nelsonmuntz
Point Center
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 44,170
- Reaction Score
- 33,026
Not sure how I feel about this show. It is another version of "kids these days" entertainment that has been around for decades.
Visually it is interesting, if a little dark. It hops around a lot narratively, and borrows very heavily from prior dystopian young adult focused movies like Rules of Attraction and Alpha Dog in terms of narrative style to the point that it feels like it is ripping those movies off.
The plot is about what I expected. Kids feeling lost, detached from the world, no purpose, lots of sex and drugs. In other words, being a teenager. I am a little confused by some of the early reviews and lead up to this series about how "shocking" the show was going to be. Other than 4 sexual assaults (more on that later), it was just kids being kids, albeit in an over-the-top, unrealistic manner. This is an easy subject matter to write about, but it is also timeless. While every generation has their own issues, teenagers have always been teenagers.
I like all the actors so far, and the dialogue is interesting for the most part. There is way too much exposition, which is a pet peave of mine when watching prestige television. I am hoping that is just a function of it being the first episode where the writers have to introduce a big cast.
My issues with the show:
It needs to be careful about glorifying and normalizing drug use
The Parents are idiots
Not realistic - kids have always partied and engaged in reckless activity, but even 30 years ago life was not just one big weekend of partying after another. Being a teenager is as much about being alone and rejected and honestly just bored.
Sexual assaults - There are 4 separate incidents of assault/harrassment in the first episode, and another exploitive incident that is referred to in the first episode. I think shows and movies need to be very careful about using sexual assaults in their story-telling, and it should be done rarely and handled delicately within the story. Putting 5 violent and/or exploitive sexual encounters involving teenagers in the first episode is exploitive in its own right, and is way over the top.
The writers are trying to shock us with these incidents, but they cheapen the impact of each individual incident when they pile them on one after another. I also think it is lazy by the writers. There is a lot that can be said about teenage sex, but if all the writers have to say about sex is that sex is rape, I will be checking out on this show pretty quickly.
Visually it is interesting, if a little dark. It hops around a lot narratively, and borrows very heavily from prior dystopian young adult focused movies like Rules of Attraction and Alpha Dog in terms of narrative style to the point that it feels like it is ripping those movies off.
The plot is about what I expected. Kids feeling lost, detached from the world, no purpose, lots of sex and drugs. In other words, being a teenager. I am a little confused by some of the early reviews and lead up to this series about how "shocking" the show was going to be. Other than 4 sexual assaults (more on that later), it was just kids being kids, albeit in an over-the-top, unrealistic manner. This is an easy subject matter to write about, but it is also timeless. While every generation has their own issues, teenagers have always been teenagers.
I like all the actors so far, and the dialogue is interesting for the most part. There is way too much exposition, which is a pet peave of mine when watching prestige television. I am hoping that is just a function of it being the first episode where the writers have to introduce a big cast.
My issues with the show:
It needs to be careful about glorifying and normalizing drug use
The Parents are idiots
Not realistic - kids have always partied and engaged in reckless activity, but even 30 years ago life was not just one big weekend of partying after another. Being a teenager is as much about being alone and rejected and honestly just bored.
Sexual assaults - There are 4 separate incidents of assault/harrassment in the first episode, and another exploitive incident that is referred to in the first episode. I think shows and movies need to be very careful about using sexual assaults in their story-telling, and it should be done rarely and handled delicately within the story. Putting 5 violent and/or exploitive sexual encounters involving teenagers in the first episode is exploitive in its own right, and is way over the top.
The writers are trying to shock us with these incidents, but they cheapen the impact of each individual incident when they pile them on one after another. I also think it is lazy by the writers. There is a lot that can be said about teenage sex, but if all the writers have to say about sex is that sex is rape, I will be checking out on this show pretty quickly.