In the past few years whenever someone criticizes something for being tone-deaf or inauthentic or sexist there are always people pushing against it with "tv characters don't have to be good to be interesting", "tv is meant to be an escapism, why drag our boring, drab reality into it?", "we don't want moralistic preaching", etc. Well, this show is a very good example of what all these people are in a way alluding to, but with one crucial difference.
The two main characters are despicable people, who, frankly, deserve each other. Nothing about their lives (undoubtedly terrible things such as being a prisoner of war or surviving a near-fatal fall) makes them sympathetic, demonstrating a good point that going through traumatic events does not automatically make anyone a better person. But more than one thing can be true at a time: you can be a bad person and still be treated unfairly and with a great deal of misogyny. In fact the whole concept of divorce only being granted on the basis of someone being "at fault" (which is a big driver of the whole story) is appalling, which is a reflection not on individuals, but on society as a whole. None of these things are sweet or uplifting or "escapist", nothing about the central couple makes you root for them individually or as "a family", but all of it can still make a very engrossing story and the characters are allowed to still have recognizable and understandable human feelings and emotions. Yes, their actions can be vile and immoral, but make perfect sense in the context of their circumstances and their personalities. So this task is not as impossible as people, who defend "imperfect", "morally grey" characters who are nonetheless clearly written to be liked, approved, justified and identified with would have you believe.
All that said, one great tradition that people still love to uphold, is that showing the people's natural age is out of the question. Although she is portraying a good 16 years slice of someone's life Claire Foy is frozen in her actual 30-something appearance. To me this is important because in a way it defeats the purpose of removing prejudices about women's sexuality by implying a woman looking visibly older then Claire Foy simply won't pass for someone with a very busy sex life and attractive to younger men.
But still I liked it very much and Paul Bettany in a properly written part is always a treat.
The two main characters are despicable people, who, frankly, deserve each other. Nothing about their lives (undoubtedly terrible things such as being a prisoner of war or surviving a near-fatal fall) makes them sympathetic, demonstrating a good point that going through traumatic events does not automatically make anyone a better person. But more than one thing can be true at a time: you can be a bad person and still be treated unfairly and with a great deal of misogyny. In fact the whole concept of divorce only being granted on the basis of someone being "at fault" (which is a big driver of the whole story) is appalling, which is a reflection not on individuals, but on society as a whole. None of these things are sweet or uplifting or "escapist", nothing about the central couple makes you root for them individually or as "a family", but all of it can still make a very engrossing story and the characters are allowed to still have recognizable and understandable human feelings and emotions. Yes, their actions can be vile and immoral, but make perfect sense in the context of their circumstances and their personalities. So this task is not as impossible as people, who defend "imperfect", "morally grey" characters who are nonetheless clearly written to be liked, approved, justified and identified with would have you believe.
All that said, one great tradition that people still love to uphold, is that showing the people's natural age is out of the question. Although she is portraying a good 16 years slice of someone's life Claire Foy is frozen in her actual 30-something appearance. To me this is important because in a way it defeats the purpose of removing prejudices about women's sexuality by implying a woman looking visibly older then Claire Foy simply won't pass for someone with a very busy sex life and attractive to younger men.
But still I liked it very much and Paul Bettany in a properly written part is always a treat.
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