I just watched Swingtown: The First Season on DVD and I'm left with mixed feelings. On one hand, the storyline is cleverly written as it deals with all types of issues that come in a relationship. On the other hand, I got mad quite a bit at how stupid the couples were! When you open Pandora’s Box and invite others into your sex life, of course you can expect lots of problems to come. But hey, sometimes hard lessons are learned through dumb choices. Swingtown takes place in the 70's, when the sexual revolution was at its height. Of course, every era has its dark side. And for the couples that dive in the swinger lifestyle here, the dark side is very subtle. Lives are dramatically affected after couples decide to "experiment". When I watch this show, I am reminded that the very things that we sometimes think can make us free, can actually destroy us. To be fair, Swingtown is not only about swapping partners. It deals with problems that are common in a lot of marriages. In the midst of all the drama, there are times when a character will drop a line that'll make you think. I know it's hard to imagine that coming from a show called Swingtown.
Now I'm hearing rumors that the show will be cancelled. We'll have to wait and see...
1 comment:
Fair enough review. But to be more fair, I think that this show does the opening of pandora's box, as you coined it, for us and present the viewers with consequences that aren't surprising at all, but that in real life, most people perhaps don't want to admit, less face even if it were actually already happening to them. The show is really poignant and hits the heart of family affairs and relationships. I think, it does the opposite of what other critics claim as sensationalizing open relationships. I think that it even makes you focus on the consequences more, after seeing the circumstances and choices the different characters make. I also like that it shatters the stereotypical views that people tend to make--of seemingly responsible adults, who are just humans and who can and do make very bad choices, of young persons who can be very perceptive, and of other personalities who end up doing the unexpected, without aggrandizing any one of them. This is a show for the open-minded. It is not for the close-minded, conventional, or the naive mind. As far as another season of this show, I don't think that there is room left to expand on the characters or the premise. The pilot pretty much included all that could be shown about open relationships and vices like drinking or being a non-responsive spouse, and the inevitable consequences that follow their actions. The final episode is pretty open for drawing your own conclusions anyway, such as in the case of the swinger lady, who is actually longing to be a mother but her spouse seemed as if he isn't ready to be a parent, so she is left with a dilemma of who to choose, her spouse/confidant or the baby growing inside of her. The other characters are left to roam around, whose actions could be good or damaging down the road. The premise is called life and dealing with the demons in our heads. And the question asked and tackled by the show is how far will you go not only to satisfy your curiosity, but for that unattainable, 100% honesty with the relationships sorrounding you, including friends, to give you that unshakeable security. You won't see these issues in the show if you only see it through the title.
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