Nathan For You

this was amazing & this gave me anxiety

what a joy.

there is nothing like this show

yeah I was in heaven watching this

ok i will be the guy who asks

where do you all sit on the exploitation-ometer re this show? i felt somewhat uncomfortable with the way the friend Trish was portrayed in her introduction - and thought the trivia cheating was 50/50 - the rehearsal of an angry reaction was a fascinating addition that still didn’t justify or absolve the manipulation

i watched this with my partner who doesn’t know Nathan’s schtick - and she thought it absolutely exploited the subjects. Cole had a degree of agency in the whole thing but i’m not sure I would be stoked if I were Trish. we both work in tv and have many discussions about exploitative vs collaborative documentary film models. i know it was entertainment! i know these issues have probably been discussed to death elsewhere including probably upthread! still keen to hear some different views.

i feel like with "exploitation" i really want to be able to understand the harm being done: a harm beyond being embarrassed after the fact about something you understood and agreed to

i don't think these people are mocked; i think they seem human and complicated. i agree that it "uses" other people to achieve its ends, but there's a matter of degree here, and with this first episode it doesn't feel abusive. an improv show that invites a volunteer on stage (and then does something silly with them) isn't necessarily "exploitation" - although it can still be mean or embarrass about the volunteer.

if trish was mistreated over the course of this production - if she felt deceived, etc - then she'd be right to be angry and fielder would be obliged to respond to this. but with a lot of art i think that's the extent of the moral obligation: to try not to do harm; to face those who feel harm was done, if that's the case, and respond in good faith to their complaints. but you don't have a moral obligation to "avoid any circumstance where someone might feel bad."

i say this as a novelist who has used real people in his work

if there is a novel about a jerk, and it becomes known that the character was inspired by a real person, the author may have a responsibility to deal with that real person face to face. but they don't have an obligation not to write that book.

bad nathan friend

Xp thanks for this response Sean G, that’s really interesting - esp “avoid any circumstance where people might feel bad”, which I must admit I try to do myself! there’s something about the power imbalance between someone with access to massive budget and broadcast distribution apparatus - and people who don’t! that makes me wary. i think people often enter into relationships with media without really understanding the implications of what it means to surrender their story to an edit process.

your example of writing novels is interesting, would you agree tho that maybe there is a difference when someone is presented in a certain way in a heavily constructed “reality” show?

the intro montage of Trish’s over-talking was the one bit where i felt the editorial of the show was being actively unkind - especially given she had not agreed to participate. would be absolutely fascinated to read about Trish’s post-production interactions with the show and feelings about the experience. Presumably she had to sign off? Was paid? maybe providing that kind of insight as extra material would be an ethically cool addition, i dunno.

I’m not a tv insider but I always take it as a given that any time I see someone’s face & hear their voice in a show like this (i.e. not the news) they have agreed in writing and been paid at least a nominal sum

i was more wondering if they showed her the cut before she signed! btw of course i do think she actually comes across really well when it counts - but definitely interested in these considerations around agency and representation.

https://thriftyboy.org

yes, the "stories" look hilarious but don't miss the iStock watermarks on all the preview photos

this was staggeringly impressive, i couldn't believe they spend the money on the bar set.

this should prob have its own thread, ill start it

This sounds potentially amazing

https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/the-curse-first-look-nathan-fielder-emma-stone-flip-houses-benny-safdie-1234897207/

i wonder if we'll get another season of the Rehearsal given all the HBO problems

Hmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tui5vl13Gqg

i guess we're not getting a second season of the Rehearsal

but this looks great.

i guess we're not getting a second season of the Rehearsal

It technically was renewed for a second season (after this new show was already greenlit) so it should be coming eventually, but who knows with (HBO) MAX these days

Would love if this new show was just an elaborate ruse by nate to meet Emma Stone

It's hard to see Nathan in a purely dramatic role — which this may not be, it's still kind of vague in the trailer — without wondering what "Nathan" is making of the whole thing.

the scene where he takes the $100 back from the girl is pure Nathan though

that last line was delivered in pure Nathan voice, too

The Curse is a genre-bending drama series that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their new HGTV show.

...and the creators are Nathan and Benny Safdie

this is going to go to some really dark places to be funny, isn't it?

