LOOKING- Page 18
LOOKING
#426LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 1:05pm
'in exactly the same tone.'
BINGO! So, a throwaway quip about his WASP boyfriend becomes some dark, ugly subtext about self-hatred for his Latino-ness. I mean...does anyone get angry when Amy calls Paul her 'very own Jew' in Company? No. Because Beth Howland, Veanne Cox and Katie Finnernan know how to deliver the line to get a laugh.
Castillo delivers it like it's the last scene of THE SEAGULL.
#428LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 1:08pmLooking's ratings continue to climb (albeit slowly) each week. Hopefully there will be a renewal announcement (and seriously, HBO hasn't given one to True Detective yet?) http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/02/25/true-detective-ratings-best-yet/
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#429LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 1:17pm
Carlos, he needs to leave US alone.
I'm not sure if this show deserves a renewal. The dramaturgical misstep of developing a core of three main characters and their friends, co-workers, and lovers across four episodes only to derail it in episode five for a total focus on one main character and the lethargic object of his affection from the recurring cast has been disastrous. Then in this last episode they try to weave the others back in and then announce there are only two more episodes left. It's waaayyyyy more Ryan Murphy than I would have guessed it would turn out back during the first four episodes.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#430LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 1:35pm
There's a qualitative difference between "my very own Jew" and "boyfriend and a WASP... score"
Amy never sought a Jewish partner and had no great stake in finding one but is amused by the fact that she did find one. That's what makes the line work. The line doesn't at all suggest that she was someone who objectifies a Jewish boyfriend in the way that the line "boyfriend and a WASP... score" calls into question calculated objectification of white Anglo Saxon Protestant dick and all the status that comes with finding it...
or on the other hand, as HorseTears suggests, Richie's riffing on that power play (I wouldn't mind a line which riffed on the power play in an way that built character and focused on that issue - in fact it could have been great - but if that was the writers' intent, they didn't pull it off; rather they just planted a bomb) and acknowledging that he's not immune from the societal conditioning that's at the heart of the line (which, again, might have been an interesting thing for the scene to deal with in an interesting way.... it didn't).
We don't know at all where Richie is coming from in terms of any particular interest in having a WASP boyfriend. Hell, he could simply be a guy who's attracted to WASPy looking guys without it having any particular objectionable baggage (just like there are people who are particularly attracted to Italians, Asians, blacks, blondes, Jewish people, etc., without it having any troubling implications about the world order - rather it's merely a sexual inclination.) Or he may not have any particular interest of that kind at all.
But what we do know is that the line has a lot of very troubling implications about status and race in relationships and that rather than delving into what's fascinating about all that, the writers struck a very irritating chord with a very weighted issue rather than shedding any light on it.
I'm a little surprised by the attacks on Castillo. I think he's doing a great job, the best acting in the show by far in my opinion; I'm impressed with how his choices, even his choices when subjected to having to say a line as problematic as "and a WASP... score."
And I can understand everything he's saying and buy the way he says it (in this particularly instance, it was the line itself and not what he did or didn't do with it that makes me want to throw something at the screen).
If you are averse to mumblecore, do yourself a favor and avoid McConaughey in True Detective. Although he's otherwise doing some fantastic work in it, damn if I understand wtf he's saying half the time.
Updated On: 2/25/14 at 01:35 PM
#431LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 1:55pm
I'm with Henrik here. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I think the WASP comment was still meant to sound like it has, or possibly has some tension or resentment behind it. I'm not sure how great an actor Castillo is, but I do find him, personally, very natural which is really all he has to be in the role so far. Speaking of mumblecore, Joe Swanberg was the one off director on this episode, and he seems to be one of the directors who epitomizes the term (though I've only seen one of his movies, LOL, and found it a bit boring by the end, I thought he did fine here.)
However, speaking of General Hospital, Richie walking by JUST as Auggie made that slumming comment was a bit too soap opera even for me. I mean sure, it happens in real life, but just how it was staged with him walking into frame right at that moment.
Namo, as you know of course, it doesn't matter if the show deserves a second season or not, just if the numbers and potential praise or sales means enough for HBO. I suspect they are (though if they can maintain that past a second season will depend a lot on where they can and do take this next year.) I don't feel nearly as strongly as you (if this is Ryan Murphy forced drama territory than at least the drama and characterization, IMHO has come precisely from the bits of characterization we've already seen. I'll get back to you when they have a gay rapist without a penis.) I do agree though that the short episodes and episode count has made this episode seem more sudden than it should. I loved last week (I know you didn't) but it perhaps seemed better on paper to have a mid-season "interlude" episode that would have worked better either later in a season or in a longer season. It's hard to do a show in this style, and still have enough plot momentum to try to bring in those viewer numbers, with quite a few characters with only a 4 hour season.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#433LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 2:07pmI have no problem with a show that takes its time with its storytelling. But the one question this show has yet to answer for me is 'Why are these three characters friends.' I mean...I know the plot points provided, but I don't feel the connection between the three. I feel like I have to work a little too hard to provide the emotional shading to the backstory of these friendships.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#434LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 2:09pm
Perhaps I overstated the case, Namo; in any case, I'm sorry to be prying your mentality apart.
