I have an immensely important announcement to make...
I
Have
Finally
Gotten
Netflix!
Yes, that is correct I am likely the last 20-Something American to finally join the many, the bingers, the Proud Netflix Users! Having been exceptionally late to the social media fiasco's that are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it was only right that I only now bring Netflix into my life. I had predicted what the effects of such a streaming service would have on me, and I can honestly say I was right. On day's I don't have work I sit, I write, I binge-watch. Stranger Things was the first show covered, and as I type this, I am already on the second season of The West Wing. Binging is quite a unique kind of viewing experience. It allocates a mental continuity to viewers that are unfortunately closed off from them during traditional television viewing. Binging allows us to tap into our insatiable primitive appetite for entertainment and our gluttonous impulses as consumers. Netflix has opened my mind and heart to so many incredible sources of entertainment and psycho-spiritual insight. The sentiment "better late than never" could never ring more true to my ears.
The second show I chose to binge-watch with my new Netflix account was the highly popular, but little discussed Netflix Original Series, Sense8. Sense8 is a show about eight diverse strangers from all around the globe who slowly begin to learn that they have a psychogenetic connection to one another. They can experience one another's physical and emotional sensations as well as tap into each other's various capabilities and skills. These people known as "Sensates" are being hunted by mysterious government figures who wish to lobotomize and ultimately eradicate their existence from this world. Sense8 is shot on location all around the world in places including Mexico City, Mumbai and South Korea. The cast is as international as the location shoots with each actor being indigence to the place in which their character resides, for the most part at least. Sense8 alternates, continuously between eight different plot lines at a given time, and as the show progresses and the characters take a firmer hold of their unique abilities, these plotlines slowly, but inevitably begin to interweave with one another. Within these many plot lines, the topics covered are of a broad range including, law enforcement, Trans Rights, drug use, arranged marriages, female prison life and struggling with AIDS. Sense8 isn't done in the way of 7th Heaven or Glee's "Topic of the Week" style of storytelling. These topics run their course with relative consistency throughout the shows first season, and likely will continue to as the show goes forward. It is a television show about people, all kinds of people, living in various everyday circumstances with extraordinary abilities. Though their "extraordinary" abilities seem surprisingly realistic, likely because they are infused with realism, thanks to the talented cast and expert cinematographers.
Sense8 is a vitally important piece of entertainment at this current time in the world because it promotes the idea of a universal connectedness; a tangible string that ties us together despite our abundantly apparent differences. The show allocates a fair portion of its running time to allow each character's storyline a chance to make its plea for relevance to the audience, although sometimes the show's plea feels excessive. These actors are well-tuned and don't have to try very hard to gain our sympathy, though the writers occasionally waste running time in order to do just that. Long shots done simply to evoke a characters desperation or pain, can go a long way, but only if used sparingly. The show must keep working to find balance as it continues to juggle between the complex dynamics of the multi-narrative style it has laid before us. It must maintain this interconnectivity, especially now that the characters are much more aware of their unique situation and interact more with their fellow Sensates. Culture clashes are inevitable, but I firmly believe the show can and should handle them quite well, and without kid gloves or insult. It should also continue to build bridges of understanding between the various cultures and diverse lifestyles it depicts with great detail and superbly photographed set design. If more television shows, whether on Netflix or basic cable, took the groundbreaking chances that Sense8 does, maybe TV viewers would be an even more informed and culturally enriched bunch? Well, as I said earlier, better late than never.
