Ten Thousand Pounds of Bull Crap
Spring Break '08 Port Angeles is in full swing, in fact it is beginning its descent into Spring Term '08 Portland State University. Pretty much I've spent the last two days watching Sex and the City with Lizzy and Olivia on my parent's couch. Pretty sweet. Actually, having spent a few years away from the show, which took over my life for a brief period as a college freshman, I just realized how assinine the whole show is. Before, when I didn't know the characters or the story line, I was able to look beyond the clothes and the guys and the dialogue. I was really interested in what happened to the characters. Sex and the City, like all HBO shows, is about characters, and building their shows off of their characters. After watching Six Feet Under, The Wire, Deadwood, and Entourage, and part of Carnivale and Extras, I can say that Sex and the City is not very good. When I know the stories, I no longer care about the characters. And when you don't care about the characters its hard to get pumped watching them do the same things over and over again, which is how Sex and the City works. The characters don't develop. That's how Carrie can be in the exact same situation at the end of the show that she was in when it started. That's why Carrie couldn't marry Aiden. The show would have ended. Those type of story problems don't exist in The Wire. Stringer Bell, one of the main characters in season three, died and there was still a show.
Someone in one of my TV writing classes mentioned that Entourage was the male version of Sex and the City. I can agree with the surface comparison. Its about four people, all different, who live very exciting lives and all have interesting things to say about everything. One major difference, and one thing that makes Entrouage better in my opinion, is the work side of the show. Hollywood is a great place to set a show. A lot of things happen and they are all interesting. Sex and the City doesn't have an Ari. The women work, but their jobs are more just set-ups for sex or just ways to define who they are. Miranda is a lawyer so she says lawyerly things and wears lawyer clothes.
My list of top five HBO shows: The Wire, Entourage, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Two other things that I have done in PA. Finished Micheal Pollan's The
Botany of Desire. Excellent book. I reccomend both of his books that I
have read. The one I just named and the Omnivore's Dilemma. Both are
great. Also last night Olivia and Lizzy and I went to 10,000 BC.
Horrible. Not that there was really any doubt. But come on. There is
nothing I can say about it. It was just awful. Movies like this make me
wonder what is going on in Hollywood. They got my money, though, so
obviously they thought that it was worth making such a crappy movie. I
guess if you like movies and the town your in is only showing crap then
it is ok to sell crap because that is all there is to buy. Good play
Hollywood. I would like my nine dollars back.
