He's obnoxious and disliked, you know

[msmcknittington]

I watched the second episode of the John Adams miniseries on HBO tonight. I think I'm addicted, though the poignancy of it all keeps bugging me a lot. I feel like a lot of the acting is overdone, not in a hammy sense, but in a sort of history angst way. Instead of being the intelligent, witty family that their papers show them to be, Adams et famille keep coming off as rather . . . dull. Not dumb, but boring and poignant. Everything is on a knife's point -- I really feel that it needs a little bit of lightness thrown in to relieve the emotional manipulation. The only relief is little Charles constantly running headlong into danger.

So, to relieve myself when it all gets to be too much, I start singing this song from 1776. That makes me feel better.

I am enjoying it, despite the heavy handedness. The theme song, for example, is fantastic. I hope we play it in city band this summer, or something like it. I'm just a fool for a sea chantey on a fiddle with some flutes backing it up. Makes me want to jig or break into a hornpipe. The costuming is also pretty good, though I wish they had given Nabby Adams some extensions. Shoulder-length hair on an 18th-century girl just seems wrong to me.

One product of unmitigated good:

I am definitely in handsome-guy-in-a-wig-and-knee-breeches overload. Mein Gott in himmel! Mr. John Hancock looks very good in a powdered wig. Very good indeed. And the representatives from the Carolinas in their entirety all look pretty fine in their side curls and finely fitted coats.

It's all really making me wish there such a thing as Hallowe'en in April, though, because I absolutely feel the need for a robe a l'anglaise now. And big hair. HUGE hair.

I have the third episode recorded, and I cannot wait until they arrive at the French court. Whoo! Ben Franklin sexing up the French ladies!

Comments

[marcine.livejournal.com]

I rather agree with you on the John Adams series being a bit heavy on the poignant and angst ridden. Playtone originally wanted to do 11 one-hour segments, but HBO told them no more than 7 hours. The series ended up around 8 and a half hours, but with the cut in the air time, the script changed. The scenes whittled down to mostly those involving John Adams and his political life and lost numerous scenes that would have filled out the emotional story. (I keep hearing "sit down, John, sit down" as my 1776 theme music tag line for this show. :)) Still rather fun to watch, mostly because I am a sucker for period films and there are so few decent movies about the American Revolution.

I also agree with you about Mr. Hancock and Mr. Rutledge in their silk coats and wigs. Looked right fine. And you're right, Nabby's shoulder length hair was off, but not because it was too short. Most women and girls had hair maybe a couple of inches longer than shoulder length. (A lot of the big hairstyles were achieved with hair pieces.) The reason Nabby's hair looked "off" is because she should have had it up and under a cap most of the time, unless she was in bed or in the privacy of her bedchamber. The hair dresser and costume designer talked about putting extentions in Madeline's hair, but were finally talked out of it by one of the history consultants, who used period images the costume designer had collected to make her point.

[cigarettes214.livejournal.com]

errg, I've been meaning to watch that! DVR, here I come!

[msmcknittington.livejournal.com]

It's worth it! Just don't be afraid to start singing showtunes if it becomes too much for you.