“TV is a problem only if you’ve forgotten how to look and listen,” claims a university professor in Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. He complains that his students are no longer open to the medium; they find television “worse than junk mail… They’re ashamed of their television past. They want to talk about movies.” White Noise was published in 1985, when television programs were regularly criticized for being formulaic, lacking real substance and focusing more on commercial success than artistic profit. In fact, television’s reputation as an artistic medium was so bad that, in 1996, the premium network HBO began running ads with their new slogan: “It’s not TV. it’s HBO.”
But now, the tables have turned. Personally, I have heard countless college students share viewpoints in perfect contradiction to the students in DeLillo’s book; they believe that film is dead, that television has been reborn. Avid fans of Game of Thrones and Mad Men will tell you; while Hollywood got hooked on commercially successful gimmicks like 3D superhero movies, television emerged as the premier platform for long-form storytelling. The “auteur” has been replaced by the “showrunner,” and art house cinemas are losing business to Netflix-streaming laptop computers.
HBO has long been fighting at the front lines of this television revolution. Oz, which debuted in 1997, was the network’s first long-form dramatic series, a dark story about life in prison that could be considered a forerunner in the push for weightier television content. Though Oz achieved little commercial success upon release, it paved the way for widely-acclaimed series like The Sopranos and The Wire. Then, unsurprisingly, the success of these high-quality dramas inspired imitations. The revolution that began on HBO spread across the television channels like static electricity. We saw Lost on ABC, then Friday Night Lights on NBC, followed by Mad Men and Breaking Bad on AMC. Fans and critics alike flocked proudly to their tubes; it was a new century, and the new content was no longer “worse than junk mail.” It was art.
But are we truly living in a “Golden Age” of television? Or is it a gilded age?
Though television may be better than it has ever been, I am too often disappointed by new series that turn out to be as formulaic as they are trendy. It is as if these shows are bouyed by the success of recent gems but still held to the low standards of classic television. This could be said of HBO’s most recent release, Westworld, a big-budget series that the network is banking on being the #NextBigThing. Though HBO’s Game of Thrones has maintained its army of followers, many of the network’s recent debuts—Vinyl, True Detective—have swallowed millions of dollars only to be cancelled in the prime time of their youth. For this reason, argues critic Emily Nussbaum in her New Yorker review of the series, Westworld “can’t just be good—it needs to be a hit, too.”
Unfortunately, Westworld, like those other eventual flops, blew its budget on flash to blind audiences to the sloppiness of its narrative. Critics should be the ones to remind us how to “look and listen” like DeLillo’s professor, to watch television with a critical eye. But for an array of reasons, critics like Nussbaum and the AV Club’s Zack Handlen are largely complacent in the inflation of the medium’s reputation. Though Nussbaum’s review of Westworld raises important questions about the show, it is ultimately as toothless as Handlen’s in its judgment.
Based on the Michael Crichton film from 1973, Westworld is an intriguing offering; the show follows an ensemble of characters involved in a fictional Western-themed amusement park where the wealthy guests can have their way—sexually and violently—with the artificially intelligent “hosts” that populate the expansive artificial frontier. The series is ambitious; it tackles the darker sides of entertainment and human nature, placing the AI robots in center frame and featuring most of the human characters as creepy executives or their bloodthirsty clientele. As the robots slowly gain awareness of their sad situation, they increasingly inspire our empathy; the poor things get shot, stabbed and raped until night falls and their memories are wiped for another day of human amusement.
“The show introduces itself as a science-fiction thriller about cyborgs who become self-aware,” writes Nussbaum, but “then reveals its true identity as what happens when an HBO drama struggles to do the same.” She argues that the series is an attempt at criticizing our sadistic enjoyment of sex and violence in the media, “an exploitation series about exploitation.” The show actually works though, argues Nussbaum, because of its “elegance” and the way it “gets under your skin.” She is not wrong; like its opening credits sequence—needled artificial ligaments and a shiny player piano—the show is often as unnerving as it is stylish.
