Oh man! Look at those cavemen go...
Have you read the lyrics to a certain Bowie song recently? Pretty loaded stuff if you're already hooked on the Beeb's new show.
The second episode of Life on Mars was good... not quite as good as the first one, but it played up the comedy rather well. That said the Guantanamo Bay gag fell so flat that it was stunning. I'm not mad keen on the way the events happening to the comatose Tyler have a knock on effect in 1973. I like the odd radio picking up a voice, but the lights out in the hospital* was too much as it's making the setting less real for the viewer as well as the protagonist. Besides which I prefer having multiple theories of why an event has happened (something they played to the max in say Shaun of the Dead) rather than the cut and dried answer that the writers are giving us here. And the test card girl was just silly. What next... midnight visits by a Womble?
The tiny flashbacks to the small feet and woman in red rushing through the woods... not so good either. I'm guessing that three year old Sam witnessed some kind of trauma as a nipper and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the boys in blue circa 1973 sorted it out - that's why he joined the force and that's why he's stuck where he is now. Maybe. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the final revelation is Hunt being a badass in front of toddler Sam while Annie gently leads him away by the hand. We'll see.
One thing that is bothering me more than anything else is the lack of racism. Let me rephrase that. I'm more bothered by the easy use of sexism, but not by the characters as much as the writers. Last night's episode had one scene with breast gags aplenty that were not out of place given the setting - watch a British TV show made in the seventies for prime time and you'll see the same and worse. BUT it's becoming obvious that the writers are more at home with this kind of thing than the racism which should be going hand in hand. Again watch an old episode of Man About The House and right along with the chesty comments you'll get a gag about 'blacking ' up (or as in the case of a recent repeat I saw a line about Pele "whiting up" - mind boggling stuff).
Maybe the writers think the viewers will be more acceptable of tit jokes than jungle bunny jibes, but I guarantee that kind of shit would be flying around. I was only one year old in 1973, but by the time I was up and walking Lancashire was a xenophobe's paradise. So far we've had a lot of Carry-On style humour and a fairly typical reaction to the deaf character in last night's episode (I have a deaf uncle and he was treated much worse than that every day of his life), but it seems very 2005 to avoid the racial slurs that would have simply been seen as no big deal - part and parcel of life at the time.
So far the only featured black character has managed to avoid any of this despite running the boozer frequented by the coppers. It may be he's deemed as part of their circle, but it wouldn't stop some 'friendly' gags at his expense (and I can't help wondering if his character is based on the bartender in the final episode of Quantum Leap).
Not that I expect a show that goes out at 9pm on BBC1 to be Deadwood, but perhaps it says a lot that it's somehow easier to accept the regular "fanny" references than it is something deemed 'more' offensive. Perhaps deep down we're not supposed to treat sexism as as big a problem as racism?
Early days yet though...
* I wonder if the girl in the 1973 coma is running around in 1940 wondering where all the lava lamps have gone
[Music: off]
The second episode of Life on Mars was good... not quite as good as the first one, but it played up the comedy rather well. That said the Guantanamo Bay gag fell so flat that it was stunning. I'm not mad keen on the way the events happening to the comatose Tyler have a knock on effect in 1973. I like the odd radio picking up a voice, but the lights out in the hospital* was too much as it's making the setting less real for the viewer as well as the protagonist. Besides which I prefer having multiple theories of why an event has happened (something they played to the max in say Shaun of the Dead) rather than the cut and dried answer that the writers are giving us here. And the test card girl was just silly. What next... midnight visits by a Womble?
The tiny flashbacks to the small feet and woman in red rushing through the woods... not so good either. I'm guessing that three year old Sam witnessed some kind of trauma as a nipper and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the boys in blue circa 1973 sorted it out - that's why he joined the force and that's why he's stuck where he is now. Maybe. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the final revelation is Hunt being a badass in front of toddler Sam while Annie gently leads him away by the hand. We'll see.
One thing that is bothering me more than anything else is the lack of racism. Let me rephrase that. I'm more bothered by the easy use of sexism, but not by the characters as much as the writers. Last night's episode had one scene with breast gags aplenty that were not out of place given the setting - watch a British TV show made in the seventies for prime time and you'll see the same and worse. BUT it's becoming obvious that the writers are more at home with this kind of thing than the racism which should be going hand in hand. Again watch an old episode of Man About The House and right along with the chesty comments you'll get a gag about 'blacking ' up (or as in the case of a recent repeat I saw a line about Pele "whiting up" - mind boggling stuff).
Maybe the writers think the viewers will be more acceptable of tit jokes than jungle bunny jibes, but I guarantee that kind of shit would be flying around. I was only one year old in 1973, but by the time I was up and walking Lancashire was a xenophobe's paradise. So far we've had a lot of Carry-On style humour and a fairly typical reaction to the deaf character in last night's episode (I have a deaf uncle and he was treated much worse than that every day of his life), but it seems very 2005 to avoid the racial slurs that would have simply been seen as no big deal - part and parcel of life at the time.
So far the only featured black character has managed to avoid any of this despite running the boozer frequented by the coppers. It may be he's deemed as part of their circle, but it wouldn't stop some 'friendly' gags at his expense (and I can't help wondering if his character is based on the bartender in the final episode of Quantum Leap).
Not that I expect a show that goes out at 9pm on BBC1 to be Deadwood, but perhaps it says a lot that it's somehow easier to accept the regular "fanny" references than it is something deemed 'more' offensive. Perhaps deep down we're not supposed to treat sexism as as big a problem as racism?
Early days yet though...
* I wonder if the girl in the 1973 coma is running around in 1940 wondering where all the lava lamps have gone
[Music: off]
5 Comments:
Not watched the show, but I am reminded of a comment Bill Bryson made upon arriving in England in the mid-70s. Something to the effect that he turned on the TV and watched a sitcom that appeared to be called "My Neighbour Is A Darkie".
Hey Dan,
Shouldn't you be learning Japanese? Not long now... bastard.
That'd be Love Thy Neighbour
I remember the actors from that making a cameo in George & Mildred: The Movie playing chess with not very subtle white vs black references.
Couldn't agree more about the lack of casual racism. In fact it's starting to be conspicuous by its absence, particularly in the boozer. I'll be interested to see if it's confronted later or not.
Another enjoyable episode (loved the 'pens & pads vs fags & chewing gum' gag) but thought the Fistus Ex Machina ending was very weak...
Fistus Ex Machina belongs on a tshirt. I'll begin the hunt for models tomorrow...
My adult life has been a hunt for models...
Post a Comment
<< Home