THE AGONY OF GROWING UP
some thoughts
Sheri Kristen Goh
It's a story of a adolescent boy, caught in the tumultuous decade, with a distant father, troubled mother, nasty brother and vain sister; each life incident encapsulated neatly in an episode lasting less than an hour, and lives happily ever after till the next episode as a male voice narrates the moral behind each experience. Sounds familiar? No, it's not "The Wonder Years". It is, someone neatly put it, a poor orphaned cousin of aforementioned highly-acclaimed series - "Growing Up".
Okay, so Rebecca hates "Growing Up". We all know that. When asked to do this review, I tried my best to approach this from as optimistic and generous a viewpoint as possible. I really tried. After my customary Sunday dinner with my mother's extended family, when everyone was glued to the set between 8 and 9 p.m., I took a miniature poll and asked them why they liked "Growing Up" so much (carelessly assuming on my part that just because they were watching it they were manifesting positive emotions towards it...). The response? An incredulous facial expression and an emphatic, "I don't."
So why do you watch it then?
"Because there's nothing else better to watch."Hmm... so what about it don't you like?
The acting is NOT good. Inaccuracies abound - for example, David's elder sister does not function as the oldest daughter of a family in that day in age should, ie. as a second mother; teachers then never went to investigate cases of possible child abuse, as in Ah Guan's family; did they really wear school uniforms day and night? The script often leaves much to be desired, as happy endings are inevitable within the hour (does life really sort itself out so easily?) and dialogues often contrived. The fourteen- year-old main character is played by someone possibly twice his age. I could go on, but I won't.
However, notice how the above faults could be applied to almost every other drama playing on local television today - "Beverly Hills 90210", "Under One Roof", "Lois and Clark", "Party of Five", just to name a few. No drama is perfectly realistic, for the it would then cease to be called a drama. The painfully realistic movie made from the short-stories of Raymond Carver shown a couple of years back at The Picturehouse nearly caused unconsciousness with its mundane yet realistic portrayal of time and space. 'Tis sad, but true.
So why do we watch "Growing Up", aside from the fact that Sunday evenings are a drag?
It is nostalgia, and we are always suckers for reminders of the days gone by. For our parents, it is the reliving of ice-balls, hand-me-downs, fishing after school, little homework, cinemas with kacang puteh stalls, living hand to mouth with not enough money for school fees, subservience to parents, large families, and ironically, no televisions broadcasting programmes we can openly criticise over the Internet. The old days were always the good ol' days, and for many of us, for an hour on Sunday evenings, life is simple again.
So that's why I watch "Growing Up". (even though the acting is horribly painful at times) Sue me for making it a weekly affair. :)
Sheri K Goh is a Crusader of the Planet. Drink from a styrofoam cup and DIE! The Flying Inkpot Rating System:
* Wait for the TV2 broadcast.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha!
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.
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