The Good, the Bad, and the Boring

The very, very good.

It’s fall—the time of back-to-school, starting fresh, trying again. And sure, fall is busy. Immensely busy once you have children. And a job. And laundry. But something about the cooler weather and leaves bursting with color brings visions of Dead Poet’s Society, Good Will Hunting, and other school-themed movies set in the fall. And I’ll admit it—I didn’t hate school. I was always excited to go back. Inspired by the possibility of fantastic new things on the horizon. So even though I’m busy with the aforementioned children, work, and laundry, I’m also inspired to blog. So here we go.

I can’t remember everything that I watched and read this summer—nor would anyone want to sit through that list—but here are some highlights and lowlights.

The Good
TV:
Lost in Austen ‐ This is the rom-com I’ve been needing. I laughed and cried and furiously emailed friends who needed to be informed about the program’s existence RIGHT AWAY. It’s a British mini-series about a modern London gal (played by Jemima Rooper) who loves Pride and Prejudice and discovers that Elizabeth Bennet (heroine of said book) has appeared in her bathroom via a secret portal. While wrestling with the confusion that one would expect upon finding a fictional character enraptured by your modern plumbing, she goes through the portal and finds herself trapped in Austen’s story. It’s a fish-out-of-water comedy of manners, with strong ties to the original novel and perfect references to the much-loved BBC mini-series starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. (Did I mention it also features Hugh Bonneville and Alex Kingston?) I may need to watch it again soon. (I found it for free on Hulu!) And did I mention that there’s an American version in the works? It was going to be penned by the late Nora Ephron, but now will be written by Carrie Brownstein. I have high hopes.

Film:
The Thin Man ‐ It was suggested that I not watch this film based on Dashiell Hammett’s husband and wife detective team without a drink in my hand. The advice was not wrong. Liquor abounds in this post-Prohibition era comedy-mystery starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. Nick is a hard-drinking former detective and Nora is a witty, wealthy heiress. The plot finds the newly married couple getting pulled into solving a murder in which the accused is Nick’s friend. The charm of this film isn’t the murder mystery, though that’s certainly engaging. The best part is the sharp repartee between Nick and Nora, who are deeply in love but aren’t afraid to challenge and tease one another. It’s no wonder their smart exchanges launched a string of fast-bantering detective couples in film and TV (hello Moonlighting). The success of The Thin Man also inspired a series of sequels (there was only one novel—the sequels were all written specifically for the screen). I’ve only seen After the Thin Man so far, but Powell and Loy are so charming as Nick and Nora, I don’t doubt I’ll eventually work through all of the films.

Books:
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency ‐ I’m embarrassed by how little I know about modern Africa and how many false assumptions I have. The purpose of Alexander McCall Smith’s successful novel series isn’t to teach about Africa—it’s to tell stories about the life and adventures of Mma Precious Ramotswe, a woman in Gaborone, Botswana, who follows her dream to open a female-owned detective agency, and finds success thanks to her clever ideas, brave actions, and strong heart. But, as with The Thin Man, this story isn’t just about solving mysteries. It also paints a picture of Mma Ramotswe’s life growing up, as well as the mundane, daily aspects of her life now and the lives of others in her community. Through these descriptions of life intertwined with the mysteries, the book both entertains and teaches about one particular region of Africa that is unseen to those of us who only know the Africa in the news. What’s most shocking is that it really shouldn’t be shocking how similar lives across the world can be. After all, if the Hollywood red carpet footage in LA or the violent struggles in urban centers like Detroit and Chicago were the only representations people around the world saw of the U.S. in the news (and I’m not even comparing continent to continent, here), I’m sure they’d have plenty of false assumptions, too.

The Bad
The Real Housewives of Melbourne ‐ This latest installment in Bravo’s RH franchise features some of the worst people I’ve seen in reality shows. And I’m focusing here on the behavior, not the frighteningly extensive use of sparkly clothing and heavy makeup. Certainly I’ve seen obnoxious behavior before—though I do stay away from some of the worst offenders (Bad Girls Club? No, thank you.) But what I think is particularly upsetting to me here is that most of these women are in their 40s and 50s (perhaps even 60s—hard to tell with the surgical enhancements), so one would think they would have matured past this level of crudeness by now. In fact, I can get embarrassed when watching people putting a certain level of idiocy on display, and so I find myself multi-tasking while watching so I don’t listen too closely during particularly clueless exchanges. (No, I don’t know why I keep watching. It’s one of those great mysteries of life.) The women can also be mean and self-aggrandizing in ways that surprise even my reality-TV soaked brain. (Except Chyka. I like Chyka.) Perhaps I need to prove my own maturity and wean myself off of this trainwreck...but then what would I write about?

On a side note: I know that using the Real Housewives moniker is part of the series’ branding, but it hardly applies to this cast in which half the women work outside the home and a third are currently divorced. Not that this is the first program in the franchise to feature working women or unmarried women, but there’s a real focus by the Melbourne cast on how busy they are juggling work and family, as well as the challenges of becoming single later in life. So, I appreciate that these issues are part of the conversation (even if they are presented in an obnoxious fashion).

And The Boring
Top Chef Duels ‐ This is a spinoff of Bravo’s successful Top Chef franchise. It’s possibly the 3rd or 4th spinoff (I’ve lost track), and I have watched at least on of the others, but I could not sit through this one. Partway through the first episode, I turned it off. As someone who continues to sit through so-good-they’re-bad shows, I think it’s a much worse offense to be dull.