Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Things I Love About the BBC--Part 1




So. If anyone follows me on Pinterest, is friends with me on Facebook, or has turned that white button blue on my Twitter, or--the more dire consequence of being my friend-- has been pulled kicking and screaming into a shared vortex of fandom by yours truly, you know quite well that my poor little Anglophile self is hopelessly infatuated with the BBC.

To those who do not share my love *"I am so, so sorry"...for you. Your life is bereft of something truly marvelous. We must work to rectify this situation.

To those who do share my opinion...enjoy the following post!

*Doctor Who quote. Gotta love some David Tennant.

Things I Love About the BBC.
Part 1 of what I am confident will be a very long series. 
I am not writing an essay, why am I employing these awkward elementary titling techniques?


Beauty is in the eye of  the beholder. Not the software of Photoshop. Let that be said and declared, amen.

A person who (through a strange and rather contrived sequence of events) dropped out of the sky into the good ol' U.S.A. and, without seeing any of the natives, immediately went into a confined area to read a magazine and watch TV would naturally form a few opinions about what the people here looked like. 

They may say that all are relatively uniform, with some slight variation of coloring. The women are possessed of straight hair. Tan skin. Impossibly (and I mean impossibly) tiny measurements. 5'1"--5'11" and 100 pounds. High, affected voices. Sometimes vulgar sense of humor. Unnaturally perfect faces. The men are, apparently, all tall, body-building and tan with faces that may as well have been chiseled off of a Greek statue..and glued on. Not much to say, and when there's something--it's dirty.  

A predicament, if I ever saw one.

As a girl living in America, 5'8" and *ahem* not 100 pounds, with features that don't necessary fit the ideal that a plastic surgeon may present you with, I find this image of "beauty" rather frustrating. Through extensive internet research, I've gathered that I'm not alone.

No matter how much you know in your head that you are created by God in the exact way he wanted you,  or that you are you and there is no duplicate, having your thoughts pummelled with unattainable images of what the masses say is "attractive" can be tear-inducing. 

The BBC, on the other hand, takes women that would not necessarily be considered "beautiful" by today's one-dimensional standards and casts them in their shows. Some have curves that you wouldn't normally see an American actress comfortable with keeping. Some have aquiline noses that, here, would be shaved away (or whatever it is those men in masks do). Some have soft, pale skin that would be obliterated in a tanning bed. 

However, all of them manage to make their roles interesting. They act with intelligence and class.  They have wit. They can lend depth to their roles.

Not to ignore the men-folk! The ignorant observer of the fan-bases of Doctor Who and Sherlock would assume that these stars must be really classically good-looking men.

Buff, tan...right?

David Tennant? Matt Smith? Benedict Cumberbatch? Martin Freeman? A host of others? Girls, one look won't set your heart fluttering. But then they turn on the charm of witty, sarcastic, intelligent acting. 

You see them in character. Then you should fall head over heels. 

Or is that just me?



A random photograph of Benedict the Brilliant

I guess the lesson here is "substance over silly." Or something akin to that sentiment.

 It's getting late here in South Texas and it's been a long day. 

Well. What was supposed to be a bullet point on a list turned into a long-ish post. I'm thinking that this may turn into a series, demand or no demand. ;) I have a growing list of what I love about the BBC, and I must vent

Until next rant! 


 ( I left out plenty of examples and pictures...feel free to point them out in the comments if you are a fellow BBC fan! )



4 comments:

Brianna Wachter said...

So I kinda sorta like/love/adore this post. I was cheering through the whole thing. Way to go Olivia pinpointed one of the way reasons I love the BBC. Actors are real and so much more than looks (wit, humor, talent, character...). And don't you love the way they reuse them over and over? It's like, "Hey, there's so-and-so who was in such-and-such and such-and-such and such-and such..."

And as for the abundance of BBC on social media this fan girl says: keep it coming! And I may have to get a twitter...we'll see...

Can't wait for part 2!

Olivia said...

Aww well thanks! I'm glad you like it. :) I felt that it needed to be said. I find that many an insecurity of mine has been soothed by watching British television. ;) And I ADORE the way they re-use them...it's like cameo heaven! And yes, get a twitter! It's better than Facebook, imho, because no one can really tell if you're getting comments or likes. ;)

Kaitlin said...

Caution:
"Sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side."
-Sherlock
(aka Benedict the Brilliant)

This post was, what's the word?, right.

SPECTACULAR!

It may have been just a rant, but that's OK. BBC deserves a rant. Or two. Or three. Or a thousand. :)

I love British humor, wit, and the "passionless" sentiment, mostly because it's incredible but partly because I was literally raised on the stuff.

Anyway. Great post, can't wait to see more!
-K

Grafted Branch said...

I LOVED this post!