8 ms·

Upvoted but with a caveat. I don't have a TV so I don't have much exposure to what's going on, but last summer I was house sitting and because of the hype of St

Upvoted but with a caveat. I don't have a TV so I don't have much exposure to what's going on, but last summer I was house sitting and because of the hype of Stranger Things I thought I'd binge-watch it. In two days I watched the first two series completely, then stopped. I got bored because fundamentally nothing really happened to move anything forwards. I watch a lot of made-for-TV staff on DVD and see a similarity – in football terms it's just time wasting. Long pauses usually filled in with music to give the illusion something is happening, sex scenes, gratuitous violence, people taking offence with unrealistic ease, longshots, slow shots... Anything to hide the fact that there is a lot of empty air. (Oh yes, and the three minute intro that also recaps what happened last time). It all suggests there's a lot of tolerance for "something happening on screen" independent of whether it's worth watching or basically nothing at all.

dgroshev 4y ago
To push back a bit on this "it's just empty filler" notion: https://youtu.be/2vfDqDLmjas https://youtu.be/2vfDqDLmjas In short, "boring" bits when used skilfully are important, they help to set the expectations and amplify the subtleties. It's a bit like "dynamic range" for the plot: if there's no change in pace, everything becomes bland and boring. But also I do recommend watching that video essay, it's really good and goes much deeper than I can do in a short reply.
badpun 4y ago
> Long pauses usually filled in with music to give the illusion something is happening, sex scenes, gratuitous violence, people taking offence with unrealistic ease, longshots, slow shots... This. I pretty much stopped watching all new shows made after 2015 or so (with Succession being the exception), as it feels like, during the TV shows gold rush, a lot of not very talented writers and directors got to make their own shows due to huge demand from the studios. In reality, making something many hours long and yet packed with actual interesting content is a Herculean task, so it feels like these untalented people are trying to steal any piece of time they can get, by every mean of stalling possible (sex, violence, "poignant" long shots etc.). It's almost like watching workers paid by the hour, and not by result. Combine that with the fact that most movies and shows nowadays are targetting people who are at most 30 years old [1], and I'm really no longer interested. [1] That's my theory anyway. Young people are the perfect audience - they have more free time and are significantly easier to impress with what is often in reality a poorly done rehash of things that worked in the great movies, shows or books of the past. They're still young enough to experience a given concept for the first time in their life, so they'll be moved by it. They're also significantly more susceptible to fads (don't belive their own taste as strongly, because it's not yet well developed), so it's much easier to manipulate them with marketing, paid reviews etc.
watwut 4y ago
So basically, you found the plot of Stranger Things to be too slow moving and therefore parents theory about binging marathons and collective attention deficit disorder is somehow wrong? Combining original claim and your complain about this show, I do not even see what people should watch to not be adhd for you. Also, Stranger Things does not even have that many sex scenes? There is like one or two per series and they are fairly mild.
- _a_a_a_ 4y ago
  > So basically, you found the plot of Stranger Things to be too slow moving After watching two series of it I could not discern any overall plot at all. > therefore parents theory about binging marathons and collective attention deficit disorder is somehow wrong? That's not what I was saying, and I was not disagreeing with him, and as I said, I upvoted his post. What I was saying was that to produce volume you may have to compromise heavily on other aspects. > I do not even see what people should watch to not be adhd for you I was not complaining about anybody else's viewing habits. People should watch what they want that entertains them. I was talking about my particular experience and wondered if it was shared by others. Seems that somebody agreed with me. > Stranger Things does not even have that many sex scenes? Like I said I watch other, contemporaneously made, things as well on DVD.
  - bmelton 4y ago
    For what it's worth, there are a few (and some themes that are explored) On its face, it's a sci-fi/horror film that contains a classic good vs evil fight against a monster. Within that, there's a pretty compelling narrative about the corruption of power, man's arrogant willfulness to play god, themes about fatherhood, family, the strength of love (romantic / platonic / familial,) the temptation of evil, nature vs nurture, and sacrifice. On the whole though, the plot is more a vehicle for its themes, especially those centered around love, family, and the good and bad of humanity than your average murder mystery plot, but there are a handful of plots to pick from, and tbh, most of them are more worthwhile than the most obvious one, but it's hard to meaningfully categorize these stories as "empty air" however much they may not be _for you_.
JKCalhoun 4y ago
My experience binge-watching is that it destroys the rhythm of the series, sets the wrong expectations for the viewer. Many shows are as much (or more) about the mood, not so much about "things advancing". But to speed-run from episode to episode to episode you're looking for plot and narrative, not taking in mood. I haven't binge-watched a series in the 20 years since the one time I ruined "Twin Peaks". One episode a day or one a week really is a good cadence.
brookst 4y ago
It’s the “mystery box” phenomenon. Somehow a lot of TV producers and viewers have moved to an episodic narrative structure where a mysterious box appears, people debate what to do, shake it, steal it from each other, argue about it, and ultimately, at the end of the episode, with great tension, open the box to reveal... Next week's mystery box. But there is a lot of genuinely good stuff out there too. You just have to recognize mystery boxes and bail.
yamtaddle 4y ago
Almost none of these modern "great" TV series would be tolerable in a theater setting—no talking, no phone—even broken up into two-hour chunks. Too much filler, too much repetition, simply not enough substance. They're OK at home because people can tune out and screw around on their phones or play Switch or go put away some dishes so they're not paying close attention to the whole thing—very few of them are improved by an actual, close watch for their entire runtime, but they're good if your attention is dipping in and out while you do other stuff.

