Just when I was thinking I might give my telly away in despair, two good tv programmes appear on the horizon.
1. Misfits, series 2.
I suspect that Misfits was targeted at people a whole lot younger than me. But I really, really enjoyed it. The premise was a load of anti-social teenagers on community service get hit by lightning and find themselves with super-powers. It was so witty, so tongue in cheek and dark, and I got really fond of the characters - foxy Alisha, thoughtful Curtis, mouthy Nathan, and especially chav with a heart of gold Kelly and heartbreaking geek Simon. Plot, character, good writing, good acting - not to be sneezed at. Also (it is easy to impress old bags like me) I liked the way the characters had their own Flickr and Twitter streams, updated whilst the programme was on. It was just a playful extra layer of the diegesis.
2. Any Human Heart
One of my favourite books, by William Boyd, is being made into a drama on Channel 4 with a dream team A list cast. Let's hope they don't mess it up.
* Look! free tickets to a screening with a Q&A afterwards with William Boyd. Rah!
About pretension
1 week ago
Playful Extra Layer Of The Diegesis dissolves into Zeitgeisty Gimmick so that you can’t see the join.
ReplyDeleteI know, I know, it was cheesy, but somehow it worked. Imagine if you were a little kid watching Doctor Who, and you could talk to a Dalek on Twitter. It just brings the characters alive & gives them another dimension. And you could see they were having fun with it too.
ReplyDeleteOh, I’ve got no problem with gimmicks, so long as they know they’re gimmicks. The scary thing is, in five years, a Twitter stream will probably be terribly old hat. Like blogging... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoyed Misfits, much to my complete surprise. I am glued to it. It's a guilty pleasure now.
ReplyDelete