Tag: nice

annevbonny:

“Black Sails is crafted a bit differently than any other show I’ve seen. The pacing more closely resembles that to a well-written novel than it does to any modern TV show. Because of that; it takes time. Time for the plot to unfold, time for the characters to reveal themselves to you, and time for you to settle in just before everything you expected gets subverted… …Is television supposed to pick us up and carry us away, or is it something we should work to engage in? There are different standards between what makes a good show and a good novel, but should there always be? Strong literary works ask us to engage with the material and hold it up against a light to analyse it. But TV rarely encourages that same kind of depth of thought. As entertaining as Game of Thrones is, there’s few who would agree that it could withstand the same amount of analysis as Wuthering Heights or Moby Dick. Black Sails on the other hand gets richer the further down you dig.”

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Why ‘Black Sails’ has made me question everything I know about good TV

This article is what had me thinking about modern television’s obsession with plot over themes the other day. I think the writer, Brook Wentz, is spot on when she compares Black Sails to a novel, both with regards to pacing and to its ability to hold up to in-depth analysis. 

I think modern audiences need to open up to a more diverse assortment of show formats—slower pacing, plots that require longterm investment, experimental structures, postmodern components, etc. If we’re going to start calling television “art,” after decades of dismissing it as inconsequential pap, shouldn’t we hold it to the same standards we hold other art forms?

If all novels were written in roughly the same style, with the same restrictions and structures, and if writers who diverged from that style were shut out or ignored, the medium would stagnate and die. Who’s to say the same won’t happen to television if we don’t loosen up our standards?

(via whatagrump)