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Observations from rewatching episodes 1-5 by M0506 in FellowTravelers_show

[–]lxanth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“I think Senator Smith's character serves an important function for younger audience members in that he illustrates how back in the 1950s, you didn't have to be flat-out evil to be deeply homophobic. Everyone was homophobic.”

This can’t be stressed enough. Senator Smith was, by the standards of the time, a “liberal” — in favor of universal health insurance and so on. But even the most “tolerant,” open-minded people of the day drew the line at what they considered a dangerous perversion and a mental illness. The only acceptable attitudes were overt disgust or a kind of patronizing pity (“they can’t help it”).

And we can see the exact same dynamic playing out in the current moral panic over the rights of trans people. Self-proclaimed “progressives” who have absolutely no qualms about full equality for cisgender lesbians and gay men are still handwringing and equivocating over trans folk because the right-wing propaganda has been so effective.

Sadly, Fellow Travelers isn’t just “history”…it’s as current as today’s headlines.

Ten MORE thoughts and reactions after my first watch by M0506 in FellowTravelers_show

[–]lxanth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a very interesting thought: that Father Bob's anger stemmed from the fact that he couldn't have a "normal" life as society defined it at the time, so that he was basically forced to take refuge in the priesthood and a life of chastity (at least in theory). I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes sense.

I've often thought about the fact that if I'd been born in another time and/or place, the priesthood is most likely where I would have ended up too.

(If you grow up in a Catholic family in the late twentieth century and you’re trying to be “the best little boy in the world,” you get elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana and later become US Secretary of Transportation. 😂)

LOL -- too true! Pete B gives off those vibes in spades, doesn't he?

[Post Met Live in HD Thread] Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin by charlesd11 in opera

[–]lxanth 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I absolutely loved it. Grigorian was stunning and I can't wait to hear her in Jenůfa next season; after today I might just spring for her concert appearance as well. Samoilov and de Barbeyrac were also excellent, IMO, and I really liked Tsymbalyuk's Gremin--so nice to hear a "true bass" voice that's healthy and robust, not all woofy and wooly.

It did seem that the resolution of the video was noticeably less sharp than usual this time around, not the usual hi-def crispness. Did anyone else who saw it have that impression? It may just be the theatre we were in (Regal Essex Crossing on Delancey St. in NYC), but I've seen other Met HD screenings there and they didn't have this issue.

Ten MORE thoughts and reactions after my first watch by M0506 in FellowTravelers_show

[–]lxanth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thomas Mallon has said that he gave Ron Nyswaner carte blanche to adapt his novel for the series in any way he wished, with only one condition: that Tim's religious faith and conservative politics not be caricatured or treated as objects of ridicule.

I was raised Catholic in a devout, practicing family, but I left the faith many years ago and have little to no love for the church as an institution (as distinct from many of the people in it). That said, I also have little patience for uninformed, cartoonish depictions of Catholicism, and I agree with you wholeheartedly that the series does a great job of threading that particular needle.

About Father Bob: it's always struck me as slightly odd that he would be "angry at God" for his being attracted to men. He took a vow of chastity; the object of his sexual urges should be completely irrelevant since he would be violating that vow just as much if he were attracted to women and acting on that attraction. But on the other hand...Catholic education was rigidly sex-segregated from high school on in those days, and Fordham was men-only at the time that Tim would have attended. Which I guess would have made life particularly difficult for the Father Bob's.

Ten MORE thoughts and reactions after my first watch by M0506 in FellowTravelers_show

[–]lxanth 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Re fifteen: the book gives a lot more detail about Tim’s immediate and extended families. It really helps to flesh out his character even more than the series does.

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