Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 April 2006 13:05:47
I watched TV.
We were watching an adaption of a famous book which I'm glad I haven't read because it concerns a bunch of people living a life of luxury and doing not a jot of work between them and, basically, complaining about their lot. That I could cope with, but they weren't presented as lucky or evil as they should have been. No, instead, we were made to feel sympathy for them because their life was not more luxurious. That may be how they saw themselves, but I would have preferred a more objective depiction.
The events of the programme took place in the 1930s, and yet every scene somehow had a much more recent feel. The style was recent, and the dialogue sounded like a recent take on 1930s speaking rather than authentic dialogue. Sometimes there was just a certain something that you couldn't put your finger on that gave away its recentness. But most often it was the focus of attention that shouted out loud that this was a recent production. Essentially the focus was on sex and sexuality whenever there was any opportunity.
Now, I don't think I'm a prude, and I don't have a problem with depictions of sex or of sexuality. But I felt they were misplaced in this programme because they screamed out 21st century attitudes and morality in a 1930s setting, drastically undermining the credibility of the whole show (not that there was much).
Maybe the makers felt the sex was necessary in order to sell the show to a current audience, or maybe they would deny there was any such bias towards sex. All I know is that in years to come, if people watch this adaption they will be struck by how dated it is. What I'm curious about, is what the unwritten assumptions will be then, when the current obsession with sex and sexuality passes away. What focus would be given to an adaptation of this book made in 50 years' time? Of course, the worst imaginable outcome is that our current obsession doesn't pass away, it only gets more intense. In that case I suppose people looking back will be shocked at how repressed (I nearly wrote restrained, but that's probably not how they'll see it) we were. But I'm more hopeful than that.