Distanciamiento social

It's difficult to make any show about the "right now" without seeming mawkish, awkward, dated or rushed and unfortunately this well-meaning anthology series often dunks into all four categories (sometimes all in one episode) - but in these unprecedented times it definitely deserves marks for trying. Technologically it's quite smart and is varied enough to keep it interesting. To pull it together at all is a serious achievement but the nature of doing so quickly means the majority of stories feel a bit "first drafty" and either have too many endings or not enough of them. There are some diamonds here though - the touching funeral episode, the cathartic threesome episode and the genuinely sharp final episode "Pomp and Circumstance" which I feel like people may be analyzing in a decade's time as a sort of allegorical microcosm of what tensions where at play in the US this crazy year.

So yes - a fascinating effort to "make TV safely" in the era of the virus - and like any anthology it has highs and lows but in its earnest attempts to encapsulate American humanity in these times it may have accidentally done just that. So, fair play, but more drafts required if it gets another go.

2020 is going to mean so many things to so many people. This captures many stories, many different perspectives, and many different experiences of quarantine 2020.

What's with the low rating? Mind-blowing! It's a GREAT anthology series about the lockdown and how people coped with it. It's sad, it's funny, it's real and raw.

Whatever your situation was during the lockdown, you'll most probably find it in one of the episodes. It's so frustrating when silly superhero films or action movies have 8-9 stars, and good simple films have only 4 stars? Wow... people shouldn't be able to rate here without some minimum requirements.

So, I finished this today and I won't lie to you, it's a lot. I think though, that the rating's a little unfair and it's largely a result of the current climate and people being more upset with the messaging than the show-let me explain. This is not a good, or bad review; it's qualitative.

First off, the cinematography's surprisingly good considering the concept, and the viewing experience without yet speaking to the content of Social Distance, is actually pretty good and it's quite contextually on point so that the webcam thing isn't really very distracting. There's a little more in person shooting sprinkled in that's a welcome addition, and it sort of makes the show feel a bit more rounded. It does feel like a full season of something, rather than a collection of clips.

I think though, that we start to get into murky waters when we consider the most glaring point; it quite obviously leans politically left. I don't personally have an opinion that matters on this, but I can tell you up front that that's going to be a big reason why a lot of people don't like it, and if it's not your ideas, I think it can make something unwatchable. Fair enough, but if you're looking for a hint because it's hard to know until you've seen it, here it is. If you don't mind that, you're simply more likely to enjoy the show.

Another tough point is that *it may have been too soon to release this series.* I think that this could have been an interesting commentary of at least one side of the current climate, as well as our collective experiences as a whole in terms of experiencing a pandemic and the feelings that we're all having that are almost universal at the moment, and it could be a little checkpoint in time to illustrate what this was like in the future. However, offering everyone the things that they know they're feeling, thinking, experiencing whilst they're still experiencing it, asking the question, 'when will this be over?' when the population of the world truly still has no idea, isn't going to be a novelty to many of us. What it actually does is remind us of everything that's happening around us that we have zero control over, and remind us of our restlessness, confusion and depression. So does that impact the viewing experience? In my opinion, quite significantly, yes.

There's mention of BLM, riots, businesses going under, alcoholism, and all sorts-just think of it like this. Everything we're seeing, is in this show, and it just places it into our laps in a neat little dramatised pile. It's beautifully made I think, well shot, well thought out and quite naturally written.

The only question is, why would we want this now?

The climate is divisive, overstimulated, again, confused and people already feel that narratives are being shoved down their throats on every side. Considering this, it was awful timing to tell a story from any one perspective than a neutral observer. I think that many of these ideas just make people angry, and their immediate response is to direct their anger towards the piece of media where the anger may actually be coming from the fact that they're still stuck in the eye of this storm, and everyone is angry and it's hard to find peace-and then on top of that, one of the few mediums of escape has us sitting in front of various forms of a mirror and reminding us that this is happening.

In terms of the actual content, again it wasn't half bad. There are some laughs, some quite poignant moments, a LOT of sadness and our confusion reflected back at us. I would just watch out for episode 7, as without giving anything away, is the single worst depiction of generation Z I may have ever seen in my natural born life. Think... "Litty/Simp." Also, I s'pose I'd avoid episode 5 if you're homophobic.

So in summary, watch at your own peril-but don't avoid it because the rating is unusually low. There's a lot more going on there, and it has to do with the political lens, and the sense of ever present doom, during a time of ever present doom. The ideal viewer is somebody left leaning, and I find that it'll probably make a lot of the right leaning folks angry as it's a bit in-your-face with the messages at times, whereas some media tries to stay somewhere in the centre. If you're prone to depressive feelings or feeling a bit sensitive during the pandemic, I'd say it's best to sit this one out until after all of this is finally over. It's decent, it's pretty, but maybe a bit tone deaf. A lot tone deaf.

Very progressive, so if you find yourself leaning more conservative, be mindful of which episodes you watch. If you're a covid denier, anti-masker, marriage, struggle to empathize with people who have different life experiences than you, or hate BLM this is definitely not the show for you. If you can put your personal beliefs aside for a few hours, it's a solid watch. Hell, it's not like there's much left to watch 6 months into our quarantining.

Boy do they navigate it all, nothing seems off limits. The episode on the husband trying to navigate raising his son alone while his wife quarantines in a separate part of the house was pretty heartbreaking. I really feel for the families that are/were trying to navigate this level of fear and uncertainty. In many cases, the series makes light of some very dark experiences, so if you're not ready to do that, probably pass it by.

I'm pretty impressed with the acting all things considered. While not every vignette feels professionally acted, it's still impressive to see how they managed to navigate the scenes where they're most likely talking to only a camera. The children definitely steal every scene they're in and often bring lightness into their vignettes.

Overall, I found the show to be often laugh out loud funny as it put on screen the real conflicts we're navigating as a country. From navigating parenting, quarantining, boredom, addiction, and death. As my quarantine has been pretty uneventful, it's given me a lot of perspective on what others might be going through.