03-11-2019, 04:20 PM
(03-09-2019, 04:31 PM)Hexenadler Wrote: I've been binge-watching a lot of GRIMM episodes lately, and I found a consistent pattern emerging from them. Not just the episodes penned by G&K, but the writing staff in general. (Keep in mind they're working under mandates dictated by G&K, the chief writers.) They don't particularly care whether a protagonist's actions are "right" or "wrong," as long as the character goes in the direction they want him/her to go.
I'll try to explain. There's a fine line between writing deliberately "immoral" entertainment (such as Rob Zombie's films), and simply being indifferent to how the behavior of recurring cast members might appear to audiences. The protagonists kidnap a baby from its Hexenbiest mother? Deal with it. Nick is copacetic using a forged illegal passport to travel? Deal with it. Juliette was brainwashed by an uncomfortably pragmatic organization into an emotionless war machine who constantly denied her guilt by projecting it onto another persona? Deal with it.
It's not just GRIMM I'm talking about. This is a recurring bad habit among many writers of different shows who seem to treat character consistency as some kind of inconvenience. If you were to watch a random episode of the classic version of TWILIGHT ZONE or even something from the '80's like KNIGHT RIDER, you'd notice greater care paid to how a character acts from episode to episode, as opposed to him/her getting someone decapitated and everybody gets over the whole thing in record time. Character inconsistency appears to be a part of the current zeitgeist. Is it sloppiness brought about by frantic production schedules? Or are the writers simply too lazy to bother?
Grimm was inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s collation of old fairy tales (and other old stories from around the world). These where nothing like Walt Disney’s animated movies about Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. The first version from 1812 where completely unsuitable for children, and contained stuff like extreme violence and rape. Hansel and Gretel are dumped in the forest by their biological mother, Cinderalla’s step sisters get their eyes chopped out by seagulls, while the Sleeping Beauty marries a king that raped her in her sleep and made her pregnant with twins (while the queen was burned at the stake). Compared to the original Grimm-stories, Greenwalt & Kouf’s version have pretty high moral standards…
I would also like to say, compared to many other shows I’ve been watching, Nick had pretty high moral standards. I hope you are not suggesting it was Nicks fault that Juliette was brainwashed (he didn’t even know she was alive). False passport? I think that after people had been trying to get their hands on the keys for centuries, faking Nick's identity to insure a successful operation didn’t brake many morals standards. Almost all superheroes hide their identity. Kidnaping Diana? Yes, but it was intended to stop Diana from being used as a powerful weapon in a conflict that could threaten the world.
(03-10-2019, 11:51 AM)Hexenadler Wrote: More children than we know are watching shows like GRIMM every day. What are they to make of a lead character with an incredibly flexible conscience? Michael Knight might not meet your standards of a realistic protagonist, but I'd definitely prefer my kids to watch HIS exploits than Nick Burkhardt's.
Grimm is not a children’s show……. It’s not Greenwalt & Kouf’s fault if parents let young children watch the show. People have been complaining about lack of morality in books, music and tv-shows for hundreds of years. I guess they still do...
(03-10-2019, 11:51 AM)Hexenadler Wrote: I hope that's not how you view life in general. If it is, it's an awfully cynical perspective. "Moral consistency" is exactly what made television characters of previous decades more likable (and yes, identifiable) than the current crop. Having a character act the saint in one episode, and then abruptly switching him to asshole status in the next, isn't "realistic." People are more altruistic than you think, although the media likes to dwell on the more negative aspects of the human race, and since most storytellers these days just claim they're depicting the world that's around them, the negative aspects are all they see.Are you questioning the moral standards of other members of this forum? Want something "realistic"? Then don’t watch a show about a man who interacts with witches and werewolves.
I think dicappatore sums it up perfectly:
(03-09-2019, 06:06 PM)dicappatore Wrote: I have this unique item with these unique buttons on it. Maybe you heard of it, they call it, (shhhhhh), "A Remote Control". It comes with these quirky features. They are flocking amazing. You can change channels and/or shut the dam screen off. I feel sorry for all you negative critics of the show Grimm don't have one of these Remote Control.