Friday, December 4, 2009

Last Episode Lessons

I found the lecture on last episodes to be very interesting today. What interested me most were the telenovelas that had the conversations with the audience at the end. I have noticed this sort of thing happen in shows here in the US. I am by no means a fan of gossip girl; I find the show extremely annoying, but nonetheless my roommate Melissa is obsessed with it. Generally we watch tv together at night, so I tried to watch for a few episodes. The show ends always with gossip girl sort of summing up either a lesson or conniving remark, followed by "xoxo, gossip girl."

The similar thing happens at the beginning and end of Grey's Anatomy. Eeach episode beging and ends with a character, usually Meredith, giving some sort of life lesson. For example,
Meredith: [narrating] Everyday we get to give the gift of life, it can be painful, it can be terrifying, but in the end it's worth it. Every time. We all have the opportunity to give. Maybe the gifts are not as dramatic as what happens in the operating room, maybe the gift is to try and make a simple apology, maybe it's to understand another person's point of view, maybe it's to hold a secret for a friend. The joy supposedly is in the giving, so when the joy is gone, when the giving starts to feel more like a burden, that's when you stop. But if you're like most people I know, you give till it hurts, and then you give some more.

I feel as though this summary can also be a summary to a telenovela. It's so interesting to me to see the similarities and differences in the telenovelas and shows here.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.