Hot Take/ Musical Confession Thread!

BjorgenFjorgen said:
I mean, if that's the argument you're making, you couldn't say the same about how all the characters in The Wire affect McNulty? How is a show having a protagonist a criticism?
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There's a lot of truth there about McNulty

Joe Mac said:
Which is fair enough, I wasn’t arguing originally that they don’t, I just don’t think the two shows have many narrative/structural similarities at all other than that two different types of drugs in two very different settings/situations are used as backdrops on which the bigger picture story is told. A character study of an uninteresting bad man and the self perpetuating and rigged cycle of life in Baltimore.
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They're both about desperation. The settings are different
They're both about institutions screwing over the average person. Breaking Bad - healthcare, The Wire - the police, government

Walter White sucks and the glorification of him sucks, but I love that he's so whiny and desperate even tho he doesn't have to be because he truly represents the false victimization that a lot of white folk tend to portray in their daily lives and at the ballot box.
 
jaycee said:
There's a lot of truth there about McNulty



They're both about desperation. The settings are different
They're both about institutions screwing over the average person. Breaking Bad - healthcare, The Wire - the police, government

Walter White sucks and the glorification of him sucks, but I love that he's so whiny and desperate even tho he doesn't have to be because he truly represents the false victimization that a lot of white folk tend to portray in their daily lives and at the ballot box.
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Well put! I hadn’t thought of it that way. I’ll concede that. I still don’t think it’s anywhere near as ambitious in its storytelling though!

Also, I just couldn’t stand him and that made the show hard for me from the start. I just saw an egotistical narcissist inflating said ego.

That and it was a show with an annoying proclivity for big season openers and closers and a whole load of dull nothingness in the middle!
 
Waitressboy said:
Mad Men is the most overrated show ever. Is a TV show about people that talks and talks and nothing relevant or interesting happens.

Santa Clarita is ridiculous, but I think everything is on purpose. It is not trying to be something more than what it is, unlike some other shows that believe are awesome and are actually horrible (Crazy ex girlfriend).
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This is the hottest take I’ve seen yet. Someone calling Mad Men overrated while simultaneously praising Santa Clarita Diet? All with a straight face??? The sauciest of takes. Lol


As to the other topic, The Wire was exquisite. I despised Breaking Bad and was forced to watch 3 seasons with the WiFi before throwing my hands up in disgust and dropping out while she finished the series. Lol
 
I haven't really seen much glorification of Walter White in my conversations with people about the show or criticism of it. He's an anti-hero and the show is fundamentally about how his pride leads to his downfall and evolution from a "regular guy" to a villain. I think most people understand that.
 
Tyr said:
This is the hottest take I’ve seen yet. Someone calling Mad Men overrated while simultaneously praising Santa Clarita Diet? All with a straight face??? The sauciest of takes. Lol


As to the other topic, The Wire was exquisite. I despised Breaking Bad and was forced to watch 3 seasons with the WiFi before throwing my hands up in disgust and dropping out while she finished the series. Lol
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So is the consensus that Santa Clarita is awful? I just saw a huge outpouring of love for it on the Reddits and figured I'd give it a shot. Easily one of the worst shows I've ever tried to sit through.
 
Clint Howard said:
So is the consensus that Santa Clarita is awful? I just saw a huge outpouring of love for it on the Reddits and figured I'd give it a shot. Easily one of the worst shows I've ever tried to sit through.
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Yes. It is awful. And I say this as a very big Drew Barrymore fan. I cannot imagine a large portion of the population enjoying that show. Oh wait, yes I can. Haha
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
I haven't really seen much glorification of Walter White in my conversations with people about the show or criticism of it. He's an anti-hero and the show is fundamentally about how his pride leads to his downfall and evolution from a "regular guy" to a villain. I think most people understand that.
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I think it's fair to argue the show glorifies him. Part of the premise of the show is the idea that his desperation to financially take care of his family and deal with his overbearing partner, and completely impotent social life is what drives him to make bad decisions and take on the evil persona. It's the everyday man, getting trampled by his life, taking control. So even though he should be hated and is in the end, the message is he loves his family, he even loves his crime partner he abuses, and he sacrifices himself to ensure their lives aren't taken.