Similarly, Handlen believes that the first episode of Westworld succeeds because it “never lets the horrors it depicts completely undercut a certain sense of wonder.” He discovers this sense of wonder in the hopeful robotic hosts, and also in himself as he puzzles over the mysteries of the amusement park. However, there is an important distinction to be made between elegance and wonder—while the former is a question of aesthetics, the latter is largely a function of plot. And the plot of Westworld creates a sense of wonder more through formulaic twists than through the emotive eyes of Dolores (the park’s “farmer’s daughter” attraction and the series’ main star).
Specifically, In order to build the foundations of a narrative that could last longer than the first episode’s ninety minutes, Westworld introduces layers of enigma that are clearly intended to reel audiences in without demonstrating any relevance to the rest of the story. For example, there is Ed Harris’ character, “The Man in Black,” who is searching for some kind of hidden objective within Westworld. Apparently, the only way to find this meta-game is to torture the robotic citizens until they divulge any relevant information—The Man in Black scalps a poor cowboy to find a maze hidden under his plastic forehead. Why should we, as an audience, care about this puzzling meta-game? It is not related to anything else that happens in the episode; the subplot only exists to develop a pervasive sense of conspiracy, as if beneath the main narrative there is something “bigger” going on. This tactic has been popular mostly in sci-fi and fantasy programs since Lost employed it to keep viewers intrigued for 121 cliffhanging episodes. The series constructed endless layers of mysteries while promising to reveal every secret, to eventually tie up each of its loose-ends. Spoiler alert: at Lost‘s finale, most of the series puzzles went entirely unsolved. If the generally held consensus is that a show is successful as long as it keeps audiences watching; I would argue that television succeeds only when a series keeps its promise to tell a complete and satisfying story. Lost‘s failure in this respect is enough to make me “wonder” about where Westworld is headed.
Though Handlen agrees that The Man in Black is “an element that doesn’t quite work,” the lack of real plot development only makes him nervous for the episodes to come. He perceives the pilot as a success even though it functions only as extended exposition, more like the first part of a riddle than the first chapter of a full story. I find this logic confusing, as you would never endorse a riddle without knowing its solution—one half is meaningless without the other. Although she is more hesitant to demonstrate outright support of the series, Nussbaum similarly advises that we keep watching.
Primarily, Nussbaum criticizes the show for making use of the same exploitation that it claims to denounce—patriarchal violence against women in entertainment tailored to straight men. This is a valid concern; social satire can be even more problematic than its targets when it takes societal flaws to extremes without delivering the message that they are, in fact, flaws. Nussbaum worries that Westworld rides dangerously close to this type of ambiguity. She asks, “Is Westworld the blinkered macho fantasy, or is that ‘Westworld’?” This is the kind of scalpel-sharp critique that is too often lacking in television criticism; looking past the face value of a show to dissect it under the light of a larger political framework.
But the way that Nussbaum follows her query reveals why serious critique of the medium can be so challenging: “It’s a meta-cliffhanger with its own allure,” she writes, “leaving us only one way to find out: stay tuned for next week’s episode.” Handlen makes a similar statement in his review, sharing that he is uncertain whether or not the story will be sustainable, but is “eager to find out.”
This is the paradox of television critique; a critic’s job is to swallow works of art whole, to digest them completely in oder to judge them fairly, but television is rarely complete. When a show has a strong following and commercial success, it can afford to close its narrative arcs and tell a whole story. But many series, like Lost, and probably Westworld, intentionally leave plot-lines soaring and mysteries unsolved so as to keep audiences hooked. How is a critic to judge a work that might be nothing but bait, that will only take off its mask after years of seasons have come and gone? Nussbaum and Handlen are somewhat critical of Westworld, but they hold their tongues in light of the fact that the series is only getting started, that their worries could be assuaged by future episodes. However, this position is insufficient, because future episodes will only exist if the audience responds positively to early episodes. In this way, television critics have their hands tied; they cannot fairly judge a show until it is finished, but still must play a role in whether or not that completion ever occurs. Netflix’s all-in-one season release model would help critics navigate this issue, but HBO has maintained its commitment to the classic episode-per-week trickle.
