Do you mean to tell me that a sitcom that was specifically made to cater to the younger sister of a major celebrity, which cast her in a bright green glow of perfection all in an effort to boost her own celebrity, resulted in conflict between her and the other girls on set?!
As the eldest of five siblings, three of whom are my sisters, I'm sure you can imagine my absolute and utter shock at this development.
I only have sisters myself and grew up with a lot of female friends, so I've seen that kind of intra-gender hyper-violence up close and personal as well.
And if you think this is the only show where this will come up... well, just stay tuned.
Appreciate another entry in the tale, and your putting it all in context. Going by the 2008 comment I'm about a decade older than you, so I didn't watch any of these shows at the time. I was peripherally aware of them through glimpses when clicking through TV channels (remember that?) and TV Tropes references, but that's about it.
When I heard Schneider had fallen from grace, I expected it would be depressingly predictable sexual stuff, but interesting that it also apparently involved straight-up bullying his cast. Agreed that he failed in his duty of care there. Do I even dare ask how he wrote out Nikolas' character when she quit on the spot?
This kind of stuff is one more reason acting as a profession fascinates me so much. Imagine having to portray a genuine-seeming friendship on screen with someone who hates your guts. That's such a strange dynamic, haha.
Acting is also pretty much the only profession where we've decided we're going to allow children to work, even if that's usually a huge taboo in modern Western culture. There's a lot of other things in TV and film that are stylized, and I could imagine an alternate timeline where, say, the convention was for adult women to dub over all child roles, or for teenagers to play younger kids and everyone just going along with it. I guess that's basically what they do with twenty-somethings in teen dramas already, so just move it down a few age grades. Sure, it'd look weird to us now, but if that was the convention no one would bat an eye. Compare the theater. Trusting children with actual grown-up work involving actual grown-up money (sometimes a lot of it) is a big leap of faith.
"the show tapped into every child’s desire to be whisked away to a gorgeous and opulent private academy"
Now I wonder how the kids subjected to the tender mercies of the British elite school system would feel about that. In my case, I loved HP as a kid, but the boarding school fantasy never did much for me. It was fun to read about, but I'd have absolutely hated being sent away from my home and my mom to spend the entire year in a setting like that, no matter how glamorous. Also note how Rowling gave Harry such a comically crappy home life he'd never be inclined to miss it.
I miss television channels. There was something nice about flipping through five hundred channels and still finding nothing to watch. I hated it at the time but now, out of sheer nostalgia, I find myself yearning for it.
As for Schneider's behavior, in an industry rife with sexual impropriety, especially against minors, he is a special case. I don't want to spoil anything, but the allegations do not go in the direction I think anyone would expect. As for Nikolas, I remember (mostly from watching the show with my sisters) that, when the third season began, they were literally just like "Oh yeah she transferred" and that was that. She wasn't brought up again, like, ever. To crib TV Tropes terminology, it was a case of "being put on a bus" if I ever saw it.
When it comes to boarding schools, I think there's a dramatically different perception of them for American children versus English children. At least, if I had to guess. Boarding schools aren't really a thing over here, and speaking as someone who was an American kid, the way we always saw it was, well... like I said - college. It's idealized the same way that college is, in a lot of ways. I can imagine that, in a country where boarding schools are common (or at least a historic tradition), it might come off as different, which isn't really something I ever considered.
On JK Rowling and Harry's home life. I always found it interesting how the Dursleys are the average English family and they are portrayed as mean, horrible, and boring. Is this how JK sees the average Englishmen and his family. I still like the series and the characters, just something to think about. Peace
Hmm, I'm not sure I'd say they're average, precisely. If anything, it's a more specific prejudice: they're explicitly upper-middle class, or maybe the lower rung of the upper class. Vernon Dursley owns his own company with several employees, after all, and he's clearly pretty wealthy. Enough so that his wife doesn't have to work, even in 90s Britain. (I'm pretty sure she was a full-time housewife, but maybe she had a job and I forget, it's been a while.) So they're basically strivers and snobs, and that's what she's caricaturing. The pettyness of the middle class.
