Our Style Is Wild And You Know You Can't Tame Us: GLOW on Netflix

This does a great job on empowerment and delivers unadulterated entertainment (a plot in the finale that you can tell coming miles away is still invigorating and satisfying and cathartic), but I think like real pro wrestling, it uses ethnic stereotypes shallowly, as an easy way to get cheap heat.

xpost Stranger Things was unfortunately little more than nudge-filled pastiche to me, all mood but no meat. I like the idea a lot, though, and the kids, just found the general plot pretty pro forma and unsatisfying. GLOW is more focused, imo, with a strong central fulcrum to pivot around. I feel like there is a lot more to learn about the characters and their relationships, to each other, to the world, to the sport, to whatever. I feel Stranger Things is a character dead end at this point, which means just introducing more non sequitur weird stuff and familiar sci-fi/horror scenarios. But hey, maybe the second season of ST will be awesome and the second season of GLOW a dud.

Both of them did a really good job of capturing the aesthetic/mood/character of a time/place in which many of us were present. That's the easy comparison. Dramatically, I don't see how they're easily comparable. ST was a weirdo loser pastiche indebted to period genre fiction, GLOW a meta soap opera with an overlay of contemporary feminism. I liked them a lot. Interestingly, some of the dialogue in GLOW seemed far too contemporary, whereas in ST it seemed hokily old-fashioned.

Because ST imo *didn't* do a good job of capturing the aesthetic/mood/character of a time/place, it recreated the way other works did that. Hence the pastiche, for better or for worse. GLOW is trying to recreate the era, not reference works from that era. (Which is ironic, since GLOW is literally recreating a work from its era.)

One of the best parts of Glow for me was how they come to terms with the stereotypical characters, work them out with shades of irony that're understood within the small self-contained group, and when they first perform them for the public the response is completely terrifying. The terrorist character in particular.

Stranger Things about on par with late X-Files.

The interview on WTF today with Kia Stevens is fantastic.

Fair nuff, Josh. My lived sense of the '80s was outer-suburb/rural, largely white, fantasy-tinged and wholly unsupervised. What Spielberg/Reiner/Columbus et al. captured about the '80s isn't – in spite of being strongly mannered – too wide of the mark Importantly, adults were weird, incidental, inconsistent strangers as likely to harm as hurt. ST, through the pastiche, captures that. Whereas, since I didn't have exposure to popular culture (no TV, movies, music), GLOW seems to me like it's signaling its era with pop-culture cues to which I didn't have access.

It's interesting, I was talking to a friend about the early '80s and how much of that period (music, film, etc.) was sort of still the aftershocks of the '70s. I was born in '75 and lived in California for the tail end of that decade. A bunch of "E.T" was filmed in Porter Ranch in the valley, which was right by Northridge, where I lived. So when I see "E.T.," one of the biggest ST references, I think late '70s, not early '80s, which is of course when "ET" was released. Whereas the "GLOW" milieu is to me very much the mid to late '80s - fashion, hair, music. Just my perspective.

Only two eps in, p enjoyable so far. Made me realize that Maron being an asshole plays to his limited abilities/appeal. Also this is v otm:

 Stranger Things was unfortunately little more than nudge-filled pastiche to me, all mood but no meat. I like the idea a lot, though, and the kids, just found the general plot pretty pro forma and unsatisfying. GLOW is more focused, imo, with a strong central fulcrum to pivot around. I feel like there is a lot more to learn about the characters and their relationships, to each other, to the world, to the sport, to whatever

I really like this show but its portrayal of blow is very inaccurate

How so? Sometimes amazing, mostly a bit it sad, doing it in secret bedrooms, seems like what I remember.

I really like this show but its portrayal of blow is very inaccurate

Marc brought his own history as a user to the role, so maybe it's different for everybody?

this was delightful

yeah JF maybe it's different for everyone.

it's not wholly inaccurate, just some aspects of announcing it via the show seem contrived, but it's in all fairness portrayed better than some media.

- saying this as someone who is very familiar with this shit drug

re coke - apparently maron decided that this was a guy who didnt fuck around with the paraphernalia - a bindle & key was a deliberate character choice

prob because that's how he was

What was especially weird about the coke stuff in this? Might have missed some it because I admittedly only caught about 75% as it was on in my house.

So far its been better than the coke stuff in Vinyl lol

that is a v low bar lol

I dont really expect much versimilitude w various drug experiences from tv tbh, as long as it isnt too ridiculous i will let a lot fly

Tangential, but oh my God as far as prestige cable period piece shows are concerned, the one on Showtime "I'm Dying Up Here" based on The Comedy Store in the 70s is abysmal and embarrassing. Never seen Vinyl but it seems to embody all the things I've read about it.

Which Maron has been pushed into saying not-totally-convincing nice-ish things about on his show because I think they're a sponsor.

