Normal People, is it realistic?

sabat

It's hard to believe this sh1te was longlisted for the Booker. Nauseatingly inane...

https://books.google.ie/books?id=x3tgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

wurzlitzer

sabat wrote: »

It's hard to believe this sh1te was longlisted for the Booker. Nauseatingly inane...

https://books.google.ie/books?id=x3tgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

I did not realise it’s was shortlisted or longlisted is that the technical term? for a booker defo going to give it a gander now might use it to increase my intellectual currency when I finally get to the pub

“ just read normal people who knew it was shortlisted for the booker how nauseating! I found it quite inane!”

What kinda of accent should I adopt?

sabat

wurzlitzer wrote: »

I did not realise it’s was shortlisted or longlisted is that the technical term? for a booker defo going to give it a gander now might use it to increase my intellectual currency when I finally get to the pub

“ just read normal people who knew it was shortlisted for the booker how nauseating! I found it quite inane!”

What kinda of accent should I adopt?

I fear that no adopted accent will disguise your inherent stupidity.

wurzlitzer

sabat wrote: »

I fear that no adopted accent will disguise your inherent stupidity.

Do you know any good accents that you could adopt for disguising arrogance maybe a blend between Carlow and Cavan would do it.

It just goes to show it’s only a book and only a show and yet it manages to relate to some people yet others find it unrelatable and that’s fine

I will go forth safe in the knowledge that my adopted accent will never cloak my inherent stupidity god forbid being stupid is a defect, and I ain’t a Jesus lover but need more compassion in your life.

What does inherent mean ? Is it innate
Put inherent in a sentence

“He has inherent capacity to spout bull**** whenever an opportunity is presented by a pleb”

MoonUnit75

Season two?

Fitter, happier
More productive
Comfortable
Not drinking too much
Regular exercise at the gym, three days a week
Getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries
At ease
Eating well, no more microwave dinners and saturated fats
A patient, better driver
A safer car, baby smiling in back seat
Sleeping well, no bad dreams
No paranoia
Careful to all animals, never washing spiders down the plughole
Keep in contact with old friends, enjoy a drink now and then
Will frequently check credit at moral bank, hole in wall
Favours for favours, fond but not in love
Charity standing orders on sundays, ring-road supermarket
No killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants
Car wash, also on sundays
No longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows, nothing so ridiculously teenage
and desperate
Nothing so childish
At a better pace, slower and more calculated
No chance of escape
Now self-employed
Concerned, but powerless
An empowered and informed member of societ, pragmatism not idealism
Will not cry in public
Less chance of illness
Tires that grip in the wet, shot of baby strapped in backseat
A good memory
Still cries at a good film
Still kisses with saliva
No longer empty and frantic
Like a cat
Tied to a stick
That's driven into
Frozen winter ****, the ability to laugh at weakness
Calm, fitter, healthier and more productive
A pig in a cage on antibiotics

Quantum Erasure

wurzlitzer wrote: »

I did not realise it’s was shortlisted or longlisted is that the technical term? for a booker defo going to give it a gander now might use it to increase my intellectual currency when I finally get to the pub

“ just read normal people who knew it was shortlisted for the booker how nauseating! I found it quite inane!”

What kinda of accent should I adopt?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpbdGnJbneE

Quantum Erasure

MoonUnit75 wrote: »

Season two?

Fitter, happier
More productive
Comfortable
...

StupidLikeAFox

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Its one of the best shows Ive seen in years. For anybody who is saying Connell is wooden or soulless, its fairly clear you haven't watched until the end and seen the entire character development. The guy is an incredible actor.




You should really stick with it. The show really develops in a very subtle way and its well worth it. Some powerful acting all round and a lot more drama from about halfway through.

Okay I'll pick it up again tomorrow

auspicious

Yes seems slow and ponderous. I can do that meself.
I want crazy and exaggerated escapism. Not normality.

ongarboy

mariaalice wrote: »

In rural areas its extremely common for teens to drive and not just with the well off, maybe this is showing up an urban-rural divide, load of my nieces and nephews were driving by 18.

Originally from Kerry. We all drove in our late teens and that was back in the 90s. We'd have been working class so money was tight enough but cars (albeit bangers) were a necessity to get from A to B. We just were named drivers on our parents insurance until we got our full licences.

I think Normal People is so brilliantly realistic. I'm far more critical of Irish dramas as often I don't feel it's convincing or tries to borrow Americanisms and phrases that young Irish people simply wouldn't say but this show feels so accurate. The inarticulate communication and the repressed dialogue from Connall in particular is spot on.

Aongus Von Bismarck

MoonUnit75 wrote: »

He’s some guy though, working after school and weekends, has an active social life, drives his mother around, plays lots of sports, has a secret girlfriend and still gets enough points to do literature at Trinity.

