30-09-2016, 11:26 AM
1
Is it just me?
I find new TV and film characters too awful to watch. Not just in drama but comedy and interviews. Highly rated critically and most popular new series appear to me about people I would go out of my way to avoid in real life. I'm not bothered that leads are no longer good looking or beautiful, as was a requirement in years gone by, but now they are not just rude but unpleasant to the point of nastiness.I stopped watching soaps like Eastenders and Corry many decades ago and popular series of times gone by like The Good Life, while still amusing are evidently very out of date, both socially and dramatically. However, I don't think it's just the ideology that puts me off. I loved Till Death Us Do Part and watched several episodes on Youtube recently with a friend and we both enjoyed it as much, or more than when we first saw it. Alf's hideous prejudices were treated, not so much as character flaws, as deriving from ignorance and conditioning, which is so often the reality, in fact.
What puts me off the current trend in characterisation is that the nastiness of the lead characters is inate and self-congratulatory (if that's a real word). James Corden is very popular right now, both here and in America, and he is unashamedly a nasty piece of work, and is applauded for his rudeness and general bad manners in real life.
The latest applauded series here is Flea Bag, which is what prompted this thread. I began to watch the first episode but abandoned it half way through because the lead character is so unpleasant I had no desire to spend any more time in her company. Is it an extreme affirmation of Feminism that women can now be characterised as nasty, rude and unpleasant as men can be?
I don't know, but I'm back to searching out quality writing for my entertainment. Ab Fab's icons are not ideal templates for our young but they are still hilariously funny just because they are examples of extreme self-indulgence and stupidity, not excuses for bad manners, rudeness and unpleasantness.
In the olden days of my youth, baddies were always killed off in the end, as a lesson to us all. We are wiser now, I think, however, I do believe that to encourage and celebrate our worst human characteristics is unhelpful to a cohesive and stable society.
30-09-2016, 11:34 AM
2
Re: Is it just me?
well like I`m like -pause for canned laughter,someone who likes drama but do I need a music track under dramatic moments. Neil from the Young ones had issues-but spare a thought for Marvin......brain the size of a planet and I park cars,I do know the answer but you would not be interested30-09-2016, 11:37 AM
3
Re: Is it just me?
Interesting, we often find ourselves confused who is the real baddie in programmes as the goodies are so nasty.I'd like to say it's just fiction but looking at the forum I find myself shaking my head time and again at the rudeness, perhaps it's closer to real life than is comfortable ?
It's odd to me as in real life I don't see this rudeness but I've been told I live in a bubble so perhaps it's there and I don't see it
30-09-2016, 11:51 AM
4
Re: Is it just me?
Originally Posted by Julie1962
->
It's odd to me as in real life I don't see this rudeness but I've been told I live in a bubble so perhaps it's there and I don't see it
30-09-2016, 02:54 PM
7
Re: Is it just me?
HiI think that there are, and have been recently, some fantastic dramas.
Happy Valley, so true to life, Sarah Lancashire.
Vera, with Brenda Blethyn.
DCI Banks., Stephen Thomlinson.
All human life is there, Enforcement Officers with normal human frailties, home problems, making mistakes.
Very powerful acting, so true to life.
Spooks is a joke, nothing like real life at all.
CSI I love, it is so funny, we laugh our heads off at it, as far removed from reality as possible.
The violence is accurately portrayed, but not gratuitous, I have no wish to see at all a graphic rape or torture.
The distinction between goodies and baddies may seem at times, somewhat blurred, but that is reality.
To catch the real scumbags, you have to be more devious and ruthless than they are, otherwise they would never be caught.
The difference is this, Enforcement Officers have to operate within the rules of law, the baddies don't.
30-09-2016, 03:42 PM
8
Re: Is it just me?
I love a good cop drama...Happy Valley and Vera are up there with the very best.I wasted a good few hours of my life viewing a few good but extremely depressing dramas recently...Trapped, One Of Us, Blue Eyes, to name but three.
Having had a recent couple of weeks with no TV whatever, I began to realise how easily one can become addicted.
Forums too!!
So now I have a dilemma...decided not to bother with Victoria, Poldark etc. but along comes The Fall series2... now what do I do???!!!
30-09-2016, 04:30 PM
9
Re: Is it just me?
My son is quite disgusted with me these days. He downloads very difficult games like The Talos Principle for me, recommends new documentaries and programmes online then quizzes me sternly on what I've watched. I tell him I want things that make me laugh but he takes no notice. He refuses to allow me to sink, gracefully, into comfortable old age.Mr Robot was very good, well made and acted, but I found it depressing and uncomfortable to watch. I got a disapproving 'Hmmm.' for that. A friend recommended Transparent, which I would probably not have watched if I'd known what it was about because I really dislike watching graphic sex. Looking away and shutting off the sound when they get too graphic for me, I'm still watching for some reason, even though I heartily dislike every character but the lead.
The thing that struck me most about both the above programmes is that they appear to be set in different countries, even planets, never in the same country in the same period. I suppose it is good that we have moved away from the Hollywood pap of old and moved into actual realism.
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