Change Your Image
toleraptorst
Reviews
Vampire Diary (2006)
Juvenile and Ridiculous
So, there has been this vampire thing going on for some time. Vampire clubs, vampire clothes, vampire movies, vampire this, vampire that. Largely drawn to by young people apparently between the age of fascination and hero worship. After watching this movie I found it so sad that so much of this seems to be nothing but the product of 90 plus years of intense and evolving entertainment. Radio, books, movies, television... all growing increasingly more sophisticated as the decades pass. Couple that with an era in human history never before experienced, at least as far as the industrialized western world is concerned where wealth, modernization, and more time to entertain ourselves and in almost any way we can imagine has done more to stunt our evolution than help it. People so lost, bored, confused, over-comfortable, and with far more choices of everything imaginable than any generation has ever had.
How does a phenomenon such as this where people begin to idolize, romanticize and fantasize about being vampires? Worse yet, of all things to be drawn to, the human spirit is drawn to the cruelest and most based creatures. Are they evil, or are they just surviving like any other animal? Does that question even matter? Are we really thinking existentially about the basic necessity of survival on such an animalistic level? As if it is required still? Or is it all the drama, the fantasy of preternaturalism that goes along with it. The anti-superhero fetish.
Why, after so long the idea of striving to evolve along the paths of compassion, generosity, kindness, etc., do we still romanticize ruthless killing for survival wrapped up in an aura of darkness, evil, cruelty, demons, etc? Why is that so big a draw to people? So much so, that even in this era to try to be kind or compassionate or even sincerely happy is too often seen as weakness, goody two-shoes, or a sign of mental deficiency.
It really makes me wonder just how much time we have left as a species, so bent on our own destruction that we are taking the whole lot down with us. For all those centuries of philosophical and religious arguing in favor of the idea that the basic nature of man is good... I've come to the conclusion that argument is piffle. Sure, there are those out there who do strive for such things, but just like the wise, they are few and far between. The vast number of us, the whole of humanity is nothing more than barely more than animals, except that animals kill to survive not by choice, we do it entirely by choice. Worse is that we don't have to. Whether it is actual killing, or doing anything to achieve, or gain, or draw to us whatever our cold little hearts desire and doing so in any way possible. Sometimes choosing the cruel ways entirely when it isn't even necessary. Call that mental illness if you need an excuse. Then think about your own actions, who you vote for, your willingness to cut the feet out from someone else if necessary to keep your house, your cars, your clothes, your toys. Then tell me how pious even you are.
After seeing this ridiculous excuse for what some consider deep, or experimental, I am certain now more than ever than we as a species are indeed no better than a virus. Vampires in our own right, except with out all the glamor, black clothes, and eye liner. And no matter how sophisticated our toys may seem, no matter how they may give us the illusion we are an evolved and evolving species, they're nothing but just that. An illusion. It's all just stuff. With them, we're still animals bent on our own wants and needs over others. Without them, we would revert to killing each-other wantonly for just the basics in a heartbeat.
Smiley (2022)
If You Loved Queer As Folk You Will Love This
When Queer as folk first came out twenty-something years ago (I know...two decades already!), I fell in love with it. Sure, there were the usual nay sayers who didn't like that it seemed a bit brighter in terms of their understanding of the reality of life. Apparently there wasn't enough dirt and grime. However, it was that brightness wrapped in enough reality to make it believable and relatable that I think most of us missed when it ended. That, along with the whole trial of being gay in the first place coupled with the horror show of that period in time, was more than needed. So when it ended, it was like losing a long list of friends; an upper in a world that had nothing but downers constantly. It's been a very long time since (two decades, remember?) since we've had anything similar to QAF and despite Netflix only giving Smiley one season, at least we found a new group of characters to identify, laugh, and cry with in much the same way as back then--for a little while at least.
But here. To give the usual and expected naysayers who unless a show is so full of the crass, the divisive, and the low-brow use of gutter television as we've grown so used to here in the States think it utterly unreal and thus of no worth... well there is always Fox for that.
As for myself, having bartended for 15 years before and later while in college, I definitely identified with Alex. Doing the whole muscle tee, body beautiful and all out friendly thing behind the bar every night, and encountering the people you meet, wanting different things from you, certainly brought back many memories.
There is much that can be elaborated on about the nature of bar life and the relationships that center upon it. So much occurs that a small space such as this can not truly give justice to it. Everything from the dynamics of the bar itself to the patrons themselves. Those who beca\ome close friends, to those who are looking, hoping, and trying anything they could to get a little closer than that twenty inch space between them and you allowed. The only thing I might say that I found unreal was the incredible amount of looseness of how a bar the size of Bar-Berro's could run on only three people and how frequently those people come and go from behind the bar at will despite how busy it is. Even while there were customers at the bar either waiting for attention or not, in my experience, no matter where what bar I was behind, few customers appreciated an empty space behind it.
Of course, I speak as an American, where the culture is largely based on whose buying and whose selling. In America, whether it is spoken of or not, there is this one rule we are always expected to remember, which is that the customer is always right. One must never break that rule, because that dollar is being held over your head-- always. Sometimes the rule is obvious and reiterated outright, most often it isn't, but it is always there regardless of what anyone says to the contrary.
I saw no reference or indication of that in Smiley.
In fact, it seemed to be more of a fantasy in terms of how the relationship between a bartender, their customer, and the bar itself seems much more casual than any I've worked in. Perhaps this is because as I understand it, tipping is not a situation in the EU. I can't really speak for Spain, but in many EU nations, their restaurant workers are paid a living wage. Not like here where they are paid half of the minimum wage and must get by on the tips. So, I think that small dynamic greatly changes the relationship between consumer and seller, making it more civil, and less about who has power over whom. In that respect it seems far more civilized, fantasy or not.
Having covered that base...
The manner by which the drama occurs, coupled with all the tears and laughter within, either dissolves or resolves itself, usually does so in some rather feel good way. This is entirely reminiscent of QAF. Now, don't get me wrong. Of course, not every story line ends in tears of joy, nor should it be. The same was for QAF, but the overall quality of the story arcs occur in that manner. Yes, of course it's not entirely realistic, but it is realistic enough without having to bring us down all the time for the sake of reality. One shouldn't have to depend on Prozac just to make through an episode of our favorite comedy drama. With all this overemphasis of realism in American television (that really is not even close to reality at all) sometimes a little feel-goodness in an otherwise not so happy situation is a relief.
So, to cut this short... because after all my darlings', few people like long diatribes even when those diatribes are true or contain what it's reader needs to hear. I will say simply that if you loved Queer as Folk, and had been hoping for something similar to come along and possibly bring a bit of that old feeling back, you will find it here with Smiley.
But, keep in mind, nothing is nor should be the same in every respect. Consider it in this way, these are new and different charchaters with their own lives, dramas, loves, fears, and joys. Treat them like new friends, rather than an expected step in for old charchaters who've ceased to be. If you do this, I'm sure you will not be disappointed.