ChatterBank1 min ago
Butterflies
33 Answers
I am really enjoying the re-runs of Butterflies.
It has lost none of its bittersweetness, with Ria longing to be 'daring' but too faithful to take that step.
Wasn't Nick Lyndhurst THIN!!!
And I find myself realising how gorgeous Wendy Craig was at that time, with those beautiful eyes and her porcelain skin, I could fall for her any time! And when she teases Ben with her come-on lines she looks really sexy and provocative - I think her voice is really seductive.
Why can't they write comedy as good as that now? Apart from the absence of mobiles and double-yellow lines, and the furniture and clothes, it could be a contemporary comedy - those themes of unrequited love never go out of style.
It has lost none of its bittersweetness, with Ria longing to be 'daring' but too faithful to take that step.
Wasn't Nick Lyndhurst THIN!!!
And I find myself realising how gorgeous Wendy Craig was at that time, with those beautiful eyes and her porcelain skin, I could fall for her any time! And when she teases Ben with her come-on lines she looks really sexy and provocative - I think her voice is really seductive.
Why can't they write comedy as good as that now? Apart from the absence of mobiles and double-yellow lines, and the furniture and clothes, it could be a contemporary comedy - those themes of unrequited love never go out of style.
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woofgang - i think you are being a little hard on the rest of the population.
Part of the appeal of drama is that it explores our thoughts and emotions 'from a distance' - and that is the potent appeal.
I have three daughters whom I love dearly, and we are very close, but I am still intrigued by the notion of a bad father who sets his children against him - and so is the rest of the world since King Lear has been seen as a current play in terms of its situations since Elizabethan times.
Yes Ria toys with the idea of infidelity - but the appeal is seeing her wrestle with her loyalties, and her occasional wish to test the bonds of her life.
It is not sufficient to dismiss it because your moral code is not the same as hers - it is the moral code which is explored in a fictional setting to alow the audience to explore it - as I said - from a distance, and that level od escapism is what makes all drama what it is - a view of a world other than our own.
So don't be too keen to condemn Ria just because her moral code is different from yours. Not right, or wrong, just different.
Part of the appeal of drama is that it explores our thoughts and emotions 'from a distance' - and that is the potent appeal.
I have three daughters whom I love dearly, and we are very close, but I am still intrigued by the notion of a bad father who sets his children against him - and so is the rest of the world since King Lear has been seen as a current play in terms of its situations since Elizabethan times.
Yes Ria toys with the idea of infidelity - but the appeal is seeing her wrestle with her loyalties, and her occasional wish to test the bonds of her life.
It is not sufficient to dismiss it because your moral code is not the same as hers - it is the moral code which is explored in a fictional setting to alow the audience to explore it - as I said - from a distance, and that level od escapism is what makes all drama what it is - a view of a world other than our own.
So don't be too keen to condemn Ria just because her moral code is different from yours. Not right, or wrong, just different.
Sorry Andy but my opinion is that unfaithfulness in marriage is wrong. I can't find it funny anymore than I find the subject matter of king Lear funny and therefore I don't find the program funny or appealing. The rest of the population are of course entitled to different opinions and to have a different sense of humour. I dare say that I find things amusing that you would wince at.
woofgang - the struggle that Ria has in being tempted is not funny at all - nor is it funny in King Lear (it is one of the Tragedies!). That is the bitter in the bittersweet writing of Carla Lane.
In true comedy, laughter and tears are a hairsbreadth apart, and the great comic writer can walk that line, reminding the audience that underneath comic situations lie tragic secrets, and that is the art and skill of writing a comedy like this.
So no, of course infidelity is not humorous, nor is it intended to be seen as such, but it is part of the characters involved - not their entire characters, just an aspect, and that is what gives them depth and humanity.
We can all smile at the frailty we can see in others, and know that there are frailties in ourselves, which is why we empathise - and don't judge people too harshly.
In true comedy, laughter and tears are a hairsbreadth apart, and the great comic writer can walk that line, reminding the audience that underneath comic situations lie tragic secrets, and that is the art and skill of writing a comedy like this.
So no, of course infidelity is not humorous, nor is it intended to be seen as such, but it is part of the characters involved - not their entire characters, just an aspect, and that is what gives them depth and humanity.
We can all smile at the frailty we can see in others, and know that there are frailties in ourselves, which is why we empathise - and don't judge people too harshly.
But I don't empathise with Rea I want to SHAKE her. I want to belt Ben around the ears and tell him to stop killing butterflies and I want to throw a bucket of very cold water over Rea's wimpish would be seducer. I did feel the same about Bread. I did say I found it annoying.
I do have some sympathy for the frailties of others but not when they wallow in them!
I do have some sympathy for the frailties of others but not when they wallow in them!
Aaah, the second series.
Leonard has returned from New York, and the pressure is mounting all round.
Ben knows something is wrong, but doesn't know how to handle it.
Adam empathises with his mum, and understands her situation, and she confides a little in him.
Wait for the episode with one of the best visual meatphores in television I have ever seen -
Ria and Ben are both in their cars, with their radios on, and the camera cuts between them.
At the end of their road, she turns one way, he turns the other.
Both radios are playing The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' feeling' and both are listening.
First one looks at the radio, obviously hearing the words, and turns the radio off.
Then the other does the same.
It must be close to, if not more than thirty years since I saw that - I have never forgotten it.
Leonard has returned from New York, and the pressure is mounting all round.
Ben knows something is wrong, but doesn't know how to handle it.
Adam empathises with his mum, and understands her situation, and she confides a little in him.
Wait for the episode with one of the best visual meatphores in television I have ever seen -
Ria and Ben are both in their cars, with their radios on, and the camera cuts between them.
At the end of their road, she turns one way, he turns the other.
Both radios are playing The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' feeling' and both are listening.
First one looks at the radio, obviously hearing the words, and turns the radio off.
Then the other does the same.
It must be close to, if not more than thirty years since I saw that - I have never forgotten it.
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