Re: HBO drama: The Deuce
11Treme is brilliant. It's amazing the patience folk afford some shows over others.
at war with bellends
Re: HBO drama: The Deuce
12Franco sucks by definition. Gyllenhall is always meh.
It just didn't grab me. Reminded me of a lot of things I've already seen.
Crap. Not terrible, just... boring.
It just didn't grab me. Reminded me of a lot of things I've already seen.
Crap. Not terrible, just... boring.
Re: HBO drama: The Deuce
13Finished this show over the weekend.
SPOILERS BELOW!
The final segment, in 2019, seemed corny at first, but something about it gnawed at me, and thinking about it kept me awake all night. It’s like the ending of A.I. in that what seems sentimental at first blush turns out to be sharp and even horrifying. The key part is how Vincent recollects the people from his past: the men all look terrific, ready to party, healthy, well dressed.
But the ghosts of the women—all of them—appear to him at the lowest moments of their life. Not Lori the porn celebrity, but Lori the streetwalker under the oppressive eye of her pimp; not Eileen the entrepreneur, but “Candy” the streetwalker; not Dorothy the activist, but “Ashley” being loaded into a police wagon. It’s a poisonous nostalgia, and you’re reminded that the men failed completely to protect the women. Thunderthighs is there too, with Eileen, and I’m not even sure if he addresses her—and Thunderthighs’s real name (Ruby) was an important point made in season one. The harms they faced don’t even register. It’s all just local color to him.
In the end, the show is pretty damn sympathetic to the arguments made by Andrea Dworkin.
Lori plays the Omar role here: the legend who is completely forgotten after her death. She’s not so much as mentioned once in the final episode.
Loved the last moment, too: the unsentimental Abby walking—safely, as a woman of means—through what was once a terrifying and dangerous neighborhood for women. It’s a fantastic contrast with the sentimental and clueless Vincent.
SPOILERS BELOW!
The final segment, in 2019, seemed corny at first, but something about it gnawed at me, and thinking about it kept me awake all night. It’s like the ending of A.I. in that what seems sentimental at first blush turns out to be sharp and even horrifying. The key part is how Vincent recollects the people from his past: the men all look terrific, ready to party, healthy, well dressed.
But the ghosts of the women—all of them—appear to him at the lowest moments of their life. Not Lori the porn celebrity, but Lori the streetwalker under the oppressive eye of her pimp; not Eileen the entrepreneur, but “Candy” the streetwalker; not Dorothy the activist, but “Ashley” being loaded into a police wagon. It’s a poisonous nostalgia, and you’re reminded that the men failed completely to protect the women. Thunderthighs is there too, with Eileen, and I’m not even sure if he addresses her—and Thunderthighs’s real name (Ruby) was an important point made in season one. The harms they faced don’t even register. It’s all just local color to him.
In the end, the show is pretty damn sympathetic to the arguments made by Andrea Dworkin.
Lori plays the Omar role here: the legend who is completely forgotten after her death. She’s not so much as mentioned once in the final episode.
Loved the last moment, too: the unsentimental Abby walking—safely, as a woman of means—through what was once a terrifying and dangerous neighborhood for women. It’s a fantastic contrast with the sentimental and clueless Vincent.