Mike says to gather the historians! We have found the source! Believe it or not, the Twilight Phenomenon owes its existence to Roswell! Well, sorta.
Anyway, the pilot itself is strange, oddly acted, and so chock full of teen angst I nearly drowned. My wife and I both chuckled throughout. But the episode really took me back to the time period of Dawson's Creek and early Smallville. And honestly, that's all Roswell is--a teeny bopper show meant to stretch the sexual tension (between the 20-something teenagers) until the audience's heads explode from the stress of holding all those unexpressed hormones in at once.
Despite the awkward acting, the mumbled lines, the shaky plot, the 300 gallon tank of pent up hormones, fifteen minutes of screen time devoted to actors standing two feet from each other and staring intensely (no doubt causing 14-16 year old girls to hug their pillows and scream "Kiss her! Kiss her!"), and the awkward acting (it was pretty awkward, you have to admit), I have to say I was at least a little intrigued. While a shameless predecessor to Twilight, Roswell does have an intriguing mythology--or at least it hints at a clever mythology. It's hard to tell with one episode.
Final thing: Like Twilight, Roswell doesn't have a lot to offer guys. This is, straight up, a sci-fi romantic drama: heroine is head over heels in love, the hero valiantly refusing to give in to his desires, and a secret that needs protecting. In fact, the only thing missing is the rival gang of aliens/monsters/smurfs whose leader creates a tough choice for the heart-torn hero or heroine (actually, I'd bet five bucks that happens in a later season). Really and truly, this is Twilight with aliens instead of vampires. At least at first glance.
All in all, Roswell made me squirm, laugh from embarrassment, and, like a little girl, want to clutch a pillow to my chest and yell at the characters to FREAKING kiss already, thus foregoing the multi-season build up. While pretty shameless and transparent in its intentions, there is some guilty pleasure in Roswell, and I may have to give it a few more episodes.
Kate says Roswell was not quite as lame as I thought it would be. I thought the concepts presented in the pilot were pretty interesting: the orphaned alien children, the possibility of more aliens "out there," the investigating bad guy (who turns out to be sort of a good guy; yeah, I cheated and checked out "Roswell" on Wikipedia). The sexual tension between the hero and heroine is pretty good. Their friends are obviously already going to cause problems in later episodes. Not a bad set-up!
Having said that, yeah, Stephanie Meyers owes a LOT to Roswell. There's the motif of the couple separated by race? species? birth planet? plus the motif of the stoic male hero who singles out the human female ("It was you.") against the advice of his friends/family and even against his own best interest. (As my niece Kezia points out, he is awfully fast in his instant trust of Liz and what is it with fugitives staying in small towns? Does anyone think it is easier to hide in a small town "where everybody knows your name" than in a city?) There's even the meeting in chemistry class! Maybe, Meyers has never seen Roswell, but it's hard to see how she wasn't heavily influenced by the zeitgeist created by the series.
On the other hand, maybe this is just the inevitable result of creating Romeo & Juliet/fated couples. Certain motifs will ALWAYS crop up.
Speaking of Twilight, I did think that Liz Parker was a MUCH more interesting character than Bella or, since Mike brought up Smallville, Lana (the MOST irritating girlfriend in the history of television). Liz is smart, and she solves problems, and she's not too pretty-pretty. There's some toughness there.
But the dialog--talk about stilted! "When something like this finally happens to me, it's with an alien" has got to be the dorkiest line in the history of sci-fi television. "It's not safe." "I don't care" is also right up there.
Still, if I were into serialized shows--which, you know, I'm not--I might give this a chance. But, as it is, probably not.
Friday, July 2, 2010
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12 comments:
First things first- I lived in Roswell for 6 months. I know the town well, or I did (it's been 8 or 9 years or so). While the city shots in the pilot were generic enough to work, when they showed the "alien three" outside of town I nearly started swearing!!!!! Not all of New Mexico is desert. Roswell is in lower central NM, which is grassy fields for as far as the eye can see. I fell in love with Roswell itself on sight because it the first town I had seen in that area that had REAL trees! Normally I don't harp on that stuff... but Yeash! How about some accuracy people!?!
Roswell is admirable because it covers the first half season (or in smallvilles case, 3 seasons) of stuff in the first episode. The girl already knows about the aliens and why they’re different, and the characters have a bonding moment. It was nice to dispense with some of the “pleasantries” and get right into it.
You’re right Kate! It’s SO Twilight! I had to bite my tongue to keep my review from being a point by point comparison! It’s actually funny how the timing ended up on this pilot, as the new Twilight movie hit this week!
Btw, I looked it up, and a new gang of aliens does join, along with a point for the love triangle between Max and Liz (an alien wife for Max! Yay!). Someone owes me five bucks.
