TV and Movies

[Moonchilde]

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@Vivian Florimond wrote:

I agree with jackthebear. With so much authenticity in the look of BBC productions, they often inject 2017 moral values into their plots. Last night's Grantchester episode, which was quite dark, a real downer in my opinion, was just wrong when it came to attitudes about homosexuality in the 1950s. A recent episode of Father Brown, another BBC mystery series that takes place a few years after WW2, presented modern-day attitudes about a transgender character. If they can't get it right, then the writers should create different plots.

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With all due respect, unless you were an adult living in the UK during the 1950s, I'm curious what you base your opinion on re "attitudes about homosexuality in the 50s" in the UK.

Homosexuality was a crime punishable by imprisonment in the UK until 1967. Imprisonment was common. The fear for gay men was very, very real. The attitudes that even Geordie and the rest of the police dept expressed in prior seasons included the police being okay with not bothering to investigate homosexuals being beaten or even murdered because they were considered, as Leonard said, "an abomination."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jun/24/communities.gayrights

Add to that the fact that Leonard was an Anglican priest, and that was a total double-whammy at the time.

One of the reasons that the show is tackling the stories it is, is because people honestly have no clue how it actually was.

[Moonchilde]

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@occasionalrain wrote:

I believe Amanda's father was responsible for her marriage, if not entirely than in part. 

What you have surmised is just speculation. Perhaps Sidney would be happier in some other vocation. A marriage between Amanda and Sidney may be happier now that Amanda knows money isn't equal to happiness. A person can't make a good decision without experience. Marrying the wrong person is easy when you have no experience being married.

I do know that I would never want a man to stay with me out of obligation. I'd find it demeaning. It's not fair to children to live in a home where their parents are unhappy.

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@occasionalrain, forgive me - my response is not "at" you, but your post got me to thinking -

To me, the overriding theme of the entire series has been that most people are both products of and victims of the times they live in - of "society" and the law.

Amanda comes from money. She was educated with that money. She both loves and tries to please her family to keep her relationships as together as she can. It's very easy to say she should have just chucked it all for Sydney and True Love, from a post women's lib 2017, but she lived in 1955. Her husband could take their daughter away from her forever, legally, if he wanted to, in 1955. Even today, more weight is still given to the father's rights than the mother's compared to the US. People thought/believed/legislated differently about many things 60 years ago, and there has always been and will always be further differences in these areas between the UK and the US - they are not exactly the same in their POV about many things.

As far as morality - television and films are usually not created to moralize or preach, but to entertain and to make people think. How they think and what they think is going to be all over the map.

I personally give no thought to WWGD or WWG Want when I view an entertainment program. Others' MMV, I know that, but I think it's possible to over-think an entertainment program.

[Shawnie]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

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@Vivian Florimond wrote:

I agree with jackthebear. With so much authenticity in the look of BBC productions, they often inject 2017 moral values into their plots. Last night's Grantchester episode, which was quite dark, a real downer in my opinion, was just wrong when it came to attitudes about homosexuality in the 1950s. A recent episode of Father Brown, another BBC mystery series that takes place a few years after WW2, presented modern-day attitudes about a transgender character. If they can't get it right, then the writers should create different plots.

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With all due respect, unless you were an adult living in the UK during the 1950s, I'm curious what you base your opinion on re "attitudes about homosexuality in the 50s" in the UK.

Homosexuality was a crime punishable by imprisonment in the UK until 1967. Imprisonment was common. The fear for gay men was very, very real. The attitudes that even Geordie and the rest of the police dept expressed in prior seasons included the police being okay with not bothering to investigate homosexuals being beaten or even murdered because they were considered, as Leonard said, "an abomination."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jun/24/communities.gayrights

Add to that the fact that Leonard was an Anglican priest, and that was a total double-whammy at the time.

One of the reasons that the show is tackling the stories it is, is because people honestly have no clue how it actually was.

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And if you follow Call the Midwife you get a view of how difficult it was for two woman trying to be in a relationship in the 1960s in the UK.  Go back only 40 years and one of the characters in Downton Abbey underwent self torture because to be homosexual was unlawful in the UK.

[Evie2004]

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@151949 wrote:

I watch Masterpiece a lot and enjoy many of the British shows but I have a lot of difficulty hearing the dialogue on this show so I lose interest quickly.

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We usually just put the closed captioning button on, helps without turning up the volume!

[Moonchilde]

Anyone who wants to be spoiled can google "Grantchester season 3 finale" and find out what happens before it airs - as of course it aired in the UK at the end of May. I was only surprised by one thing they mention; the other two - not, and not that much.

[occasionalrain]

Last night's episode was a disappointment. Contrived and lacking in believability. 

[Isobel Archer]

Agree that the whole Romany episode complete with the resolution of Mrs. Maguire's problem with her husband was contrived and unsatisfying.

However, we finally see Sidney wrestling with God over what to do.  And Amanda makes it clear - it's either her or the church.

[Annabellethecat66]

So, I went looking to find the outcome of the show....don't know yet about another season.....Here's what I found the star had tattoo on his back to commemorate the end of season 3!!

I just read further that perhaps (suggesting) it's a fake tattoo and will be peeled off!  Don't know if that's true, I hope so!

[occasionalrain]

If Sidney chooses the church, does he remain single or marry a woman who will always be second best. Is that fair to the woman? Does he abandon Amanda leaving her either trapped in a loveless marriage, alone, or divorcing and settling for a man who will always be second best? To me the choice is clear.

[occasionalrain]

The tattoo is an obvious fake.