Excellent analysis, applicable on both individual and universal levels. USA does not stand a chance of surviving - even as a semi-functioning democracy - if we cannot not make the 1/6 insurrectionists, all of them from the top on down, face the consequences of their actions. Election results denial was just one more example of the former guy never, ever having had to face real consequences for a lifetime of bad acts. Where will we be if every citizen sought to ‘be like don’ so to speak; draft dodging and then mocking those who served; not paying taxes; not paying your debts until after being sued and then paying only pennies on the dollar; flouting the rule of law at every opportunity and then bragging about how that just shows how smart you are. ?
Paul Thomas Anderson's "Hard Eight" received a full 4K restoration, and until just recently was also viewable on The Criterion Channel (and which hopefully bodes well for an eventual physical 4K UHD Blu-Ray release from Criterion down the road, here).
Sonny put words to the ill feeling I get when shows and movies let the anti-hero off the hook. Exception for settings completely in the underworld. Then it doesn’t matter if the protagonist gets a comeuppance since everyone is bad even the cops. A samurai movie needs a good (even if flawed) hero. Not so for a yakuza film.
Like other shows where the "bad guy" gets our sympathy - Sopranos, Breaking Bad - Barry gets our sympathy. Personally, I think he is paying for at least some of the pain he's caused - he's a mess and suffering from at least some of the decisions he's made .
But it's a TV show. Does he need to get arrested so he's stopped? sure. Why did the cop walk away from him at the end? But there are plenty of other people on the show who aren't paying either - NoHo Hank. Ok, he's going through tough stuff too, but isn't dead or in prison yet either.
It's a TV show. The art of it is taking a character like Barry and seeing if he can be redeemed - or not - through acting. And making us care.
My third time through Breaking Bad I had to stop watching it. It hit me just what an awful person Walter White is. Somehow I had made it through the first two watches excusing his abuse of everyone around him. Good writing? poor moral character on my part? don't know. Couldn't do it again.
Bill Hader is an American icon. I treasure every episode of Barry! Just as I treasure every chance to see Hader's performances from SNL. Genius!
Excellent analysis, applicable on both individual and universal levels. USA does not stand a chance of surviving - even as a semi-functioning democracy - if we cannot not make the 1/6 insurrectionists, all of them from the top on down, face the consequences of their actions. Election results denial was just one more example of the former guy never, ever having had to face real consequences for a lifetime of bad acts. Where will we be if every citizen sought to ‘be like don’ so to speak; draft dodging and then mocking those who served; not paying taxes; not paying your debts until after being sued and then paying only pennies on the dollar; flouting the rule of law at every opportunity and then bragging about how that just shows how smart you are. ?
This really isn't about Barry, is it?
Paul Thomas Anderson's "Hard Eight" received a full 4K restoration, and until just recently was also viewable on The Criterion Channel (and which hopefully bodes well for an eventual physical 4K UHD Blu-Ray release from Criterion down the road, here).
Aaaagghh! A SPOILER ALERT would have been nice.
Sonny put words to the ill feeling I get when shows and movies let the anti-hero off the hook. Exception for settings completely in the underworld. Then it doesn’t matter if the protagonist gets a comeuppance since everyone is bad even the cops. A samurai movie needs a good (even if flawed) hero. Not so for a yakuza film.
Like other shows where the "bad guy" gets our sympathy - Sopranos, Breaking Bad - Barry gets our sympathy. Personally, I think he is paying for at least some of the pain he's caused - he's a mess and suffering from at least some of the decisions he's made .
But it's a TV show. Does he need to get arrested so he's stopped? sure. Why did the cop walk away from him at the end? But there are plenty of other people on the show who aren't paying either - NoHo Hank. Ok, he's going through tough stuff too, but isn't dead or in prison yet either.
It's a TV show. The art of it is taking a character like Barry and seeing if he can be redeemed - or not - through acting. And making us care.
My third time through Breaking Bad I had to stop watching it. It hit me just what an awful person Walter White is. Somehow I had made it through the first two watches excusing his abuse of everyone around him. Good writing? poor moral character on my part? don't know. Couldn't do it again.