S01.E05: A New Period

[paulvdb]

Quote

Adult Erin leads a daring mission home to 1988 that takes an unexpected turn, leading the girls to KJ’s house and a big secret about her future.

Premiere date: July 29, 2022

[Bellatrix]

RIP Larry. You were kind of creepy, stupid and useless, and while I started out liking you, I stopped.

RIP Older!Erin. You I liked.

Protip girls: If you're on the run from murdering time lords, go for the pads.

The girls' conversation about that was so funny and so 80's.

[Aryanna]

On 8/8/2022 at 11:42 AM, Bellatrix said:

Protip girls: If you're on the run from murdering time lords, go for the pads.

The girls' conversation about that was so funny and so 80's.

This felt like real girls. I'm a little tired of movies and TV shows writing male characters but casting a female in the role because they think that empowers women. No, write women as they actually are. That makes them relatable. 

[Bellatrix]

9 minutes ago, Aryanna said:

This felt like real girls. I'm a little tired of movies and TV shows writing male characters but casting a female in the role because they think that empowers women. No, write women as they actually are. That makes them relatable. 

Agreed. These girls just feel incredibly real. And they feel of the right time period, as well. Major credit to the writing, acting and the directing.

[Mabinogia]

In a show whose premise is more on the fantastical side (time travel, duplicate selves) it is even more important for the foundation characters, in this case the 4 girls, to be as grounded and realistic as possible. It is their realism that makes the more insane stuff work. And this show nailed that. I am appx their age and these are some of the most accurate 80s kids I've seen, even from movies that were made in the 80s lol

[Bellatrix]

12 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

In a show whose premise is more on the fantastical side (time travel, duplicate selves) it is even more important for the foundation characters, in this case the 4 girls, to be as grounded and realistic as possible. It is their realism that makes the more insane stuff work. And this show nailed that. I am appx their age and these are some of the most accurate 80s kids I've seen, even from movies that were made in the 80s lol

Lololol at that they're more accurate 80's kids than kids in actual movies from the 1980's 😂😂😂

I completely agree! They really nailed it.

[Racj82]

On 8/10/2022 at 3:57 AM, Bellatrix said:

Lololol at that they're more accurate 80's kids than kids in actual movies from the 1980's 😂😂😂

I completely agree! They really nailed it.

Eh. I don't really agree with that. I think kids in 80s movie were authentic to their time.

I've always thought that the key to writing a character from a certain time period (especially 80s and 90s) is to not write human machines that spout catchphrases and dress like they are drenched in their time period. Just write characters with a little sprinkle of the time period. It makes everything feel less movie-like, fake and pandering.

You look at that 70s show and you see characters that could have existed in the 2000s minus some clothing and references. They didn't lean on the 70s too much. When they tried to make that 80s show, everyone was a walking stereotype. They were screaming 80s instead of just writing characters.

[Bellatrix]

On 8/15/2022 at 3:36 AM, Racj82 said:

Eh. I don't really agree with that. I think kids in 80s movie were authentic to their time.

I've always thought that the key to writing a character from a certain time period (especially 80s and 90s) is to not write human machines that spout catchphrases and dress like they are drenched in their time period. Just write characters with a little sprinkle of the time period. It makes everything feel less movie-like, fake and pandering.

You look at that 70s show and you see characters that could have existed in the 2000s minus some clothing and references. They didn't lean on the 70s too much. When they tried to make that 80s show, everyone was a walking stereotype. They were screaming 80s instead of just writing characters.

Children in 80's movies are a bit more sunny than I can remember the real children being. Of course, the 1980's were sunny, so it would make sense that script writers and directors would reflect that in the performance they wanted from child actors.

A certain amount of subtlety is required, I agree. As for whether that That '70s Show accurately portrayed teenagers in the 1970's, I wouldn't know, I wasn't born yet. A part of me thinks they didn't. What grounded that show in the time period were the props, etc. Because it was a comedy, it needed that accuracy as grounding. Same with ’Allo ’allo! and the 1940's.

Of course if you overdo anything anybody becomes a walking stereotype.

But you see "characters that could have existed in the 2000s minus some clothing and references" isn't really accurate, either. 

Human nature may not change, but everything else does. Norms, written and unwritten. Culture. Manners. Mannerisms. What is okay. What is looked up to. Ideals. Habits. The level of innocense. Trust. The differences between time periods are as real as differences between cultures. A lot of the people in the 1980's weren't particularly alike the people of today, even in the cases where they are the same person.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Bellatrix

[Racj82]

8 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

Children in 80's movies are a bit more sunny than I can remember the real children being. Of course, the 1980's were sunny, so it would make sense that script writers and directors would reflect that in the performance they wanted from child actors.

A certain amount of subtlety is required, I agree. As for whether that That '70s Show accurately portrayed teenagers in the 1970's, I wouldn't know, I wasn't born yet. A part of me thinks they didn't. What grounded that show in the time period were the props, etc. Because it was a comedy, it needed that accuracy as grounding. Same with ’Allo ’allo! and the 1940's.

Of course if you overdo anything anybody becomes a walking stereotype.

But you see "characters that could have existed in the 2000s minus some clothing and references" isn't really accurate, either. 

Human nature may not change, but everything else does. Norms, written and unwritten. Culture. Manners. Mannerisms. What is okay. What is looked up to. Ideals. Habits. The level of innocense. Trust. The differences between time periods are as real as differences between cultures. A lot of the people in the 1980's weren't particularly alike the people of today, even in the cases where they are the same person.

