What other TV shows do you watch?

[Arcadia]

Oh, I meant when Mary said it. Oh wait, that was John talking to himself, wasn't it? Well, then, it was used with affection when John was trying to be the man he thought Mary wanted him to be, then the darker side of him was trying to reject that, then the better side of him came back with "but he's our monster." That's how I interpreted it, anyway. Sounds like a lot of mental contortion when I write it out, but it was an instinctual reaction at the time, based on Amanda's delivery of the line.
 
It is a harsh word, though. I think that's just Moffat's verbal style; he often uses more, er, flamboyant terms when a simpler one would be more factually correct. I still think the most "factual" term for Sherlock would be "narcissist", but that sounds too clinical for the kind of conversation John was having with himself. Moffat went for the more emotionally loaded term instead, as is his MO.
 
I've been spending the last two weeks with a hard-core narcissist. And yes, I do find him pretty monstrous, and I'm irritated with him more often than I appreciate him, and my instinct is to treat him rather disrespectfully just to remind him I'm not being taken in by his self-aggrandizing. But I'm still fond of him, for reasons I can't explain. There's a heart in there, somewhere, that I respond to. But most of the time I just want to boot him into the sea. So yeah, the idea of caring for someone you find reprehensible is not so alien to me; maybe that's why I "get" John in TLD. Except I'm never as violent as John; I'd hurt myself if I were.

[Pseudonym]

I don't think he is a narcissist now though. I think he could have been described as that in the first two seasons, but he's definitely more human since he came back. Yes, he has his moments but it seems OTT now. Sherlock is supposed to be the guy who catches monsters, the fact he might do it for the puzzle rather than to be heroic is by the by. 

 

I don't think I could spend much time with a narcissist, I'd want to murder them. 

[Arcadia]

Yes you would, it's quite easy to entertain the thought of murdering them. :d Hard NOT to, most of the time.

 

I agree, I think Sherlock is supposed to have outgrown his narcissism. Which means it wasn't really that in the first place, as true narcissists can't change. I'd like to see a S5 just to see how that plays out; after all, part of the fun is watching him misbehave. I guess they can still make jokes at his expense that he doesn't get (yes, that's a real thing, as I have been recently reminded; it's quite amazing, actually, how such a smart person can fail to see how ridiculous he is...) but that would get tired pretty fast.

[Pseudonym]

I just miss the young excitable twirling Sherlock. Now he's too tired and beaten down, more so than he should be at his age. I find it unlikely they could ever get back to the sheer fun of watching the exuberance of a young Sherlock in his element. 

 

I have to admit that one of my absolute weaknesses in characters is the false egotist. I'm not sure Sherlock falls into this category, I think there's a smidgen of it in him but it doesn't fully fit. I love it though. That guy (or to a lesser extent girl) who seems to be supremely arrogant, think they are God's gift, all smart-mouthed and swaggering, and then as you get to know them more and understand them better you come to realise it's all a facade and they actually have a crippling lack of self-worth. I love those characters sooo much. 

[Arcadia]

Yes, I miss the exuberance and twirling too. Maybe the next series could be about how he gets that back.

[Pseudonym]

He should always twirl. As as old man he should be twirling around his beehives. 

[Pseudonym]

God, I just watched the last three episodes of Game of Thrones back to back, so many mind blowing dragon scenes. *Flail*

[Pseudonym]

I'm watching my way through American Gods, it doesn't live up to the book but I suppose it's entertaining enough. I can tell it was made/aired on Starz though, it's got that cheesy buckets of blood, breasts and penises everywhere that the other shows I've seen on Starz had. I know Game of Thrones loves it's blood and nudity, as do loads of other shows, but Starz always seem to take it to the point where it's ridiculous. 

Anyway, that aside, does anyone else love it when there's a scene in something where a fairly small, often unheard language gets a moment in the sun? Here is the character Mad Sweeney ranting in Gaelic. :D

 

[Fantasy Lover]

Oh, yes. In wonder woman there is an extra talking in Dutch, I was worried I wouldn't hear my language but I did! I was very happy.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The only times I've ever heard Dutch spoken were when my boss (who was Dutch but had lived in the US since he was a teen) would get upset enough to swear!

