THREE P's SWEET Part 2
Excerpts from
Cult Times #59
Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano) profile
Feature by Ian Atkins
THREE P's SWEET Part 2 |
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| Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano) profile |
Feature by Ian Atkins |
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| Prue and Piper (Shannon Doherty amd Holly-Marie Combs) are also profiled in this issue! | ||
| Warning! Spoilers for Channel 5 viewers ahead We got into a lot of trouble with some Charmed fans about our description of Phoebe Halliwell in an earlier edition of Cult Times. It was implied that the youngest sister wasn’t exactly the most chaste of sisters – more just chased – and that this television character was no stranger to the horizontal hold. While this is true – a lover-by-lover summary of Phoebe in Heartbreak City is interrupted by her long before it’s finished – and although this is the impression the series has worked hard to give, it has to be noted that of the three sisters, Phoebe’s the one for whom the last two years have seen the least headboard-knocking. Instead, Charmed has used her character to illustrate the wisdom that comes from independence and of not only being in charge of your own life but knowing it. In fact, whereas once it appeared that Prue would be the one happy in some far-off spinster existence, now Phoebe is the more likely candidate. When Phoebe has allowed herself to become involved with men this year, it’s noticeable that none of them have been normal, average people (or even, in the strictest sense of the word, real), and it suggests that these relationships have been there to teach her something and then move on, rather than provide a partner. Firstly, there’s Cupid in Heartbreak City, a figure who is familiar with love and allows Phoebe to finally search herself and find what it is she has always desired. The second is Billy in Chick Flick: not only a boy from the 1950s, but one who is a fictional character at that. The lesson which Billy provides? That dreaming is still important: as with Prue, Phoebe is being told to keep in touch with her dreams, something all the more important to the youngest sister as the year has (as she confesses to Cupid) left her less certain of what she wants. Phoebe's increasing maturity is perfectly captured by Alyssa Milano in a number of fine performances which manage a balancing act between wisdom and quirky. Imagine Yoda as a rebellious teenager, and you’re not far off... well, except that Phoebe has better skin. Ian Atkins |
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Buy Cult Times #59 for the full six-page feature |
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Also included: profiles of the other Halliwell sisters, and an overview of Season Two's changes. Read excerpts from season overview here |
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Charmed pictures ©Spelling Entertainment / The WB |
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