I'm watching American Primeval on Netflix. It's set in Utah and Wyoming during Mormon Mountain Meadows Massacre times, which sparked my interest.
If it weren't for that topic, I probably would've stopped watching. The editing is terrible, it's super violent with long action scenes where I'd rather have more story, lots of sexism/assault. The dialog and writing isn't very great. Sometimes I see where they've dubbed in a dialog change in post (?!), and the Mormon dialog sounds like it was written by someone who heard of Brigham Young once and read the polygamy Wikipedia entry. Which is super disappointing. (Send your script to me and for fair pay, I'll fix it up!)
On the upside, it's cool to see a gritty "realistic" glimpse of the era, especially outside the Mormon history propaganda they showed me as a kid. For analysis of how power works in a place where rule of law isn't, survival situations, colonization, etc is interesting to see depicted.
And since it deals with delicate topics, I'd say the creators were sorta woke, but they don't always hit the mark. Lots of casual ableist language, for instance, and though they do try to show the indigenous POV, I worry they're not being fully accurate or fair to the Shoshone and Piautes.
I feel the Mormon stuff is close to accurate, but annoyingly not in little ways that really bug me. I'm not sure how closely they follow the historical beats. The massacre scene was really close to what I know, some creative departures are there clearly to allow the story to continue (like letting some the adults escape — IRL the only known survivors were children), but I wonder about some of the other things that don't seem right, if my version of events is correct or theirs.
Overall, if you're not particularly interested in the topic, skip it. If you are, watch it with caveats.
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Then Brigham's going around saying "This is the place" everywhere he goes, like it's some kind of supervillain catchphrase. Which would be hilarious if they were doing it intentionally and with effect. But they're not.
Really though, it's the characters making the same mistakes with the exact same outcome every time that's so annoying. Also not done intentionally, with effect, but simply because the creators thought the only way to build tension is to have every single person be hostile to every single other person.
Tryna be Game of Thrones but it's not.
I'm just here for the hate watching at this point. And for the Mormons.
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Wishlist: Westerns get popular again but they're all from a primarily indigenous POV.
(This show isn't as fair to the Shoshone and Paiute as I would have liked, but I'm enjoying what it tries to do, and would like more of that, only better. (And less white saviory.))
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And someone tell make-up that even in olden times they knew how to wash blood off at some point within weeks after the injury.
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I swear, this one guy's forehead blood keeps moving around.
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I mean blood eventually flakes off by itself after awhile.
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And I wish they'd do a better job of showing why Mormonism is/was appealing. They're all cranky and crazy and weird and mean in this.
No, Mormons are and were charming. People don't join high demand groups and move across the world because all the members look miserable and the leaders act cutthroat all the time. Really glad they are showing the cutthroat stuff (and they were very much in 1857, which translates into more of a passive aggression today) but also show why people wanted to join.
There are Mormons alive today sick of the passive aggression who would love to go back to that cutthroat time. They hide behind those warm smiles and suits. They are charming AF.
People need to know it's a facade. Such a lost opportunity.
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In my experience, many issues with a story can be fixed by simply knowing what each and every character wants, and have them actively pursuing that goal at all times. They may or may not themselves know what they want, but the author needs to know.
Many issues with American Primeval would be solved if the writers simply gave some of the side characters a mind of their own, and set them into action. But many characters are acting in service to the plot, and thus, are hardly more than cardboard cutouts. The tension is there because the director wanted tension, not because real people are having legitimate conflicts over getting what they want.
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@corbden it would have been far more compelling as a story. BY was supposedly a very charming - and disarming - person
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@tirrimas Yeah in this he's just bossy and severe. He's more like a pilgrim. With that hat.
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