Unbreakable
Oct. 4th, 2015 12:09 pmI can count the TV shows I've watched and enjoyed in adulthood on one hand... like many white people, I enjoy not having a TV, and I don't like slapstick, and I'm busy so I haven't searched out everything I might like.
We get to add a new one though! Eeeee! Four or five episodes into The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which I've been wanting to try for a few months now, and I really like it. The humor is smart, and the underlying theme is about trauma survival -- the main character was trapped in a bunker for fifteen years by a creepy "Reverend" along with three other women and, while we don't know everything about this time, we know there was "weird sex stuff" and a mystery crank they had to keep turning for no reason they ever learn. They got botulism. They had two books. One of the women had braces the whole time, and upon release the thing she wants most is to go get them taken off. None of these things are the focus, though -- the focus is on Kimmy's infectious delight and confusion in all things modern, plus the various ridiculous melieus she finds herselves in. (The humor is rarely or never at Kimmy's expense.)
People who think the show is just goofy and witty, um, probably have never actually started over in a big city after leaving an intensely religious place. I have. Bunker, no. Fifteen years, yes. Weird religious restrictions, yes. Astonishment at the city, yes. (Weird sex stuff, no... you can relax on that one. I also had lots of books to read, thank goodness.)
So MAYBE I like this show more than most other people. That's okay. I do like it and I'm looking forward to watching Kimmy figure things out. Along with the enjoyment of watching, it finally gave me a Halloween costume idea that is fun and work-appropriate; Kimmy wears bright colors, and her outfit from Episode 1 is easy to eBay. So that's one more October to-do out of the way.
ETA: read this article on the show for a better critique.
We get to add a new one though! Eeeee! Four or five episodes into The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which I've been wanting to try for a few months now, and I really like it. The humor is smart, and the underlying theme is about trauma survival -- the main character was trapped in a bunker for fifteen years by a creepy "Reverend" along with three other women and, while we don't know everything about this time, we know there was "weird sex stuff" and a mystery crank they had to keep turning for no reason they ever learn. They got botulism. They had two books. One of the women had braces the whole time, and upon release the thing she wants most is to go get them taken off. None of these things are the focus, though -- the focus is on Kimmy's infectious delight and confusion in all things modern, plus the various ridiculous melieus she finds herselves in. (The humor is rarely or never at Kimmy's expense.)
People who think the show is just goofy and witty, um, probably have never actually started over in a big city after leaving an intensely religious place. I have. Bunker, no. Fifteen years, yes. Weird religious restrictions, yes. Astonishment at the city, yes. (Weird sex stuff, no... you can relax on that one. I also had lots of books to read, thank goodness.)
So MAYBE I like this show more than most other people. That's okay. I do like it and I'm looking forward to watching Kimmy figure things out. Along with the enjoyment of watching, it finally gave me a Halloween costume idea that is fun and work-appropriate; Kimmy wears bright colors, and her outfit from Episode 1 is easy to eBay. So that's one more October to-do out of the way.
ETA: read this article on the show for a better critique.