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

Purple Mountain

Mick McGraw wrote: »

I'm currently reading the book only about 40 pages in but why is there such an obsession in the media about the sex scenes in this show it's 2020 is there really anything that could be shown these days that could be consider shocking and worthy of having so much talk about.It seems bizarre there's so much talk about them. Honestly unless there's a donkey involved some of the sex scene scenes in the book I'm going to be severely disappointed.

I don't think I'll be spoiling anything for you by telling you there are no sex scenes with a donkey!

AndrewJRenko

I landed on Bachelor's Walk while channel hopping last night, to see a young wan in her Loreto Stephen's Green school uniform strip off and hop into bed with one of the lads to do the deed. I wonder will Liveline today be hopping with complaints about that?

wakka12

gmisk wrote: »

The reaction to the really normal sex scenes from some people has been bizarre imo. But I think it's from a certain age and demographic (not to mention religious angle).
It's clear these people haven't seen a lot of recent US shows like say....Euphoria....I am not sure where I would even start with that show!

Yeh I have to say I didnt think older people were still that sexually conservative.
Sex education also springs to mind as another popular one with young adults right now..Normal people is positively vanialla compared to that

Tork

gmisk wrote: »

The reaction to the really normal sex scenes from some people has been bizarre imo. But I think it's from a certain age and demographic (not to mention religious angle).

I very much agree with this. The sex scenes are on a par with what many of us have seen on foreign TV shows. I can't believe they sat down to watch Normal People, unaware that it was going have nudey bits in it though. I think they wanted to be offended and to ring Joe. They're probably the sort of people who would never subscribe to Netflix or watch anything more exotic than Coronation Street. And there's definitely Old Ireland conservatism at play here. Given half a chance, they'd have shipped Marianne off to the nearest Magdalene Laundry.

I don't think the sex scenes or the story itself will have shocked anybody under the age of 50. By now, you're into the demographic of people who aren't of the "wait until you get married" persuasion and will have slept around more. Especially once it got easier to access contraception and attitudes became more liberal. It's possible that the story being so recognisably Irish made the Joe Duffy callers start to wonder (uncomfortably) what their grand kids are up to. Little do they know, the grand kids have been watching actual porn on their phones since they were 11. I'd rather that youngsters watched the sex in Normal People at a youngish age, perhaps in class and discussed it there. I thought it gave a better impression of sex than what we've seen in other Irish TV shows. You can get laid without getting pregnant or becoming known as the village bicycle. It's not shameful for a woman to have more than one lover in her life. I thought any time Connell had sex with Marianne was realistic and relatable. He was always respectful towards her and listened to her. I'm sure a few women watching wished they'd lost their virginity to someone as considerate as Connell. Compare that to the videos anyone can watch on their smartphones right now. Once people move away from the vanilla stuff with the screaming women brought to orgasm within about 30 seconds by a man with an improbably large cock. there's some rough stuff out there.

AMKC

There show is just teenage gibberish. It would have been a flop except for the fact we are all it lockdown and all the other rubbish soup shows have curtailed there episodes to one or two a week so people who like that rubbish are looking for something else to watch and are now watching this. He is your typical horny teenager who only has one thing on his mind. Oh and look he has a car too. How the hell does he afford to pay for that and be in school at that age the insurance, tax, maintenance exctra? There was only one person in my year who had a car and it was an ancient 80s Fiesta and that was before the 00s.
She is just a very submissive girl that seems to know how to get the shy horny guy into bed.

wakka12

AMKC wrote: »

There show is just teenage gibberish. It would have been a flop except for the fact we are all it lockdown and all the other rubbish soup shows have curtailed there episodes to one or two a week so people who like that rubbish are looking for something else to watch and are now watching this. He is your typical horny teenager who only has one thing on his mind. Oh and look he has a car too. How the hell does he afford to pay for that and be in school at that age the insurance, tax, maintenance exctra? There was only one person in my year who had a car and it was an ancient 80s Fiesta and that was before the 00s.
She is just a very submissive girl that seems to know how to get the shy horny guy into bed.

The book was very popular before lockdown,so I dont agree. The guy is quite a deep character, it comes across more so in the book as your hear his inner thoughts , he's so perceptive and thoughtful but so emotionally restricted by peer pressure and fear of judgement. Marianne is one of the few people who recognise that and it is what makes their bond so strong, she is also one of the people hurt most by that inner struggle. Such a big issue for a lot of irish guys

Mr.Nice Guy

The Ken Russell TV series Lady Chatterley, with Sean Bean and Joely Richardson, was much more raunchy and risque than this show, and that was shown on the BBC over 25 years ago. It baffles me how even an older demographic could be bothered about what they've seen on this programme. If you're in your seventies today, then you would have been in your forties when that was shown. Maybe people just naturally become prudes as they get older.

Fred Cryton

Forced to watch it by the wife. Curious, what exactly is so wrong with Marianne that everyone avoids her like the plague? Is she special needs? His mother called her "vulnerable". Huh? What am i watching here.

bigpink

If its Irish and written by a female it has to be fawned over

gp1990

There was quite a few with cars in my year by leaving cert - 2008. And that was with the majority of the year being 17 doing the LC as we had no TY in my school. Many more got cars for college when they turned 18. I played minor for about 4 years with the club and every year you would have about 10 in the panel rocking up to training in a car

I went to a rural school though, would expect far less in city schools to be driving, public transport is much more accessible so there's less incentive to learn early, and not all too many avenues to learn outside of formal lessons - anyone that grows up on a farm will be driving in fields by 12 or 13 for example.