Sounds just like my final year in secondary school to be honest, only I got enough points in the LC to study German and Business in Trinity.

That was 20 years ago.

I really enjoyed Normal People. Both the book, and the TV show. It's a piece that resonated with me, and the characters were as relevant to a man in his late 30's as they would have been to a teenage me. It's also a gorgeous show to look at.

Arghus

Read through the thread there.

I have neither watched the show or read the book.

It's about some young fella trying to buy a car is it?

SusieBlue

Arghus wrote: »

Read through the thread there.

I have neither watched the show or read the book.

It's about some young fella trying to buy a car is it?

The car is the up there as possibly the least significant and most irrelevant thing in the whole show, but some people here chose it as their hill to die on. Bizarre.

StupidLikeAFox

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Yes - she was aloof, snappy, intellectual. She had an opinion of herself an certainly wasn't a crowd pleaser or trying to fit in with anyone and didn't suffer fools. This would paint a target on her back regardless of her looks.

Beautifully summed up.

Read through the thread there.

I have neither watched the show or read the book.

It's about some young fella trying to buy a car is it?

Large tracts of the book involve him getting insurance quotes for a Fiesta he saw on DoneDeal.

Tork

Did it explain where he got his chain? Argos?

lozenges

I'm at about episode 6 (I think). Love it so far. The male lead is a phenomenal actor. The girl is pretty good as well. I find it extremely realistic as well, it really evoked pretty much exactly what school and college felt like for me.
I don't think the sex scenes are sensationalist either. Looks pretty much like normal sex to me.

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say. The Deb's stuff seemed totally believable though and he actually seems less able to communicate his feelings in college, more in keeping for a guy his age.

AllForIt

The guy could be Mario Rossenstocks' son. Is he?

ILoveYourVibes

Apparently some right wing people think its a subversion of Irish culture by the director. I think they rang joe duffy and gemma o doherty.

AllForIt

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Apparently some right wing people think its a subversion of Irish culture by the director. I think they rang joe duffy and gemma o doherty.

Would you be referring to this?

https://youtu.be/QztgQDBGm68?t=645

Beechwoodspark

I’m 90% sure some (not all) of those callers were plants on joe Duffy to stir up publicity for the show

Beechwoodspark

lozenges wrote: »

I'm at about episode 6 (I think). Love it so far. The male lead is a phenomenal actor. The girl is pretty good as well. I find it extremely realistic as well, it really evoked pretty much exactly what school and college felt like for me.
I don't think the sex scenes are sensationalist either. Looks pretty much like normal sex to me.

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say. The Deb's stuff seemed totally believable though and he actually seems less able to communicate his feelings in college, more in keeping for a guy his age.

When I saw it first - knowing nothing of the novel - his maturity and appearance made me wonder was there a plot device that he was a mid-late 20s guy pretending to be much younger. And then a twist further in the series when this was revealed to the girl that he was living a lie.

It’s a definite let down in terms of casting.

Decisions on casting should never cause such confusion with the audience.

Beechwoodspark

SusieBlue wrote: »

The car is the up there as possibly the least significant and most irrelevant thing in the whole show, but some people here chose it as their hill to die on. Bizarre.

You see that’s where you’ve picked it up wrong with the posts, with respect

Ppl are naturally pointing out the car is not realistic for this guy when we know his background - just on or slightly above poverty line, single mother who is working as a cleaner in his secret girlfriends mansion - gah ...even just typing that - such cliched tripe !

But back to the car - ppl rightly are saying it doesn’t have the ring of truth and authenticity about it. That’s all.

The things it does capture very well is the teenage feeling or more likely imagining that everyone else is normal except them and not realising that because of teenage self-absorption everyone else is wearing a mask as well.

It also captures that inarticulate speech heart of someone too young to have the skills, life experience and maturity to articulate what is happening to them.

Feisar

lozenges wrote: »

I'm at about episode 6 (I think). Love it so far. The male lead is a phenomenal actor. The girl is pretty good as well. I find it extremely realistic as well, it really evoked pretty much exactly what school and college felt like for me.
I don't think the sex scenes are sensationalist either. Looks pretty much like normal sex to me.

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say. The Deb's stuff seemed totally believable though and he actually seems less able to communicate his feelings in college, more in keeping for a guy his age.

Funny, I thought the same and I'm only hearing/seeing snippets, my wife is watching it.

SusieBlue

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

You see that’s where you’ve picked it up wrong with the posts, with respect

Ppl are naturally pointing out the car is not realistic for this guy when we know his background - just on or slightly above poverty line, single mother who is working as a cleaner in his secret girlfriends mansion - gah ...even just typing that - such cliched tripe !

But back to the car - ppl rightly are saying it doesn’t have the ring of truth and authenticity about it. That’s all.

