some shows
Nov. 2nd, 2023 01:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_featherTried some new things.
Rectify is a drama about a man who gets out of prison after 20 years on death row. He returns to his small hometown in Georgia and his family of origin.
I watched 2 eps and found this quite thought-provoking but I didn't enjoy it, it was not pleasurable to watch, for me. The show is populated by white straight people. I admit I did not find the main character compelling; he's meant to be strange but his face is so bland like a potato.
Freaks and Geeks comes up on a lot of lists of under-rated TV shows. IDK, it's fine. It has a lot of pre-famous actors. But do I really want to watch a show about high school kids? And again, most of them are white and straight.
Heartland Docs, DVM. Hulu apparently got some of the National Geographic channel stuff, including some vet shows, and I like watching these. However i got very annoyed at the main vet here who hands out antibiotics like candy. I turned it off and went back to my favorite, Dr. Pol, who does not prescribe unnecessary abx.
Never Let Him Go. A sad but interesting documentary series, 4 episodes, on Hulu.
In 1988 a young American mathematician died in Australia. The death was ruled a suicide and never investigated. His brother, Steve Johnson, was never satisfied by this explanation and struggled for decades to get the police to investigate. I got into this story and found it quite gripping. Scott Johnson, the man who died, was gay, and this is likely why the police did not care to investigate his death.
A few things struck me about this story. One is that, Steve Johnson never got over his brother's death. So many crime stories (esp. murder of the week) don't show this kind of thing, the way the tragedy ripples outward, the way it can damage people for the rest of their lives, and the tremendous loss (to his family and to the world) of someone like Scott.
Steve became wealthy in the 90s tech boom and was able to use his money and privilege to pursue this case. He hired an investigative journalist and met with politicians who were courteous and sympathetic. He appeared on TV and was interviewed for articles.
Despite this, many of the police were at best incompetent and rude, and at worst, possibly corrupt. I'm surprised they got some of the cops to be in the film considering how unflattering they appear. One police woman, telling a story about the investigative journalist, literally laughs at him and his efforts. It's shocking-- not so much that she is condescending, cruel, and out of touch, but that she shows that to the camera.
Finally, after decades, a competent investigator was assigned to the case, someone who was professional and dogged, and the family got some answers. Of course there is no happy ending to a murder story. There is some narrative resolution.
The film also mentions that there were many murders of gay men in Sydney during the 1980s and many of those remain unsolved.
Rectify is a drama about a man who gets out of prison after 20 years on death row. He returns to his small hometown in Georgia and his family of origin.
I watched 2 eps and found this quite thought-provoking but I didn't enjoy it, it was not pleasurable to watch, for me. The show is populated by white straight people. I admit I did not find the main character compelling; he's meant to be strange but his face is so bland like a potato.
Freaks and Geeks comes up on a lot of lists of under-rated TV shows. IDK, it's fine. It has a lot of pre-famous actors. But do I really want to watch a show about high school kids? And again, most of them are white and straight.
Heartland Docs, DVM. Hulu apparently got some of the National Geographic channel stuff, including some vet shows, and I like watching these. However i got very annoyed at the main vet here who hands out antibiotics like candy. I turned it off and went back to my favorite, Dr. Pol, who does not prescribe unnecessary abx.
Never Let Him Go. A sad but interesting documentary series, 4 episodes, on Hulu.
In 1988 a young American mathematician died in Australia. The death was ruled a suicide and never investigated. His brother, Steve Johnson, was never satisfied by this explanation and struggled for decades to get the police to investigate. I got into this story and found it quite gripping. Scott Johnson, the man who died, was gay, and this is likely why the police did not care to investigate his death.
A few things struck me about this story. One is that, Steve Johnson never got over his brother's death. So many crime stories (esp. murder of the week) don't show this kind of thing, the way the tragedy ripples outward, the way it can damage people for the rest of their lives, and the tremendous loss (to his family and to the world) of someone like Scott.
Steve became wealthy in the 90s tech boom and was able to use his money and privilege to pursue this case. He hired an investigative journalist and met with politicians who were courteous and sympathetic. He appeared on TV and was interviewed for articles.
Despite this, many of the police were at best incompetent and rude, and at worst, possibly corrupt. I'm surprised they got some of the cops to be in the film considering how unflattering they appear. One police woman, telling a story about the investigative journalist, literally laughs at him and his efforts. It's shocking-- not so much that she is condescending, cruel, and out of touch, but that she shows that to the camera.
Finally, after decades, a competent investigator was assigned to the case, someone who was professional and dogged, and the family got some answers. Of course there is no happy ending to a murder story. There is some narrative resolution.
The film also mentions that there were many murders of gay men in Sydney during the 1980s and many of those remain unsolved.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-02 07:43 am (UTC)People like that often assume the camera will agree with them.
It sounds like a very good, if painful, documentary.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-02 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-11-02 02:53 pm (UTC)The UK Met Police brushed off the deaths of four gay men in 2014/15, and only when the families pushed them did it turned out they were victims of a serial killer, and they already had the evidence needed to identify and convict him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Port The degree of incompetence with these just beggars belief
no subject
Date: 2023-11-02 05:00 pm (UTC)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%932017_Toronto_serial_homicides
I’m glad “Never Let Him Go”
Date: 2023-11-02 03:32 pm (UTC)Offers the reality of murder’s impact. Right now the fashion for “true crime” stories weirds me out. I don’t understand how people can enjoy witnessing the terrible things in someone’s life.
Although I have appreciated outliers like “Enron: the smartest guys in the room“ and “Thin blue line,” where crimes against everyday people are revealed.
Re: I’m glad “Never Let Him Go”
Date: 2023-11-02 05:24 pm (UTC)I don't think I've seen either of those that you mention!
Re: I’m glad “Never Let Him Go
Date: 2023-11-03 02:03 am (UTC)Both available at your MPL, and both debuts of skilled documentarians interested in social change.
Enron presages the 2008 crash: an energy company built on lies and shoddy accounting — Alex Gibney
Thin Blue Line dissects the conviction of the wrong person in a cop’s murder (eventually released due to this film) while exploring the unmanageable pressures between DA and police. — Errol Morris