How does he afford it? How does Patsy down the road who never worked a day in his life afford pints all day in the pub. How does that college friend who only works on saturdays in a small cafe afford to go on three overseas holidays a year. Some people can be very shrewd with savings - he probably worked all the previous 2 summers and between birthday presents, inheritances, communion money they all add up!

amusicalfrog

bigpink wrote: »

If its Irish and written by a female it has to be fawned over

Have you watched the show or read the book? Or are you just being entirely uncritically angry for the sake of being angry

Seamai

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I landed on Bachelor's Walk while channel hopping last night, to see a young wan in her Loreto Stephen's Green school uniform strip off and hop into bed with one of the lads to do the deed. I wonder will Liveline today be hopping with complaints about that?

Never saw BW first time around but watching it now, considering the male character is supposed to be at least 10 years older than the school girl I find it a bit pervy but it's not particularly explicit.

gp1990

Seamai wrote: »

Never saw BW first time around but watching it now, considering the male character is supposed to be at least 10 years older than the school girl I find it a bit pervy but it's not particularly explicit.

Think the relationship is just there to highlight Barry's childishness and immaturity - he's just oblivious to any social norms and so on - and its perceived in a light hearted way

I don't think they'd include it if the show was made today though

Captainsatnav

Are certain scenes a breach of Section 5 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998? I have no problem with the show at all, I actually think it's great so far. As a solicitor though I did have a genuine question in relation to this. Even if the actors are over 18, if they are being depicted as children and are shown as being "...engaged in explicit sexual activity" then is there questions around he Act being breached? Especially concerning the 'topless' shots...

BoroMan32

I'll keep going with this, but honestly the first three episodes have largely been a bore.

Tork

Was it ever stated in the programme what age the two characters are? What year did they sit the Leaving Cert? I ask because most youngsters are now 18 or 19 by the time they sit the Leaving. Most kids now start at 5 and many of them do transition year.

wakka12

Theyre not necessarily depicted as 'children'. Most or at least many 6th years are 18 years old

bigpink

amusicalfrog wrote: »

Have you watched the show or read the book? Or are you just being entirely uncritically angry for the sake of being angry

Nope but i will give them a go but i was just thinking back of a few Irish shows the last few years that were fawned over

Captainsatnav

Tork wrote: »

Was it ever stated in the programme what age the two characters are? What year did they sit the Leaving Cert? I ask because most youngsters are now 18 or 19 by the time they sit the Leaving. Most kids now start at 5 and many of them do transition year.

Yea, valid point - I'm only posing a general point here. Up to the DPP to take it any further

Tork

I presume that's a comment made in jest?

bcklschaps

Connell (Paul Mescal) looks old enough to be dating the character that plays his mom in the series. How come he is soo old/she is soo young?.

Its like watching American high school dramas like Beverly Hills 90210 .... Where Jason Priestly and Luke Perry were clearly over 30 ...but were still in high school.

Tork

Didn't she refer to him as her "teenage mistake"? That puts her into her mid to late thirties over the timeline of the programme, matching the age of Sarah Greene.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Tork wrote: »

Didn't she refer to him as her "teenage mistake"? That puts her into her mid to late thirties over the timeline of the programme, matching the age of Sarah Greene.

Shes 35 in the book

Andrew00

All young lads have in their mind is getting their micky sucked behind the bins at school

That's all this show is. Tripe

sheroman01

To everyone that is getting hung up on Connell looking so old in school; the show moves on from school life after a few episodes.

There is A LOT more to the show than the first 2/3 episodes. Each episode is only around 25 minutes, so stick with it for a few more and then make your decision. I'll admit I was frustrated by some parts of the beginning, but I ended up loving the show and getting very attached to the characters and their lives.

JP Liz V1

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

The Ken Russell TV series Lady Chatterley, with Sean Bean and Joely Richardson, was much more raunchy and risque than this show, and that was shown on the BBC over 25 years ago. It baffles me how even an older demographic could be bothered about what they've seen on this programme. If you're in your seventies today, then you would have been in your forties when that was shown. Maybe people just naturally become prudes as they get older.

I think the fact it on RTE in a prime time slot could be why the complaints of the nudity and sex scenes, sure no such thing as bad publicity, I think the stars are on Graham Norton this week

bcklschaps

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Shes 35 in the book

We are presuming Connell is 17 or 18 in the first few episodes based in the school....which means mommy must have engaged in a bit of underage Mc Lovin

gp1990

She had him at 17, its not exactly unheard of now is it

Foweva Awone

Captainsatnav wrote: »

Are certain scenes a breach of Section 5 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998? I have no problem with the show at all, I actually think it's great so far. As a solicitor though I did have a genuine question in relation to this. Even if the actors are over 18, if they are being depicted as children and are shown as being "...engaged in explicit sexual activity" then is there questions around he Act being breached? Especially concerning the 'topless' shots...

Actually I think that's what's making me uncomfortable, I couldn't quite put my finger on it until now. She's meant to be a teenager, and in those scenes in episode 2, OK the actress is a grown adult, but her body really does look like a developing teenager's.

I hope that doesn't come across as body-shaming - there's not a thing wrong with her body. But I do think you have a valid point there.

wakka12

Theyre 21 and 24 and look every year of it both of them, wouldn't believe either was under 18. The boy especially looks closer to 30 and 18