Moreover, the problem is only complicated by the fact that directors and writers are often shuffled between episodes and seasons—Westworld, for example, has had a unique creative team for each installment. Where does a singular work of television end and the next one begin? Handlen has written reviews of each Westworld episode one by one, becoming increasingly critical as HBO reveals more of its hand. “Spending hours showing us a curtain might hold our attention,” he writes in his review of episode five, “but sooner or later, you have to pull the curtain back.” Of course, penning piecemeal reviews like this limits a critic’s ability to judge the whole picture at once. On the other hand, Nussbaum’s review covers the first four episodes, an arbitrary number that is still too few to judge Westworld’s complete narrative, yet simultaneously too many to treat the episodes like individual works.
It is tempting to submit the movie Ex Machina as the converse of Westworld (the film about artificial intelligence is subtle where Westworld is exploitative and narratively-taut where the show is tangled). It is equally tempting to entirely dismiss the show because of the painful performances from two of its actors, Simon Quarterman and Sidse Babett Knudsen, who play important Westworld executives (while he overacts enough to make Anthony Hopkins seem like a robot, she comes off colder than the robots due to her monotonic attempt at an American accent). But to make such warranted criticisms would be unfair to an artwork that is still unfinished. There is only one way to find out the truth about Westworld, and that is to pay for an expensive premium network subscription and watch one episode each week until most fans lose interest and the series is canceled. Only then will it be finished and we can criticize fairly in retrospect. But do not be discouraged! We are lucky to be living in the Golden Age of television.
11,215 Comments
Alexistogel merupakan bandar toto macau yang terpercaya dengan hadiah kemenangan terbesar diantara situs bandar lainnya di Indonesia saat ini. alexistogel
This is a great blog, will you be involved in doing an interview about how you developed it? If so e-mail me! upvc window spraying Nottingham
Alexistogel merupakan situs togel dan slot online terbesar yang menyediakan berbagai pasaran togel & ribuan game slot yang bisa kamu mainkan dengan 1 akun saja. link alexistogel
I am really loving the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility problems? A few of my blog readers have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue? Ritalin kopen zonder recept
I am really loving the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility problems? A few of my blog readers have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue? 토토사이트
When the summer began, I first thought Bridesmaids was the funniest movie of the year, but I have to say Horrible Bosses will now take that claim. garden landscaping coventry
TOGEL88 | DAFTAR TOGEL88 | LOGIN TOGEL88 | TOGEL88 ASIA Daftar segera di situs Togel88 untuk mulai bermain permainan online terlengkap. Situs gacor gampang maxwin. Berapapun kemenangan Anda pasti akan terbayar lunas. Jaminan 100% Privasi dan keamanan Anda terjaga dengan baik bersama situs terbaik dan terpercaya Togel88.
