Normal People [BBC - RTE] - [**SPOILERS**]

JP Liz V1

Larbre34 wrote: »

The two leads were on Graham Norton tonight, albeit over skype, what a charming pair.
As Daisy herself, she reminds me of a cross between Audrey Hepburn and Anne Hathaway, and maybe in time better than both. She has it within her to eclipse the talents of her time, Saoirse Ronan, Keira Knightly, Florence Pugh, early Kate Winslet. Watch this space.

On Graham, she did come across like Keira

It's the most viewed show on the BBC player

Strazdas

Everything Italian wrote: »

FWIW, I had exactly the same sensations after reading the book, that was a little less after finishing the TV show. It took 2 weeks before it stopped occupying my thoughts when times were quiet. It upset me to the point I regretted reading it at one level. In retrospect, that sense passed quickly. Good novels do this...

I think there are a few reasons for this but in hindsight, I think it was mostly because of the 'odd' background of Marianne's character and her subsequent behaviour that engendered high levels of sympathy, empathy and pity. It's important to remember that it is just a work of fiction, but one that the author has been able to really work into the readers consciousness.

I can only explain that the sense of regret passes in time as you realise that it is a pretty dysfunctional relationship of its time, in a specific time in the lives of the two characters, and actually not that relatable if you are outside that segment.

That's how I rationalised it anyway but it did make me rethink my own relationship and examine some things that have 'slipped' in it over the years, and that I will work to put right, so good to have read it in the end

It's interesting, I'm getting a lot of this type of self reflection myself watching the series (haven't read the book) and thinking back over missed opportunities in my past etc.

I'm taking positives from it though too. I like Connell and Marianne's intense passion and burning desire and their sense that love is more important than just about anything else in their life. If you're going to do relationships, you may as well do it properly and not in a half hearted way.

Hrududu

olestoepoke wrote: »

Is it not better to read a book or watch a show and feel something, be it good or bad? 90% of whats on tv is garbage and the equivalent to junk food for your brain. I'd rather watch a show that made me think about my past , stir up the regrets I have than fake ****e like love island and the likes.

I agree. The episode where he calls her after the debs I thought "Oh this show is going to be rough." But I don't see that as a bad thing. It's not often I find myself watching stuff where I have such a reaction.

JP Liz V1

Does this whole series cover the book or is there more material for a second series, follow up book?

olestoepoke

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Does this whole series cover the book or is there more material for a second series, follow up book?

No second series as of yet and no follow on book. The series covers the book from start to finish but does leave a lot of details out. The director was asked about second series and he said maybe in 10 years time but nothing planned. Not sure it needs a second series as it might ruin it. That said, the show is a runaway success and usually when that happens and there's money to be made two things happen. A second series and a god awful American adaptation that ruins it altogether.

interlocked

I had watched the first four episodes on RTE and last Sat week I did a bit of a binge watch on Youtube and watched 5-9, it was like a bolt hitting me between the eyes, the next two days i was seriously, seriously discomfited, since then I've been re evaluating things I've done over the last twenty years and changing things I've been doing up to now. Mentally all over the place.

Why?

I think lots of us see the younger us in those characters, we see our inexperience, our mistakes, our naivety. We're looking at them and roaring, "no no, say it, don't walk away", their inability to communicate or articulate their feelings puts them through so much avoidable anguish. It's only with hindsight that you can see those mistakes and you don't have a lot of it at that age. That is making us reassess our own choices and our own cock ups at that age and look at the consequences.

I agonised over watching the remainder and I'm glad I did for the last few episodes were a bit more breathable but the finish is more of the above.

[For God's sake a year apart is nothing in the context of a lifetime, if you cant face it, go with him or stay with her. But again we're looking from a longer perspective. Why the hell cant they just agree to be loyal to each other for 12 months, though

Back in 1988, I got a place in Trinity, it was either History or English, cant remember now, anyway I couldn't get a grant and that was that, three months later I was pulling pints in London, it took me another two years to get into college in the UK.
Looking at Trinity in the series,maybe it was for the best!, but would I have been able to handle a relationship like Marianne at that age?, almost certainly not, that's why it resonates.

BTW, Daisy Edgar Jones is mesmerising, it's astonishing that she's only 21 with that level of talent, the worlds her oyster.