Compare this with the portrayal of the lower-middle class Weasleys, who're always shown in a very flattering light. Wouldn't they be more "average"? They struggle to pay the bills, have to work for a boss in a big bureaucracy, etc. (For some reason they can also afford a full-time housewife, though.) They also have a big brood of children, so it's not like Rowling is going for any kind of anti-family/valorizing the DINK lifestyle angle here.
I suspect much of the readership here is more right-alinged than I am, and would also point out that the nice Mr. Weasley works for the government, while the (almost literally!) moustache-twirling Mr. Dursley is an entrepreneur.
That all tracks with what I know about Rowling. I did a pretty long and comprehensive article on her history and how Harry Potter started, and given that I know she struggled with poverty for most of the 90's and is also a card-carrying Blairite who's personal bosom buddies with Gordon Brown... well, I can see it. At least through my own skewed, American understanding of what "Blairite" means and that era of British politics.
I feel like there's a more specific lampoon aimed at the post-Thatcher strivers, too. People have been caricaturing middle class hypocrisy and small-mindedness for as long as we've had commentary on the social classes, but the group Rowling's getting with the Dursleys feels more specific.
Thanks for continuing the story of Dan! This whole thing is a shocking read. Never was a fan of Britney but have sort of felt sorry for her. And even though Jamie Lynn seems awful, I kind of feel sorry for her, too, as a product of her environment/mom/etc. Good for Mama Nikolas for getting her daughter out finally, though! Thank you for putting this all together!
Thank you for your support as always, Jenn. In a way, I think Britney and her sister are both victims in their own right, and worthy of grace for the things that they were subjected to beyond their control. Especially Britney. She seems pathologically averse to making good decisions, but at the same time, there was a lot she was subjected to for the sake of money that, frankly, I'm not sure anyone should be. Especially when they're as young as she was.
Wait, wait, wait.
Do you mean to tell me that a sitcom that was specifically made to cater to the younger sister of a major celebrity, which cast her in a bright green glow of perfection all in an effort to boost her own celebrity, resulted in conflict between her and the other girls on set?!
As the eldest of five siblings, three of whom are my sisters, I'm sure you can imagine my absolute and utter shock at this development.
I only have sisters myself and grew up with a lot of female friends, so I've seen that kind of intra-gender hyper-violence up close and personal as well.
And if you think this is the only show where this will come up... well, just stay tuned.
I'll just say it here - I absolutely did not think that and only expected it to get worse from here lol
Appreciate another entry in the tale, and your putting it all in context. Going by the 2008 comment I'm about a decade older than you, so I didn't watch any of these shows at the time. I was peripherally aware of them through glimpses when clicking through TV channels (remember that?) and TV Tropes references, but that's about it.
When I heard Schneider had fallen from grace, I expected it would be depressingly predictable sexual stuff, but interesting that it also apparently involved straight-up bullying his cast. Agreed that he failed in his duty of care there. Do I even dare ask how he wrote out Nikolas' character when she quit on the spot?
This kind of stuff is one more reason acting as a profession fascinates me so much. Imagine having to portray a genuine-seeming friendship on screen with someone who hates your guts. That's such a strange dynamic, haha.
Acting is also pretty much the only profession where we've decided we're going to allow children to work, even if that's usually a huge taboo in modern Western culture. There's a lot of other things in TV and film that are stylized, and I could imagine an alternate timeline where, say, the convention was for adult women to dub over all child roles, or for teenagers to play younger kids and everyone just going along with it. I guess that's basically what they do with twenty-somethings in teen dramas already, so just move it down a few age grades. Sure, it'd look weird to us now, but if that was the convention no one would bat an eye. Compare the theater. Trusting children with actual grown-up work involving actual grown-up money (sometimes a lot of it) is a big leap of faith.
