Proswatch Community Viewing: Klansmen

[agentxpndble]

I don't really know what to say about this one. I can't imagine why they banned it - The Klan/racist theme has been around in American television forever and I didn't see anything that was too terribly ban-worthy. In fact, it seemed like a terribly sophisticated treatment of the theme, compared to the usual American TV show of, say, the early 80s

Comments

[schnuffi]

I also think it was a good point to show that there are always good people and bad people, no matter what colour or culture. And as byslantedlight said there are lots of grey zones and our lads mainly have to pick their ways through those.

I could still kick Bodie's sorry ass most of the time (or smother him with a pillow to shut him up) but Doyle's attitude throughout the eps makes up for it. At least for me *G*

Thanks for the review!

[agentxpndble]

I think it was a brilliantly done episode - And I don't have a problem with Bodie being the character they chose to be the guy who learns something... But I think that could have been done better with a little more subtlety. That insidious, low-level, every day sort of racism that people often have is so much more...wrong. And believable. His comments at the office, the resentment about Zadi's money, etc. were all very real - It just all went over the top somehow at the hospital. That would have been more believable if it had been toned down a little.

[sc_fossil]

So in the end, is it just me who feels most of the acting was rather forced? Nobody seemed quite comfortable. Except for the kid, who had the best line about Doyle's eye being blacker than his ass. *g*

[agentxpndble]

Actually, I thought everyone did a really great job with the acting. Bodie was the only one that seemed a bit forced to me and that wasn't about Lew's acting, it was about the part he had to play - It would have been much better with some subtlety.

I've always thought first season was acted/directed/written in a really different style than the rest... Much more American 80s TV in style - Meaning, actors played their parts much more in the stage acting style and things were more spelled out for the audience. In later seasons it seemed more like we were following real guys around with a cam recorder and the characters were subtle and mundane. So, the acting in this episode might have been a little forced within the casual model of later seasons, but didn't seem stiff to me within the style of first season - My brain kind of keeps them separate and I judge episodes with that filter. At least, that's how *my* brain works. ;-)