Monday Media Musings - 2/22/21

[owlmoose]

Watchmen (2019 series): I think it's fair to say that I don't quite know what to make of this series. Parts of it were brilliant, and I'm glad I watched it, but up until the second to last I really wasn't sure how it was going to bring all its threads together (and it still feels like a couple were dropped). If you like your storytelling to all be tied up in a neat bow, this may not be the show for you, but if you can live with some questions and some ambiguity, and don't mind putting up with some causality loops (because boy are there some causality loops), I definitely recommend it.

Bridgerton: I was curious about this show, but not curious enough to watch it on my own. But then a group of friends got together to stream it over Discord, so I decided to join in. I had been spoiled for quite a bit, including the sexual assault; it was definitely a subject of conversation. Unlike many reviewers I'd heard talking about the show, I didn't find Daphne boring at all. She walked an interesting line between taking control of her own life while still playing the part that her society requires of her, and I genuinely rooted for her for most of the series... until she assaulted Simon. Do I think Simon should have been more honest with her, about his reasons for not wanting children? Yes, absolutely; I don't know that I would say that he lied to her, exactly, but he definitely misled her. But that's certainly not justification for rape, and I thought the show was entirely too quick to let her off the hook for it. I wanted a stronger recognition that what she did to Simon was definitely wrong, both from the show and from Daphne herself, and we didn't get that, at all. I also was not particularly enamored of the Marina plotline -- especially as the main storyline for the most prominent woman of color in the show -- and while the reveal that Penelope is Whistledown was effective, I'm not convinced it holds up to scrutiny. All that said, it was also entertaining, and I might watch a second season -- but only in the same circumstances, as a group activity.