05-08-2015, 02:10 PM
These characters are so thoroughly dead that these last few eps haven't even been particularly upsetting to me.
I think it's noteworthy that they had to break the friendships in order for the "relationships" to be possible. Recently, in the chatbox, there was mention of the various later-seasons moments where Penny did not act in the guys' best interests and sided with A or B instead, despite having known the guys longer and presumably being closer to them.That's an example. New!Howard doesn't give a shit what happens to his "best friend", won't try to protect him or dissuade him from falling prey to someone who is distasteful at best and literally dangerous at worst. Because, of course, that version of Howard has accepted his own fate and misery loves company, so the "crabs in a bucket" mentality goes into effect. Any sense that H&R are friends and have a special bond is utterly dead. You can't have these ships without turning the original five against each other. Step one was to turn them against themselves.
The only thing left to ponder, really, is how *anyone* could believe in a message of "never question your relationship, don't act in your own best interests, sacrifice your entire self for the very first person you've ever dated." It's the most colossally unhealthy and twisted message I've ever seen in a mainstream piece of entertainment. Don't protect yourself from psychological or even physical danger, just let your entire life and selfhood be destroyed for the first random person who even grudgingly tolerates your presence. To me, it's just beyond baffling that a popular TV show in 2015 has this message.
The romance genre is known for some questionable tropes and messages, but I've NEVER seen this definition of "love" before, not even in books/shows/movies from decades ago. Even literature from the supposedly repressed Victorian era isn't like this. Even cults and extremist groups pay lip-service to the idea that a relationship should be reciprocal. That's a fact. The trashiest Harlequin paperback isn't like this. I would sooner take my chances with an arranged marriage to a total stranger than a marriage envisioned by Molaro &Co.
This show's definition of love is also the textbook-perfect definition of abuse. That's not an exagerration in the slightest.
This show is about people betraying themselves and each other for sex...or not even sex, but just the societal stamp of approval which comes from being coupled.
In a nutshell, the message is "Don't Think." Don't think about what's happening to you, don't examine your situation, don't listen to your gut. Throw yourself into a river and let it carry you along. Self-preservation is a selfish instinct and means you haven't "grown" enough yet. Really.
At the moment, I'm not even particularly upset, although there has been PLENTY of stuff in S8 that has upset me. TPTB, and the actors, have really shown their ass, this time. We've seen the man behind the curtain, so to speak. It's upsetting when you think that your fave characters are doing rotten things, or having rotten things done to them. But when those characters become so utterly OOC that they are really and truly gone, there's no reason to feel anything about what they do, or don't do, or have done to them. There's still a sense of loss and grief, but the impact of each new monstrosity becomes "meh."
I didn't watch a single frame of S8, but I can actually *feel* how this is just a weird generic sitcom, now. There's a blankness and a feeling of unreality, to it. I have that sense of "Oh, is *that* show still on?? I thought it was over."
I think it's noteworthy that they had to break the friendships in order for the "relationships" to be possible. Recently, in the chatbox, there was mention of the various later-seasons moments where Penny did not act in the guys' best interests and sided with A or B instead, despite having known the guys longer and presumably being closer to them.That's an example. New!Howard doesn't give a shit what happens to his "best friend", won't try to protect him or dissuade him from falling prey to someone who is distasteful at best and literally dangerous at worst. Because, of course, that version of Howard has accepted his own fate and misery loves company, so the "crabs in a bucket" mentality goes into effect. Any sense that H&R are friends and have a special bond is utterly dead. You can't have these ships without turning the original five against each other. Step one was to turn them against themselves.
The only thing left to ponder, really, is how *anyone* could believe in a message of "never question your relationship, don't act in your own best interests, sacrifice your entire self for the very first person you've ever dated." It's the most colossally unhealthy and twisted message I've ever seen in a mainstream piece of entertainment. Don't protect yourself from psychological or even physical danger, just let your entire life and selfhood be destroyed for the first random person who even grudgingly tolerates your presence. To me, it's just beyond baffling that a popular TV show in 2015 has this message.
The romance genre is known for some questionable tropes and messages, but I've NEVER seen this definition of "love" before, not even in books/shows/movies from decades ago. Even literature from the supposedly repressed Victorian era isn't like this. Even cults and extremist groups pay lip-service to the idea that a relationship should be reciprocal. That's a fact. The trashiest Harlequin paperback isn't like this. I would sooner take my chances with an arranged marriage to a total stranger than a marriage envisioned by Molaro &Co.
This show's definition of love is also the textbook-perfect definition of abuse. That's not an exagerration in the slightest.
This show is about people betraying themselves and each other for sex...or not even sex, but just the societal stamp of approval which comes from being coupled.
In a nutshell, the message is "Don't Think." Don't think about what's happening to you, don't examine your situation, don't listen to your gut. Throw yourself into a river and let it carry you along. Self-preservation is a selfish instinct and means you haven't "grown" enough yet. Really.
At the moment, I'm not even particularly upset, although there has been PLENTY of stuff in S8 that has upset me. TPTB, and the actors, have really shown their ass, this time. We've seen the man behind the curtain, so to speak. It's upsetting when you think that your fave characters are doing rotten things, or having rotten things done to them. But when those characters become so utterly OOC that they are really and truly gone, there's no reason to feel anything about what they do, or don't do, or have done to them. There's still a sense of loss and grief, but the impact of each new monstrosity becomes "meh."
I didn't watch a single frame of S8, but I can actually *feel* how this is just a weird generic sitcom, now. There's a blankness and a feeling of unreality, to it. I have that sense of "Oh, is *that* show still on?? I thought it was over."