I come from a socioeconomically disadvantaged area and a lot of the kids in my class had their own cars too, so it’s not something that strikes me as unusual.

Saving up from the weekend job, gifts of money for their 18th birthday & Christmas and a loan from the CU to pay the balance had most of them driving their own cars by after Christmas in 6th year.

It was even more common when I started college, pretty much everyone I met from the countryside had been driving for a number of years because they lived in the middle of nowhere and there was no bus service. Their parents helped them with it financially rather than spending all their time dropping them to and fro.

I get that people think it’s unrealistic because of their own experiences but to to write it off as another major plot hole when MANY people here are saying it was the norm in their circles isn’t very fair.

LeYouth

Does anyone here get off on sex and violence?

To be honest it just makes me want to vomit.

Man, HBO is the worst for these types of shows Puts me off telly.

Better Than Christ

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Ppl are naturally pointing out the car is not realistic for this guy when we know his background - just on or slightly above poverty line, single mother who is working as a cleaner in his secret girlfriends mansion - gah ...even just typing that - such cliched tripe !

It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe that (like most people in her position) she's working as a cleaner in several different houses. Maybe she doesn't know how to drive, and doesn't want to learn either. Therefore her son, who also has a part-time job, ferries her around the place, and she contributes towards the cost of running an ancient 1.2L Fiesta.

Just Be Confident Bro

Why would I watch a tv show that will just remind me I'm a loser who missed out on teen love?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

ongarboy wrote: »

Originally from Kerry. We all drove in our late teens and that was back in the 90s. We'd have been working class so money was tight enough but cars (albeit bangers) were a necessity to get from A to B. We just were named drivers on our parents insurance until we got our full licences.

I think Normal People is so brilliantly realistic. I'm far more critical of Irish dramas as often I don't feel it's convincing or tries to borrow Americanisms and phrases that young Irish people simply wouldn't say but this show feels so accurate. The inarticulate communication and the repressed dialogue from Connall in particular is spot on.

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

NSAman

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

You went to finishing school???

Was it reform school??? Or did you have a private chauffeur?

Flavour Diaper

Is there much heavy breathing in this? Herself looks fairly mountable but I don't want to go five episodes in with no pay day.

Better Than Christ

Flavour Diaper wrote: »

Is there much heavy breathing in this? Herself looks fairly mountable but I don't want to go five episodes in with no pay day.

You should definitely stick it out (for want of a better phrase) until episode five.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

NSAman wrote: »

You went to finishing school???

Was it reform school??? Or did you have a private chauffeur?

But of course. I speak like Jackie O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ZyLJvXQQo

kowloon

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Weirdly, it's not about you.

If there was a series about me it would have all the cringe of The Office or Curb Your Enthusiasm but without any plot development, character development or sexual development. I would be played by Tilda Swinton.

ILoveYourVibes

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

I’m 90% sure some (not all) of those callers were plants on joe Duffy to stir up publicity for the show

I KNEW IT!

Portmanteau

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

The one person who drove to our school in leaving cert ('90s) was like a celebrity. And it was her parents' car.

A city school though, so plenty of public transport. But as you say, your school was rural.

One eyed Jack

Portmanteau wrote: »

The one person who drove to our school in leaving cert ('90s) was like a celebrity. And it was her parents' car.

A city school though, so plenty of public transport. But as you say, your school was rural.

That’s the whole setting of the story though - a rural secondary school in 2008, post-boom, just on the cusp of the economic downturn. Ford Focus were a popular choice among both teachers and Leaving Cert students alike, and it wouldn’t have been unrealistic or unreasonable for young people to be driving decent cars then, In the 90’s before then it wasn’t unusual for students to be driving bangers (NCT only came in in 2000 or thereabouts).

Can’t help the feeling that the story is in some parts autobiographical in some ways given the authors own background -


Rooney was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, in 1991, and grew up there. Her father worked for Telecom Éireann, and her mother ran an arts centre. Rooney has an older brother and a younger sister. Rooney studied English at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), where she was elected a scholar in 2011. She started (but did not complete) a master's degree in politics there, and completed a degree in American literature instead.

Rooney was the top speaker at the European University Debating Championships in 2013. Before becoming a writer, she worked for a restaurant in an administrative role. She lives in Dublin.


It’s definitely geared towards the American market, not surprised it’s been something of a popular phenomenon here either (Celia Ahern’s career took a similar trajectory). Plenty of people can relate to the “big fish in a small pond” / “small fish in a big pond” role reversal between secondary and third level education, particularly the characters experiences, but the writing is almost as though you can smell the influences of American literature studies student off both the book and the tv series - introspective navel gazing nonsense that resonates with a similar sort of person.

AllForIt

.... introspective navel gazing nonsense that resonates with a similar sort of person.

Spot on.

fattymuatty

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

Same here. Same time frame too. I pointed out the car thing to my husband when we were watching it because it didn't seem realistic to me. Leaving Certs having their own cars didn't happen where I grew up.

