TV Shows! There’s Too Many of Them!

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Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Golden Age of TV, Master of None, Netflix, Netflix and Chill, Salem TV Series, streaming TV, television, The Man in the High Castle, TV, TV Shows

Hee-hee! I just had to say that!

But really, there are a lot of great TV shows out there and I’ve watched a few programs I hadn’t seen before in recent months. So, with my favorite shows not yet airing their latest seasons (Game of Thrones, House of Cards, The Americans, etc.), I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the other shows I’ve watched:

BREAKING BAD:
I finally jumped on the bandwagon and decided to see what was so awesome about this show. Early on, I could clearly see why. Excellent acting, great storyline, a lot of suspense and tension, plus amazing characters whether they were likable or not. Like many who watched this show before me, I became addicted to this show, though there were times when it got too much and I had to take a break from it. I have to admit Walter White’s arrogance started to get to me around the time he began working for Gus. It made sense why he became a meth cook, but his ruthlessness came to the surface early on, and sometimes I had to wait a few weeks to watch the show again. I knew he died at the end of the series, and I wanted to see how.

But boy, during the last season, I wanted to kill White myself. This guy became pure evil by then, and I found it intolerable. I’m still haunted by those episodes, two months after watching them. I guess a lot of people are, based on what others say when I bring up the show to them.

Overall, though, it was a great show. It really asked the question about what people would do in certain situations, and it captured the human reaction to difficult moments. Sure, there were some truly evil people on this show, but there were also truly human people here. Meaning, there was no right and wrong to what most of the characters did; they were just stuck in difficult situations and trying their best.

SALEM:
I only saw the first season of this (I believe) Canadian show on Netflix, but I am hooked! It’s a fictional take on the Salem witch trials – only this time, witchcraft is real here! And by witchcraft, I mean, satanic worship. This may offend some people who call themselves witches in the neo-pagan sense. I don’t know if the show got the two confused, but all I can say, it is an interesting take on the historical elements on this fascinating moment in American history.

The one thing that I didn’t like was the opening credits. Marilyn Manson sings the show’s theme song, and I feel his heavy rock sound does not mix well with this historical drama. I mean, the show is about the 1600s, and here’s this loud, rock music setting up the show. It just doesn’t fit to me.

But anyway, the show has good acting and a juicy storyline with a lot of twists and turns. The costumes are awesome too. There’s a few scenes that I couldn’t watch because they involved either too much blood or a large tarantula. But I am eager to see more episodes to a show I already consider one of my favorites.

MASTER OF NONE:
Another show I’m glad to say is one I will be looking forward to see in the future, mainly because this is a comedy. After finishing Breaking Bad on Netflix, I needed something lighthearted and funny, so I chose this. Thankfully, I did because I had a good laugh for its whole 10 episodes! I like how Aziz Ansari captures the confusion of trying to be an adult when you’re in your early 30s – living in New York, no less. It was also good to tackle the issue of racism towards Indians in Hollywood and elsewhere in America. This is definitely a show I’ll be looking forward to see more episodes from.

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE:
I barely watched this show. OK, I saw three or four episodes. But I couldn’t continue. Not that its bad, because it isn’t. It asked its question of what would the world be like if the Nazis and the Japanese won WWII, which I am sure many people wonder. Well, the answer is, a lot of people are being ruthlessly killed. I mean, the Holocaust is still ongoing. It just got too depressing for me to continue watching. It is a good show with good acting and a fascinating plot. But the way life in America under the Nazis and the Japanese was too overwhelmingly sad for me. Maybe another time I’ll watch it, when I am ready to brace the depressing world, but not now.

Right now, I am watching Downton Abbey again. I stopped watching during Season 3 because I didn’t think I could handle all the character deaths. But after all the other shows I’ve been watching, I think I could handle it now 😉

 

Why the Hate for Fictional Characters?

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books, Breaking Bad, fiction, fictional characters, haters suck, hating

I came across this NY Times op-ed by actress Anna Gunn, who plays Skyler on the popular show, “Breaking Bad”. She talked about the immense hatred many viewers have for her character. So much so, they even start Facebook groups voicing their hatred for Skyler.

Yikes. I think that’s going a little too far. In fact, very far. We’ve all read books or watched shows with characters we’ve despised – I myself have – but is having so much anger toward a fictitious person who does not exist in real life a good idea?

Sometimes when I browse Goodreads and Amazon, I am surprised when I see such venom for certain characters. I consider Pearl S. Buck’s “The Good Earth” to be one of my all-time favorites. Yes, I despised the main character, Wang Lung, halfway through the book like many others. But it didn’t stir vile hatred in me. He’s fictitious, he’s not real. I have never let him ruin my day.

I once saw a discussion like this on an author’s blog. One commenter mentioned that we seem to hold fictional characters to higher standard than real-life, everyday people. Whether it is at work, at school, with neighbors or in-laws, we all deal with people who are hypocrites, annoying, rude, idiotic and many other flaws. But if we read books – or watch TV or movies – that have characters with such flaws, we seem to hate them more. Its as if we can’t shrug off what a fake person does, but we accept what a real person does.

It may be because there is no consequence. If we hate a character in a book, we can toss it aside and never deal with that person again. In real life, we could get fired, sued, suspended, or just cause tons of drama, if we did anything to express our frustration toward such a person.

But I am still baffled that there are thousands liking a Facebook page dedicated to bashing a fictional character. Especially when that character is neither good nor bad. I could see liking a Facebook group bashing King Joffrey of “Game of Thrones”. But anyone else? I don’t get it. We’re all flawed, and we don’t all handle drama or crises perfectly. Nothing is all black and white, and there’s a lot of room for gray.

That probably is why such outrage happens. When it comes to fiction, readers can get black and white. There’s no rule to reading and everyone has their own experience with each book, much like we all have our own fingerprints.

But I still think there’s more to life than hating on someone who only exists in the realm of fiction.

Author Victoria Grefer is currently discussing this issue on her blog, and she has some great theories of her own! Check out these two posts:

• Why Readers Cut Real People More Slack Than Characters (Who Don’t Exist)
• We See Ourselves In Characters: Is That Why We Judge Them So Harshly?