Your current posts always possess much of really up to date info. Where do you come up with this? Just saying you are very creative. Thanks again 꽁머니
Adenomyosis is a medical condition where the tissue that normally lines the uterus (endometrium) grows into the muscular wall of the uterus (myometrium). This can result in an enlarged and tender uterus, often accompanied by heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, severe menstrual cramps, and pelvic pain. While the exact cause of adenomyosis remains unclear, it’s believed to be linked to hormonal imbalances and inflammation within the uterus. Adenomyosis can occur in women of any age, but it’s most commonly diagnosed in those who have had multiple pregnancies or are in their late 30s or 40s. adenomyosis
You produced some decent points there. I looked on the internet for the problem and discovered most individuals go in addition to with all your website. Apollo tv
MB66 là một trong những nhà cái uy tín và được nhiều người đánh giá cao trong giới cá cược, được cấp giấy phép hoạt động cá cược trực tuyến hợp pháp được cấp bởi Isle of Man và Khu kinh tế Cagayan and Freeport. Với nhiều năm hoạt động trên thị trường, MB66 đã trở thành địa chỉ tin cậy của những người yêu thích các trò chơi đánh bạc trực tuyến phục vụ hơn 10 triệu người chơi. Là một công ty trò chơi trực tuyến thuộc sở hữu của Tổng bộ Liên minh OKVIP có trụ sở tại Luân Đôn, Anh, MB66 sở hữu đội ngũ nhân tài chuyên nghiệp cung cấp sản phẩm chất lượng cao. Website: https://mb66.cool/
Địa chỉ: 440 Lý Thường Kiệt, Phường 7, Tân Bình, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam #mb66 #nhaccaimb66 #trangchumb66
I like this post,And I guess that they having fun to read this post,they shall take a good site to make a information,thanks for sharing it to me. agen slot
เว็บใหญ่ลิขสิทธิ์แท้ บาคาร่าเว็บตรงแท้ไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ เว็บตรงบาคาร่าและเกมสล็อตใหม่ล่าสุด เว็บที่ได้รับความนิยมมากที่สุดในโลก เว็บตรงที่ดีที่สุด เล่นเกมสล็อตเว็บตรง เว็บบาคาร่าใหม่ล่าสุด promotion เล่นสล็อต pg
ARE YOU Looking for a memorable experience in Gurgaon, book Gurgaon beautie girls who will satisfy all your sensual fantasies. Here you will find the perfect partner for your pleasant night without any extra cost. They all are well trained, prepared and they provide you the best service with their best knowledge and understanding. Gurgaon Call Girls
I went over this internet website and I agree with you have a whole lot of great information , bookmarked (:. briansclub cm
I your writing style simply playing this site. briansclub.cm
This may be the right weblog for all and sundry who would like to discover this subject matter. You already understand a awesome deal its nearly difficult to argue alongside (not too I truly could want…HaHa). You without a doubt put the contemporary spin on the subject thats been revealed for several years. Great stuff, just superb! brainsclub
You really make it appear so uncomplicated together with your presentation but I find that subject matter to be certainly something that I assume I would in no way apprehend. It appears too complicated and fantastically extensive for me. I am searching ahead to your next post, I can attempt to get the dangle up of it! brainsclub.cm
Awesome read , I’m going to spend extra time learning this subject matter brians club
Life goals are what we want to 123 achieve,
Alexistogel merupakan bandar togel online yang sangat terpercaya dan sudah memiliki ribuan member aktif yang bermain togel online dengan pasaran paling lengkap. togel online
Nestled in the bustling district of Kirti Nagar, White Flower Developers stands as a beacon of innovation and excellence in the realm of real estate development. With a rich tapestry of projects that seamlessly blend luxury, functionality, and sustainability, we have earned an esteemed reputation as the premier real estate developers in Kirti Nagar. Let us illuminate the path to your dream space with our unwavering commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. As the leading real estate builders in Kirti Nagar, White Flower Developers continues to set new benchmarks of excellence in the industry.
I am curious to find out what blog platform you happen to be utilizing? I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest site and I’d like to find something more risk-free. Do you have any solutions? Oxibet88 Login
Miliarslot77 adalah situs slot gacor dengan bonus terbesar
miliarslot77 merupakan situs rtp live slot gacor paling akurat
After study some of the websites with your web site now, we truly as if your technique for blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back soon. Pls look into my website also and told me what you consider. GASPOL189 LOGIN
솔직히 말해서 스타일로 글을 쓰고 좋은 칭찬을받는 것은 꽤 어렵지만, 너무 차분하고 시원한 느낌으로 해냈고 당신은 일을 잘했습니다. 이 기사는 스타일이 돋보이며 좋은 칭찬을하고 있습니다. 베스트! 대밤
블로그에 대한 흥미로운 주제. 나는 재미를 위해 인터넷을 검색하고 당신의 웹 사이트를 찾았습니다. 멋진 포스트. 지식을 공유해 주셔서 감사합니다! 일부 사람들이 여전히 웹 사이트를 관리하는 데 노력을 기울이는 것을 보는 것이 좋습니다. 곧 다시 확인하겠습니다. 대밤
Seoulmkt is The best news website to get the latest and most reliable information! We understand how important it is to get the day’s news quickly and accurately. Therefore, we are committed to presenting the latest news that is reliable and easily accessible to all groups.