 

As for Gaelic, that would include Welsh, right?  I've heard it a few times on the train to Colwyn Bay.

[Pseudonym]

No, Welsh is just referred to as Welsh. Irish and Scottish are Gaelic.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, OK.  But they're all Celtic, right?

[Pseudonym]

Yep, along with Kernewek, which is Cornish, and Manx which is from the Isle of Man. Welsh, Kernewick and Breton (Brittany) are a different branch of celtic to the others though I believe. I'm not an expert.

[Pseudonym]

Is anyone watching the new Star Trek? I've got it on my list but not got around to watching it yet.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Has there been a third episode now?

[Pseudonym]

The are three listed on Netflix, I think there's a new one out every week. 

[Fantasy Lover]

Is anyone watching the new Star Trek? I've got it on my list but not got around to watching it yet.

Unfortunately, I'm still too far behind :'(. I wanted to watch the previous shows first before I'd watch it. I'm on TNG now T_T.

[Carol the Dabbler]

My goodness -- you've assigned yourself quite a bit of homework!

[Fantasy Lover]

You don't say.

[Boton]

I have gotten captivated with this soap opera that is on Netflix (US).  It is called The Oath, and it is about a Western medicine doctor (and ballroom dancer) who butts heads and I think eventually falls for a traditional Chinese medicine physician. The show comes from Singapore

 

I've commented that Netflix has finally figured out that I like international television shows, medical dramas, ballroom dancing, and romantic comedies, and it found a show that was all of the above. 

 

(I can't understand any of their names, even with subtitles, so basically I've given everyone a nickname.)

[Carol the Dabbler]

I would be interested if you'd elaborate on "can't understand any of their names, even with subtitles." 

[Boton]

I would be interested if you'd elaborate on "can't understand any of their names, even with subtitles." 

 

Basically, I'm horrible at following whatever dialect of Chinese they speak in Singapore.   :P Even though the subtitles tell me that the heartthrob is named Guo-En, I can't seem to hear it in the dialog properly, so I can't train myself to think of him by that name.  So, in my mind, he has become "McDreamy" after the Derek Shepherd character on Grey's Anatomy.  :D

 

One of the things I like about watching non-US TV shows in their native language is the challenge of seeing if you can still pick things up from the inflection of the actors even if you don't understand the language itself. It's interesting to me how different countries and cultures inflect differently.  There have been multiple times on this show when I really wasn't sure what emotion the character was trying to project because the inflection didn't sound to me like the emotion the dialogue indicated.  I had a bit of that problem with the Russian Sherlock Holmes, too.

 

Interestingly, I have also had just a touch of that problem with Wentworth, which is an Australian show set in a prison.  (It is roughly Orange is the New Black, but with teal prison uniforms, so....Teal is the New Black.) Even though it was in English, there were some inflections that made me really have to look up at expressions and subtitles to get the point.

 

I kind of judge my ability to follow an international show by how much crocheting or knitting I can get done while I watch it.  The Oath is a challenge, but it is a fun one!

[Pseudonym]

Is he actually called McDreamy by the other characters or is it a fan thing? Going by this parody from Supernatural I'm guessing it's well known.

 

[Boton]

The other characters call him McDreamy behind his back. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm horrible at following whatever dialect of Chinese they speak in Singapore.....

 

One of the things I like about watching non-US TV shows in their native language is the challenge of seeing if you can still pick things up from the inflection of the actors even if you don't understand the language itself.

 

If you don't speak Chinese at all, and you're trying to follow a bit of what's happening by listening for inflections, it's no wonder you're confused, because Chinese (at least in the dialects I'm aware of) is a tonal language -- so what you would hear as inflection (e.g., a questioning tone) is actually part of the word itself (there are many words in Chinese that would be homonyms, except for the tonal difference).

 

Maybe Chinese also has something analogous to our inflections, maybe not -- I really have no idea.

 

But if you are familiar with any dialect of Chinese, then you were already aware of that.