I was very impressed with the premiere. For a time I was concerned that it was all backstory, and we’d get to
Ardham next week. I was wrong. Impressive cast, solid production values and design. I’m fascinated to see where it goes. I’m in!
Thanks for the recommendation. It's refreshing to see this among all the negative naysaying going on on this board.
shareDid you finish it, R_Kane? Does it hold up? I love a good Lovecraft story but am wary after some reviews.
shareThe series is still in progress, so I won’t be at the end for another 5 weeks or so. I admit I’m disappointed that it mixes race relations with Lovecraft, but I decided to like it for what it is and not for being what I’d thought it would be. In that regard, I’m proud of myself for accepting it. The FX are great. The acting is solid. There are dreadful but great moments so powerful that I cry because they really hurt to watch, and I am someone who is more than tired of social/political agendae disguised as art; but maybe that is something we may need, if that’s what it takes to let our black citizens at last no longer live in fear. Racism is not nearly as dead as we white folks like to believe it is. It is as much of a horror as anything that H.P. ever wrote. Thank you for asking, Anubis. I enjoy your posts.
share"I am someone who is more than tired of social/political agendae disguised as art. . ."
It always surprises me when people say things like this (especially thoughtful people). It's like they don't realize sociopolitical "agendae" have been a part of art since Cave Paintings.
Of course, there's no "right" and "wrong" when it comes to taste. . .but there seems to be this misconception that this in a new (or increasing) trend in "art."
This is, of course, patently false.
My friend, just because it’s not new is no reason why I can’t be tired of it.
share? Reread. I specifically said "there's no 'right' or 'wrong' when it comes to taste."
I'm simply speaking on the misconception that there's some new groundswell of, in your words, "social/political agendae disguised as art."
It's Not new. And it's certainly not currently more prevalent than any other snapshot of history you'd care to take. That's all.
"not currently more prevalent than any other snapshot of history"
Welllll ... it is certainly more ham-fisted lately. I'm fine with SUBTLE messages in art and even occasionally overt ones but the art has to be good and at the fore. Lately, the message is at the fore and often at the expense of the quality of the vehicle. TV and movies are suffering from it now where they excelled in spite of it before.
Ehhh. We can go round and round, but I'll bow out and respectfully disagree. The 30's and 40's were DEFINITELY more "ham-fisted," and I remember the 70's as another explosion of such overt messaging. But everyone's mileage will vary, of course.
I suspect it's a simple matter of everyone's sensitivities to particular messages, in the end. Will make certain things seem more overt.
Yeah, I always find it a good exercise when discussing the quality of a film (or series) to imagine what it could have been, had it not been a film (e.g. a pulp magazine, a comic strip, a travel brochure, etc.). In the case of Lovecraft Country, it certainly would have been a political pamphlet printed on cheap monochromatic leaflets.
shareSame. This sentiment is really surprising because most films have some political agenda. And there appears to me to be a lot of people who can't distinguish films as political when the lead is a white male - and I'm not accusing anyone here of this at all. I just think it's odd that so many people who say they don't like political films don't always recognize when a film is political.
Iron Man, for example. I've had discussions in the past with someone on the Iron Man board who complained about films being too political and using Iron Man as an example of a non-political film - which is completely insane to me.
I like it so far. I think the concept, rather than the execution, is what I'm more interested in following. As for social/political agendae disguised as art, I'd say there's no disguise, as it's overtly political, but I don't really mind that.
share