agricultural produce Fish Hunter 2 EX that we consume. After
I’ve seen so many chic styles that can be worn casually or dressed up for a night out. Cuir Jackets
I am thankful to you for sharing this plethora of useful information. I found this resource utmost beneficial for me. Thanks a lot for hard work. kingston-nkrotary.org
Intimately, the article is in reality the best on this precious topic. I agree with your conclusions and also can thirstily look forward to your coming updates. Just saying thanks definitely will not simply just be sufficient, for the phenomenal lucidity in your writing. I can at once grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates. Fabulous work and much success in your business dealings! Property Listings
Enjoyed reading this, very good stuff, regards . UK
Really clean internet site , appreciate it for this post. Michelin Restaurant in Bangkok
Choosing 432HZ Studio guarantees that your projects will benefit from the best dubbing services in the industry, making your content more accessible, engaging, and culturally relevant
https://www.432hzstudios.com/services/
If you’re searching for the perfect nail art stickers in India, Simplyinked is your go-to destination. They offer an extensive collection of high-quality nail art stickers that are easy to apply and long-lasting
visit https://www.simplyinked.in/collections/nail-art-strips
I favored the web page..This is the sort of super resource that you are offering and you supply it away without spending a dime. I love seeing blog that recognize the value of supplying a fine resource at no cost. briansclub login
It’s tough to accumulate knowledgeable women and men during this subject matter, but, you appear like there’s greater you’re coping with! Thanks briansclub.cm login
I love wi-fi internet due to the fact you could surf everywhere and you can keep away from the ones ethernet cables:: brainsclub
This is also extremely useful information, albeit I would have wanted to double-check. This may not always be the case, but challenges are sure to arise.
Open Car Shipping
B2BCERT One of the top companies offering ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 22000, ISO 27001, ISO 20000,CE Marking, HACCP, and other globally accepted standards and Management solutions for business development, process improvement, consulting, and certification services.contact us for more details Contact@b2bcert.com
https://www.b2bcert.com/glp-certification-in-hyderabad/
You are a very persuasive writer. I can see this in your article. You have a way of writing compelling information that sparks much interest. a course in miracles
This is very educational content and written well for a change. It’s nice to see that some people still understand how to write a quality post! memek
Uzbekistan Airways Moscow Office is your gateway to the heart of Central Asia. With convenient flight connections and exceptional service, we make exploring the wonders of Uzbekistan effortless. From the magnificent Registan in Samarkand to the captivating Khiva, our network ensures you experience the rich cultural tapestry of this remarkable destination. Trust Uzbekistan Airways to deliver an unforgettable journey, where the past and present seamlessly intertwine. Book your trip today and let us be your guide to the enchanting world of Uzbekistan.
Just wanna remark on few general things, The website style is ideal, the topic matter is rattling good a course in miracles
Several friends have understood that their marriage was annulled, some even transmit information blog interposed. kanjengtoto
We still cannot quite believe that I was able to often be any type of those staring at the important points located on your blog post. My loved ones and i are sincerely thankful for your special generosity too as for giving me possibility pursue our chosen profession path. Basically information I acquired within your web-site. kanjengtoto
This is really interesting, You are an excessively skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look ahead to in the hunt for extra of your great post. Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks! kanjengtoto
누누tv offers an incredible variety of content choices, making it a top destination for media enthusiasts.
Looking for top-quality Intex Pharma? Check out our latest offerings of Intex Pharma from uksteroids! Buy Intex Pharma in the Uk with confidence and find the best Intex Pharma for sale to meet your fitness goals. Visit our page now and start your transformation today!
website:- https://uksteroidsshop.com/