Sardonicat

WRONG THREAD

kowloon

interlocked wrote: »

the next two days i was seriously, seriously discomfited, since then I've been re evaluating things I've done over the last twenty years and changing things I've been doing up to now. Mentally all over the place.

Same

BTW, Daisy Edgar Jones is mesmerising, it's astonishing that she's only 21 with that level of talent, the worlds her oyster.

People have been really critical of the guy who plays Connel, I think it's pretty unfair. He's captured the introversion so perfectly and he acted the **** out of the counsellor's office scene.

lainey_d_123

interlocked wrote: »

I had watched the first four episodes on RTE and last Sat week I did a bit of a binge watch on Youtube and watched 5-9, it was like a bolt hitting me between the eyes, the next two days i was seriously, seriously discomfited, since then I've been re evaluating things I've done over the last twenty years and changing things I've been doing up to now. Mentally all over the place.

Why?

I think lots of us see the younger us in those characters, we see our inexperience, our mistakes, our naivety. We're looking at them and roaring, "no no, say it, don't walk away", their inability to communicate or articulate their feelings puts them through so much avoidable anguish. It's only with hindsight that you can see those mistakes and you don't have a lot of it at that age. That is making us reassess our own choices and our own cock ups at that age and look at the consequences.

I agonised over watching the remainder and I'm glad I did for the last few episodes were a bit more breathable but the finish is more of the above.

[For God's sake a year apart is nothing in the context of a lifetime, if you cant face it, go with him or stay with her. But again we're looking from a longer perspective. Why the hell cant they just agree to be loyal to each other for 12 months, though

Back in 1988, I got a place in Trinity, it was either History or English, cant remember now, anyway I couldn't get a grant and that was that, three months later I was pulling pints in London, it took me another two years to get into college in the UK.
Looking at Trinity in the series,maybe it was for the best!, but would I have been able to handle a relationship like Marianne at that age?, almost certainly not, that's why it resonates.

BTW, Daisy Edgar Jones is mesmerising, it's astonishing that she's only 21 with that level of talent, the worlds her oyster.

I had a similar decision to make at 23,

when my boyfriend was going overseas for a year. I could have gone with him and been together, done my own thing and followed my own dreams and done long distance with him, or broken up. We chose to stay together and do long distance, with me moving to another European country, but now in hindsight I actually wish we'd just broken up. At that age I should have been out having fun and meeting different people and dating around a bit, not racing home after work to Skype my boyfriend. Not saying I didn't still go out and have fun, but it definitely limited my experiences and felt like a safety net. Anytime I struggled to go outside my comfort zone, I could sit in my bedroom talking to my boyfriend instead of forcing myself to go out and do things I found hard. We did stay together after that, but broke up when I was 29, so I sort of felt like I'd wasted all my twenties on a failed relationship. I very much feel like I missed out on important growth on my own. I actually think it's probably the right decision for Marianne to let Connell go. If it's meant to be, they'll find each other again.

4Ad

Episode 7, I've given up..

Beechwoodspark

4Ad wrote: »

Episode 7, I've given up..

It’s woeful tripe

Muahahaha

Just watching at RTE pace and have a few questions for the book readers-

-Why is Connell still very stand offish with Marianne even in college, never holding hands or sitting beside her, etc. I feel the program just shows this without explaining why it is that way. Is he still embarrassed by her or something
-Does the book deal with why he was the GAA star in school but in Trinity he doesnt play GAA at all? Seems a bit of a plot hole as usually those who excel at sport in school head straight for the uni teams when they start college and make friends that way

Wombatman

SusieBlue wrote: »

It made me realise how I took things so personally when I was younger, and how self centred I was when I was rationalising situations where I had been wronged.

Like when lads would be emotionally unavailable or maybe inconsistent about what they wanted with me at the beginning, my automatic response was to assume they were being intentionally nasty & had no respect for me, and that they were messing with my head for fun...
When in reality it was probably more to do with them having issues in their own lives, and trying to get through things going on in their own heads that were absolutely nothing to do with me.
Some basic communication would have cleared it all up, but the lads didn’t want to appear weak & overshare, and I didn’t want to seem needy.
So I just assumed they were assh*les & they probably assumed I was a psycho and we never understood where the other was coming from.

Obviously there were some instances where lads did mess me around, but when I think back to times where I dithered over whether I was interested in someone, it was always to do with things going on in my own life and what I wanted, and never to do with the value or worth of the person in question, and that’s what made me realise it worked both ways.

