So, how about Rome? I LOVED it! HBO and the BBC really have it together! Ancient Greece and Rome are big interests of mine, but most television and movie representations leave me cold so I didn't have high hopes. I did like Gladiator despite its complete and utter deviation from documented history... but then I tend to like Ridley Scott's movies. Troy blew chunks. Chunks. And the recent mini-series on ABC, Empire, spewed chunks. Huge chunks! Part of the problem with depicting history, I think, is that you're dealing with a story which has a set plotline and ending. If you deviate from either (Gladiator, Empire, Troy) then you alienate people with genuine interest in history. With Rome HBO is avoiding this problem by depicting the personal stuff behind the dry (and often boring) facts. They're getting into the social interaction which is the locus of the real drama. It's also the less documented part of history which gives the writers a lot more room to fudge. Besides, the show is just really well thought out with excellent choices in direction. There's a scene where young Octavian is speaking with his mother and a slave girl, bringing in the base of a tripod, accidentally hits Octavian in the foot. Octavian grimaces and without hesitation smacks the girl on the head. It's done in a totally throw-away manner and perfectly illustrates how life in a slave culture dehumanizes everyone. Excellent!
I also saw Prison Break, which didn't wow me but I'm sure that it will be a success. It's gritty and violent so it has that "real" aura. It has all the things that make people think it's "thoughtful," e.g.: race relations, plot twists ad absurdum, conspiracy theory... basically it's like a grad school project on "what will work on American television." I've got to say, though, that the soccer-mom as the head of the conspiracy is hilarious and brilliant! THAT I loved. The only thing is, how are they going to work this out for an entire season?
BTW, Rush Limbaugh said something else idiotic and offensive today. I realize that people watch Rush and Ann and Kellyanne because people like clowns... and by clowns I mean people who get in front of a camera or crowd and say outrageous, excessive things. People like spectacle and that's what these media-hos offer.
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4 comments:
alfredo,
Oh no you di-n't! Mira, cabron! You know I got a degree in it so I don't know what you think you're starting! Besides, don't you have something better to do than comment on my blog? Get back to whipping the gnomes working in your research sweatshop!
Don't be tryin' to skool me or I'll call INS on you!
Wow, lori-anne, I checked out your schtick, (the dark and tortured poet), so clearly you're quite familiar with stereotypes. (You should have made a LEFT in the old, yellow wood, by the way.) I don't care if you don't like what I've written. And since you are clearly not invited to this space, leave. I suggest that you stick to what you know, your angsty, self-absorbed whining and second rate ruminations on "life." (God, I hope you're not more than 15, otherwise your poetry is really unseemly.) Good luck, honey.
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