"the show tapped into every child’s desire to be whisked away to a gorgeous and opulent private academy"
Now I wonder how the kids subjected to the tender mercies of the British elite school system would feel about that. In my case, I loved HP as a kid, but the boarding school fantasy never did much for me. It was fun to read about, but I'd have absolutely hated being sent away from my home and my mom to spend the entire year in a setting like that, no matter how glamorous. Also note how Rowling gave Harry such a comically crappy home life he'd never be inclined to miss it.
I miss television channels. There was something nice about flipping through five hundred channels and still finding nothing to watch. I hated it at the time but now, out of sheer nostalgia, I find myself yearning for it.
As for Schneider's behavior, in an industry rife with sexual impropriety, especially against minors, he is a special case. I don't want to spoil anything, but the allegations do not go in the direction I think anyone would expect. As for Nikolas, I remember (mostly from watching the show with my sisters) that, when the third season began, they were literally just like "Oh yeah she transferred" and that was that. She wasn't brought up again, like, ever. To crib TV Tropes terminology, it was a case of "being put on a bus" if I ever saw it.
When it comes to boarding schools, I think there's a dramatically different perception of them for American children versus English children. At least, if I had to guess. Boarding schools aren't really a thing over here, and speaking as someone who was an American kid, the way we always saw it was, well... like I said - college. It's idealized the same way that college is, in a lot of ways. I can imagine that, in a country where boarding schools are common (or at least a historic tradition), it might come off as different, which isn't really something I ever considered.
On JK Rowling and Harry's home life. I always found it interesting how the Dursleys are the average English family and they are portrayed as mean, horrible, and boring. Is this how JK sees the average Englishmen and his family. I still like the series and the characters, just something to think about. Peace
Hmm, I'm not sure I'd say they're average, precisely. If anything, it's a more specific prejudice: they're explicitly upper-middle class, or maybe the lower rung of the upper class. Vernon Dursley owns his own company with several employees, after all, and he's clearly pretty wealthy. Enough so that his wife doesn't have to work, even in 90s Britain. (I'm pretty sure she was a full-time housewife, but maybe she had a job and I forget, it's been a while.) So they're basically strivers and snobs, and that's what she's caricaturing. The pettyness of the middle class.
Compare this with the portrayal of the lower-middle class Weasleys, who're always shown in a very flattering light. Wouldn't they be more "average"? They struggle to pay the bills, have to work for a boss in a big bureaucracy, etc. (For some reason they can also afford a full-time housewife, though.) They also have a big brood of children, so it's not like Rowling is going for any kind of anti-family/valorizing the DINK lifestyle angle here.
I suspect much of the readership here is more right-alinged than I am, and would also point out that the nice Mr. Weasley works for the government, while the (almost literally!) moustache-twirling Mr. Dursley is an entrepreneur.
That all tracks with what I know about Rowling. I did a pretty long and comprehensive article on her history and how Harry Potter started, and given that I know she struggled with poverty for most of the 90's and is also a card-carrying Blairite who's personal bosom buddies with Gordon Brown... well, I can see it. At least through my own skewed, American understanding of what "Blairite" means and that era of British politics.
I feel like there's a more specific lampoon aimed at the post-Thatcher strivers, too. People have been caricaturing middle class hypocrisy and small-mindedness for as long as we've had commentary on the social classes, but the group Rowling's getting with the Dursleys feels more specific.
Okay yeah makes sense.
Thanks for continuing the story of Dan! This whole thing is a shocking read. Never was a fan of Britney but have sort of felt sorry for her. And even though Jamie Lynn seems awful, I kind of feel sorry for her, too, as a product of her environment/mom/etc. Good for Mama Nikolas for getting her daughter out finally, though! Thank you for putting this all together!
Thank you for your support as always, Jenn. In a way, I think Britney and her sister are both victims in their own right, and worthy of grace for the things that they were subjected to beyond their control. Especially Britney. She seems pathologically averse to making good decisions, but at the same time, there was a lot she was subjected to for the sake of money that, frankly, I'm not sure anyone should be. Especially when they're as young as she was.
What a horrible and crippling thing to have your childhood stolen like that.
Just have to add to your list of sitcom spin offs? Mork & Mindy was ALSO a Happy Days spinoff.
No, I'm not making that up.