We both thought the whole show was pretty wooden. I didn't feel the chemistry between them at all. I watched the whole 12 episodes waiting for it to get better because it was so hyped but it just didn't.

StupidLikeAFox

Is the car really that big a deal? Don't know how people are getting so hung up on the fact he drove - its the most inconsequential thing in the show

NSAman

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Is the car really that big a deal? Don't know how people are getting so hung up on the fact he drove - its the most inconsequential thing in the show

Oh stop looking at his willy!

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Is the car really that big a deal? Don't know how people are getting so hung up on the fact he drove - its the most inconsequential thing in the show

If people are talking about it, it’s not really inconsequential. It doesn’t ring true to many, clearly. I’m from an area with a mix of working- and middle-class families with the odd wealthy family thrown in. Lots of teenagers had Saturday and summer jobs. Hardly anyone had a car.

One eyed Jack

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Is the car really that big a deal? Don't know how people are getting so hung up on the fact he drove - its the most inconsequential thing in the show

In terms of how realistic the show is for the time period it’s meant to be portraying, I can understand why the fact he drove is a significant point for some people, an inconsequential point for others - it just speaks to whether or not the show is actually a realistic portrayal of teenage life and relationships in Ireland at that time.

I can understand why it might be a realistic perspective from the author’s point of view, but for most people it simply isn’t, it’s far too underdeveloped and insular to be a story which most people can relate to and while the actors play their roles brilliantly, there’s not that much to their characters either so it’s just not that much of a challenge. The character of Connell is particularly badly written for, as he’s portrayed as being a popular sports team player, but that seems to be almost forgotten about in favour of portraying Marianne almost as though she’s the centre of the Universe.

vandriver

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Is the car really that big a deal? Don't know how people are getting so hung up on the fact he drove - its the most inconsequential thing in the show

Original car related poster here.

It was a joke.

Hangdogroad

SusieBlue wrote: »

It’s worth noting that the book goes into detail of describing how Marianne is quite unattractive & plain looking.
At one point during Connell’s inner monologue he describes her as repulsive and questions himself as to why he feels such an attraction & strong feelings for someone like her. Someone who has read it more recently than me might have a clearer recollection of that part of the book, but that’s the gist of it.

Obviously this wasn’t going to be an easy part to cast, Daisy Edgar-Jones is stunning, even when they purposely try to make her look plain in the school episodes.
But it might give some further insight as to why Connell was so desperate to hide the relationship, and why Marianne was so snarky & defensive to other people in the early episodes.
He was insecure and she was hurting.

I've never read the book but I had a sneaking suspicion that she's meant to be a lot plainer looking than she's depicted in the series.

zerosugarbuzz

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

If people are talking about it, it’s not really inconsequential. It doesn’t ring true to many, clearly. I’m from an area with a mix of working- and middle-class families with the odd wealthy family thrown in. Lots of teenagers had Saturday and summer jobs. Hardly anyone had a car.

He’s not driving a Lamborghini, it’s a banger worth probably a couple of hundred euro if that. No big deal at all for a smart guy like him, his mothers black economy job probably keeps it on the road.

Beechwoodspark

fattymuatty wrote: »

Same here. Same time frame too. I pointed out the car thing to my husband when we were watching it because it didn't seem realistic to me. Leaving Certs having their own cars didn't happen where I grew up.

We both thought the whole show was pretty wooden. I didn't feel the chemistry between them at all. I watched the whole 12 episodes waiting for it to get better because it was so hyped but it just didn't.

Agree on the wooden acting. No chemistry. Her looking like a startled deer and Connell mumbling and looking vague into the distance is NOT the same as good acting.

The car is just one detail that totally ruins the authenticity of the story.

It’s hackneyed done to death fair city levels of plot no offense to carrigstown!

Beechwoodspark

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

If people are talking about it, it’s not really inconsequential. It doesn’t ring true to many, clearly. I’m from an area with a mix of working- and middle-class families with the odd wealthy family thrown in. Lots of teenagers had Saturday and summer jobs. Hardly anyone had a car.

And don’t forget Connell is supposedly on or just floating slightly above the poverty line

MoonUnit75

lozenges wrote: »

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say.

Yes, it seems to be set pre-woke culture too but he sounds like he writes for Buzzfeed or reads Judith Butler in his spare time.

Cal4567

mariaalice wrote: »

Maybe its our Americanised saturated media where its all shiny glossy people that make Normal people such a contrast and seem plodding.

A lot to be said for that comment. Growing up and then at University, I came across many examples of both of the leads. From what I've seen many at the moment in their early 20s can relate to both leads. There is a lot of self doubt to be had in the jump into adulthood.

I said it on the other thread but I found this one of the best series I have seen in a long time.