What I've Been Watching: June and July

Series: Orange is the New Black

June was a good month for me getting into a new series. The reason: exam week. I am one of -I believe- many who suffer from the hey-it's-time-to-study-let's-start-a-new-series-syndrom. It's not so much a means of procrastination, but a little present I give myself at the end of the day for wrecking my brain writing essays or revising. My series of choice for last exam week: Orange is the New Black.

Now I already raved about Orange is the New Black (henceforth OITNB) in my last post, but I enjoyed it too much to not give it a bit more attention. Let's start with how I got into contact with it. For some strange reason I saw the ad on TV for this Netflix series, and I must say they did a good job trying to sell it to viewers because I instantly thought it looked promising. I normally avoid Dutch television, but it's safe to say something good came out of it this time. I proceeded by downloading the first season and it was an instant hit: I finished the first season within about a week. Now I know this is probably not as hardcore as many others who watch like 5 seasons of a show in 2 days but for me, this was pretty quick.

So small summary: OITNB follows Piper Chapman as she is sent to prison for smuggling drugs a decade ago under pressure of her then-girlfriend. Leaving behind Larry- the douchy fiance - she re-encounters her drug baron girlfriend in jail and a ton of other badass ladies whose stories unfold troughout the first two seasons.

There's a text post going round on tumblr that embodies OITNB perfectly in my view, and it's something along the lines of: "I was taking a train this week and thought wow it feels so good being out of prison. But then I realised I wasn't in prison but just binge watching OITNB." SO ACCURATE. The binge watching part is definitely true, but also the fact that it eats you whole. Now I know this might partly be a side-effect of the binge watching, but OITNB truly does a good job representing a situation that might feel alien to many of us while still making it relatable. As a viewer you start to empathise with the characters more every time you learn a bit more about them, as every episode goes into the backstories of these ladies, presenting little snippets of their histories that give away just enough to piece together how they ended up in jail.

Nominated for twelve Emmy Awards OITNB is getting the attention it deserves. The only faults I've been able to find? 1. You have to wait 5-ever for a new season. 2. Piper's husband Larry is the 21st century equavalent of James Hurley and the most boring character ever. Ugh.

However, this should not stop you from watching a badass series about badass ladies. Hey, you can always press mute when Larry appears on screen.

Films: Philomena

It must be a miracle but I am finally reviewing Philomena. I'm pretty sure I've watched this film waaaaay back before June, but it just needs a tiny bit of attention.

In essence, the film is truly heartbreaking. Based on true events, the film centers around Philomena's search for her son, who was given up for adoption by the convent she was put in by her father in the 1950s after getting pregnant without being married. With the aid of a journalist who is eager to publish Philomena's story, they discover her son's fate.

Philomena was nominated for four Oscars, including the award for Best Picture, and this was one of the reasons I really wanted to see the film. I'd like to say that I don't care about Academy Award nominations, but I do. If a film has won an Oscar, I always feel the need to find out if, in my view, it deserved to win. In Philomena's case, I'd say no.

As I said before, the story is really heartbreaking, but I think the way it was conveyed on film was slightly lacking. The set-up of Philomena (Judy Dench) with the journalist (Steve Coogan) in the beginning felt really random and a bit rushed. The brilliant acting of Dench and Coogan did make up for this a bit as the interplay between their characters was a joy to watch. However, overall the film proved less engaging than I thought it would be. Maybe I am harbouring unrealistic Hollywood standards, but I expected more of the search for Philomena's son. It was certainly portrayed as very realistic, but realism can still be heartfelt, and I just missed that intruiging element, or the sense of hope that I had expected.

As the film unravels it's impossible to not be affected by it. It's a story that does not need theatricality or dramatic music to make an impact, and if that's why the director, Stephen Frears, made the decisions he made I completely understand it. However, to me it could have been a bit more polished, or structured a bit differently to just make it that much better.

That being said, I do understand why Philomena was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture to begin with. It's not a secret that awful things where going on within these convents and the Catholic Church as a whole in the 1950s- and not just then for that matter. These are the stories that matter, that should be told and not be forgotten. And Philomena's story was just one of many.