Yet more telly
The majority of my immediate family have been passionate fans of The Wire for a couple of years now, the DVDs being lent back and forth from my dad to my sister Tiny pretty much continuously during that time. A couple of years ago Tiny tried to show it to me to no avail, but we tried again this week, and, well. It stuck.
And whoa, the entire first season in one night! We were watching as Tiny's fiancé went to bed, and when he woke up six hours later we hadn't budged from the TV. "So did you lose track of time, or...?", he asked. "Nope," Tiny and I answered in unison, eyes fixed on the screen.
I realize I'm years late in observing this, but still: Man, this is quality television. Quality like I've never seen in a TV show. The way it tells stories is such a breath of fresh air, free of storytelling clichés I thought were obligatory in an American TV show. For one, I can never guess at what's going to happen, like who might die. The usual storytelling tactics just aren't there.
And it's got the, well what I mentally refer to as the 'Sherif Ali factor' (you know, like Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia - when he first appears I hate him so intensely and by the end of the movie I love his so much), where I feel so differently about the characters through the course of the story. None of the characters fit easily into a storytelling role, suddenly the hero does something inexcusable; suddenly the biggest, evilest asshole comes across as terribly sympathetic. And my views of them don't just change once, it goes all over the map.
I was toying with the idea of getting hold of season two in Bergen, but I'm pretty sure it'll be much more fun watching it with Tiny, so I'll wait. Also; Bubbles is the best.
(And as for name recognition: Every time Idris Elba (who plays Stringer Bell) popped up in the credits I went "Oooh I've heard that most excellent name before! It's got something to do with superheroes, I just know it!"
And what do you know, Idris Elba plays Heimdall in the upcoming Thor movie! You remember, all those racist fuckheads boohooing about a black actor playing their precious Norse god, completely ignoring facts like how it's a goddamn superhero movie about the Marvel Asgardians who are interdimensional alien things or whatever and not actual Norse gods. All in all: Idris Elba is gonna play a superhero analogue to what is possibly my favourite Norse god, fuck yeah!)
And whoa, the entire first season in one night! We were watching as Tiny's fiancé went to bed, and when he woke up six hours later we hadn't budged from the TV. "So did you lose track of time, or...?", he asked. "Nope," Tiny and I answered in unison, eyes fixed on the screen.
I realize I'm years late in observing this, but still: Man, this is quality television. Quality like I've never seen in a TV show. The way it tells stories is such a breath of fresh air, free of storytelling clichés I thought were obligatory in an American TV show. For one, I can never guess at what's going to happen, like who might die. The usual storytelling tactics just aren't there.
And it's got the, well what I mentally refer to as the 'Sherif Ali factor' (you know, like Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia - when he first appears I hate him so intensely and by the end of the movie I love his so much), where I feel so differently about the characters through the course of the story. None of the characters fit easily into a storytelling role, suddenly the hero does something inexcusable; suddenly the biggest, evilest asshole comes across as terribly sympathetic. And my views of them don't just change once, it goes all over the map.
I was toying with the idea of getting hold of season two in Bergen, but I'm pretty sure it'll be much more fun watching it with Tiny, so I'll wait. Also; Bubbles is the best.
(And as for name recognition: Every time Idris Elba (who plays Stringer Bell) popped up in the credits I went "Oooh I've heard that most excellent name before! It's got something to do with superheroes, I just know it!"
And what do you know, Idris Elba plays Heimdall in the upcoming Thor movie! You remember, all those racist fuckheads boohooing about a black actor playing their precious Norse god, completely ignoring facts like how it's a goddamn superhero movie about the Marvel Asgardians who are interdimensional alien things or whatever and not actual Norse gods. All in all: Idris Elba is gonna play a superhero analogue to what is possibly my favourite Norse god, fuck yeah!)