A lot of that is to do with being young and I’ve definitely (mostly) grown out of taking things so personally in that regard, but I did feel some regrets coming back during those parts of the story.

Nice to hear you've got the dynamics of interpersonal relationships all figured out now anyway

kowloon

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just watching at RTE pace and have a few questions for the book readers-

-Why is Connell still very stand offish with Marianne even in college, never holding hands or sitting beside her, etc. I feel the program just shows this without explaining why it is that way. Is he still embarrassed by her or something

Public display of affection could be difficult for him? The introvert/top player mix strikes me as odd, but only because I haven't encountered it in real life. All the sporty students I knew were pretty loud and outgoing.

Beechwoodspark

kowloon wrote: »

Public display of affection could be difficult for him? The introvert/top player mix strikes me as odd, but only because I haven't encountered it in real life. All the sporty students I knew were pretty loud and outgoing.

Agree. Yet another small detail that doesn’t have the ring of truth/authenticity to it, to add to the list.

Everything Italian

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just watching at RTE pace and have a few questions for the book readers-

-Why is Connell still very stand offish with Marianne even in college, never holding hands or sitting beside her, etc. I feel the program just shows this without explaining why it is that way. Is he still embarrassed by her or something
-Does the book deal with why he was the GAA star in school but in Trinity he doesnt play GAA at all? Seems a bit of a plot hole as usually those who excel at sport in school head straight for the uni teams when they start college and make friends that way

They're fcuk-buddies, not a b/f - g/f 'couple', certainly not in the early years of college. The book doesn't have 'chapters' per-se, but separates each section in chronological bites, 3-6 months apart. In those intervening periods, you can choose to assume that they are together, but I think it is a case that they are not at all.

In the book, he plays soccer. The entire GAA thing is a TV construct to fit a narrative. Some guys/gals just leave a lot of their old selves behind when they head off to college

MoonUnit75

kowloon wrote: »

Public display of affection could be difficult for him? The introvert/top player mix strikes me as odd, but only because I haven't encountered it in real life. All the sporty students I knew were pretty loud and outgoing.

I wouldn’t think so, he didn’t mind it at all with Helen and the drunk girl.

Muahahaha

Everything Italian wrote: »

They're fcuk-buddies, not a b/f - g/f 'couple', certainly not in the early years of college. The book doesn't have 'chapters' per-se, but separates each section in chronological bites, 3-6 months apart. In those intervening periods, you can choose to assume that they are together, but I think it is a case that they are not at all.

In the book, he plays soccer. The entire GAA thing is a TV construct to fit a narrative. Some guys/gals just leave a lot of their old selves behind when they head off to college

But are they just fcuk buddies, hasnt he said he loves her a few times in the program?

The sports thing is a bit strange to me when they're portraying him as not feeling he can relate to those around Marianne in college, like he hasnt found his own group of friends which he would on a sports team. Just seems a bit of a plot hole to me, anyone I knew in university who was on the rugby/GAA teams were already top players at school and naturally kept playing in college.

Purple Mountain

Muahahaha wrote: »

But are they just fcuk buddies, hasnt he said he loves her a few times in the program?

The sports thing is a bit strange to me when they're portraying him as not feeling he can relate to those around Marianne in college, like he hasnt found his own group of friends which he would on a sports team. Just seems a bit of a plot hole to me, anyone I knew in university who was on the rugby/GAA teams were already top players at school and naturally kept playing in college.

I doubt Trinity has a GAA team

ETA.. Have to eat my words, see they have a GAA pitch out in the suburbs for hurling and football.
I thought it'd be more rugby oriented.

Hamachi

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just watching at RTE pace and have a few questions for the book readers-


-Does the book deal with why he was the GAA star in school but in Trinity he doesnt play GAA at all? Seems a bit of a plot hole as usually those who excel at sport in school head straight for the uni teams when they start college and make friends that way

I’ve read the book. It doesn’t offer any explanation as to why Connell doesn’t get involved with the GAA club in college. I recall thinking at the time that this was a pretty glaring weakness in the plot. As you say, typically the first port of call in college for guys like Connell is the GAA scene.

However, thinking about this afterwards, there may be a number of reasons why he eschewed sports clubs in college. Those that spring to mind are:

- Too busy with studying and part time jobs to find time for sport.
- GAA club in college would likely attract similar personalities to the guys he hung around with at home. Some people use college as an environment to re-invent themselves and start interacting with different kinds of people.