dgroshev 4y ago

To push back a bit on this "it's just empty filler" notion: https://youtu.be/2vfDqDLmjas https://youtu.be/2vfDqDLmjas In short, "boring" bits when used skilfully are important, they help to set the expectations and amplify the subtleties. It's a bit like "dynamic range" for the plot: if there's no change in pace, everything becomes bland and boring. But also I do recommend watching that video essay, it's really good and goes much deeper than I can do in a short reply.

badpun 4y ago

> Long pauses usually filled in with music to give the illusion something is happening, sex scenes, gratuitous violence, people taking offence with unrealistic ease, longshots, slow shots... This. I pretty much stopped watching all new shows made after 2015 or so (with Succession being the exception), as it feels like, during the TV shows gold rush, a lot of not very talented writers and directors got to make their own shows due to huge demand from the studios. In reality, making something many hours long and yet packed with actual interesting content is a Herculean task, so it feels like these untalented people are trying to steal any piece of time they can get, by every mean of stalling possible (sex, violence, "poignant" long shots etc.). It's almost like watching workers paid by the hour, and not by result. Combine that with the fact that most movies and shows nowadays are targetting people who are at most 30 years old [1], and I'm really no longer interested. [1] That's my theory anyway. Young people are the perfect audience - they have more free time and are significantly easier to impress with what is often in reality a poorly done rehash of things that worked in the great movies, shows or books of the past. They're still young enough to experience a given concept for the first time in their life, so they'll be moved by it. They're also significantly more susceptible to fads (don't belive their own taste as strongly, because it's not yet well developed), so it's much easier to manipulate them with marketing, paid reviews etc.

watwut 4y ago

So basically, you found the plot of Stranger Things to be too slow moving and therefore parents theory about binging marathons and collective attention deficit disorder is somehow wrong? Combining original claim and your complain about this show, I do not even see what people should watch to not be adhd for you. Also, Stranger Things does not even have that many sex scenes? There is like one or two per series and they are fairly mild.

_a_a_a_ 4y ago
> So basically, you found the plot of Stranger Things to be too slow moving After watching two series of it I could not discern any overall plot at all. > therefore parents theory about binging marathons and collective attention deficit disorder is somehow wrong? That's not what I was saying, and I was not disagreeing with him, and as I said, I upvoted his post. What I was saying was that to produce volume you may have to compromise heavily on other aspects. > I do not even see what people should watch to not be adhd for you I was not complaining about anybody else's viewing habits. People should watch what they want that entertains them. I was talking about my particular experience and wondered if it was shared by others. Seems that somebody agreed with me. > Stranger Things does not even have that many sex scenes? Like I said I watch other, contemporaneously made, things as well on DVD.
- bmelton 4y ago
  For what it's worth, there are a few (and some themes that are explored) On its face, it's a sci-fi/horror film that contains a classic good vs evil fight against a monster. Within that, there's a pretty compelling narrative about the corruption of power, man's arrogant willfulness to play god, themes about fatherhood, family, the strength of love (romantic / platonic / familial,) the temptation of evil, nature vs nurture, and sacrifice. On the whole though, the plot is more a vehicle for its themes, especially those centered around love, family, and the good and bad of humanity than your average murder mystery plot, but there are a handful of plots to pick from, and tbh, most of them are more worthwhile than the most obvious one, but it's hard to meaningfully categorize these stories as "empty air" however much they may not be _for you_.

JKCalhoun 4y ago

My experience binge-watching is that it destroys the rhythm of the series, sets the wrong expectations for the viewer. Many shows are as much (or more) about the mood, not so much about "things advancing". But to speed-run from episode to episode to episode you're looking for plot and narrative, not taking in mood. I haven't binge-watched a series in the 20 years since the one time I ruined "Twin Peaks". One episode a day or one a week really is a good cadence.

brookst 4y ago

It’s the “mystery box” phenomenon. Somehow a lot of TV producers and viewers have moved to an episodic narrative structure where a mysterious box appears, people debate what to do, shake it, steal it from each other, argue about it, and ultimately, at the end of the episode, with great tension, open the box to reveal... Next week's mystery box. But there is a lot of genuinely good stuff out there too. You just have to recognize mystery boxes and bail.

yamtaddle 4y ago

Almost none of these modern "great" TV series would be tolerable in a theater setting—no talking, no phone—even broken up into two-hour chunks. Too much filler, too much repetition, simply not enough substance. They're OK at home because people can tune out and screw around on their phones or play Switch or go put away some dishes so they're not paying close attention to the whole thing—very few of them are improved by an actual, close watch for their entire runtime, but they're good if your attention is dipping in and out while you do other stuff.