OFMD

[schneefink]

D and I watched the first four episodes of Our Flag Means Death. There were some entertaining elements, but overall I didn't enjoy it very much. For me it's a combination of my embarrassment squick, the premise not working for me, and (most of) the humor being not quite my thing.

I struggled from the beginning to like Stede, a person who dreams of being a pirate but is apparently too willfully naïve to realize that this involves people being actually hurt. Though some of the interactions with his crew were indeed fun (emphasis on "some.") I almost stopped after episode 3, which was just really uncomfortable to watch. I heard it gets better after that, and in episode four some of Stede and Ed's interactions were entertaining, but overall I was mostly uncomfortable and didn't enjoy watching it.
From the spoilers I know about of the rest of the season, I would probably enjoy about a third of every episode; e.g. I watched two compilations of Lucius scenes on Youtube and loved most of it. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure I would hate another third and another third would at best be awkward, so I don't think I'll give it another try.

Comments

[mecurtin]

My spoilery opinion is here, but overall I agree with you. My biggest problem is with Ed (mostly due to things in eps you didn't get to): he's got too much of a record of horrific violence imho to be "fascinating monster", he's more like "Nazi prison guard".

[schneefink]

Even if Ed's entire storyline was of remorse and attempts of atonement for past crimes and all those past crimes were exaggerated etc, Stede is still someone who heard all the stories about how dangerous and violent and cruel Blackbeard is and thought that was something he wanted to emulate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mecurtin]

Yes! And that makes me conscious of the fact that Stede is a wealthy person from Barbados, which means he's an enslaver, DEEPLY implicated in a system of violence, terror & rape. And whoops, there goes the romance ...

[snickfic]

I watched the first four eps as well, and then wandered away and haven't been back. I was entertained, but comedy just really isn't my genre, and I especially don't tend to get fannish about it. Maybe I'll get around to watching those last episodes... someday.

[schneefink]

I do sometimes enjoy comedy shows, but OFMD in particular is kinda a weird genre mix? I think a comedy about pirates would only work for me if it's entirely a comedy and everyone is aware not to take anything seriously, but only taking piracy seriously sometimes is too much of a mood whiplash.

[beatrice_otter]

Yeah, I took one look at the premise and went "oh, I see why people like it, but it is NOT FOR ME, and would trigger my embarrassment squick so hard"

[schneefink]

That was my initial reaction too, but I saw so much enthusiasm for it in fandom spaces that I decided to give it a try anyway.

[banrionceallach]

That was my reaction as well. I just can't bear cringe comedy, even for a short time.

[extempore]

Ich habe mir die erste Staffel gegeben, wobei ich doch immer wieder vorgespult habe. Es gibt vereinzelt sehr geniale Szenen, viel so-lala Humor und letztlich eine massive Plotentwicklung, die ich völlig unnötig fand. Mir waren auch zu wenig Frauen bei der Sache. Ich werde vielleicht noch bei Season 2 anfangs reinsehen, aber das war's dann vermutlich. Sie haben aber immerhin eine gute Musikwahl für die jeweiligen Abspanne. Ist wohl derzeit The Thing, z.B. auch bei Moon Knight.

Taika Waitits Humor muss man mögen. Er hat, finde ich, gute Ideen, aber die Umsetzung ist mir manchmal eine Spur zu daneben und langweilig. Z.B. fand ich seinen Vampirfilm von der Idee her klasse, auch mit guten Szenen, insgesamt aber doch eher etwas öde.

[schneefink]

Ich vermute, ich hab viele der besten Szenen schon als Tumblr-gifs gesehen ^^
Seinen Vampirfilm und die Serie hab ich mir gar nicht angeschaut, bin mir ziemlich sicher dass die nichts für mich sind.

[extempore]

Das beste am Vampirfilm ist der Trailer. ;P (ETA: Vielleicht erkennst du den Schauspieler von Stede im Trailer!)

[cephy]

This, yes. I also struggled a lot to like Stede and be engaged with his story in any way that didn't leave me cringing in secondhand embarrassment. Which is not a great place to start for what is basically the main character and plot driver for the entire show :/ I enjoy a good redemption arc and a good falling-in-love story and a good adventure flick but it all got kind of... muddled in this case? And by the end I just kind of didn't care anymore.

So many people in fandom love that show so desperately though that I still feel like I'm missing something, somehow?

[schneefink]

Yeah, it's a weird mix of storylines and genres etc. Some of them I would enjoy on their own, and I suspect that many people who love the show are just better than me at ignoring things they like less. Or they actually do like all of it, idk ^^

[nonesensed]

I usually have a huge embarrassment-squick so I thought I'd not be able to get through this show at all, but for some odd reason only a rare few scenes had me flinching. Maybe because the characters feel so cartoonish and over-the-top to me? It's a mystery. Or maybe it's because I saw it while visiting family, so watching it was kind of a silly "group activity" for us?

I definitely get not clicking with the show, it's very hit-or-miss. I think the huge fandom grew at least in part from the show being "queer but not promoted as queer" - not saying that's true, it's just the most common "why I like this show"-reasons I've seen floating around the fandom.

[schneefink]

Yeah, I think the first I noticed the show gaining a lot of traction was the reaction to the kiss, idk in which episode it happens but many people were relieved that no, this really is a gay relationship.

[nonesensed]

It's very near the end - I think the second to last episode? - so it's understandable that people assumed it could be queerbaiting, because, well, history.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I admit I myself was pretty happy that the show turned out to actually be a romance and not just another tired "haha, two guys look like they're flirting but they're actually ~just friends~, this isn't 'that kind' of show"-situation. We're getting more and more media that says Nope to heteronormativity and it pleases my queer little heart <3