The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
"Brothers and Sisters"
TOoP/Bruce:
"Brothers and Sisters" is a series about the loving but dysfunctional Walker family who reunite in the wake of death of their father to find he had secrets he had been keeping. Some of this is familiar evening soap opera, and the first season seemed to have problems with trying to figure out how to balance the stories among an ensemble cast.
One of the brothers is Kevin, a gay attorney. Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be much drama about his being gay. Too many of the storylines have been about his revolving door romances with impossibly goodlooking fellows with commitment issues - or is he the one with commitment issues? I guess time will tell.
What strikes me as interesting about this is the very ordinary treatment of his being gay. It isn't a big deal. We haven't heard much about his coming out, it just seems to be a given that Kevin is gay, and maybe everyone has known it all along. A new storyline has been introduced involving his uncle Saul (Ron Rifkin) who after a season and a half, is now first coming out to his sister Nora (Sally Field).
For anyone wanting to see a treatment of gay characters that feels more authentic and ordinary than showy, this might hold some interest for you.
tamarack:
I have loved this show from the start for many, many reasons, and Kevin was just a wonderful plus in a show that already had much to recommend it. And yes, instead of Saul's coming out to Nora being the big deal of the show, it was almost a throw-away comment at the end.
I'm glad to hear you say that it seems authentic to you, Bruce, because it seemed that way to me, but I don't really have much to go on!
I think that the difference in Saul's and Kevin's experiences because of the difference in their ages will make for some interesting conversations in coming shows. As Saul recently said to him, something like You're used to walking down the street holding hands...It has been a different world for Saul.
I'm really glad that you brought this up.
Lauren
TOoP/Bruce:
--- Quote from: tamarack on November 16, 2007, 06:57:11 am ---
I think that the difference in Saul's and Kevin's experiences because of the difference in their ages will make for some interesting conversations in coming shows. As Saul recently said to him, something like You're used to walking down the street holding hands...It has been a different world for Saul.
--- End quote ---
Ron Rifkin has been sitting on the sideline of the story for too long. I am hoping this will give him a little more dramatic challenge. He's a very good actor.
The contrast between "gay then" and "gay now" has come up before in terms of Brokeback. I also think this is a great area of unexplored dramatic content, that I hope the writers will use well!
Brokeback_Dev:
Brothers and Sisters is one of the very few shows I watch on television. Its a wonderful series. I think Sally Fields does a great job as the mom and Calissta Flockhart is a wonderful actress. I love the show. I too am interested in what drama will come around Saul's character as an older gay man. And yes it was a very interesting comment Saul made to Kevin about the differences in time. Meaning growing up gay as a now older man compared to Kevin being a gay man here in this time. From what I've seen of how people react to my daughter being gay, there is no big deal. Not in my family or in public or even her job. Her friends accept it too. SO why would a new show make a deal out of couple of its characters being gay? I think its very fitting for the times, and makes for a very normal "dysfunctional" family and a very comfortable show to watch. :)
smellykellyjay:
I really dig this show. It can make me laugh one minute and cry the next. My favorite thing about the show is the relationships between all the characters, how none of them are islands, how they are all tied together. Whatever happens on the show affects them all in some way. It’s very well constructed that way.
I like Kitty, but McAllister/Rob Lowe doesn’t really do it for me. Hasn’t since “Class” and that was forever ago. I love Sarah in all her tough prickliness. Tommy and Julia can be non-entities at times, though that’s probably because they were – at least originally - stable, secure, and the most practical. For awhile there, they weren’t often written for. I like him because he looks kinda like one of my nephews.
Saul is getting interesting, and I look forward to seeinig his story play out, especially since Nora and Kevin will surely be involved. Somebody needs to get it on with Michael Nouri. A man like that shouldn’t go to waste.
I like Kevin, his sharp wit and tongue, but I wasn’t that intrigued by his relationships in the first season. The one with the closeted actor got tedious after awhile (Come out of the closet for me. . . Wait! Stay in the closet if you want.). But Jason looks promising. He is so freaking good looking. If he were my minister, I’d be on my knees day and night.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mCXl4sltI4[/youtube]
I’m most intrigued by Holly and Rebecca. I like how Holly has been incorporated into the show and the family, tension intact. I was a little disappointed in them when they walked out of Justin’s intervention, though it did get ugly there. Patricia Wettig has done a good job of making the other woman likeable and sympathetic.
It seems that it was set up last year for Rebecca to be a troublemaker, and I hope that’s pursued further. And do Emily VanCamp and Dave Annable have strong chemistry that’s freaky considering they are playing half siblings or what? I don’t think they would go there by pairing those two; it’s not that type of show. But they’d make a cute couple. Almost as cute as him and me would be together. Don’t really like her bangs this season though.
Speaking of Dave Annable, I LOVE him. Those eyes. . . that hair. . . that vulnerability. Sexy and sweet. He was my favorite on “Reunion” on FOX a couple of years back. I would marry him in a heartbeat. Justin is my second favorite character on the show.
But Nora is my absolute favorite. The major, main reason I love the show is Sally Field. I hate hyperbole and gushing, but I can't help but do it when it comes to her. She is magnificent. I’ve loved her since I was a kid, and she continues to be one of most loveable, charismatic people I’ve ever seen. I haven’t seen anything she’s been in where I wasn’t drawn to and transfixed by her.
My favorite episode so far is the one where they had the game night competition with the rival family lead by Susan Sullivan and Perry King, even though Kitty and Nora were shameful for stealing the trophy at the end. The best part was when Kevin kept calling out answers in charades that revealed how upset he was with Kitty. . .
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WGdKF5sHc4&feature=related[/youtube]
DIE, KITTY, DIE! Ba ha, ha, ha!
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