The only problem is that, if Lewis' personal attractions don't compel interest in Soames (and, at least in past years, misogynist sympathy from women)...what is the source of the sympathy? The character's complexity? See, even if one argues that Soames' multi-faceted, true-to-life, contradictions are fascinating, they may account for viewers' fascination with him; they don't explain hatred of Irene. I can feel sorry for all of the characters in the 2002 version at some point or other, but, in the end, the 2002 version is dominated by Soames and Irene.
Hilary, it's difficult to tell posters' genders. I have read any number of people's posts on here defending Soames and reviling Irene. Some obviously from men, some obviously from women, and some I have no idea which gender they are.
For posters who defend Soames and revile Irene, the only explanation I have is they're unused to characters with so much depth, can't recognize them, and therefore swing to extremes. Had Irene been portrayed by an actor who was more conventionally beautify (by today's standards), they'd have probably sided more with her, and still not understood that Irene is not simply a heroine.
I can only give you my own point of view, and yes for me my fascination with Soames lies in his complexity, and Lewis's brilliant portrayal of him. There are few series, films or TV shows that require numerous, attentive viewings in order to appreciate and understand the many subtleties of both plot and characters. Let alone in 2002!
I've already explained to you several times the source of my sympathy for Soames, and that I had to watch it several times before seeing it. There were moments in which I felt sympathy for him, yes, but only fleeting moments.
Why some women hate Irene, and think Soames was some kind of hero who was repeatedly wronged by him is something of a mystery to me too, other than my guess above. Another contributing factor is probably that several years passed between Irene agreeing to marry Soames (with conditions), so we weren't actually shown how and why their relationship devolved the way it did.
Yes, you and I realize the scene with Soames silently following her up the staircase to their bedroom, the horrifying sex scene, and Irene's reaction, including that sad douching scene, was meant to convey that this had happened night after night, for those missing years. That Irene had tried as best she could to fulfill her "wifely duties" and make it work. But she could not. She only found him increasingly repellant, and with good reason. Obviously many didn't get this and could only post about how cold Irene was, that she never really tried, which wasn't true.
Your words bring me to an insight. I think one can pity or "take sides with" Irene without liking her. In the beginning, in her young years (and, in the 2002 version, in series 1), she is completely sympathetic, even up to and including her affair with Bosinney. She betrays June wholeheartedly, and in this, she does a grave wrong. But at that point, she's so far out to sea in her ability to control her life, she's like a drowning woman grasping at a straw, which explains the betrayal. I don't condone the betrayal; I understand it.
I didn't, per se, take sides with Irene, although I certainly did sympathize with her, up to her betrayal of June. Yes, I too understood her affair with Bosinney. Where I lost sympathy for her was cruelly berating June after his death, and before that, so publicly humiliating Soames at the dance. She needn't have done either.
Yet, again I sympathized with her, of course, in the carriage with Soames on the way home, and the rape, and when he tracked her down and stalked her in Paris, when all she wanted was for him to leave him alone. Again when he went back into his obsession of her before she'd married Young Jolyen, and in the scene where he did the same at Jolyen's house.
I don't and can't blame her for her relationship with both Old Jolyen and later Young Jolyen. I believe she truly did care about both of them, even though Bosinney was her one real love. I didn't like Bosinney, but understand their attraction for one another.
She has a moral if not a personal duty to respect the *fact* of her first marriage which is ignored when she encourages Soames' cousin. Worse, she encourages the father of the girl whose heart she broke. Poor June had darn well better have turned out as resilient as she did; else she'd be a suicide. So the long and short of it is that Irene can remain essentially sympathetic (because she always acts out of feeling), the same as Jolyon, while not remaining particularly likable.
Really, though, she did not encourage young Jolyen. He came to check up on her in Paris and they had a lovely time. They were both lonely, but still she didn't encourage him romantically. It was only after Soames came and confronted them that she said yes, they'd been having an affair, even though they hadn't. Although I do agree Irene didn't seem to consider June -- again. Overall, to me, June was the most sympathetic character, and yes, thank god she was as resilient as she was!
We next see him as someone who indulges his miraculously lovely grown daughter not for herself, but because she is his avatar, his hold on the future. As for the concluding scene, I was not taken in by it whatsoever. I found it heartbreaking, yes, but neither for his sake nor Irene's. I think it's heartbreaking because it shows the viewer how hurts inflicted in youth never truly go away or heal; they simply transform. I believe Soames leaves the meeting a more self-satisfied man. As the Beatles say in Eleanor Rigby: "No one was saved."
Yes, he did, although I personally give him credit for having overcome the pervasive sexism of the era, and the pressure he had on him to have a son, and fell in paternal love with his daughter, however ultimately destructive that was.
I agree it shows how hurts inflicted in childhood/youth never go away, and instead transform, but that was on Soame's side, not so much Irene's. For whatever reason, early on, Soames had a tendency to obsess on those he loved, or perceived that he loved (the kitten, and later Irene), to their (and ultimately his) detriment. That isn't explored, and I wish it had been, or some hints given.
I felt that in the end, both Soames and Irene were saved, as best they could be at that point in their lives, by shaking hands and letting it go.
As for Homeland and Billions: I have lost interest in Homeland since the end of Season 3.
As did I, with Homeland. I know many Homeland fans hated S3, but I didn't. It was heartbreaking and difficult to watch, but I loved Lewis as Brody all the way through it, and loved his relationship with his (much, and inexplicably to me, reviled) daughter, Dana. I notice many teenage daughters in shows are hated, and have to wonder what that's about.
You are *SO* right, saying that Lewis has to play complex (and tortured) characters, or else his talents fall flat. I honestly felt his character in Life was tortured.
I agree, his character in Life was tortured. He'd been through unthinkable things. But it was more a light comedy/detective story than it was about how tortured he'd been. Brody was a perfect character for him, because he had so much depth. I just hope to see him in more things that allows him to spread his formidable acting wings. Not Bond! Unless someone has a script that completely remakes the character, and gives him more depth than has ever been thought about. I'd rather see him in something else. I could see him doing a very interesting Heathcliff. What do you think about Lewis as Heathcliff?
You mean everyone doesn't find redheads irresistible?
Not hardly, or not women in particular. I'm not sure why this is, given many men often talk about how they like redheads, after blonds.
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