I really liked The Curse and it certainly kept me off-balance, tonally. Fielder's conversation with the father-in-law is funny, but there's this horror film drone on the score that was unsettling--I kept waiting for something terrible to happen, some sudden abuse. Ditto the camera work--all those shots through windows, and that fantastic one in the kitchen with Stone in the mirror.

I read an review calling Emma Stone America's best "mouth actor", and she certainly has an amazing way of keeping a smile plastered on as the rest of her face starts losing control.

After it was over, my partner said, "Wow, they really can show anything on TV these days, huh?" I feel sorry for the reddit commenters who mentioned watching this with their parents.

only the first episode has dropped, right?

That's right, I think it's airing weekly, ten episodes.

We've only seen the first episode so far but ... yeah, this is predictably pretty fucked up. This show is like a cross between "Uncut Gems" (with long silences subbing for the yelling) and "The Rehearsal." Re: the score, this is Daniel Lopatin/ Oneohtrix Point Never, right? He did "Uncut Gems" as well.

Was not expecting the importance of micropenii to the plot

Before watching the second episode I wondered if that might be part of the title’s meaning.

best actor in a supporting role goes to… Steven

Nathan "out of character" and Emma committing to the bit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MldMVC82-Po

Stone is so good in that first episode. And for all his supposed limitations as an actor, Fielder is doing some hard work on his own even trying to keep up with her.

Hate to admit that so far I'm having a really hard time getting into this, but I trust Nathan enough that maybe he’s got some more tricks up his sleeve over the course of the show. Just find the satire of clueless influencer types plus sleazy reality TV guy to be really cliché & tired, feel like I’ve seen these beats so many times over the years. Really hope there ends up being more to it than that.

I sort of feel the same way, and I also don't really like the way it kind of leans harder on the Safdie brand of discomfort than the Fielder Method (even though Fielder directed a lot of it, iirc). But I trust in Fielder, since none of his projects have ended where they began. On the other hand, I think this is 10 episodes long, which is a lot for this story.

I like the show but this made me even more curious about where it's going.

saw the first three eps of the curse at NYFF and thought it was extremely whatever but when i watched the whole thing at home i realized it’s probably the best new show of the year (disclaimer: i barely watch TV). my review for @PasteMagazine https://t.co/GgKBmna1jg

— brianna (@justbrizigs) November 6, 2023

fwiw I was kind of underwhelmed by the first episode of The Rehearsal and figured the positive reaction was mostly from people who just really missed NFY. but yea not only did the show get way better/weirder it also turned out to really need a first episode like that lest the thing just make no sense whatsoever

wait is the whole thing out or no?

no, only the first 2 of 10

apparently reviewers have the whole thing

right and very much like The Rehearsal a lot of them are saying "oh, just you wait"

Episode 4 is great. I can't stop thinking about the last scene -- I think it really gets at the core of... something.

I can't imagine wanting to talk about this show, but I need to know that other people are watching it.

NB I'm still getting caught up, so the episode Chris L. mentioned (that ends with the corporate comedy class) is the last one that I've seen.

Dougie makes an extremely plausible alcoholic. I loved his stupid faux-soul-baring about being cursed himself ("It's the only way to explain what happened!")

It's so, so good. I also feel like nobody else is watching it. I think maybe what it has to offer is something not that many people are interested in. I do not agree with the blurb above that calls it "a biting satirization of white guilt."

It's a pretty uncomfortable show, and, what, six (?) episodes in it's a little tough to discern the precise target of its satire. Which I think it is - a satire, that is - it's just uncomfortable in multiple directions/dimensions.

Speaking of Nathan, I got my daughter a pair of Summit Ice "Deny Nothing" socks for Hanukkah.

it's a little tough to discern the precise target of its satire.

the human fucking condition, man

like that's fielder's entire thing, that the painful, wince-making, difficult thing about people is that they're people

I had to take a break from The Curse and will be catching up sometime this week. It was becoming a little bit too cursed

Honestly though! The only time so far when I've really felt like the show was "doing satire" was during the focus group, when a guy* starts rattling off his talking points against climate change, and the lady he's arguing with goes "You know I thought the show was boring while I was watching it, but I changed my mind, I like it now." That felt a little on the nose, but not unrealistic.

(And even in that scene, the show bucks convention: when they ask "Did anyone actually like the husband?" the asshole climate denier is the only person to raise his hand)

that part was very funny