It was my first taste of seventies fashion which would eventually come to influence a lot of my own looks.

I just thought she was spectacular…such a model of grace and sophistication. So, I kept watching and became enthralled by the series and later on in life, once Wikipedia had become a “thing,” I read a lot about the Angels, especially my favorite and was surprised to find Shelley Hack was as unpopular as she was. I couldn’t understand why, I thought she was very talented and in my opinion, lovelier than the other two (though of course they were also stunning). Anyway after reading more Charlie’s Angels-related material than I care to admit, I learned that it was all just a very poorly-handled business tactic; Hollywood ever in need of the proverbial scapegoat. Having always been something of an underdog myself…this only made my admiration for Shelley Hack and her character of “Tiffany Welles” that much stronger. She was someone I could identify with and strove to be like. Then I learned about all the fabulous causes Ms. Hack’s been a part of throughout her life, about how she strives to aid war-torn nations by utilizing media as a way to introduce impartial democracy to them, about her part in aiding numerous women’s organizations, and her advocacy of higher education above all. Coupling that with the winning smile, sumptuous seventies fashions she wore in her hey-day, her fondness for the Supremes, apple pies and the fact that she portrayed a transgendered housewife in an episode of Tales From The Crypt…well, if there was ever any doubt in any detractors’ minds…Shelley Hack IS an Angel, in more ways than one.