Discuss When We Rise
Discuss → TV Shows → When We Rise → General
Disappointed (thus far)
posted by NoVaNY-CinematicoSTAFFMOD on February 28, 2017 at 7:11 PM
I really hate to be a Debbie Downer but i was very disappointed with the 1st episode of this mini-series.
The problem, in my opinion, is with the dialogue. I hate dialogue in movies or tv programs that sound like tidy soundbites as those spoken by pundits and other talking heads in 24 hour news channels. It either needed the theatrical panache & bite of Paddy Chayevsky or the grittiness & realism of Mike Leigh or Andrew Haigh (or a combination of all three).
Also the narratives are very rushed and not fully explained, particularly with Roma Guy story (so there was a conflict between the various female liberation groups? Explain please).
Oh well 
Reply by Stand*Chickie
on March 3, 2017 at 9:12 AM
A lot of it they didn't explain very well. What I wondered about was how were they getting disability benefits for being addicts? I didn't think you could get benefits for that. You can't in the state I live in anyway, but maybe it's different in California. When Ken was in the HIV support group he was saying how everyone would only talk about their drug and alcohol problems, but not about being HIV for fear of losing their benefits check.
Reply by NoVaNY-Cinematico
on March 3, 2017 at 1:37 PM
I didn't even realize that the Ken character had developed a substance-abuse problem!
In California, in the 1990s (which is when those scenes take place), its very possible that the VA had a substance-abuse therapy program because it is a genuine problem to address & rectify. It's possible the VA probably did not have protocols regarding treatment of HIV+ veterans (something worth researching).
I have to say though that i wish there was a 2 hour movie just about the Ken character, someone who wasn't as much in the spotlight as the other 2 protagonists in this serial, but whose struggles were as important and compelling (paraphrasing Viola Davis' tribute to August Wilson). And Michael Kenneth Williams, who plays the adult Ken, is magnetic (he was also terrific in HBO's "The Night of"
Reply by Stand*Chickie
on March 3, 2017 at 2:17 PM
Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot he was in a VA program. I was thinking they were talking about Social Security disability or state SSI, because some years ago I had a drinking problem, along with severe depression and anxiety, and I was told you can't get disability for an addiction so I had to focus solely on my mental problems instead. They claim it can even hinder your chances of getting approved with Social Security if they find out about substance abuse. I didn't know that at the time, though. I still got denied anyway.
Maybe he'll be included more in scenes coming on tonight. I hope so.