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Togetherness in the Media

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Togetherness [V]

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Alan Sepinwall interviews Steve Zissis.

But then that creative impulse gradually evolved into a pilot that Jay and I put together called “Alexander the Great.” And the pilot, it was mainly centered around my character. And that's initially what we went to HBO with, but HBO was like, “This is great; we really want to work with the Duplass brothers, but can you make it about four people, we want a relationship show?” So we said okay, and then Mark was involved, too. And then we went back to the drawing board, and reshaped the initial pilot to center around four people to become more of a relationship show. And it was actually pretty great that HBO redirected us in that way because we ended up coming up with a better show. So they were right.
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Hipsters for charter schools: The big lie “Togetherness” tells about race and education

The article is more about charter schools than the show, but it makes some good points about the show too.

If “Togetherness” showed the slightest shred of self-awareness, we might interpret this subplot as a radical critique of the worst elements of the charter school movement: its hollow rhetoric and pedagogical vacuity, its appeal to narrow self-interest, the way it divides communities and the way the state has embraced all of it uncritically for political (financial) ends.

Instead, it’s clear that the Duplass brothers and their characters are speaking completely un-ironically and obliviously about all their (now cliché) white privilege and entitlement and, yes, racism and classism in defining what constitutes “good” for them. With HBO’s endorsement, they believe (hope) that they are speaking for and to an affluent white audience who are rooting for these characters.

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Margherita Erdman

Margherita Erdman

Here's a good interview with the Duplass brothers from our local NPR station where they talk about the charter school storyline. There are a few quotes at the link, but it's worth listening to the whole interview (about 11 minutes).

I was just coming here to post this, PAB! I found it interesting that while they said the charter school storyline came out of their own experiences and frustrations with the school options in Eagle Rock, they specifically did not mean to endorse charter schools or this fictional charter school.

Instead, their intention was to make the character of David and his passion compelling enough to draw Michelle in and involve her in the project — near the end of the interview they are very clear that the charter school is meant as a reflection of and a foil for Michelle's character, good and bad. For me at least, this makes the arc more organic to the show and less grating as a commercial for charter schools, especially with the introduction of the Anna character, who emphasizes further how easily Michelle is influenced by stronger personalities than her own.

I did find it notable that even though both brothers acknowledged their personal investment in issues of school quality and choice in Los Angeles and Eagle Rock specifically, neither one disclosed what their decisions ultimately were with regard to where they sent their children. Not that it's any of our business, really, but still. They seem to want to portray the story without engaging the politics, which is a teensy bit disingenuous IMO.

ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

(edited)

I don't see that storyline as an endorsement (yet). Right now it's more of a cautionary tale that shows as great as a charter school seems in theory, it's a huge amount of work to get one started. At the very least, they're being more realistic about it than Parenthood was.

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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WhosThatGirl

WhosThatGirl

Just heard this was now cancelled today, am super bummed. I actually liked this season better than last season. I highly doubt the finale is going to solve anything, it was probably filmed months ago or at least a bit ago, it's already in the can and there are so many things that won't be finalized. And I agree, I don't think this show is as big on promotion as HBOS other shows. 

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Momof2boyz

Momof2boyz

I absolutely loved Looking and that got cancelled too!  I was super bummed that it was not in the Sunday night lineup this year with Girls and Togetherness.  At least Looking got a special movie to wrap it up, but honestly I am so angry at HBO still about the cancellation I am not sure if I will even watch.  It feels like a bad break up.  Now, with Girls wrapping up there will be nothing on Sunday nights at all!  So angry at HBO.  You would think they would pay attention to reviews and not just ratings.  Hated Entourage!

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cpcathy

cpcathy

Yeah, I'm confused. I questioned this in my post above, not sure why HBO is all about ratings. If they know they have a good product like Togetherness, Looking or Bored to Death, what do ratings matter? Millions of dollars in revenue versus thousands? I might be naïve, but frankly, if I were in charge, things would be different? But then, no one has asked me!

BooBear

BooBear

I am kind of annoyed myself. A few months back I did see there was a change at HBO because they felt they didn't have any good hits and most of the stuff they had was mediocre.  What was most mentioned was Vinyl (and have you seen that sack of crud) but I figured they wanted to keep Mick Jagger and whomever produces that happy. But Amanda Peet is the wife of one of the creators of Game of Thrones!! So I thought we had some hook there.   HBO might be vetting a lot of its stuff at this moment to make way for new and better.

 

That said, this year has been pretty bad so unlike the Leftovers season 2 which was spectacular... I am ready to let it go.  I just wish we didn't stall so long on all the major characters and not get the resolution we should. We need a wrap up movie.

qtpye

qtpye

One thing about the Duplass brothers that I got from this show, is that they know how to write female characters.  Both Tina and Michelle could have easily devolved into unflattering stereotypes, but instead they became multi dimensional fascinating human beings.

 

This does not happen enough.  Even Seinfeld did an episode about how male writers have no clue how to write a female.

scrb

scrb

Mark Duplass tweeted a message thanking the fans of the show after its cancellation was announced.

 

What's interesting is how he described the show as a "personal, niche show about sensitive people and the sensitive feelings that they feel sensitively."

 

Not the most graceful sentence.  Makes you wonder if he was being kind of sarcastic or mocking.

blixie

blixie

 I 100% agree that charter schools suck (generally) and that contextually Michelle's school is no better than Anna's school, but I disagree that the framing is not more about Michelle's desperation, if anything she's more desperate this season than she was last year. Last year she was a bored mommy unhappy in her marriage, this year she is woman who's marriage is over because she cheated, I think part of her is thinking: this stupid project lead to the end of my marriage, but if she gives up on it now it's like it ended over nothing for no reason. So I still see it in terms of her emotional  distress/needs, but there is no denying the implicit message is that somehow her motives are purer and more inclusive than what charters schools are actually about.

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