Normal People
Just finished watching the BBC show "Normal People". Hm. Wow.
I don't usually watch shows, but this one caught my eye. Probably because there was like, a lot of advertising for it. I found this show mentioned twice on Facebook, the first time being, I'm pretty sure it was like a month ago. I just looked it up and it came out this April, April 26th to be specific. So yeah I guess it was out a lot more recently than I thought it was.
So I was watching this show, and I was up until the 8th episode and already I had a whole lot of stuff I wanted to say about the show. But I was like, I have to watch the whole thing before I try and say anything. At least then I won't be talking about anything partially. So I watched 4 episodes today lol. Anyways, let's dive into it. Don't really know how it'll be structured, I haven't even thought about that, so I think I'll just kind of dive in the same way I do with a lot of these "reviews" now, which is just talk about what I thought was interesting.
It's overall very interesting that the show seems like it swings through a lot of different, scenarios, concepts, and what not, but the same "issues" I guess, still seem to just like, silently yet boldly permeate throughout all the episodes. And for me I think it was this idea of, feelings and communication.
Lol also I just thought of this point, thought I would mention it early, but it was interesting to read, after watching the first two episodes and then going on Twitter to see what everyone else was saying about the show, to hear how "relatable" it was. And I was like damn, so you guys find it relatable to watch a love story between two people who barely talk in high school, but click so well in bed? Like that's happened to you guys before? Fortunately I realized what (at least what I think) they really meant, which again, I think comes down to feelings and communication.
It's just this real, strong feeling of, being in a relationship is really hard. And I thought the show really dug well into it. Not through cheap drama and cheating on each other, but this genuine sense of, this confusion surrounding what I really want, what you really want, what we wanted from a relationship, just that sort of thing.
Hm, so where to start so that all these points I'm thinking about kind of, cohesively come together...
So I think to talk about the major parts, what stood out is this sort of, major flaw of sorts in each of the main characters. Connell has a hard time sharing his feelings and disappointments (having a hard time in college, getting rejected from his work being published early on, etc), which I feel like a lot of dudes can relate to. I mean I definitely can. And I see dudes like Connell everywhere. And then on the other hand, Marianne grew up in a household with not a lot of love. Mom's trying somewhat but feels stressed out from her work. Brother's just a huge douche, though kind of sort of understandably, for the reason the mom explained, which I think was something like their dad died and so brother had to settle for a job in Sligo, or something like that. But so brother says mean shit to Marianne like you're worthless and you're better off dead. And it kind of, materialized in her personality as insecurities she shares with Connell ("you must like other girls at school who are prettier", "I don't think a lot of people like me", etc...), as well as her fetishizing being hurt and being told really crude shit.
And I thought what the show really did well was to explore those core concepts really deeply. I hear a lot about "character growth" or whatever when I hear drama kids, or not even drama kids, just kids that watch a lot of shows, say. I mean what can I say, the other shows I watched were Workaholics, Always Sunny and Community, which just completely bypasses that shit lol. But anyways, when I was watching the show, I felt like, yeah there is this real sense of growth. This sense of, just really good writing here where these characters come back to these issues over and over again, having learnt something new each time (at least almost each time), but then hitting a new block. Progress, instant stagnation, frustration, anger, and then another step of growth. It felt, really real.
I guess to give a concrete example of this definitely comes back to the sex. Maybe because it's fresh on my mind, but the way in episode 11 they have sex again after all those years, but then they have to stop because Marianne says she wants Connell to hurt her but he says he can't. Then has some poor word choice, says something about it being "weird", which freaks Marianne out. So there was this mature step of being, cautious about sex sometimes making things complicated between them, but they were able to kind of relax into the idea that it was what both of them wanted. But then the next "block" of sort comes in, Marianne wants Connell to hurt her, and then they have to kind of come to terms with it, or like, process where that fits into this intimate relationship. And that felt like, yeah, that felt like growth. Or at least this very real sense of what growth feels like.
