By Lauren Durose, Deputy Editor Film and TV.
The longevity of film and TV shows are heavily reliant on their reputations, however this serves as a problem when overtime their reputations are inaccurate becoming overly hyped or disregarded. Of course its personal opinion, but sometimes you can't help but look back and think that certain cinematic pieces deserved better.
Overrated: Gilmore Girls.
When I first watched Gilmore Girls, I quickly joined the gaggle of fans who's adored the series and I easily understood why so many watched it at least once a year. Having not watched it since September 2022, I think I have enough distance now to say that Gilmore Girls is potentially the most overrated of sitcoms (that I have seen). Stars Hollow has a wholesome and idyllic setting that is welcoming to both first time watchers and returning fans, it establishes the familial and close-knit community that resides there and sets up the tone of the show. It is because of the atmosphere of the show and a collection of enjoyable relationships that people have claimed Gilmore Girls as their comfort show, and yet individually, the characters can be insufferable.
Rory has been told that she is god's greatest gift to Stars Hollow, and whilst this has created an enormous amount of pressure to succeed, she equally harbors a complete lack of awareness surrounding her privilege. She believes that because her mother worked hard to sustain her growing up, she doesn't have to recognise her position as being firmly situated within the middle class. She is a terrible friend to Lane and Paris, who quite frankly deserved far more from their best friend and this series. Her relationship history isn't fabulous, epitomised by the fact she knowingly has an affair (more than once), and claims Dean is 'her Dean' even though he's married. Despite claiming to be a feminist, she publishes an incredibly judgmental and fat-phobic article, and also misses her mother's graduation for a boy. Protagonists are often not the favourite character, but Rory exemplifies oblivious entitlement and is generally pretty annoying.
Of course, Rory is only a product of her surroundings and how people have treated her the entirety of her life. That’s the main problem with the show, there is toxicity intertwined with almost every relationship, whether romantic, platonic or familial. Even Lorelai and Rory, who appear the sweetest mother-daughter duo, have their moments when you have to question if they have superseded closeness to the point that respect has been lost. There is seemingly a lack of empathy within the Gilmore family as well as a missing solidarity that prevents the deeper connection it is clear they all desire.
Don't get me wrong, the series is an enjoyable watch, particularly the first four seasons, but ultimately it is severely overrated. In the future, when I want to watch a series about familial and female friendships in the general bildungsroman genre, I'll be choosing Derry Girls over Gilmore Girls.
Over-hated: The Little Mermaid (2023)
Disney’s live action of The Little Mermaid received a lot of backlash in the leadup and the initial stages of its release. It was obvious that a significant portion of that hate was deeply rooted in the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel; audiences argued a literary inaccuracy to the beloved mermaid being a woman of colour, yet were unbothered by Disney's divergence of significant plot events from the literature popularised by Hans Christian Andersen's. Regardless, the movie was actually decent enough. Now, Lin Manuel Miranda is a lyrical genius evidenced by his creation of Hamilton and In the Heights, but his lyricism seems to have fallen short with the creation of 'scuttlebutt'. Awkwafina doesn't give her best performance either, and is honestly rather irritating as the seagull Scuttle. Yet, the movie still does its job in re-imagining the tale in live action form.
Halle Bailey wonderfully portrays the youth and naivety that Ariel represents, and her voice is undeniably stunning. The inclusion of Prince Eric's song 'Wild Uncharted Waters' is a new aspect that should be welcomed for helping to develop his character, whose growth and presence is relatively stunted in both animation and original literature. The cinematography battles against the interesting CGI decisions, but nevertheless, it is a beautiful film visually.
As a twenty-something year old, the live action is cringe worthy and can make you squirm at certain moments that feel awkward and forced, but that's because the target audience is the younger generation who are experiencing the Disney magic for the first time. It is hard to enjoy the recreations as much as the animations when they don't hold the same levels of nostalgia; even the first live actions like Maleficent (2014) and Cinderella (2015) were released at a time when they could still become intertwined with my childhood. What I mean to say, is that the new Little Mermaid is overly hated not because it's a terrible movie, but because it doesn't replicate the feeling so many experienced as young children when they were first introduced to the world of fairy tales.
Of course, every movie holds different meaning and status to each individual consumer. It will be interesting to see how reputations of certain films and series continue to change throughout time.
What are some of your controversial opinions?
