That's Sean Bean right?
With a blog getting nearly 2000 hits a day, I feel I need to cover stuff not only from the past but also what's currently happening to try to be as informative to readers as possible. Well, I'm definitely guilty of failing in certain regards. Because of my obvious blind spots.
For example, GAME OF THRONES' second season just started and the HBO program is a hit and yet I hardly know anything about it. I've watched 3 or 4 episodes from season 1 and didn't like it. Not my cup of tea. But many people out there like it and that's fine with me but I can't really write about it, including Season 2, as I simply don't know anything about it. Usually this kind of show would be right up my alley.
It's one of the reasons why you'll never see much from HERCULES THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS or XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS as I never watched those two long lasting series. For a myriad of reasons, I never got into those two programs. I'll just say that I never bought Kevin Sorbo as Hercules. And Xena's scream/shriek/yelp made me reach for the remote to change channels. Unlike the current state of TV programs, certainly the cable ones, those two shows were, imo, too campy, silly and goofy for me to get into.
Same thing for the current SPARTACUS series. I WANT to like it and want to watch it but the silly fake cgi blood, obvious studio bound setting, the slow motion Matrix style action, the many unpleasant characters and well I just can't get into it. Therefore I can't write about it. Unlike the 90s programs HERCULES and XENA, this new retelling of Spartacus is super serious and violent and horny (that's not a problem even though it gets tiring).
But also, just to mention another obvious point, I have difficulty following TV series these days. I just don't have the time. I'm able to watch a movie even if I don't like because it's only 90 minutes or 2 hours. A series asks a lot of dedication which I don't have.
On a final note, like so many programs and films these days, including GAME OF THRONES, in order to get away with so much exposed raunchiness, certainly the male flesh kind, producers, writers seem to believe they need to overcompensate with the comic book violence and unpleasant tone in order to diffuse the potential, gasp, gay aspects. It's the same thing with many current films, like 300, IMMORTALS or CLASH OF THE TITANS remake: the people populating the landscape are mostly irritating, not compelling and a turn off because everyone seems so angry and growling. Overcompensating is not a beautiful thing. Oh well...
So sorry about my obvious blind spots. Maybe getting a guest writer to cover those blind spots would be the solution.
Personally, I don't think you should worry about it. I think it's writing about the things you love that brings people to your blog. Your vast knowledge of and obvious affection for the classic peplum genre is why I stop by every day. If you don't enjoy it, you don't have to review it. Just my take.
ReplyDeleteI did not like any of that series either. I prefer fantasy and historical fiction from the 60s. And I'm 20 year old...
ReplyDeleteHERCULES and XENA were good shows in my opinion since they were filmed in N.Zealand, and I enjoyed them, but I'm a PEP Man and nothing can match the Golden Age of PEP. I don't worry about these new shows because I think they are disgusting! Some of the movies are really bad too. Just do what you do best. I have learned a lot from your site and deeply appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too worried about it it's just that if someone comes here trying to find info on those shows, there's nothing...oh well
ReplyDeleteI come to this blog to enjoy retro stuff, things I can't find anywhere else on the web. So please keep PEPLUM that way.
ReplyDeleteI like Game of Thrones because I like the books, which aren't your standard watered-down Tolkien clones. TVs Hercules and Xena I never got into, primarily because of the post-modern smugness which especially in Xena was downright offensive. If you're gonna do myth, do it full-steam, without any apologies, which is what the old peplum films did, despite sometimes low budgets.