And in this similar way, and I felt that this was dug a little deeper in the show, but Connell's frequent unwillingness to open up came back to bite him a bunch of times. I mean like the part where he could've just asked Marianne if he could stay with her for the summer. Or how he didn't share that his work wasn't accepted that one time. Or just the way he talked with Helen after the funeral. There's just something, very distant about Connell. And it was portrayed beautifully.
But then I thought what gave Connell more depth in this kind of satisfying way for me, or at least in a way I felt I yearned for from a character as distant as he can be, was the therapist scene. And honestly when I initially came to that point, I was like ugh, not a fucking therapist scene. Mostly because I was watching 13 Reasons Why with my brother the other day for no reason other than to just trash on the 4th season, just us assuming it was gonna be terrible and just watching to verify. And it kind of was, and the therapist scenes were really weird. I don't really remember much from the 13RW therapist scenes, except that the therapist talked too much and was like, just so extra. In a way that I didn't feel was like, very professional, as a therapist. Agitating Clay just so he could make a point about something? Like that's all I remember, and already it was like, fuck, what the fuck is this show.
So anyways, compared to that I thought Normal People used the therapist very well. And also for that matter, the death of a close one very well, compared to 13RW. God I don't even know why I'm comparing anything to 13RW, that show just pumps drama out for no reason and makes me irrationally angry watching it. But what I liked about the whole sequence was that, in a real sense I learned about what Connell was actually feeling. Like the sequence made sense. Of course Rob's death was hard for you, when you felt so alone and not yourself in Dublin, feeling like you lost part of your home, where you came from, when you lost him. The counsellor just asked about feelings and sat back to have Connell explain, and it felt professional, and it felt true. And it was just really nice, nice to know Connell, that he actually, at least part of him, hated Dublin and he wished he could go back home. That he wanted a new life but he didn't feel like it was quite going the way he wanted it to. All these very real things, that he had never brought up but felt super familiar. It felt real. And it really felt like for me, I was beginning to understand Connell as this actual person.
So yeah, sitting back in this chair and thinking, yeah I came to this show for the real hot intimate scenes, but definitely stayed for the character development.
Also the subtle ways the characters changed language towards the end of the show. Talking about feelings, being more open, but also knowing when to give each other space, things like that. Kind of got this real mature feeling of knowing when to express emotions and knowing when to sit on them. This peace and confidence from each character knowing that things would be all right even when things were kind of, all over the place, even at the end. It's beautiful. Man if I were in a relationship that's everything I want and more. Are Connell and Marianne perfect? No, they're still like, themselves, but feel more free about conversing, trusting. It's beautiful.
So those are pretty much the big remarks I had about the story. I'm sure I'll get to some other parts later on when I'm doing something else and think about it inexplicably. And now I'm sitting here kind of, reluctantly thinking to myself the old fart of a question, what did I learn from this? Man, fuck if I know. I wish I can find a girl like Marianne. Or shit even Helen. She honestly seemed like a sweet girl. Yeah I don't know, I just don't feel like writing some sort of grand conclusion that I'll forget about like 5 seconds after I write it. I just feel like their faces are going to be popping up in my head sometime. When I get into a difficult situation with a girl, or shit even a guy, like anyone. And just probably to ask myself, what can I do? What do I want? Is now the time to fight for what I want? Is now the time to think about it? Can I trust that I know what I want to do? Can I trust that the other person trusts me? So yeah, more questions. But maybe they're more helpful than so-called answers.
Alright I'm kind of feeling, like I released what I needed to release. Feel like I came, emotionally lol. Had to write something about this show so here it is. What a great show. I loved it. At times had some real unnecessary drama (why bring Jamie and Connell to the same summer house, wtf Marianne? what did you think was gonna happen?). But other than that, beautiful story. I really have to try and read the book, or at least a synopsis, to see how close they are to each other. But yeah, beautiful. BBC you've done it again. Sold watch, def recommend.
