Ginny & Georgia Overview (1/N)

I was going to start writing a comprehensive film review of a particular stand-out film (Cocaine Bear) but then I realised that would go against my grain. I like Kal (the newsletter) to be a idiosyncratic mix of fact, opinion and life-experience. So right now I’m going to give a little background to where I’m at.

Owing to my rather torrid and hectic work life; the only escapism I have is at the cinema. I have a membership at the local Light Cinema at Cambridge and it’s my weekly ritual to go there for every Monday night (a pick me up to the week). I have another weekly ritual, but we’ll discuss that another time.

I also tend watch a little TV before I go to bed. I consumer more content than I want to, because I’m ultimately a creator (I love to write), but I accept that owing to the contingencies of my life, where I spend so much time “creating” at work; that I can’t be full steam ahead in other aspects of my life.

Thus having established my credentials as a film critics, who watches far and wide but never deeply; I have a pretty good feel for what would chime well with audiences and what does rhymes with critics since I have my hats in both spaces. So I’ll give a little round up of what’s worth watching and what isn’t. Today I’ll start with Ginny & Georgia:

(1.) Ginny & Georgia is a sitcom that would be utterly bland but for the deftly-drawn and complex character Georgia Miller. She’s played by Brianne Howey with such verve, grace and tenderness that it’s worth watching for that alone. Unfortunately, I do feel that Ginny’s character simply isn’t scoped out with the same complexities as her mother. I also feel that this may be a problem with an essentially white crew trying to write storylines for people of colour characters.

This is a controversial take but the distinct feeling that I had from GnG was that while Georgia could be this morally ambiguous, difficult and even fiendish character; Ginny had to always play it safe. I don’t think I saw the first few episodes in Season 1 but I believe that my analysis holds.

Villains, especially morally complex ones, are the more compelling characters in fiction. Iago is a more lasting character than Othello and Shylock from the Merchant of Venice is a pivotal piece of fiction. While it is interesting just how Picture Perfect and Hollywood looking all of Georgia’s family looks, after a lifetime of trauma, the lack of texture given to characters of colours (Joe, played by Raymand Ablack, is essentially reprising his role in the Maid) meant that it would be interesting to see how a show written by PoCs would have textured Ginny to become much more of a tortured and must-watch character like Georgia.

I hope Season 3 evolves Ginny's character to become a bit more than a "straight man" to Georgia's antics.