redrikki

 I just finished season one of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and I loved it. I loved the stand-up, the fast-paced witty dialogue, and the screwball comedy plots. I liked how Jewish it was, and not just in a they-have-Jewish-names sort of way, although I did have a few quibbles. (Mixed sex seating in a temple in 1958? Bitch, please). As a fellow Mawrtyr, I was tickled pink that the college flashbacks were actually filmed in Bryn Mawr. I lived in that dorm! I ate in that dining hall! We did not have monogramed butter in my day, although the food was really good. Anyway, it was a nice touch.

This may be fandom heresy, but I actually think Midge and Joel are well suited together. They have a similar sense of humor and obsession with pretense. Of course, it was that very obsession which destroyed their marriage, but whatever. By the end of the season, Midge is on the way to figuring out she's better off being herself, but Joel still needs to get over himself and his need to be a seen as a conqueror. Neither of them should be parents though. God, they're so self-involved and both treat their kids like accessories to show off their perfect marriage. 

Anyhow, I love the show. Susy is the best and I'm looking forward to season 2. Here's hoping I can get through it before my free trial of Prime finishes!

Over the weekend I stared watching Outlander on Netflix. It's based on a series of books by Diana Gabaldon. In it, our hero Claire accidentally falls through time from 1945 to the 1740s while on her second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands. Part historical fiction, part trashy romance, and part magical realism, the books are pretty fun. I'm only 12 episodes in on the show, but so far the series is quite faithful to them, with a couple added scenes focusing on what the other characters are up to when the narrator isn't present.

The show is incredibly beautiful. I'm pretty sure it's shot on location in Scotland and everything is really pretty. The clothes are pretty, the people (at least the main characters) are pretty, and the cinematography is gorgeous. The music is by Bear McCready. He loved him some bag pipes back when he was writing for Battlestar Galactica, and now he has an excuse to use them all the time! He must be so happy.

Despite all that, I'm not sure I'm actually enjoying it. Part of the problem is that I have a pretty good memory for what happened in the books and that winds up sucking out the dramatic tension since I know exactly what's happening or about to happen in any given scene. There were some moments where I quite liked how they pulled it off, but, for the most part, it felt like they were marking off a check list of scenes from the book. I'm sure someone unfamiliar with the source material probably wouldn't feel that way, but I did and it left me a bit bored.

The other big problem is all the sex and nudity and sexualized violence. ( cut for discussions of sexual assault )