I don't usually watch shows, but this one caught my eye. Probably because there was like, a lot of advertising for it. I found this show mentioned twice on Facebook, the first time being, I'm pretty sure it was like a month ago. I just looked it up and it came out this April, April 26th to be specific. So yeah I guess it was out a lot more recently than I thought it was.
So I was watching this show, and I was up until the 8th episode and already I had a whole lot of stuff I wanted to say about the show. But I was like, I have to watch the whole thing before I try and say anything. At least then I won't be talking about anything partially. So I watched 4 episodes today lol. Anyways, let's dive into it. Don't really know how it'll be structured, I haven't even thought about that, so I think I'll just kind of dive in the same way I do with a lot of these "reviews" now, which is just talk about what I thought was interesting.
It's overall very interesting that the show seems like it swings through a lot of different, scenarios, concepts, and what not, but the same "issues" I guess, still seem to just like, silently yet boldly permeate throughout all the episodes. And for me I think it was this idea of, feelings and communication.
Lol also I just thought of this point, thought I would mention it early, but it was interesting to read, after watching the first two episodes and then going on Twitter to see what everyone else was saying about the show, to hear how "relatable" it was. And I was like damn, so you guys find it relatable to watch a love story between two people who barely talk in high school, but click so well in bed? Like that's happened to you guys before? Fortunately I realized what (at least what I think) they really meant, which again, I think comes down to feelings and communication.
It's just this real, strong feeling of, being in a relationship is really hard. And I thought the show really dug well into it. Not through cheap drama and cheating on each other, but this genuine sense of, this confusion surrounding what I really want, what you really want, what we wanted from a relationship, just that sort of thing.
Hm, so where to start so that all these points I'm thinking about kind of, cohesively come together...
So I think to talk about the major parts, what stood out is this sort of, major flaw of sorts in each of the main characters. Connell has a hard time sharing his feelings and disappointments (having a hard time in college, getting rejected from his work being published early on, etc), which I feel like a lot of dudes can relate to. I mean I definitely can. And I see dudes like Connell everywhere. And then on the other hand, Marianne grew up in a household with not a lot of love. Mom's trying somewhat but feels stressed out from her work. Brother's just a huge douche, though kind of sort of understandably, for the reason the mom explained, which I think was something like their dad died and so brother had to settle for a job in Sligo, or something like that. But so brother says mean shit to Marianne like you're worthless and you're better off dead. And it kind of, materialized in her personality as insecurities she shares with Connell ("you must like other girls at school who are prettier", "I don't think a lot of people like me", etc...), as well as her fetishizing being hurt and being told really crude shit.
And I thought what the show really did well was to explore those core concepts really deeply. I hear a lot about "character growth" or whatever when I hear drama kids, or not even drama kids, just kids that watch a lot of shows, say. I mean what can I say, the other shows I watched were Workaholics, Always Sunny and Community, which just completely bypasses that shit lol. But anyways, when I was watching the show, I felt like, yeah there is this real sense of growth. This sense of, just really good writing here where these characters come back to these issues over and over again, having learnt something new each time (at least almost each time), but then hitting a new block. Progress, instant stagnation, frustration, anger, and then another step of growth. It felt, really real.
I guess to give a concrete example of this definitely comes back to the sex. Maybe because it's fresh on my mind, but the way in episode 11 they have sex again after all those years, but then they have to stop because Marianne says she wants Connell to hurt her but he says he can't. Then has some poor word choice, says something about it being "weird", which freaks Marianne out. So there was this mature step of being, cautious about sex sometimes making things complicated between them, but they were able to kind of relax into the idea that it was what both of them wanted. But then the next "block" of sort comes in, Marianne wants Connell to hurt her, and then they have to kind of come to terms with it, or like, process where that fits into this intimate relationship. And that felt like, yeah, that felt like growth. Or at least this very real sense of what growth feels like.
