The fine line between the actor/actress and how authentic is the character

I recently started watching Sci Fi channel's Flash Gordon. It's a cheesy type of show, and to be honest, I'm not really convinced it's all that good enough of a science fiction serial, which is what it's based on. It seems more a rehash of "can we tell the neighbors about our secret", the "we like this police officer, but we have to keep him/her in the dark about what's really happening", the "I really like my female co-star, but she's got a boyfriend" and "Oh yeah, there's this other world where we do some science fiction stuff". Personally, I think the show hasn't decided if it wants to be authentic science fiction, which Friday night stuff on Sci Fi generally is (like Battlestar Galactica and the two Stargate shows), or it wants to be camp. It hasn't defined itself yet.

But what actually got me thinking was this bounty hunter character they have who comes from the evil other planet who is always on the run from the people in power. She's one of those "I do things my way" and she knows all about living out in the rough part of society, constantly on the run from those who are out to kill her. Well, at one point, she was changing clothes in Flash's place, and as she raised her hands over her head, I noticed she shaves her armpits. And this really got me thinking. Would a woman like this from an alien society (although she's human) who is constantly on the run living out in the wilderness, really shave under her arms? And then I started to realize that this is because the actress is a TV star who most likely does so because TV society demands it of her. And I'm sure viewers don't even notice, although they would notice if she was actually authentic, and then they'd probably not like it.

Anyway, it was an interesting thought at the time.

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