'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
I think it was a little bit of everything for me, aurelia. I've never had that reaction, before. Maybe because of Becky's background, and Web's ambiguity, and the fact that they were getting inside the criminals heads. I think The Inside was done more convincingly than I can remember seeing before, and for me, that might have been what made it too much. The nature of the crimes was pretty grizzly, too, from what I recall.
I did love the one with the little girl, though.
The nature of the crimes was pretty grizzly
You mean grisly, Cindy.
Unless you do mean Law and Order: Special Bears Unit.
Didn't you see that one with the bears?
So, it's Crimes Against Hairy Gay Men now?
Some of the characters and stories were on the too dark side for me, for a TV show. In a movie, I'd be fine with it. Why? Not sure off hand.
A majority of the episodes were fine with me, though. I did find Becky's character far too inaccessible at the beginning, but that wasn't to do with darkness.
Didn't you see that one with the bears?
Was it written by John Irving?
If shows like L&O-SVU where the victim gets raped and mutilated every episode isn't "too dark" for the average viewer, what is? I think The Inside was too dark because of the themes it explored. We're used to rape and torture and murder now, thanks to "ripped from the headlines" shows and the news itself. But The Inside dealt with things that "go too far" for the average viewer, I believe: women who kill babies, young girls kidnapped and abused who survive obviously damaged (we're supposed to overcome), children who murder, people who mutilate themselves to death... People aren't used to hearing about things like that, and they don't want to think about them. It's weird that a world that includes rape, murder, and torture could be insular and safe.
People can identify with the victims; that's scary but safe because it doesn't change their world - it's a scary world, but we're safe. But they don't want to explore the inside of dangerous, crazy people. They're uncomfortable with the reality of the person who outwardly seems normal but is very very not, and The Inside was about almost nothing else. What I loved about The Inside was how it turned all the usual expectations upside down, how it went to the taboo places that aren't supposed to exist, and I think that's exactly what made many other people flee.
Just thinking "out loud". Me, I loved every single episode, and found none of them too dark, possibly because there weren't any themes I hadn't already thought about, so they didn't push me out of my comfort zone. So maybe I'm not really different from the average viewer, I just have a higher tolerance for dark. Things like Saw, for example? Over the bar, for me.
So, it's Crimes Against Hairy Gay Men now?You mean all gay men don't wax? The media has misled me. I feel so...much the same as I did a moment ago.
Some of the characters and stories were on the too dark side for me, for a TV show. In a movie, I'd be fine with it. Why? Not sure off hand.
I know what you mean, Kevin. I'm the same way, maybe because a movie is more finite.
Was it written by John Irving?Did he write Grisly Addams?
What I loved about The Inside was that it was very rarely a whodunit. The show frequently showed us who the Bad Guy was, and the episode was more about understanding the villain and why they did what they did than trying to solve the crime. I think there are other shows that do and have done this, but it's rare among procedurals.
I'd say that the darkness of The Inside was both the kinds of murders--always serial murder (which is very upsetting already) and always with an extra nasty psychological twist--and the fact that the two main characters were not easy to identify with. In fact, with Coyote's character, we were continually wary of him. So there was no safe place for the viewer.
Now I've not seen that new serial murderer show, Dexter or whatever it's called, so I can't compare them.