And in this similar way, and I felt that this was dug a little deeper in the show, but Connell's frequent unwillingness to open up came back to bite him a bunch of times. I mean like the part where he could've just asked Marianne if he could stay with her for the summer. Or how he didn't share that his work wasn't accepted that one time. Or just the way he talked with Helen after the funeral. There's just something, very distant about Connell. And it was portrayed beautifully.
But then I thought what gave Connell more depth in this kind of satisfying way for me, or at least in a way I felt I yearned for from a character as distant as he can be, was the therapist scene. And honestly when I initially came to that point, I was like ugh, not a fucking therapist scene. Mostly because I was watching 13 Reasons Why with my brother the other day for no reason other than to just trash on the 4th season, just us assuming it was gonna be terrible and just watching to verify. And it kind of was, and the therapist scenes were really weird. I don't really remember much from the 13RW therapist scenes, except that the therapist talked too much and was like, just so extra. In a way that I didn't feel was like, very professional, as a therapist. Agitating Clay just so he could make a point about something? Like that's all I remember, and already it was like, fuck, what the fuck is this show.
So anyways, compared to that I thought Normal People used the therapist very well. And also for that matter, the death of a close one very well, compared to 13RW. God I don't even know why I'm comparing anything to 13RW, that show just pumps drama out for no reason and makes me irrationally angry watching it. But what I liked about the whole sequence was that, in a real sense I learned about what Connell was actually feeling. Like the sequence made sense. Of course Rob's death was hard for you, when you felt so alone and not yourself in Dublin, feeling like you lost part of your home, where you came from, when you lost him. The counsellor just asked about feelings and sat back to have Connell explain, and it felt professional, and it felt true. And it was just really nice, nice to know Connell, that he actually, at least part of him, hated Dublin and he wished he could go back home. That he wanted a new life but he didn't feel like it was quite going the way he wanted it to. All these very real things, that he had never brought up but felt super familiar. It felt real. And it really felt like for me, I was beginning to understand Connell as this actual person.
So yeah, sitting back in this chair and thinking, yeah I came to this show for the real hot intimate scenes, but definitely stayed for the character development.
Also the subtle ways the characters changed language towards the end of the show. Talking about feelings, being more open, but also knowing when to give each other space, things like that. Kind of got this real mature feeling of knowing when to express emotions and knowing when to sit on them. This peace and confidence from each character knowing that things would be all right even when things were kind of, all over the place, even at the end. It's beautiful. Man if I were in a relationship that's everything I want and more. Are Connell and Marianne perfect? No, they're still like, themselves, but feel more free about conversing, trusting. It's beautiful.
So those are pretty much the big remarks I had about the story. I'm sure I'll get to some other parts later on when I'm doing something else and think about it inexplicably. And now I'm sitting here kind of, reluctantly thinking to myself the old fart of a question, what did I learn from this? Man, fuck if I know. I wish I can find a girl like Marianne. Or shit even Helen. She honestly seemed like a sweet girl. Yeah I don't know, I just don't feel like writing some sort of grand conclusion that I'll forget about like 5 seconds after I write it. I just feel like their faces are going to be popping up in my head sometime. When I get into a difficult situation with a girl, or shit even a guy, like anyone. And just probably to ask myself, what can I do? What do I want? Is now the time to fight for what I want? Is now the time to think about it? Can I trust that I know what I want to do? Can I trust that the other person trusts me? So yeah, more questions. But maybe they're more helpful than so-called answers.
Alright I'm kind of feeling, like I released what I needed to release. Feel like I came, emotionally lol. Had to write something about this show so here it is. What a great show. I loved it. At times had some real unnecessary drama (why bring Jamie and Connell to the same summer house, wtf Marianne? what did you think was gonna happen?). But other than that, beautiful story. I really have to try and read the book, or at least a synopsis, to see how close they are to each other. But yeah, beautiful. BBC you've done it again. Sold watch, def recommend.
Comments
Post a Comment