(Untitled)

[me_ves_y_sufres]

Stolen from a number of people:

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

Comments

[me_ves_y_sufres]

1. I dunno. Right now, to get a job and move out and go to film school. And to carve an awesome life being the female Ken Loach, obviously.

2. Yes, of course I do. Out of a belief in the principles of equality. For the same reasons I'm a socialist, too. (You can't be a socialist and not be a feminist, I honestly believe.)

3. Hm. I'd say if you're not feeling it by the end of the series then it might not be the show for you-- eight episodes might actually be a little short (I know, I know) as it works better when viewed as a really, really, REALLY long film rather than a discrete series of episodes. You're only partway through the first series, where it's still sort of just a very good cop show, exactly how good it is maybe hasn't been revealed.

I can come back with a bunch of essays and stuff about the show which all work on an intellectual level, but if it just doesn't grab you by the gut then I suppose there's nothing I can say to change your mind.

I think my own personal all-consuming joy comes from how slowburning it is. Also, how many OTHER socialist realist tv shows are there? I like it because it doesn't particularly seem to set itself up as vacuous entertainment, you really have to work to watch it (in a good way). It's as uncompromisingly realist as TV shows get: the police are shit, the drug dealers are shit, the entire edifice of society is crumbling around people. Most people don't know what they're doing. There's never any attempt to sugarcoat anything, there are no quick fixes, nothing is ever resolved at the end of an episode, the brave maverick (a figure I *hate* in fiction) throws himself at THE MAN and is revealed to be a fucking idiot. It's the exact antithesis of shows like Torchwood or Stargate SG1. It never goes easy on the viewer, it doesn't have glib dialogue or flashy sequences. There's humour but no cheap laughs or gags. It's as minimalist and realist as a tv show can possibly be-- no flashbacks, no exposition, no voiceovers. Unlike basically every other TV show it doesn't stop and explain things step by step to the viewer complete with a giant red arrow going LOOK THIS IS THE BAD GUY HERE. The acting and scriptwriting is astounding. Ambiguity is the wrong word for the show, it strives for a kind of, like, I realise I sound like a complete dick here, but a sort of equality of representation. In season 1 the drug dealers/cops are clearly paralleled but there's no attempt to portray one side or the other as inherently good or evil. They're both just a bit rubbish and both trying to do their best with the hand they were given. Some do better than others. I found it all sneaked up on me at the end of season 1.

And there's Omar, of course.

(PS DO NOT SPOIL YOURSELF. DO NOT SPOIL YOURSELF. JUST DON'T.)