And I agree, Liz is a bit more developed a character than Bella, and better written. Although I HATE HATE HATE the whole “I’m an ugly teenager played by a 20-year old sex idol.” Why even bother???? I refer to liz’s whole “Please, max and THIS (pointing to her face)????” COME ON! She’s attractive and cute, and it’s insulting to imply otherwise to the audience.
Also- completely unrelated. No one see The Last Airbender. AWFUL AWFUL STUFF! The upside? I can’t wait to see the red letter media review on it!
I agree, Mike, about the "oh, let me pretend I'm not beautiful" stuff EXCEPT that teen and early twenties girls (yes, I think of them as girls) are like that. In my comp classes, the students who write the most about the power of the media to damage a woman's egos are NOT popular culture buffs like me. They are my female students who would be MOST likely to qualify for America's Top Model, etc. (and who read way more magazines that I do; I've never been a magazine reader.)
I never realized until I became this aging weird English teacher (hey, it's a persona) how transient looks are, especially from a woman's point of view.
Poor kids.
Still, the use of the "oh, I'm not pretty" stuff in Hollywood and in detective novels is annoying because although it might be "true" to how teenagers behave, many times it is bad writers trying to convince us that actors/actresses/characters don't look older than 16 and aren't fantastically gorgeous and wouldn't completely stand out in most settings.
In fact, one nice thing about Buffy is that Sarah Michelle Gellar, who is more pretty than drop-dead gorgeous, is a looker, and NOBODY pretends otherwise. Her angst isn't about being plain; her angst is about not being able to go out and flirt more. She never pretends she can't flirt her way into being prom queen (and she only loses because she and Cordelia cancel each other out).
I inserted a link in the comment above to one of my posts. The post, however, is kind of old. In the interest of keeping conversations up-to-date, here are the relevant passages from that post:
Give me an indifferent heroine or a heroine who knows her attractions and flaunts them over a heroine who isn't into her appearance but happens to be pretty anyway and whose writer never lets you forget the fact. Give me Samantha Carter or Seven of Nine or Teyla (all completely unapologetic gorgeous women). I'll take Captain Janeway, who is largely indifferent to her appearance (except her hair), or any of the doctors from House. Give me Scully, who is so wonderful to watch, being so fastidious in her dress and so consumed with her personal interests (and Mulder). Give me Buffy who worries about her appearance but doesn't try to tuck it away!
Spare me the heroine who will say she isn't pretty but has plenty of supporting cast characters to show/tell her exactly how sexy they think she is.
Later in the post:
I considered the modern, female version of the devouring gaze (the man can't take his eyes off the woman) creepy. I would applaud a heroine who either ignored her appearance ("If they get all hot and bothered, that's their problem.") or a heroine who flaunted her stuff ("I've got a nice body; get over it!")
What I find creepy is the way the heroine maintains an ingenue innocence (she never actually engages with the impact of her appearance--it's all happening to somebody else) while the reader (viewer) is constantly reminded that she is desired by many somebodies and usually, moreover, many handsome somebodies.
It's this weird, creepy Victorianism where the writers want us to believe their characters are above all that shallow physical appearance stuff while constantly harking on the subject. Earthy British humor about bodily functions is more honest and less disturbing.
FYI: the show is based on a series of YA books called Roswell High by Melinda Metz publishing in 1998. I haven't read them, but Metz and the publisher clearly exploited this thing to the max (and all power to them.)
Disclaimer: We own the DVDs and I have seen the entire series at least three times, including the original TV run. My wife and kids have probably watched it through five times. As a result, watching the pilot is like visiting old friends and it's hard to watch objectively.
I do recall seeing it for the first time eleven years ago and being impressed enough to keep watching. I also recall finding that the story arc moved fairly slow. As the series went on, they progression got muddled and they ran into the BIG problem with the general youth in peril genre--the characters spent more time emoting and worrying about trivia than in preparing for the big, bad uglies out there. As a result, you'll have one episode where they confront a corrupt FBI agent and the next episode is about Snapple (conflating a little here, but the Snapple episodes were funny.)
Buffy did the same thing, especially in the last season. (This is one thing Angel largely avoided due to the setup.) This is also a big problem with Harry Potter--he's being groomed to fight EVIL, but sure doesn't act like it. Contrary to the stereotype, young people DO rise to the challenge in things like this (arguably to an alarming degree if not kept under control.)
When we get done watching Angel (My 14 year old daughter being the main driver of that) I'll watch the Roswell pilot again (and then get back to watching Highlander.)
Daughter #2 is on other computer so am watching Roswell Pilot right now.
I found that the first half hour was well constructed. One thing did become apparent: in the original script, the characters were supposed to be seniors.
The last twenty minutes are a bit muddled, but that's due to a complex con the kids are pulling to divert Sheriff Valenti's focus.
I strongly suspect that original script was for a mini-series. When this was turned into a full series, the producers had to rewrite a new ending to extend the story arc. This also explains why the story drags in the first season. (It also explains why the show jumps around a little--they weren't sure where they were going with the whole thing AND whether it would be picked up.)
