You guys know me from a political, science, and just general news type of stuff. Well, I love Film/TV. Not all of it. I am a very big stickler about stuff. Other than documentaries, I really enjoy more daring and different stuff. For example, All in the Family was very daring writing. I love Quantum Leap because it is like mental foreplay. However, the dramas where the cop/FBI agent is just running around and busting people bores me. Then there is Fringe. Ok so basically, I'm saying I'm a big time gay geek stoner. I enjoy stuff that makes you think, even in my comedy. That being said I prefer character driven scripts as well. The complex social dynamic that is so rich that you could remove the scenery altogether almost and still have a great production. That is why I am a mega huge Lost fan.
Tonight V came on tv. I had only just heard about it like 2 days ago, so I didn't have time to watch the original show. I think its from the 70's. I wanted to give my take on it because I live for this like Lindsay Lohan lives for meth. Tasteless joke, I know. I'm going to assume you've seen trailers for this at least, the show obviously has a giant budget. Here we go.
This show has misjudged humanity. Being that I am from and never left a western culture, I can only speak from this perspective. Aliens come to earth and flash a uniquely beautiful leader to us and the majority of our public approaches them with open arms? I'm not even talking about our government's reaction - that is another show altogether. Can you imagine the fucked up stuff that would have happened if this were real? If you looked at their space ship, from directly above in near-space, you would see mass evacuation spreading around the ship in every direction. It would be like the ripple spreading through water if you dropped a rock in it. Who knows maybe the aliens have some kind of anti-fear weapon/non-weapon they dispersed in the air... The show only just began. I just don't think this was very good writing. It is however a teeny tiny part of the show.
Another thing that hit me in a big way was the church's reaction. I said no spoilers, so I'm not going to say what it is, but it is safe to say that it was completely wrong. The polar opposite in fact. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because maybe there is a reason they framed this stuff in such a way. There was also a part where they required a consent form be signed at one point, as if they cared about our laws. They've made it look like they came to earth because they needed to refuel basically. You're telling me that they learned our law that quickly, to have come up with paperwork? Seriously, that part really really irked me.
No more hater-aid. I really enjoyed it. The lead is my second favorite character from Lost, which actually scares me because she is still on Lost. I do not want her to leave in the last season. My guess is they've filmed around her schedule in Hawaii. Those "what if" questions and hypotheticals that run through your mind are awesome. It seems that these mega producers who are doing the contemporary drama have found the perfect formula. If you make the actual story about the characters while letting the audience think the real show is about something else (Lost, Fringe, likely V), then you are half way to a hit show. Then add in nuance. You cannot truly know your characters. Nothing is black and white. You can never tell who the good guy is or who the bad guy is.... Throw in a splash of sci-fi and you might as well start walking to the bank.
Specifically the way they approached the aliens coming to earth part, was very good. I think it could have been a lot more dramatic and it should have been. They should have shown more of how that effected society in the immediate aftermath. I loved seeing the plane fall out of the sky and the parachuter - although I can't for the life of me figure out why he died. That isn't really a spoiler at all. I promise. The effects they spent the whole episode exploring were secondary. They also managed to get a little bit of background in there too. Most people would have left that for the second episode, but I'm glad they included a little bit here.
I predict this show will be a giant success. It mirrors what is going on in our country right now almost. We have a lot of paranoid crazy right wing republicans who are going to start thinking this is what the Obama administration is. If you haven't seen the show then you probably scoff at that idea. However, the story of these aliens isn't new at all. We've probably all heard the stories - again you have to see the full show first to understand. So there will be a load of right wingers watching then all the left wingers who appreciate intelligent writing. It will be shot like lost where the story is actually character-centric like I said before, always leave with cliff hangers, and never give you closure.
Did you guys watch it? Do you plan on watching it? What do you think? Are you Lost or Fringe fans? If you're Lost fans, I think we should discuss the episodes after they air when it comes back on. I'm that kind of geek.
This show will not be posted online until Saturday, November 7th. So I can't put an embedded player in this post. Seriously, tv stations need to get with the times here. That is another extremely long winded discussion though. Here are the first 8 minutes, which has been released. What the fuck is the point of putting the opening segment up but not the whole damn episode? I don't know. This shows the full initial reaction to aliens hovering over NYC and airing a message to the public.
