Thursday 5 July 2012

Skarsgard, I Love You, But Clearly Not Enough To Keep Watching Generation Kill

I'm fairly convinced that Alexander Skarsgard is a perfect human being- he's Swedish, he's a pacifist, he's really really funny, and well, HAVE YOU SEEN HIS FACE AND ALL THE REST OF HIM?! Ahem, but no really, I think he's the shiz, and so naturally, I'm all about wanting to see all the things he's ever done ever that exist on film. Especially if they involve him getting all topless and stuff. Ahem.
So anyway, naturally after watching ALL THE TRUE BLOOD and sitting through Melancholia (GOD, Melancholia...) and watching the Paparazzi video over and over again on YouTube, I figured it was time to watch Generation Kill, because full episodes! Much Skarsgard! Plus there's always the possibility of his taking his top off, because, you know, I hear it gets all hot in Iraq!

But. I totally forgot that I really really really hate watching war things. Like, literally all war things. I've been lured into watching a fair few war things because they involved actors that I basically want to jump all over and do bad things with (Black Hawk Down: Orlando Bloom/Josh Hartnett/Ewan McGregor, Platoon: Johnny Depp, Jarhead: Jake Gyllenhaal) but about 15 minutes in I'm bored out of my MIND. Here are a few reasons why:

  • I really fucking hate war: I do. So I don't especially like watching people doing it, and I find it really hard to sympathise with soldier characters when I do especially in conflicts that I don't necessarily agree should have happened (aaand, this is where I stop before I insult anyone who knows anyone in the military. Which isn't what I'm trying to do! This is just how I feel about fictional accounts of wars and things.)
  • Face blindness: When there are loads and loads of actors all wearing the same uniform, I get this ridiculous face blindness that completely invalidates the point of watching things because there are cute boys in them. Admittedly, I can usually find the person I watched it for (although, I swear, it took most of the Black Hawk Down to find Orlando Bloom) but not being able to distinguish between anyone else's faces sure does make it hard to figure out relationships between characters, and thus work out a lot of plot points. So that's kind of a problem.
  • There are no ladies!: Or rather, there are ladies, but they're always always victims of some kind because they're the civilians whose lives are being destroyed by whatever conflict. They don't get a voice, obviously, and since we still live in the dark ages, there obviously aren't any women in various dangerous situations, even though they let women in the army these days. Go figure. Oh wait, sorry, I did forget one other lady thing- there's the women that they left at home that they talk about in rarely a respectful or loving manner. Cause that's what has to happen if you get a bunch of dudes together...
So. Just a tiny taster of the issues I have with war things. And so, clearly, Generation Kill wasn't the best thing for me to make a priority on LoveFilm, but did I not explain about the Skarsgard thing? I did, right?
So, his face propelled me through 3 and a half episodes (where, honestly, I can't really tell you much about what went on. Things got blown up and the Marines didn't have enough batteries) and then I just decided that I had to move on with my life because I'm never going to like war things. Never. Even with Skarsgard. Even with Depp, for gods sake! As far as I can tell, though, Generation Kill seems like it's probably a good example of a war thing, so by all means, if that's a thing you like, then you should probably give it a go. Just don't get sucked into the Skarsgard trap, because even he's not worth it. Wow, that was difficult to write...

21 comments:

  1. Wow, this was the shittiest post ever. Generation Kill is not only one of the greatest war dramas on television, but one of the greatest ever. If you can't get over "not liking war things" you have no place critiquing anything.

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    1. Wow, this is my blog so I'm entitled to say whatever I want about things that I've seen/read. Nobody ever said this was a critique of anything, so if you want to provide a proper critique then go and write it on your own blog.

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    2. PLus, Laura does explain why she doesn't like war things!

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    3. Thank you Frances! Indeed, all of those things do apply to Generation Kill, as well as basically anything I've ever watched depicting war. Hence I am put off of them immediately, hence I don't even watch enough of them to critique them. Damn, why am I still dignifying this with a response?!

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    4. Wow Laura, how dare you state your opinion on your own blog!! What are you, some kind of monster??

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    5. I'm so glad I have better things to do today than anonymously attack someone else's television preferences on the internet.

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    6. I love you ALL! Also, Red, I'm a COMPLETE asshole. I know. I'm so ASHAMED!

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    7. "Anonymous," let me explain to you very clearly what's wrong with your contribution to this discussion.

      Laura presented her opinion and bolstered it with details and background so we could better understand her point of view, giving us permission to respectfully disagree if we didn't share those views.

      YOU presented an opinion that began with a completely baseless insult of this post and ended with an equally subjective statement about the show in question, providing no supporting evidence for either.

      Laura fearlessly broadcasts her thoughts on books, TV, movies, and life on this blog, and quite often bears her soul in the process.

      YOU didn't even have the balls to use your first name in a comment box.

      You made an ass out of yourself and, by association, left everyone with a pretty poor impression of this show you say you love. So next time, think before you type.

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    8. I love you Megs! You just made me sound about 50x more awesome than I actually am (although, let's face it, I am pretty awesome ;) ). You are a STAR!

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  2. So, I haven't heard of this Generation Kill thing, but DUDE, I do not get the Skarsgard thing. Like, I get it in theory, but not with my eyeball things/insidey feelings.

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    1. Really?! I SO get it with my insidey feelings. ALL the feelings. But, you know, I respect your opinion and I'm sure you respect mine. Since it's a VALUE JUDGEMENT and hence immune to criticism. ;)

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    2. I am TOTES not criticizing. I get that everyone's into him. But his facial area does nothing for me. Which is weird, because I totally love that Green Bay Packers dude with the giant arms and Nordic features.

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    3. I knooooow- I mean that I'm not going to criticise your choices, and you're not going to criticise mine, and yea, we shall be civilised human beings. Also, maybe he's just like *too* good looking for you? All I know is that whenever I see a tall blonde dude of any type, I get all... gooshy. It's a very attractive feature of mine, obviously.

      ps TOTALLY need to see the american football player guy. He has a name?

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    4. I almost said Clay Aiken. Clay...Matthews? (and dudes rarely do it for me, madam)

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    5. Dude, how fucking huge is his neck?! Whuuuut?! I think he might just be a little too... large for me (Although I do appreciate his face... sort of. Without the neck.)

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  3. My wife completely shares your feelings on the Skarsgard. Not as much about the war stuffs, but TRUE BLOOD is must-see TV at my house.

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    1. Daaaamn, I love True Blood. Also, your wife sounds like she has good taste! :)

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  4. I watched Generation Kill a few years ago but had to go back and find the thoughts I had written up (I was a participant in a movie discussion internet forum at the time.) Basically my impressions of it were that it was pretty repetitious and dull for most of the episodes and that my favorite episode was the last one, which was sort of a payoff episode though it didn't make up for all the dull repetitious moments. The Marines get to interact more with civilians in the last episode and some things that have been simmering come to a head. I read the book that the miniseries is based on and it was better. I came out of the miniseries and the book having respect for Lt. Fick, whose book, One Bullet Away, I also read and liked.

    Miniseries require sinking in a lot of viewing time, so I understand why you gave it up. It's very much about "war culture" with no break from that. Also, totally get you about the face blindness thing. It didn't help that some had mustaches at the start and then had to shave them off later in the series.

    I do remember Skarsgaard's character taking off his shirt at one point and running around a field like he was a plane.

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