Yeah, a friend of mine who has terrible taste in movies and tv loves it, so I took it as a heads up to stay far away. xp

I had hopes bc the pilot was somewhat engaging but it's fatally flawed being as how it's a show about comedy that's not funny.

this was consistently enjoyable, a few wrong notes here and there aside. the only remotely similar thing I can think of in terms of ensemble female-focused storytelling is OITNB, and this is definitely better than that, primarily because it's more focused. surprising amount of Mad Men people involved (and not just in the cast).

the only remotely similar thing I can think of in terms of ensemble female-focused storytelling is OITNB

Jenji exec-produces GLOW.

idk who that is

Jenji's the creator of Weeds/OITNB

well s/he's getting better I guess

Pauline's character bothered me a little bit, in that her (albeit infrequently) expressed opinions on film, feminism, punk etc. felt like they were flown in from the 90s more than the 80s. There were not a lot of feminist apologias for/reclamations of exploitation cinema in the early 80s for ex.

also this is miles better than Stranger Things, which is an empty pastiche about nothing with cardboard characters, whereas this is a show that touches on all kinds of themes and dynamics in unusual and unexplored ways.

Pauline's character

???

sorry I meant Justine

Justine's apologia is unique bc of her full story arc & who she is as a character

i dont think it's meant to be a stand-in for a wider feminist view - she's Obsessed with a capital O for... reasons

I admit that yeah it does seem to make more sense in retrospect than it does initially

I enjoyed this show, although a few of the wrestling-related details bothered me. I don't think a bunch of complete novices, most with no prior interest in wrestling, could be trained to a level of even near-competence in a short period by another actress with no wrestling experience, even with the help of another neophyte from a family of wrestlers. That was the one element that I thought was weirdly disrespectful of wrestling. It's so much harder than that.

The one other aspect that rang a little false was Steel Horse being so candid with Debbie about the inner workings of wrestling, using insider terms and so on. I'm under the impression that wrestlers were more tight-lipped about that in the mid-80s. But I actually don't know for sure. And it's possible that they would have made exceptions for women they wanted to sleep with.

I also wonder if a guy working that small of a show would really have had his own dressing room, even if he was a regional star.

Maron recently did an episode of WTF interviewing Chavo Guerrero Jr (he was the trainer for the show) and Kia Stevens who plays Tammee/Welfare Queen

if you are a fan of GLOW it's an awesome listen - Chavo talks a lot about his work with the show and teaching the actors the literal ropes. Plus he was a great wrestler in his own right, grew up in a wrestling family, his father Chavo Sr was a captial L legend and his cousin Eddie was the BUSINESS

and Kia's story is uh-MAZING - she was a social worker and applied for Tough Enough as a joke! and ended up being a superstar in Japan...and she talks about TNA and WWE and the tragedy in her life as well. but god, she is so cool and bubbly and just a really great, chatty interview.

It made me want to go watch the show all over again <3

oh and Kia was a fan Hollywood and Vine from the original GLOW as a kid <3

OH and Chavo Guerro's uncle Mando trained the original GLOW wrestlers. full circle!!

I'm done now I swear :)

It felt a bit weird how they had a quickly abandoned subplot where there was a flirtation with a storyline miscarriage that was crass and upsetting for a character that had really had one, and Kia Stevens was there in the ring having actually left WWE in real life after losing a baby

chavo is another lucha underground guy. lu recently did a deal w/ netflix which is why [almost?] all their seasons are available now to stream. i wonder if they hooked the GLOW producers up w/ them.

also this is miles better than Stranger Things, which is an empty pastiche about nothing with cardboard characters, whereas this is a show that touches on all kinds of themes and dynamics in unusual and unexplored ways.

― Οὖτις, Friday, July 7, 2017 1:16 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes yeah shakes we heard your terrible and obviously wrong hot takes on this show for far too long on the appropriate thread no need to relitigate your clueless ramblings here

Ok I just opened this thread at the right time to see the last post and I'm sure I missed a lot but Shakey way OTM, Stranger Things is weak as fuck and I support it being trumpeted until the end of time.

can we please officially declare a moratorium on Stranger Things itt now? this is like third time we've been around this merrygoround here

the only thing the two have in common is the 80's. you may as well reference how GLOW holds up against The Goldbergs

Yeah, my bad for continuing that briefly.

GLOW.

i rewatched the GLOW doc

i think I appreciate the netflix show, esp the writers & jenji, for taking the strengths of the doco (the women's camaraderie & backgrounds & characters) & pushing the aspirational & empowering aspect, instead of leaning into the gross sad shit like the legit creepy abusive director etc

like the netflix show celebrates GLOW in a way that it wasn't properly celebrated then, and explores things that 80's culture didnt reallt give much of a shit about, like female friendships & agency etc

like it's a slippery slope to undermine what they did bc of exploitation, drugs, abuse, general 80's gross permissivenes

that still all stands irl

but the show keeps you locked in on YES BUT THESE FKN WOMEN THO

and I really love that

because it feels like a good way to get ppl to look at the real women with more/new respect imo

Was it just me, or was this show relatively unusually keyed in to real women's bodies, too? Not just different shapes, sizes and colors, but mundane stuff like menstruation and old school science kit pregnancy tests? It's rare that tampons make an appearance in anything, save the opening of "Carrie."

that's what happens when you have a lot of women in the same place

Not on TV, apparently.

most writers rooms are still heavily male.

and not to judge but a lot of tv writers seem like the types who would be grossed out at even those maxi pad ads that use blue liquid as a period blood stand in.