tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post7695082893567011961..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: The JourneyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-31049964075416577442013-10-15T12:03:31.139-05:002013-10-15T12:03:31.139-05:00I think people are overlooking the fact that addre...I think people are overlooking the fact that addressing weighty issues, whether social or human, external or internal, is what makes for a good story; these are the things that create the strongest, most griping conflicts, and story, as we all know, is conflict.<br /><br />Leaving the crime genre for a moment I'll go all epic on you: The backbone of The Lord of the Rings, a tale most will agree is a great story, is the very social issue of little people standing up to and overcoming not only a power infinitely greater than them, but the automatic tendency of the larger world to dismiss them as insignificant.<br /><br />Tom Piccirilli's work revolves around identity, a fact he's acknowledged more than once; what weightier social issue is there than that?<br /><br />The two are inseparable, in my opinion; tales people think of as "just a good story" stand upon a more subtle soapbox, is all.Shaun Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12523805640038607073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-13496295779310129882013-10-15T11:24:04.962-05:002013-10-15T11:24:04.962-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Shaun Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12523805640038607073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-15592615290308782682013-10-15T08:46:01.097-05:002013-10-15T08:46:01.097-05:00In some ways the grand arc struggle of Tony and Do...In some ways the grand arc struggle of Tony and Don Draper are similar, I think - both men live a life they often feel isn't really 'them.' In Don's case, of course, it's literal as 'Don Draper' is a character Dick Whitman created. In Tony's case I always liked the scene after he'd bled the sports store owner dry and then Meadow didn't want the car he'd taken as payment - Tony is outraged because he's a "businessman" who takes care of his family and the sports store owner is a drunk and gambler and yet he's the one who gets 'respect' in the community.<br /><br />Meth is just evil.<br />John McFetridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442198820998606682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-72910139131175948642013-10-15T08:35:01.000-05:002013-10-15T08:35:01.000-05:00I can only comment on THE SOPRANOS. (The Beloved S...I can only comment on THE SOPRANOS. (The Beloved Spouse and I have allowed the rest of you to vet BREAKING BAD for us and will begin watching it soon. Thank you.) I never saw Tony as having much of a struggle. He was what he was, a sociopath, who had good qualities (he loved his children, and was loyal to his friends/crew). The struggle that interested me most was the struggle inside me, watching Tony's responses to things, thinking how much easier life would be if some of those solutions were open to me. How many of us have fantasized about the justice due a child molester; Tony was actually able to do something about it. That what he did came short of what he might have liked to do showed, to me, more of a confidence in own power than an internal struggle. I found myself thinking along with Tony as Tony. I remember thinking halfway trough Season 2, regarding Richie Aprile: Tony's going to have to kill this guy."<br /><br />We watched a handful of episodes of MAD MEN; couldn't get into it. As far as I got, Don Draper was just an asshole, largely because, whatever struggles he had, the stakes were trivial compared to Tony Soprano or what I've heard of Walter White.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.com