Monday, March 16, 2009

Getting good numbers/ Postmodern lite Austen

The Biggest Loser...weigh in night. Poor, poor red team. What went wrong? All such little "numbers". (apparently it's not about losing weight, rather it's about "getting good numbers"). Anyway with the exception of Amanda who lost a very impressive 6.4 and was the biggest loser they were cactus. Therefore tis to the elimination room they go, Heigh ho...please vote off Cam...he's a wussy pain who doesn't try and I think his daughter Sammy would have a better chance without him hanging about bringing her down. Producers and directors please note, opera singing is not required here. If we want a talent quest we'll stay tuned to the dancin' show or wait for idol, or that other awful thing with danni minogue that's on channel 7 that I refuse to watch.

Lost in Austen: Part 2: Ok so this is probably more like what I expected last week, with heroine Amanda Price going back to modern London to find Lizzie. Lindsay Duncan did a lovely evil turn as Lady Catherine, and it was interesting to find so many of the characters turning against the book (i.e. Wickham good, Georgiana bad)...Mr Collins' three brothers were suitably revolting as one would expect though. Tinkler.hah! But in the end I found myself worrying about the space-time continuum disruption (Back to the Future style) with Amanda staying with Darcy and Lizzie going back to Hammersmith (i.e. London). Although I guess this was different because Back to the Future wasn't travelling between a book and the real world. And the annulment between Collins and Jane seemed a little too easily organised. Does Lady Catherine have such power? I know Austen is all about the happy endings, but it didn't seem right to me. I think I would have preferred a poignant ending with Amanda returning to London (but then maybe meeting a modern Darcy lookalike in an epilogue type scene...oops cliche alert) and Lizzie staying with Darcy. And in the world of the TV program what would the implications for the actual book of Pride and Prejudice? Is it rewritten? Or am I overthinking a piece of Austen fluff that seemed to be wholly inspired by our supposed ongoing infatuation with Colin Firth's Darcy? Postmodern lite I think.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Presumably Jurisfiction are keeping an eye on the situation. After all, Austen books are areas that attract special attention.

The fact that I missed this, though (despite having watched the first episode some time ago) reminds me of how much I miss my TiVo.

Wendy said...

Well I would hope so...but then I didn't know it would go with televisual world, vs bookworld, vs real world of production etc etc


I've never had a TiVo :(

I don't even have a dvd recorder at the moment...so if it's missed it's missed

Anonymous said...

I would not have minded the 'book' ending with Amanda meeting a Modern 'Darcy' either. I think the last two episodes were much betetr than the first two.Wickham was great, Jane showed some steel, Mrs Bennet was fabulous and shocked her husband into some sense. Lindsay Duncan was very good, and I liked her, even though I didn't want to. I felt a little sorry for Michael and I still would like to see Lizzie's story told, with its footprints, macrobiotics and frantic turning off of the appliances!!!
I have 2 DVD HDDs and could not function without them!!

Wendy said...

hmmm...you're both convincing me I need to get with the 21st century and have some means of recording the telly again. I agree 2paw the second half was better than the first. I didn't feel sorry for Michael though, but I think the whole Lizzie in London story would be good to see as well.

Anonymous said...

With regards to biggest loser lingo, the biggest loser on this show is rapidly becoming the English language. Anyone ever wondered why they now "pull" big numbers? Where are they pulling them to, one wonders... Oooh, it irritates me so much!!! :) Why is there such a need to conform to "game language"?? Do you check your own vocabulary at the door when you enter the show???? Argh!!

Wendy said...

more to the point...where are they pulling them from?

because i am such a delicate flower i shall refrain from all suggestions here. But annoying as the game language is, sadly I find myself thinking in it as I watch the show...that is paradox of tv perhaps?

I'm sure they're schooled in what to say and when to say...in fact i think you can see trainer shannan's brain ticking over as he does his pieces to camera with his "lines"...which is jsut a little fascinating in it's own special way.

Isn't this what you're learning in your course?! ;)

Anonymous said...

I haven't yet got up to the module on fake dialogue and atrocious acting skills, but I'll let you have a look when I do... This series seems to have become much faker (nice word, hey?!) and more obviously scripted than past ones. Are the contestants and trainers needing this much prompting or did previous series' just contain better actors (perhaps it was the flamboyant American influence that we're missing this time...) I still watch it though - just in a semi-annoyed state...

Wendy said...

yeah...i miss bob and jillian....*sigh*....sometimes that's the only way to enjoy certain programs...when you're "semi-annoyed"
HA!