Good TV

[TNP]

The first 3 minutes of the Umbrella Academy season 2.

[Ganymede]

Netflix's Transformers: War for Cybertron is so fucking good.

[Wizz]

@Ganymede

I was just coming here to post this! I really enjoyed it, and it's only 6 episodes so pretty easy to binge.

Dialogue is a little clunky sometimes but the voice acting overall is excellent. I really liked the metallic filter effects they used on the voices especially for Megatron; he sounded rough and grating in a way that was familiar but still inhuman.

The backgrounds are stunning and awesome, they really give you a solid impression of each location and how much Cybertron has been ground down by the war. The characters are the same, battered and scarred, but the model quality varies pretty dramatically, though -- on some of the close up shots you can see at least some of the scarring and holes are just flat textures, and for some reason the cracks on Optimus Prime's windshield chest plate are like, incredibly visibly pixelated, which bugged me throughout. The production seemed a little rushed that way.

Also, VERY baffling and frustrating to me, but Netflix gave this a Y7 rating. The exec responsible for that decision was high as fuck on cocaine, swear to god: this is at least Y14. Graphic dismemberment, decapitation, holes blown through torsos, on-screen torture and plentiful deaths. I wanted to show this to the kiddo at first because he LOVES Transformers, but I am very glad I gave it a test watch first -- def not for the young kiddos.

[Ganymede]

@Wizz

I think my kids will insist on watching it, given that they have a lot of the toys.

Except for Ratchet, because it was released as a Walgreens exclusive.

Fuck you, Walgreens.

But, that said, there are some very complex themes that need to be addressed, and they do it in a very tasteful way.

And I should've bought Jetfire when I had the chance.

[Roz]

It came out last year, but I just watched Unbelievable this week on Netflix. Definite content warning, which will be very clear if you check even the briefest synopsis, but damn, it is an example of how to do stories surrounding sexual assault in an empathetic manner that respects the weight of its subject matter. It centers on the experience of women, both in the victims -- who are diverse both demographically and in their widely varied responses to trauma -- and the detectives who work this case. And it's all based on a true story (and very accurate to it, in fact).

[surreality]

@Roz It is a very hard watch, but even more important than it is hard.

[Three-Eyed Crow]

The ProPublic article "Unbelievable" is based on, "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" is fantastic (it won a Pullitzer in its day) in its own right.

https://www.propublica.org/article/false-rape-accusations-an-unbelievable-story

Like the show it's all about sexual assault and also spoils the whole thing, so those caveats. I'm pretty glad I came in knowing what happened as I think it made watching a bit easier, but idk if that'd hold true for every viewer.

[Roz]

***Discussions of difficult content***

click to show

@surreality I had read the original article it was based on several years ago, which is probably a large part of why I got around to watching the show. The lead journalist on the article has actually tweeted about being in touch with the RL version of Marie (whose name and identity are still anonymous) and how she watched the whole thing and found it really remarkable and accurate and that parts of it even helped give her a sense of closure.

I think it's a really special piece and, as you said, really important. After having seen so much fetishized and sensationalized sexual violence on film in recent years, it was honestly breathtaking to see it handled so respectfully.

[surreality]

@Roz I watched it shortly after it came out, and again more recently. ***NSFW content***

click to show

It included two very potent elements to an assault that don't get enough attention. (None get all the attention they deserve, but on these two points, I find people often painfully silent.)

The first is the 'imperfect victim' problem. We're accustomed to the usual victim-blaming, but something profoundly beyond that. Victim-blaming is reprehensible in that it suggests the horrible thing that happened to the victim was an unfortunate consequence of their own choices, which are often characterized as stupid or vain or any number of other things. The imperfect victim isn't someone who made a mistake and tragedy befell them; the imperfect victim is someone who, based on similarly irrelevant elements of the case, is not considered a victim at all -- there is no tragedy, there was no 'unfortunate consequence of a mistake', there is nothing unfortunate that happened to them at all in the eyes of the observer. They held that up to the light, and it's something that needs the eyes on it.

The second is the way survivors, no matter how much they may care for or about someone, can let another survivor down, no matter how good their intentions. The mentor/foster/etc. women are a heartbreaking example of this, which is also common as a problem, but is among the issues people rarely confront or discuss directly and openly.

[Roz]

***Discussions of difficult content***

click to show

@surreality Yeah, I really liked how they showed how differently all of these victims responded -- one had near-perfect recall of all the details, one had only auditory memories, and Marie of course has such trouble being able to express herself. And how Marie's testimony of her own experiences ends up interrogated the same way a lawyer might interrogate a hostile witness, with those discrepancies treated as evidence against her, rather than understanding how trauma actually impacts a person's memory and their ability to express their own experience.

And yeah, man, the foster moms. Apparently the RL Marie forgave both of them and they're still a part of her life, which was another thing the journalist mentioned in his tweets. And she let them know that the show doesn't villainize them, which I think is true. The show overall I find excellent at humanizing everyone involved, even when it lays their mistakes out very starkly and clearly. You understood the reasons for why they all failed this person who needed them. It doesn't pull punches, but it doesn't turn anyone into caricatures. Because most of the people? -- aside from the actual culprit, of course -- were trying to do right. They just failed. And that's so often the case in life, I think.

[surreality]

@Roz Very much so, re: meant well, failed. ***NSFW content***

click to show

On the whole, it is an incredible testament to how bias shapes perception even among those with good intent. The foster moms at one end of the scale, not able to believe because their own experiences and how they conveyed them were so different from Marie's, and the cops who see 'a societal dropout/problem child' and make far more crass and brutal assumptions.

It is definitely one of the things I've talked privately about with some fellow survivors over the years -- of any sort of criminal or abusive behavior. Many who came forward went through various forms of revictimization, and the series really shows what a broad spectrum that is. It isn't just the nasty public grilling in the media or on the stand at trial that people typically think of immediately, and in some ways, the less visible interactions can be significantly more scarring, because they don't happen at the hands of strangers, but by those in whom we've put our faith to help and support us when we need them.

[Sunny]

I love you guys, and I love the topic, but can we make it into its own thread? I'm flirting with being triggered by the Good TV thread!

ETA: Or spoiler tags? Something, please! Pretty please. This is pure desperation talking, I am not trying to be rude or anything, I swear.

[Roz]

@Sunny Aw man of course

[surreality]

@Sunny Apologies, not the intent -- though, yep... that's how easy it is for good intentions to go sideways. <virtual hug sent>

[Sunny]

@Roz @surreality

Thank you very very much I really appreciate your compassion. No apologies are necessary but since offered they are accepted. Thank you!! I am REALLY glad the show is helpful.

[SilentHills]

Seemed like a very good show but I couldn't get through the second episode because I was bawling uncontrollably. Some things just hit a little different when you get older and go 'Damn I been through some shit.'

[Coin]

Agents of SHIELD finished last night. It was a decent finale for a good show.

[Cupcake]

Another important but possibly triggering show on Netflix is their expose of ICE. It is...incredibly difficult, but important to watch. I am pretty sturdy about media consumption, but I watched the first 20 minutes of the first episode and had to walk away for a while.

[Groth]

Star Trek Lower Decks is the best Star Trek show of the decade.

[Cupcake]

@Groth

"That's a Ferengi? Naaaah, I don't think so."