He's totally put forth as both a victim and savior - along with his portrayal as an evil drug lord
 
Clint Howard said:
Also, Stranger Things is not a good show. It's not a terrible show either but it's perfectly mediocre. It's a love letter to an era that the creators seem to have read a lot about but didn't actually live through.
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Here is where you and I part ways in terms of opinions. Lol. I sincerely enjoy Stranger Things and geek out over it fairly consistently. However, I am also a huge nostalgia whore (The book Ready Player One *not the movie* spoke to me on an existential level) so that is more than likely a large part of it.
 
jaycee said:
I think it's fair to argue the show glorifies him. Part of the premise of the show is the idea that his desperation to financially take care of his family and deal with his overbearing partner, and completely impotent social life is what drives him to make bad decisions and take on the evil persona. It's the everyday man, getting trampled by his life, taking control. So even though he should be hated and is in the end, the message is he loves his family, he even loves his crime partner he abuses, and he sacrifices himself to ensure their lives aren't taken.

He's totally put forth as both a victim and savior - along with his portrayal as an evil drug lord
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He is and yet the character is to me so hollow and devoid of any good at any stage in proceedings that I just assume that he was a sociopath and latent narcissist from the beginning and that life circumstances had kept it hidden.
 
Joe Mac said:
He is and yet the character is to me so hollow and devoid of any good at any stage in proceedings that I just assume that he was a sociopath and latent narcissist from the beginning and that life circumstances had kept it hidden.
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Fair assumption
 
I loved Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Started watching them when I still had cable. Finished them up on Netflix. I have never seen The Wire. Probably won’t. Not because I’m “institutionally racist” or whatever that means, but for the same reason I’ve not seen the Sopranos, or most of Game of Thrones, or any other myriad HBO shows. I don’t subscribe to HBO (don’t really have any desire to do so) and I don’t torrent or otherwise illegally acquire media I don’t pay for in a legitimate fashion. The end of the golden era of streaming and everyone keeping their content for their own streaming services is just going to lead to folks like me not watching shit, and not caring about it.
 
Chucktshoes said:
I loved Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Started watching them when I still had cable. Finished them up on Netflix. I have never seen The Wire. Probably won’t. Not because I’m “institutionally racist” or whatever that means, but for the same reason I’ve not seen the Sopranos, or most of Game of Thrones, or any other myriad HBO shows. I don’t subscribe to HBO (don’t really have any desire to do so) and I don’t torrent or otherwise illegally acquire media I don’t pay for in a legitimate fashion. The end of the golden era of streaming and everyone keeping their content for their own streaming services is just going to lead to folks like me not watching shit, and not caring about it.
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That's the same reason it took me so long to watch the Wire. You could see if your local library has it on DVD.
 
jaycee said:
I think it's fair to argue the show glorifies him. Part of the premise of the show is the idea that his desperation to financially take care of his family and deal with his overbearing partner, and completely impotent social life is what drives him to make bad decisions and take on the evil persona. It's the everyday man, getting trampled by his life, taking control. So even though he should be hated and is in the end, the message is he loves his family, he even loves his crime partner he abuses, and he sacrifices himself to ensure their lives aren't taken.

He's totally put forth as both a victim and savior - along with his portrayal as an evil drug lord
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I disagree. I think this is only true in the beginning, perhaps even only the first season and a major theme of the rest of the show is how he could have gotten out and chooses "bad" over everything else in his life, over and over again. I think anyone who glorifies him, especially after the end of the show is fucked and missed the point. (Yes, I know there are plenty of people who do).
 
Tyr said:
Here is where you and I part ways in terms of opinions. Lol. I sincerely enjoy Stranger Things and geek out over it fairly consistently. However, I am also a huge nostalgia whore (The book Ready Player One *not the movie* spoke to me on an existential level) so that is more than likely a large part of it.
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Were you born in the mid to late 80s or later? I feel like that's who the show was designed for.. people who just aren't quite old enough to actually have been cognisant when the show took place.
 
Chucktshoes said:
I loved Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Started watching them when I still had cable. Finished them up on Netflix. I have never seen The Wire. Probably won’t. Not because I’m “institutionally racist” or whatever that means, but for the same reason I’ve not seen the Sopranos, or most of Game of Thrones, or any other myriad HBO shows. I don’t subscribe to HBO (don’t really have any desire to do so) and I don’t torrent or otherwise illegally acquire media I don’t pay for in a legitimate fashion. The end of the golden era of streaming and everyone keeping their content for their own streaming services is just going to lead to folks like me not watching shit, and not caring about it.
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Even if you don't want to watch the old ones (you should), HBO has so many good shows. It's pretty awesome now that you can add it to other services easily for like $10 a month (or get a password from a friend. You're missing out on some really great shows. But, there are plenty of good ones elsewhere too.
 
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