My 2 cents..

MoonUnit75

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just watching at RTE pace and have a few questions for the book readers-

-Why is Connell still very stand offish with Marianne even in college, never holding hands or sitting beside her, etc. I feel the program just shows this without explaining why it is that way. Is he still embarrassed by her or something
-Does the book deal with why he was the GAA star in school but in Trinity he doesnt play GAA at all? Seems a bit of a plot hole as usually those who excel at sport in school head straight for the uni teams when they start college and make friends that way

I think it’s partly due to writing male characters from an ideological stance. The actual interests and motivations of the male characters are all pretty much irrelevant. The only defining characteristic the male characters in general achieve in this series is how they treat or relate to girls/women or the ‘patriarchal structure of society’.

collegegirl21

Is the book called normal people too, been watching it and never knew it was based on a book.

MoonUnit75

collegegirl21 wrote: »

Is the book called normal people too, been watching it and never knew it was based on a book.

Yes, I’ve started it and it actually has, at the start anyway, far more charm and character than the music video series.

artvanderlay

I watch it as a comedy, and I'm enjoying it as a result. It's completely terrible otherwise. It's totally humourless (because, you know, young Irish people never laugh or have fun), and it romantises the Trinity/university experience and the living in **** accommodation experience. I went to Trinity and lived in **** accommodation while there: both experiences were crap, and I can see through a lot of that bollocks now, but this show is like an ad for this experience. :pac: None of the characters are likeable, so I hope they all die in the end!

Airyfairy12

This has probably been asked a million times but does anyone know where I can watch this? Ive only seen that its on the RTE player but I dont have the patience for that. Their videos take so long to load, there are too many adds which all seem to play perfectly yet the show will pause, skip and freeze continously.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks.

Hamachi

artvanderlay wrote: »

I watch it as a comedy, and I'm enjoying it as a result. It's completely terrible otherwise. It's totally humourless (because, you know, young Irish people never laugh or have fun), and it romantises the Trinity/university experience and the living in **** accommodation experience. I went to Trinity and lived in **** accommodation while there: both experiences were crap, and I can see through a lot of that bollocks now, but this show is like an ad for this experience. :pac: None of the characters are likeable, so I hope they all die in the end!

Why don’t you tell us how you really feel :-).

You do have a point though. Both the book and the series are a little devoid of humor. None of my friends nor I had deep, tumultuous relationships at that age.

I also agree with you on romanticizing the college experience. For many people, college isn’t this amazing, life altering experience where you meet friends for life. I know a lot of people who found it mediocre at best and who felt their life only really started motoring when they began earning decent money post-college.

Having said that, I do think the TV series is excellent and the caliber of the acting is superb. It eclipses the book in my view.

interlocked

Airyfairy12 wrote: »

This has probably been asked a million times but does anyone know where I can watch this? Ive only seen that its on the RTE player but I dont have the patience for that. Their videos take so long to load, there are too many adds which all seem to play perfectly yet the show will pause, skip and freeze continously.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks.

It's on Youtube

Airyfairy12

interlocked wrote: »

It's on Youtube

Full episodes?

Muahahaha

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I doubt Trinity has a GAA team

ETA.. Have to eat my words, see they have a GAA pitch out in the suburbs for hurling and football.
I thought it'd be more rugby oriented.

Yeah Trinitys GAA pitches were in Santry but I think they're in Drimnagh now. Rugby is the main sport there but still the Trinity GAA team would still be competitive with lads who have only ever played GAA and end up going to college there so sign right up from first year. DCU would be the main GAA playing university though, lots of lads going through there are playing for their county teams or trying to break into them while at college.

Muahahaha

artvanderlay wrote: »

I watch it as a comedy, and I'm enjoying it as a result. It's completely terrible otherwise. It's totally humourless (because, you know, young Irish people never laugh or have fun), and it romantises the Trinity/university experience and the living in **** accommodation experience. I went to Trinity and lived in **** accommodation while there: both experiences were crap, and I can see through a lot of that bollocks now, but this show is like an ad for this experience. :pac: None of the characters are likeable, so I hope they all die in the end!

Were you living in on campus accommodation? Id the opposite experience there, it was luxurious as far as student accommodation goes. In fact they couldnt get us out of there quick enough after exams so they could rent out our bedrooms to tourists for the summer.