Three recs, holiday weekend edition
The biggest-budget WW2 show, a not-pandemic novel, a feminist comfort watch
It’s a holiday weekend here in the UK (the one good thing about having a state religion, I guess?) and one of this week’s recs is a bit longer than usual, so let’s keep this short and get straight to the good stuff.
Brits: enjoy your time off. Americans and everyone else: sorry?
Let me know what you’re spending your weekends watching/reading/listening to!
Rec 1
Masters of the Air (TV)
I know I’ve been foreshadowing this one for months, as a fan of Dad Shows™, and it’s finally here!
In this gargantuan-budget Apple limited series, the team behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific (Spielberg, Hanks, et al) takes on the Eight Air Force and the Bloody Hundredth, the US Air Force unit that bombed Germany during WWII. In other words, if Band of Brothers was about the Army during WWII, and The Pacific was about the Navy during WWII, this is the one about the Air Force during WWII. And just like in those series, they’ve gone for a star-studded cast of mostly-not-American actors – in this case, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, Ncuti Gatwa. (Okay, there are one or two Americans, most notably Austin Butler and the soon-to-be-huge Nate Mann.) Also, some of the great contemporary directors are at the helm, including Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees, and Tim Van Patten.
Now, I need to issue a huge caveat before I tell you how much I enjoyed this: This show is deeply personal for me. My grandfather was a navigator in B-17 bombers over Europe during the war, just like the characters in the show. He was lucky enough not to be in the Bloody Hundredth, which was so named because of the horrific survival stats for its members, but otherwise this show is essentially a literal depiction of his experience.
I grew up hearing his stories – and asking questions he refused to answer, seeing places he couldn’t bring himself to go – and spent the time I watched this show re-reading the memoirs he wrote of his time in the war. This series brought it all to life in vivid detail (with truly exceptional CGI and VFX), and I was struck by how similar to his experience the show was, from the mechanical problems that forced aborted missions, to getting hit by flack and still having to safely navigate the plane home, to the way the terrified men (boys, really) pranked and ragged on each other.
But the thing that I appreciated most about this show – and that gave me much more insight into the things my grandfather didn’t talk or write about – is its depiction of mental health and trauma. So many latter-day American depictions of WWII seem to buy into the bravado and take these people’s so-called heroism at face value.
In sharp contrast, Masters of the Air reveals that bravado as a manifestation of their underlying fear. It shows how horrifically terrifying and traumatizing it was to send these people into these situations, where they lost their friends on a daily basis, feared for their lives constantly, and blamed themselves for the deaths of innocents (compatriots, allies, and German civilians alike). It’s honestly not easy watching at times, but, as my dad and I discussed throughout, if my grandfather could live it, the least I can do is see it on a screen.
None of this is to say that this is a perfect show. It tries to do too much, and suffers as a result. Storylines and characters are left hanging – partly because that was reality, and partly because it doesn’t have enough time. It’s often unclear whose story we’re following. And then there’s the unnecessarily melodramatic music.
But I’ve always been a fan of art that swings big, whether or not it lands everything. And I loved what this show was aiming for.
Where: Apple TV+
Rec 2
Station Eleven (book)
Even before COVID, it was weird to tell people that one of your favorite books was about a devastatingly deadly global pandemic. Okay, it’s actually about the aftermath, rather than the pandemic itself, but still.
And then our own pandemic came and I went around telling everyone that they should really read this masterpiece by Emily St. John Mandel. Because, the thing is, it’s not about death and disease and destruction at all: It’s about life and art and human connection, and all the things that make life worth living.
Despite the flashy, high-concept pandemic hook, this novel actually tells the story of a troop of itinerant actors in the Upper Midwest who perform exclusively Shakespeare about 20 years after most of the world’s population was wiped out. It’s about the things that last when we’re gone and the way humans constantly seek meaning and community. It asks unanswerable questions about civilization and existence. It will break your heart and, in these fraught days, it will remind you that art and stories and each other are why we live.
And this is why I was recommending a book about a fictional pandemic in the middle of a real pandemic: Because it offers hope and light in the darkness. Who doesn’t need that?
Before anyone complains: Yes, I know, there is a TV series adaptation of this on HBO. I haven’t seen it. I know, I’m remiss. It’s supposed to be great, too, but I will have to defer to you on that.
Where: Borrow it for free from your local library, or buy it from your non-Amazon bookseller of choice. (Here’s the Bookshop US link, and here’s the Bookshop UK link.)
(In the name of full transparency: I’ve included affiliate links to Bookshop.org – if you’re going to order from them anyway, please use my link so I can make a little extra cash! If you want to see/order any/all of my book recs, I’ve made lists on Bookshop, too: US version, UK version.)
Rec 3
Younger (TV)
And now for a little light at the end of the email!
Do you want to laugh? Do you want to have absolutely no fear that the show you’re watching will break your heart? Do you want to feel warm and cozy and safe in the hands of capable performers and experienced storytellers of smart, funny melodramas? Then, step right up, come on down, and all that jazz.
This half-hour (!) comedy-drama series from Darren Star (of Sex and the City fame) stars the perpetually charming and charismatic Sutton Foster as a 40-year-old suburban mom who suddenly finds herself moving to Williamsburg and having to go back to work after a nasty divorce, having not been in the workforce for something like 18 years. (Note: No, you’re not confused – this show started in 2015, Sutton Foster is now 49.) In order to get a job in publishing (the only job she’d ever had), she pretends to be 26. Because she’s Sutton Foster, you buy that this is possible.
The inimitable Miriam Shor plays her uptight boss, an unexpectedly excellent Hilary Duff plays her work wife and tutor on all things millennial, and the delightful Debi Mazar plays her no-BS BFF and now roommate. And then, of course, there’s the tattooed hipster millennial guy she starts dating under equally false pretenses. And don’t forget her daughter, who has just started college. Hijinks ensue!
There’s not-so-subtle commentary on both women in society and the state of publishing. There are love triangles all over the place and in all kinds of arrangements. Like all shows that film in New York, there is an exceptional line-up of guest stars. The list goes on.
Yes, this show is fantastical and silly. It’s also a sheer delight. It ran for seven seasons (12 episodes each), so it has its ups and downs, but it’s one of those classic comfort shows where you can get lost in it and know that you’re going to have a good time.
Where: Hulu (US), and I suggest everyone in the UK get VPNs
That’s all for this week! What are you reading/watching/listening to that I should be aware of? Drop me a line (or comment) to let me know if you check out any of my recs and what you think.
Please spread the word and I’ll see you in a couple weeks.
xo
Kate
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