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Bah, Sigh: Nathan Barley - Series 2

Started by Neil, January 20, 2007, 10:04:30 AM

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dr j twist

Commenting on a can of worms is not a habitual pastime (unlike some). Essentially passing judgment on the 'pros & cons' of your adopted 'God' does not (as others have pointed out) validate your opinions. This opinion of the opinionated is equally futile and scoffable. That aside, it strikes me as appropriate to lighten this blue background with some generic praise for Mr Morris.

Everything he does I will relish, everything he doesn't do I don't care about.

Neil

Oh, well, congratulations on your studied blaseness, and good luck with that whole 'too cool to care' bullshit.

"Adopted God"?  Comedy isn't even my favourite art-form!  I'm sorry it annoys you so much that I'm passionate about it, and about art in general, though.  And I must say, I find that a peculiar line of attack coming from someone who then says "Everything he does I will relish."

(Another anonymous poster makes a dribbling ad hominem attack instead of actually engaging with the debate.  It's a shame really.)


Neil

Heh, like you're telling me something I don't already know.  

Grow up, mate.

Fair play to you Neil for taking the time to give your opinion, but I have to disagree strongly with you on most of the things you say. Maybe this ground has been covered in the thread already, if so I apologise.

You slag off a NB viewer/myspace quoter. Why shouldn't people quote NB? Who says they're not supposed to? People aren't taking them at face value; neither are they being ironic. They're quoting them because they and their friends find it funny, which it is. I'm sure Chris Morris understands that simple concept.

You say it's dependent on recognisable references. Well, I don't agree with that, most of the humour is derived from the characterisation, but even at that: pretty much every character in NB is a total sap. The references they use are recognisble because they're not the kind of people who make obscure references. They're idiots! That's the whole point.

QuoteThis makes the most common jibe lobbed at people who didn't like the show - namely 'bit too close to home, eh?/essentially you ARE Nathan Barley' very odd indeed. In fact, to be honest, I think people who use derivations of that phrase to counter negative critism of Nathan Barley are actually revealing that they're very worried about the exact same accusation being levelled at them.

What are you on about here! You can't actually believe this.


The whole "post-pc" thing isn't really worth talking about. There's a lot of crassness in NB, I agree. It's easy for a critic like you to dismiss the standard "but it's ironic" defence, but I don't think that applies for NB at all. It's a horrible world that Morris has created. It's an exaggeration, but people like these do exist, and a lot of people will have encountered them. Why shouldn't a horrible, despicable character be able to say "guff up the muff" or whatever. People say that stuff. People go for cheap laughs. If NB characters aren't allowed to be even equally as offensive as people in real life, then what's the point?

As most people who defend it will say, NB's not perfect. But it can be appreciated as a great sitcom if you look at it in a certain way. Saying "you don't get it" isn't helpful, but I do think you look at it in the wrong way. Dan Ashcroft is a character who has to deal with these horrible people through unfortunate circumstance. If you leave commentary on society or the media or whatever in the background (where it belongs) then there are laughs to be had.

Comparing Morris and Brooker with Russell Brand or Little Britain is laughable and I'm sure most people would agree with  me.

notsci

Tailed off a bit at the end 'threecardmonty', but on the whole I can appreciate your view.

I enjoyed reading your post, Neil. I would say Morris's potential downfall is he has set the bar very high for himself with his prevous bodies of work.

I salute him for trying a more mainstream approach (by that I mean, creating a sitcom). Each episode probably could have worked better as a 10 minute piece, rataher than the whole 25 minutes.  One thing that struck me with 'Cunt' from TVGH, was it's curtness.

As much as Ashcroft was a device, to allow the viewer to access this world, I would rather see Barley un-censored in every aspect of his existence, or pehaps viewed from afar rather than close-up. How does he talk to his parents? Flashbacks to school life? (for example!).

Anyway, seeing as no one has responded to this thread for a while, I will return to my other past time. Waiting.


After scanning through this thread I was surprised to find the general feeling that Nathan Barley = shit.
I love it, and after repeated viewings still find it hilarious.
Can't wait for series 2.


Canted_Angle

I like Nathan Barley a lot, if not just for the single scene where Dan kills the cat and walks out of the Barbers and does the most sadistic smile I've ever seen a millisecond before the cut, i'm a fan of double take/blink and you'll miss it moments in comedy and Nathan Barley is full of it.

Whether it comes to the MTV:Cribs esque piss take glam/gritty cinematography that oozes through the entire series or the lines of entirely absurd yet genius due to the originality writing.

Julian Barrett Delivers possibly one of the greatest way's of saying 'shut up'(before he jumps out of the window) as well as one of the most gut boiling frustrated, teeth grinding performances I've ever seen.

I'm erect for series 2.


Mindbear

I'm new here, and this is probably totally boring and old hat but I have to say, I did enjoy Nathan Barley. Okay, it wasn't as great as it could have been, but I laughed, quite a lot. The annoying thing for me is putting up with the constant quoting of it by the very people that it was meant to be poking fun at. The amount of kids on one of my clubs myspace pages calling themselves stuff like 'Joe yeah?' is depressing, because you want to just yell that them 'if you get it, why are you quoting it you twazzock?'. Having been a Trash kid myself, although never so immersed in the wankery of it, it's great to have something taking the piss out of that culture. I don't understand the comment about a few years too late though, if anything, it seems to have become even more relevant, what with the whole New Rave tossery thats going on right now. People are genuinely becoming ridiculous! I think the challenge that faces Morris and Brooker is observing this current scene and not appealing to the idiots that they're taking the piss out of. It's actually got much much worse than the ridiculous ways that were being poked at by them in the first series, so god knows how far it'll have to go to get the potential point across this time.

alan nagsworth

The thing I've noticed with Nathan BArley is I loved it when it was aired, and was equally happy to snap it up on DVD for a minimal £10, but the more I watch each episode when plugging it to a mate, the more I can't stand it. The gags wear thin and come across as textbook "lol random" Morris territory, like the random phrases such as "jiggy beast" and the lark, whereas in BrassEye and TDT it was very well-scripted, now it just seems like it's the only thing he can add to television shows that, rather than being regarded as original, are now simply regarded as a sort of Morris-by-numbers.