Pop Culture Post: Big Little Lies and Sexual Dynamics

SmurfESmurferson · 2017-03-30T18:56:39+00:00

I read the book, and it was fantastic.

The older I get, the more I realize that you really never know what's going on in other people's marriages - I think the story as a whole is really good at shining a light on that dynamic.

From what I'm reading here, the tv show seems like it portrays the abusive marriage slightly differently than the book. In the book, you could feel the wife's desperation to get out of the house, to get away from her husband and kids.

She's definitely locked in a velvet cage, so to speak.

sublimemongrel · 2017-03-30T18:07:18+00:00

OMFG I LOVE THIS SHOW! I call my sister after every episode and tell her how RP it is. There is one BPish couple though -- the power couple with Laura Dern. They obviously are still highly attracted to each other but she seems to be the domineering archetypal career woman.

Celest and Perry are particularly interesting to me. He strikes me as the stereotypical alpha, except I'd say he has a lot of bad alpha traits, he like is controlled by her BY controlling her if that makes sense.

I also wish we knew more about Zoe Kravitz & Husband's relationship, we only really see them in the context of others.

goatismycopilot · 2017-03-30T19:21:40+00:00

Laura Dern is a hugely underappreciated actress. If you want to see a dark but funny movie about the pro choice/pro life struggle I recommend Citizen Ruth. She plays a fairly unlikable character along with some other unlikable characters, great stuff. I also really enjoyed HBO's Enlightenment in which she plays a middle aged woman who pretty much comes apart, then kind of puts herself back together again through Buddhism/self discovery/meditation and then realizes just how hard it is to actually apply it in real life and in actual relationships. There is a saying in meditation that enlightenment is easy to achieve in the cave on the mountain top and then you have to go down to the village. Then shit gets complicated. I will watch it because I like her.

writingtoc · 2017-03-30T19:22:48+00:00

I've been watching the shit out of this show! Love it. Well, love it with some minor reservations.

I think it's a bit too on the nose with some of the characterizations. Too apt. Celeste and Perry for one example. It's too textbook. It looks perfect on the outside but inside it's a hellscape of domestic violence and abuse! I also think the same thing about Madeline's husband. He fits the 'nice beta' role too well. This is a writing problem and since I haven't read the book I don't know if it's an issue with the source material or the adaptation.
I see what Witherspoon (full disclosure: I fucking LOVE Reese Witherspoon) is trying to do with her production company and this show in particular, and I like it. But parts of this show are a leeeeetle bit too overtly feminist, imo. Goddamnit. 'Feminist' is the wrong word. Too 'women are awesome,' maybe? That bit in the last ep where Jane shows up at Renata's house to apologize and they totally empathize with each other and it's all magically sorted out didn't quite ring true to me. Both of those women are spitting nails because they're going all momma bear over their kids, it just didn't seem realistic that they were singing kumbaya within minutes of chatting. But that said, i totally applaud what RW is doing and I hope to see more shows like this from her production company. She's talking about it a lot in public, too. I <3 her. Same with the scene where they're all singing Fleetwood Mac in the bus - that scene could have worked but it was just ever so slightly off to me. Again, too obvious.
I have a theory on who is really bullying Renata's daughter. And it's not Jane's kid. It's tied in with the situation with another couple but I won't say any more.
Celeste and Perry are interesting because of how my friends are talking about them (very similar to you, OP, and sublimemongrel) - like it's a super hot relationship and they're great parents but sometimes the sex gets out of control at times. I don't really see it that way at all - that relationship is 100% fucked and Perry is a monster. We saw Perry snapping at the kids in the most recent episode, which I noted because so far the show has avoided showing him treating the kids badly. But I basically don't think it's possible Perry is a good dad to his kids. They will know on some level what's going on.
Only one more episode nooooooooooo!
Love the soundtrack.

GridReXX · 2017-03-30T19:39:18+00:00

Ugh, I love this show! I don't understand how anyone could lack attraction for Adam Scott- he is the antithesis of my type and I still think he's delicious. Nathan seems like a boring dolt... why you'd spend a second thinking of him when Ed is around is beyond me. The relationship between Celeste and her husband scares the eff out of me- it's such a believable but underrepresented form of abuse.

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DaThrowaway808 · 2017-03-30T18:57:19+00:00

Isn't it hard to judge anything based upon a scripted show? Sure you can talk about couple stereotypes, but usually the most BP responses will be, "NAROTSALT".

Battle-Scars · 2017-03-30T21:17:00+00:00

Filmed in my backyard and some of the story lines are very representative of the area. Funny, how nobody has commented about the PC conflict of their daughter auctioning off her virgin pussy to raise funds for amnesty international.

[deleted] · 2017-03-30T23:01:08+00:00

I'll take a look at it, for sure. I'm just waiting for Ashi to fall for Samurai Jack when he goes full dark triad on her.

[deleted] · 2017-03-31T07:52:28+00:00

Slapping a woman's ass without her consent is sexual assault, even if she's his wife. What are you on about??

Title	Pop Culture Post: Big Little Lies and Sexual Dynamics
Author	GridReXX
Upvotes	12
Comments	70
Date	March 30, 2017 6:02 PM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/62fnbk/pop_culture_post_big_little_lies_and_sexual/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/pop-culture-post-big-little-lies-and-sexual.269175 https://theredarchive.com/post/269175