Rebecca Wildermuth

Yes! Deadwood is the best! An alien Calamity Jane would be winsome.

Hi Cammie, that’s an interesting perspective. I hadn’t really considered the currency.

I suppose I would have thought quite the opposite – that a smaller society (i.e Defiance) would be better able to implement a barter system, or some other non-money related system of exchange. The Republic, however, being a larger group, comprised of smaller geographically isolated subgroups, would benefit from some kind of currency to facilitate trade – especially considering the internet’s not a thing.

Are there other systems that would work better/would more likely organically occur? I’m keen to know 🙂

It definitely reminds me of Firefly (which is objectively great). Thanks for the comment!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts :). Sorry to hear you haven’t enjoyed ‘Defiance’. It is heavy on the western.

I also think the whole backstabbingy, murdey politics element you’ve identified may be linked to a pressure to produce another ‘Game of Thrones’. If Cersei Lannister replaced Stahma Tarr next season I could watch an episode or two before noticing the ruse.

I agree ‘Girls’ characters are a lot more relatable than a lot of other female characters on TV, and it’s definitely because they’re more complex. In that way, I think they’re more anti -Manic Pixie Dream Girls (MPDG). Each character has these honest, cringe-worthy moments; they’re selfish, make bad decisions and get terrible haircuts. They have depth which is the opposite of the old MPDG. In this New Statesman article (I recommend looking it up, it’s great!) Laurie Pennie says “Averagely pretty white women in their late teens and twenties are not the biggest, most profoundly unsolvable mystery in the universe… The one abiding secret about us is that we’re not fantasies, and we weren’t made to save you: we’re real people, with flaws and cracked personalities and big dreams and digestive tracts.” I think ‘Girls’ gets that.

The whole reliance on a handful of blockbusters to maintain profitability seems really counterproductive. Intuitively, the older system of managing financial risk by sharing it across a larger number of medium and small budget films should be the ticket. In this great interview with David Petrarca, director of Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Big Love, Hung and True Blood (link to interview below) he says he actually pitched this, and was told that the studios need the blockbusters to “feed the machine”; meaning they need films that can move merchandise and become theme park rides. Blerg.

Here’s the link to that interview: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/stories/2013/03/25/3719960.htm

I think you’re right. The film didn’t manage to leverage facets of the original series, which has possibly alienated those who know and love the original text. Despite the world changing considerably since the original was produced, I think it would be possible to produce a modern film with a similar spirit.

I definitely agree with your sentiment regarding CGI. That scene from this season where a naked, blood soaked Bill zoomed into the stratosphere was unintentionally laugh-out-loud funny. I also agree the orgasmic fairy birth was super cringe worthy. Even writing the phrase “orgasmic fairy birth” is making me cringe. It’s always been an utterly ridiculous show and is at its best when it’s aware of that. I think the last two seasons it’s taken itself a bit too seriously to its detriment.