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[eilowyn]

I was reading this excellent article about how something as well-done as Friday Night Lights could be so completely trounced in the ratings by the thematically, if not presentationally, similar Glee. The gist of the author's point is that Glee feeds into our narcissism and need to be the winner, the center of the spotlight, while the more subdued

Comments

[blackfrancine]

Yep. I agree completely. Even though I've never seen Friday Night Lights, so that part goes over my head. But I totally agree on the inherent narcissism of teenagers, and how the show manages to capture that (while still having the characters be selfless and brave and good). And it's interesting to watch the stages of that progress. It's like it reaches a pinnacle in season 4--much like it does in many people's young adulthood (because you have the freedom and agency of adulthood and are still saddled with the worldview and id of a teenager), and then in season 5 it crashes away almost completely--ultimately leading Buffy to sacrifice everything for others. And it never goes back.

and the characters find out life is a game you don't win, you just have to keep on playing.

Word. That's so well put. That's exactly the lesson of 6 and 7.

[eilowyn]

I totally recommend Friday Night Lights if you enjoy well-done, realistic drama and have a kink for happily married couples (like Lauren and I do). And I was hoping I wasn't coming across as saying the characters in the early seasons couldn't be selfless and brave and good while still being petty and selfish and narcissistic as all teenagers are. Very good point about college life - you have the freedom of an adult without the pressures of adulthood, which is why misbehavior in college is so prevalent.

[ever_neutral]

HAHA I APPROVE OF THIS POST.

and lol, this explains why I've always been incredibly mehhhh about the high school era.

[eilowyn]

YES! REAL WORLD PRESSURES FOR REALISTIC DRAMA FTW!

[rebcake]

Hmmm. Well, I also never watched Friday Night Lights, even though it got good reviews and people I like recommended it. Why? Because it presents itself as being about sports. Glee presents itself as being about art, specifically performing art. I tell myself that I care more about art than sport because it's more cooperative, less competitive. However, team sports require cooperation, and arts can be competitive. At my kid's art high school, they don't have Friday night football, they have Shakespeare competitions.

I still find art more satisfying and constructive than sport, although sport can be an amazingly beautiful spectacle. I know that Glee isn't perfect, but I'm kind of, well, gleeful that a show about a high school choir can be more popular than a show about a high school football team. My drama nerd bias is no doubt showing.

Of course, I like ALL the seasons of Buffy...

[penny_lane_42]

The coolest thing about FNL is that you can love it even if you rabidly hate sports and/or don't understand them, but if you love/understand them it takes on a whole new level of nuance.

Honestly, I don't care a thing about sports, but I love the show. Love. It's seriously the most realistic show I have ever seen in my life. Plus: best marriage in the history of television.

[eowyn_315]

Heh, the funny thing is, I should probably feel like that, since I was a drama/music kid in high school and have little to no interest in sports. And yet... FNL utterly amazes me, while Glee was a huge disappointment. And that sense of gritty realism is a big part of why. I am so invested in the lives of these characters and especially the Taylors' marriage. Their joy is uplifting and their despair absolutely breaks my heart. Their after-school activities matter much less than their painfully realistic conflicts and emotional struggles

[eilowyn]

I heard this phrase about another show, but it fits very well here: Friday Night Lights is about sports the way Baywatch is about water safety. It's only a cover to explore human relationships, the joys and trials of small-town America, how to make a marriage work, etc.

I'm not one for sports, and was involved in the arts all through high school, so I can understand where you're coming from. I just wouldn't discount Friday Night Lights because it's about sports, and while Glee does have lots of flashy musical numbers, it has terribly inconsistent characterization, overly melodramatic storylines, and a character that is clearly a Mary Sue for the creators to live out their ideal high school experience. It doesn't deserve all the praise it gets, and while I still watch it for the musical numbers (a common phrase I've heard among television connoisseurs), the storylines become less and less endearing as each episode airs.

[penny_lane_42]

I have nothing to say other than: this is an excellent post and I like it a lot.

[eilowyn]

I figured you would. I was thinking of you and eowyn_315 while I wrote it.

[ceciliaj]

Veeeeery interesting! I don't watch Glee or FNL, but I definitely agree with the overall trajectory you're drawing out here. It's funny how it affects viewer responses, too -- I tend to think that people who are too judgmental of characters in the later seasons have often just not, er, been through a lot themselves? I mean, we all have the answer to everything when we're 19 (not nec. as the chronological age, but that season 4 narcissistic height mentioned by blackfrancine.

[eilowyn]

It's funny how it affects viewer responses, too -- I tend to think that people who are too judgmental of characters in the later seasons have often just not, er, been through a lot themselves?

I agree. A lot of the people I know who love season 6 are all people who have experienced some sort of mental or physical illness. My therapist put it rather bluntly: people who haven't had to overcome traumatic life experiences usually aren't as deep as those who have, and I think that's a factor in appreciating the later seasons. Yes, season 7's big bad is a hot mess of inconsistency, and yes, season 6 can be depressing, but if you can accept the seasons for what they are, I believe it shows a depth that the early seasons just don't have.

[rebcake]

I continue to find Season 5 far more dark and depressing than Season 6. My 15-year-old seems to feel the same way. She will only rewatch carefully selected S5 eps, as the rest are such downers, according to her.

S6 may be about depression, but S5 is about death, a far more difficult and permanent (in most cases) problem.