Parenthood
Haven't mentioned this show much, if at all, mostly because I wanted to see how it did over the first few eps. I was jazzed about this project when it was first announced that Maura Tierny would play the eldest daughter in an ensemble cast and then very leery about who'd fill the role after the news broke that she'd bowed out due to breast cancer. Thankfully, it was Lauren LORELAI Graham GILMORE. ...and yes, I will never see LG as anyone else no matter who she plays much in the same way Peter Krause will always be Casey McCall.
I must say, I LOVE this show. I LOVE the sibling dynamic that occurs between the adult kids and their kids with all the other kids in contrast to the dynamics of the Walkers in Bros & Sis. I love the in-law dynamic with Joel & Kristina + The Braverman's. There's no bitchiness, no contention, no omg!ur!mom!hates!me! I guess it's because the Walkers, IMO, are so neurotic and selfish and the Braverman's are just trying to do their best with whatever gets thrown at them and have to deal with the consequence of choices they've made. I approve of how both families rally around each other when the support is needed but I prefer the way it's presented/pulled off in Parenthood. There's something more real about the way they don't just come out and say 'I'm here for you' they just all kinda show up and DO. I ♥ that because to me, that's what family does. You get mad at them, you hate what they do but in the end, you're gonna be there for them in spite of all their faults.
Now, this is fascinating to me because I HATE my family. More specifically my extended family. I couldn't give a damn if any one of my grandmothers died cos they're the biggest conniving-psycho-emotional-vampiric-bitches I know and I couldn't give a damn about my cousins (with one or two exceptions) cos, well I just don't care nor do I wish to. I've always been distant with/to them and have never gotten along with any of them due to sheer geography, differences in interest, music, movies or basic humanness and rightly so because they are strangers to me. The only 'family' I've ever held dear to me were those whom I adored as a child and then came to discover as I grew up, that they would merely 'put up' with me on behalf of some distorted loyalty. Having a sleepover with my auntie and her friend's kid was THE highlight of my tenth year of life. Until it actually happened and I got treated like a second rate citizen in 'the wonderful land of family'. Nothing cuts you deeper than realising someone doesn't hold you dear the same way you do them. Someone told me yesterday: 'Any time you need anything, let us know. We're all one big happy family here.' To which I responded with my inside voice: If you only knew how I felt about those called 'family.'
I must say, I LOVE this show. I LOVE the sibling dynamic that occurs between the adult kids and their kids with all the other kids in contrast to the dynamics of the Walkers in Bros & Sis. I love the in-law dynamic with Joel & Kristina + The Braverman's. There's no bitchiness, no contention, no omg!ur!mom!hates!me! I guess it's because the Walkers, IMO, are so neurotic and selfish and the Braverman's are just trying to do their best with whatever gets thrown at them and have to deal with the consequence of choices they've made. I approve of how both families rally around each other when the support is needed but I prefer the way it's presented/pulled off in Parenthood. There's something more real about the way they don't just come out and say 'I'm here for you' they just all kinda show up and DO. I ♥ that because to me, that's what family does. You get mad at them, you hate what they do but in the end, you're gonna be there for them in spite of all their faults.
Now, this is fascinating to me because I HATE my family. More specifically my extended family. I couldn't give a damn if any one of my grandmothers died cos they're the biggest conniving-psycho-emotional-vampiric-bitches I know and I couldn't give a damn about my cousins (with one or two exceptions) cos, well I just don't care nor do I wish to. I've always been distant with/to them and have never gotten along with any of them due to sheer geography, differences in interest, music, movies or basic humanness and rightly so because they are strangers to me. The only 'family' I've ever held dear to me were those whom I adored as a child and then came to discover as I grew up, that they would merely 'put up' with me on behalf of some distorted loyalty. Having a sleepover with my auntie and her friend's kid was THE highlight of my tenth year of life. Until it actually happened and I got treated like a second rate citizen in 'the wonderful land of family'. Nothing cuts you deeper than realising someone doesn't hold you dear the same way you do them. Someone told me yesterday: 'Any time you need anything, let us know. We're all one big happy family here.' To which I responded with my inside voice: If you only knew how I felt about those called 'family.'