[This fall I
watched Netflix’s Unbelievable, one of the most
compelling and important TV shows I’ve seen in a good while. The show opens up
a number of AmericanStudies conversations, so this week I’ve highlighted and
analyzed a handful of them. Leading up to this crowd-sourced post featuring the
responses and TV recommendations of fellow AmericanStudiers—share yours in
comments, please!]
Responding to
the week’s series, Robin
Field writes, “Glad you wrote on this great show!
This topic is my passion. My 2020 book is Writing the Survivor: The Rape Novel in Late
Twentieth Century American Fiction.”
Elizabeth
Stockton comments on Wednesday’s post, “I think The Wire also makes for a nice
comparison. It dealt with making cops' lives three dimensional—without
sentimentalizing their personal lives or delving into soap opera. It also gave
more depth to behaviors like drug use and insight into how systems can fail
without any one person being a villain. It also is technically in the genre of
a "procedural," but took risks in terms of pacing and exposition. Not
a perfect show, but it seems to resonate with aspects of Unbelievable to me.” She also added another pre-show text to
Friday’s post, sharing this Longform
Podcast on the case and the “Unbelievable Story of Rape” article.
Troy Zaher writes, “Unbelievable was so
powerful and thought provoking. I remember feeling like this event should’ve
been recognized more. Things like this should bring about change. Though I also
believe it did an excellent job at showcasing positive behavior towards assault
victims, ie proper treatment of the case in terms of law but also in terms of
interpersonal connection. I think this is the style of true crime that feels
the most moral (not that other forms of crime documentation are immoral). It
makes you squirm and understand the victim empathically.”
Donna Moody shares, “All I'm going to say about
the series is that I loved it...it also infuriated me because it is exactly how
women are treated when they report sexual assault by far too many male law
enforcement officers.”
Shiladitya
Sen writes, “I thought it was brilliant. And is also a
perfect example of the benefits of having the topic presented largely via a
female lens. The use of multiple female protagonists (and secondary characters)
worked extremely well for it.”
And Kathryn Tomasek Tweets, “To my great embarrassment,
when I decided to watch season 2 of The
Sinner this week, I translated my recent viewing
of Unbelievable into the first season
of the show. I think there’s an actual connection there, especially since
there’s so much emphasis on the “bad mother’s” attitude towards the Jessica
Biel character in Sinner season 1.
And the negative attitude of one of the foster mothers in Unbelievable was yet another of the difficult things to watch in
that show. I say ‘yet another’ because the fragmentary memories of sexual
assault were really difficult viewing for me, as I’ve been assaulted and took
years to recognize the experience for what it actually was. I’m glad I made
myself keep watching the series to the end because it was rewarding to see the
dots connected and the women’s experiences validated.”
Other TV
recommendations:
First, I’ll note
that another 2019 favorite of mine was the final season of The Deuce, about which I’ll be blogging in a few months!
Elizabeth
Stockton adds, “It seems like I've just got comedies to
recommend right now: Shrill, Schitt's Creek, Derry Girls, and Bojack Horseman. And whatever genre Lodge 49 is in.”
Tim
McCaffrey also highlights Derry Girls, writing, “The accents are
bananas so we watched with subtitles.”
Veronica Hendrick goes old school, writing, “I have
been watching Cheers—and except
for the Diane/Sam screaming matches, pretty funny.”
Andrew
Lipsett asks, “Have you seen the new
Watchmen? Some
of the best TV I've ever seen, and very much up your alley.” Michael Valeri
Jr. seconds that recommendation, and Philip Opere agrees that “Watchmen was
amazing!” [Ben responds: “I haven't yet but I know I have to check it out ASAP,
thanks!”]
My cousin Ryan
Railton recommends, “Travels by Narrowboat. It’s not going to push you to the edge of your seat or challenge
your worldview or anything, but it’s mildly entertaining. Just a guy sharing
videos of his journey across England on a canal boat.”
Andrew DaSilva writes, “I am a fan of the oldies, for something
light with a good theme song there's always The
Love Boat and or The Bob Newhart Show. For something that might be a bit thought provoking there's The Twilight Zone and All in the Family.”
Mark
Rennella writes, “Something completely different is Call my Agent on Netflix, a French series.
I loved the first three episodes.”
Jacquie Carter-Holbrooks shares a bunch of recommendations: “Ray Donovan, The Durrells in Corfu, Mrs.
Maisel, Jack Ryan, Killing Eve, Luther, the first few seasons of Shameless, Top of the Lake,
Mad Men, OK- I’ll
stop now.”
And finally, my favorite TVStudier, Matthew Raymond, highlights, “Better Things created by, and starring,
Pamela Adlon. An avant-garde comedy about a single mother with three kids. But
also about the anxiety towards change that we all experience, and discovering
moments of love even in our worst moments. Because this is stemming from a
discussion about Unbelievable, I feel
like I should mention Louis CK was involved in its production the first two
season but was
fired once he admitted to multiple sexual assaults. Its
third season, the first without him, was entirely
Pamela Adlon’s and it’s the best season by a large margin.”
Next series
starts Monday,
Ben
PS. Thoughts on Unbelievable? Other TV shows you’d
recommend and analyze?
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