I like Castillo and what he's doing with the role. I find him believable and engaging. His work makes me interested in learning more - not less - about who Richie is and what he wants. I find him more believable and engaging than anyone else in the cast with the possible exception of Bakula. (and btw, since I can hear this overture about to be struck up - my paranoia no doubt... it's not that I think Castillo is the hottest guy on the show; for me that honor goes to Bartlett - with Alvarez and Tovey not far behind him) To be fair, though, others in the cast are saddled with characters that I'm just not that interested in.
Updated On: 2/25/14 at 02:09 PM
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#436LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 3:28pm
I'm glad Looking's ratings are on the rise (3rd straight week they've gone up). Also, the show is grossing 2 million weekly viewers according to HBO. I do hope it's renewed.
I had to do Closed Captioning because I couldn't understand what Richie said to Patrick when he was putting the necklace on him. It was driving me insane. But I will say I think Raul Castillo has made Richie a far more interesting character than Dom and Agustine.
OT but as for True Detective not being renewed yet, it may have to do with the fact that Harrelson and McConaughey only signed on for one season. The show is a mini-series so it focuses on a different story and characters each season (like American Horror Story). Maybe HBO is waiting to see what actors they can get for season 2 and what the story will be before they renew.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#438LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 3:37pmIt does kinda feel like the Patrick ('n Friends) Show. I am LOATHE to compare it to Sex and The City, but that show did an excellent job of incorporating all four women into nearly each and every episode. It was still firmly Carrie's show, but the relationships were completely solid and each actress was allowed to shine brightly throughout the run.
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#440LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 3:38pm
Surprised no one has commented on Patrick mincing around like a nelly queen in the park. I know it was supposed to funny, but it felt really false to me.
I really want to like this show, but it's a struggle. The leads are just as self-involved as the characters on Girls but I don't find them nearly as interesting.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#441LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 3:42pmThat's funny because up to and including the moment they listenedd to about two seconds of Patrick's voice mail message and all cracked up, it reminded me so much of dozens of such conversations I've had with lots of different friends. So I didn't mind it too much when he started prancing, I just felt a little bad about it since the Panti video is still so much on my mind.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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#443LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 4:37pm
"I'm embarrassed of people who use "whence" without irony."
PJ, I assumed the irony was clear after my facetious claim to have attended an English prep school in the 1800s. The joke was my suggestion that my own use of language may be archaic.
And let me add--with no irony whatsoever--that it strikes me as an odd custom here at BWW to start feuds with other posters who have no idea what they have done to inspire the animosity.
ETA upon reflection, it occurs to me that your response may have meant to ape the precise tone I was using in my original post. And I was just too sensitive to "get it". If so, I truly apologize, PJ.
In any event, no harm done.
Updated On: 2/25/14 at 04:37 PM
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#449LOOKING
Posted: 2/25/14 at 7:43pm
This thread is so confusing to me. I haven't had an issue understanding a single word Raul/"Ritchie" has said and I'm watching on a dated first generation iPad with ****ty speakers. I find his gentle, semi-whispered delivery incredibly endearing and his tender, understated performance is one of my favorite from the series. I know that "one of my best friends" comments are not always the well received, but when I moved to LA nearly 5 years ago, one of the first new friends I made was a Mexican American gay man in his mid 20s. And I subsequently joined his circle of friends who included a lot of first and second generation Californians--mostly from Mexico, El Salvador and Columbia--and many of them from socially conservative, working class Catholic families. As they were growing up, some (not all) of them had to keep their heads down, so to speak, and not call attention to themselves so that they could safely navigate their adolescence and avoid "detection". Many of those guys sound remarkably like Ritchie. Whether it is a deliberately chosen affectation of low, inward speaking as Jude Law and Heath Ledger adopted in Cold Mountain and Brokeback Mountain, respectively or whether it's just the way the actor naturally speaks, it feels like a perfectly legitimate choice for a character of his background and socio-economic status. And, no, that is not my way of saying all Mexican Americans sound like this. I'm so glad to hear the ratings are going up! Fingers crossed for a second season!
As for the other HBO show mentioned in this thread. It's inconceivable to me that it won't receive a second season. Nic Pizzolatto has quickly become the hottest screenwriter/show-runner in Hollywood and I'm sure that many a-list film actors and directors are desperately trying to get meetings with him right this very minute. Anyway, back to Looking!
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