As for the teenage angst; I thought they pulled it off pretty well. It's up there with the first season of Buffy. Though with both, they extended high school way too long (and, like Buffy and most TV shows, they lost the high school angst thing way before graduation like most TV shows.)
RE: Liz's being surprised at being seen as beautiful.
I thought this quite realistic. I had a very good friend in High School who was truly beautiful but emphatically denied it and she wasn't being demure--she really did see herself as being very plain.
Moreover, the choice of words was important. Liz states that Max found her beautiful, not simply attractive, cute, pretty or good looking. Few women, especially teenage girls, see themselves as beautiful and those that do are usually (always?) narcissists (and quite a few of those aren't beautiful at all, or even pretty.)
I strongly suspect that original script was for a mini-series. When this was turned into a full series, the producers had to rewrite a new ending to extend the story arc. This also explains why the story drags in the first season.
This would explain my impression that the pilot presents more information than is typical for a pilot. On the one hand, I liked it--one annoying thing about Smallville was how NOTHING happened in the pilot except Lana whining to Clark about whatever. On the other hand, my thought at the end of the Roswell pilot was, "Where on earth (or the universe) is this going to go now?"
I got the impression from Wikipedia (which can be helpful but not always; some people really don't know how to write plot summaries) that the show was more soap opera than Snapple episodes. And, based on the pilot, this seemed kind of inevitable. The premise of both Buffy and X-Files is that there are lots of weird things out there/let's investigate them all individually! The premise of Roswell seems to be the alien kids' quest. Which is very interesting (I thought the part where the alien kids are watching the saucer crash and everyone else is cheering but they are sad to be quite evocative), but it narrows the field a bit--although the kids do have powers, so that's one possibility for individual episodes.
Has anyone ever mooted the possibility of a movie? I could totally see a movie based on the show's premise (and it would be way more interesting than Twilight; I'm a big fan of vampires, but aliens do allow for more plot complications, and I've never watched and have no desire to watch True Blood).
The series ends up being a generally well done teenage episodic soap opera. The alien aspect (and keeping things in episodes) keeps it much more focused than your general 92010-style soap opera.
One thing I like about it is that the characters are well defined and progress and grow in a reasonably logical fashion. Yes, it can get sentimental, but it generally works. Above all, they avoid the kumbaya syndrome (something which I detest about the later Star Treks to the point where I can't watch them.
To be clear; people can become friends and/or friendly, but there is a difference between that and being chums. Red Dwarf and Dead Like Me are excellent examples of doing balancing act right. And while I like House, I think it too often goes in the opposite direction.)
ok, so believe it or not- I don't know what a "snapple episode" is. I assume it's a stand alone episode by your context, but I'm not sure I understand how that term came to be used.
Also- I guess you're right, the whole idea of teen girls not feeling they're beautiful is normal, but I fel liz was pushing it, especially in the cafe right before she was shot... hey wait! God smote her for the Lie! there is justice in television!
Anyway, i did like it for the most part- I must not be to hard to please, as I've stuck with smallville THIS long.... stupid piece of crap show!
Oh, that's from Joe's post: As a result, you'll have one episode where they confront a corrupt FBI agent and the next episode is about Snapple . . . but the Snapple episodes were funny.
I think it should become a trend: "Oh, yeah, that was a Snapple episode" or "They had three Snapple episodes in a row before they had a two-parter."
Ah, trying to improve popular culture references a comment at a time!
The Snapple episode was about Snapple, the drink. It was a funny episode that led to something quite dramatic. In actuality, it was probably blatant product placement handled in a humorous manner.
There should be some slang to describe episodes that fall outside the general story arc and are usually against "type." (i.e a comedic episode when something dark has been happening on the show.)
These episodes aren't always bad, but cause a break in a building climax--"we're preparing for battle, we're about to fight, oh, isn't beach nice, we fight." The worse examples are episodes that can be chucked without being missed when watching the shows end-to-end.
Quite often, these episodes are holiday episodes (which I generally loathe, especially Christmas episodes where the writers tend to get quite sappy) and/or feature secondary characters.
Ironically, Roswell kept most, if not all, of these episodes within the story arc (they have a spoof of Bewitched/My Favorite Martian which is delightful) but a few are still rather jarring. Buffy and Angel are the same. (Buffy made the further error of overly featuring secondary characters in entire episodes, something that really detracts from the last two seasons.)
FYI, I gave up on Smallville the moment Clark Kent hesitated about Lana Lang throwing herself at him.
Even if Kristin Kreuk was completely nuts, only someone more insane would go all angsty if she threw herself at them.
And talk about incredibly good looking people acting demure. Good heavens.
(Forbidden, angsty, teenage love is one thing. Buffy and Roswell do that. Two people who WANT to be with each other with no oppositing from anyone acting all hesitant and angsty is unbearable.)
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