My point about that 70s show was that part of the reason why the show worked was because the characters could fit in at anytime. It's not about whether or not they were authentic. Them not being walking, talking stereotypes of the 70s at every turn allowed the viewers to just enjoy them as they were.

The Paper Girls, the leads at that core, could work in any time-frame. Their dialogue, emotions, banter etc aren't overly stylized. They aren't forcing 80s stereotypes onto them. It makes them feel more genuine. That's what I'm talking about. They feel more like regular kids. They didn't stick out like sore thumbs in different eras.

I just think that's the best way to go about projects like this. If you tried too hard to force looks and dialogue on then, it takes you out of it a bit.These kids feel more authentic because in general they felt like real kids regardless of the era imo.

[Mabinogia]

6 hours ago, Racj82 said:

The Paper Girls, the leads at that core, could work in any time-frame. Their dialogue, emotions, banter etc aren't overly stylized. They aren't forcing 80s stereotypes onto them. It makes them feel more genuine. That's what I'm talking about. They feel more like regular kids. They didn't stick out like sore thumbs in different eras.

I think what the show did right was first write them as kids, then write them as 80s kids. The basics of being a kid are the same in any generation,  wanting to be safe, loved, have friends, fit in, in that tween stage wanting to have some independence but still have mom and dad their supporting you when you need them, finding your place in the world, finding who you are. These girls embody that time in your life when you're just trying to figure out who you are and where you fit in the world.

Where they feel authentically 80s is in them being more innocent and youthful than kids in modernly set shows, with their sassy comebacks and wiser than their age conversations. The biggest difference in children of various generations is how quickly they age. Technology and social media has inevitably made children wiser and older than their years. These girls perfectly capture that more innocent 80s youth that I remember well.

[Bellatrix]

20 hours ago, Racj82 said:

My point about that 70s show was that part of the reason why the show worked was because the characters could fit in at anytime. It's not about whether or not they were authentic. Them not being walking, talking stereotypes of the 70s at every turn allowed the viewers to just enjoy them as they were.

The Paper Girls, the leads at that core, could work in any time-frame. Their dialogue, emotions, banter etc aren't overly stylized. They aren't forcing 80s stereotypes onto them. It makes them feel more genuine. That's what I'm talking about. They feel more like regular kids. They didn't stick out like sore thumbs in different eras.

I just think that's the best way to go about projects like this. If you tried too hard to force looks and dialogue on then, it takes you out of it a bit.These kids feel more authentic because in general they felt like real kids regardless of the era imo.

I think that the golden rule of writing—and television— is that whatever works, works. That '70s Show worked. However, different things that work can accomplish different things. I mean, nobody writes about how Jane Austen wrote wonderful murder mysteries. That is because Jane Austen did not write murder mysteries. 

What this series accomplished, and which is quite remarkable, because I cannot actually remember anybody else managing it, is nailing portraying 1980's kids. That is quite the accomplishment, and I think a lot of credit is deserved to the writers, actors and directors. For me, this was a huge, huge part of what made the series work. 

For somebody who remembers, it's startling to see it so well done. If they had chosen to do it differently (or not had the skill to pull it off) it would have been like seeing someone from a different nationality attempting to portray yours badly. You know how people from the same country can always recognise each other in airports, without a word being spoken? It's like that with time periods, as well. This was correct. They pulled it off.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Bellatrix

[Racj82]

13 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

I think that the golden rule of writing—and television— is that whatever works, works. That '70s Show worked. However, different things that work can accomplish different things. I mean, nobody writes about how Jane Austen wrote wonderful murder mysteries. That is because Jane Austen did not write murder mysteries. 

What this series accomplished, and which is quite remarkable, because I cannot actually remember anybody else managing it, is nailing portraying 1980's kids. That is quite the accomplishment, and I think a lot of credit is deserved to the writers, actors and directors. For me, this was a huge, huge part of what made the series work. 

For somebody who remembers, it's startling to see it so well done. If they had chosen to do it differently (or not had the skill to pull it off) it would have been like seeing someone from a different nationality attempting to portray yours badly. You know how people from the same country can always recognise each other in airports, without a word being spoken? It's like that with time periods, as well. This was correct. They pulled it off.

I feel like this all just saying the samed things but wording it differently. Theses girls felt genuine and realistic as kids. They also managed to get the sense of wonder aspect of the 80s. They created authentic feeling characters. That's all that is really important.

[Kirsty]

This episode,  especially the first half, was a major downer. Larry dead, Old!Erin dead, and then they find out they're not even home but in a whole new time?

But I'm enjoying it. It's a lovely show and I'm sorry there's no second season. I like the way each character is being explored.

[Aryanna]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:22 PM, Kirsty said:

It's a lovely show and I'm sorry there's no second season.

Bwhaaaa?!

**goes to check internet**

I hadn't heard thst it was canceled. I was kinda enjoying this. It wasn't perfect but it was kinda fun. I'll forever wonder what happened to these girls now.

I know it's based on a graphic novel and i could go to the source to resolve my curiosity but we all know that I'm not gonna do that. I see they're shopping it around to other streamers but I'm not holding my breath.

Of the new shows I picked up on lately, this was one of the better ones. I also watched The Summer I Turned Pretty but that was kinda dumb. :(

[snarktini]

I'm confused! Why are their future selves present in 1999? When they went to KJ's house I expected them to find out that she'd been missing for 11 years, since they time jumped in 1988. Do they get mind wiped and dropped back in 88 at some point? Is it an alternate universe? Or is this just wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff?

I also thought it was odd that KJ was so sure how her family would spend the holiday, given it's been many years. Things change. They might not have even owned that house anymore. But I'll go with "because they are 12 and how things are is the only way they can be".