In the Genesis, God tells Abraham he is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleads with God to not do it if he can find ten righteous men, ten good men. God does not find one. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.
That is not the case for the "Sodom by the Sea" or for Boardwalk Empire as a show. I have grown to thoroughly dislike this show. There is not one good man in it.
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In our current culture we have developed an affinity for the past. It is everywhere: the fashions we wear, the retro cars developed, the sampling of music by hip hop artists, the Tea Party claiming we need to get back to the constitution, and most visibly the number of television shows based in eras of yesteryear.
It is not uncommon for a contemporary culture to view their past and mimic it or criticize it or parody it through art. In fact, we do this with everything from the far past to recent past. Immediate events and long history gone by deserves our reimagining through our current lens.
Boardwalk Empire is a very well made show on HBO that tells the story of gangsters, bootleggers, outlaws, Federal Agents and occasionally an individual living their regular life amidst it all. It's set in Atlantic City, New Jersey immediately after the Volstead Act passes as the 18th Amendment banning alcohol in the US.
The show has an array of characters with different professions and backgrounds. It tells the story of men, women, and whites, blacks, old, young, rich and poor. It really is a great effort to fictionalize the historical narrative of what took place and the affects of Prohibition on the people involved. However, not one character exists who the viewer can like.
Certainly each character is someone that one person or another can identify with. There is the kingpin Knucky Thompson who has no emotion and deals only in money and the needs of people. There is a groupie named Lucy who talks like she is mentally retarded but really it is supposed to be a syrupy seductive voice that goes along with her sexualized character. There is a wife who may or may not be a lesbian and a young man who turned down Princeton to fight for his country. There are so many characters with back stories and details that the viewer probably has a common experience somewhere among them.
However, the characters are not likeable. No one embodies hope. No one is good. Each person leads a double life and the shadowy part of that life is pulling them down and destroying what they have. Yet no one gets out of what is ailing them. There is so much tension inside a character that the show could pass as an adolescent melodrama from the CW.
The characters are all so detailed and "complex" in their stories that they are clean cut. Knucky ran Atlantic City by paying people off, has no emotions, and is now being challenged because he has no discernable ability to do anything but pay people off. He clashes with his younger brother who has little brother syndrome and neither have respect from their father. Knucky has no children but two possible surrogate sons, the Princeton drop out turned Vet and his live in girlfriend's young son. One is trying to kill him and the other is taking after him but both just want emotion from him.
This clear cut characterization is exactly what I hate about the show. It isn't subtle no matter how many glances or looks or non verbal communication used. Each seen is packed with references to the era and the view is up to their ears in historical, emotional, and storyline props. Each frame is overfilled with information about what the story teller is saying. It's as if the viewer is being beat over the head with symbolism.
The sets look so authentic they look fake. How is this possible? Because they are full sets with some CGI backing. They are all closed areas with ceilings and no windows. It reminds me of the end of Captain America [Spoiler Alert] when he wakes up in a hotel room and the sun shines through the window but the window is frosted so he can't see out. It's because it's a set to make him think he is still in the 1940's. It was fake and nostalgic and caricature and claustrophobic. That is Boardwalk Empire. (not to mention the clothing. it is so perfect, there is no way each person in the Atlantic City is as buttoned up like they are in this show)
I sat and wondered what made this show an HBO show besides the recreation of set, costume, and violence or nudity that cannot be showed on network TV. Was it the acting? No, not really. Was it the pacing? No, not at all. If I have to watch one more scene of someone slowly walking somewhere or staring at someone else then I will scalp the old man with money who green lit this season’s storyline Jimmy from Princeton dropout fame style. I could not come up with any reason as to why this show is on HBO besides the production value and graphic scenes.
I understand what the story tellers are trying to do. They want to tell a story about the dualism of people and their inability to live in a place with corruption and not be corrupted. I get that, but it is just no fun to watch. The only hope I had all season was when Chalky White was in jail because he was going to be lynched for the black retaliation to the KKK. So Knucky had him put in jail "for his protection." While he was there he was challenged by a loud talking bore who had no idea who he was dealing with. Chalky used his relationships with the other men in the prison to beat the man to death. Chalky was in jail, but somehow we saw his power affirmed through relationship with others and he would get out and rectify the wrongs he was facing. Plus the range of emotion and depth Chalky displayed was far more than anything seen on the face of Knucky or Jimmy (Princeton).
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Many people do not like the idea of "Rewriting History". To them it is a Progressive ploy to change the events of the past to fit the current climate of the present. In many ways, that is exactly what it is. We cherry pick ideas, events, and characters claiming them as our forefather of thought. We anchor our arguments in their celebrity/character because it gives our argument credit not because we actually agree with belief system of the person we are using.
Nonetheless, we rewrite history all the time. In fact, it is an important and necessary exercise. There are fundamental or concrete events that take place. We cannot deny wars, treaties, revolutions, etc. We only argue over the motives and ideas behind them. The funny thing about motives and ideas is they are abstract and impossible to nail down. But the bigger question is, why do we steep ourselves in history? Why is it important?
It is important because in our post-post modern, pluralistic era, we have no idea who we are. We choose a belief system rather than having it passed down. We choose our employment rather than taking over the family business. We are not a homogenous society and therefore we have little to no common beliefs, values, or traditions. Therefore we look to our past to find our common or shared identity.
If we can identify what made us who we are and rally behind our history (the goods and condemn the bads) we can unite in the present. We look to history as a guide on what and how to choose who we are today. There is a reason schools around the country are struggling to redefine what it means to be American or give students a common belief system through "shared values". We use the belief in the Natural Rights of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness or Property to derive what we believe as Americans. There is no one common world view or religion which is where we get our values and actions. Therefore we try to constantly redefine and re-identify ourselves.
The most common form right now is through historical narrative. More and more history is being written or fictionalized about 1900-1939 because since 1946 we have been defined by the WWII generation. Now as a second Lost Generation emerges among the large gap of poverty and wealth, decade long wars that the nation is not entirely behind, and new technologies changing the way we conduct relationship on a daily basis, people are more and more interested in the era when morals and values were tried and questioned.
What the Lost Generation of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Stein found out is that everyone is morally corrupt in one way or another. That is the message of Boardwalk Empire. That is why the show is difficult to watch. There is not one good person on the show and everyone has a dual personality.
Sure this is life. Sure, people are bad and have dark secrets. But what drives me nuts about these characters and these storylines is that they chase something to the death that will not make them happy in the end. It sounds a lot like Fitzgerald chasing Zelda or alcohol; like Hemingway chases women, booze, and sport.
If there is no hope or good, then ok. But I don't want to watch a show about a lack of happiness. Is there not enough of it in the world we live? In fact, the bleak outlook of the show is so bleak that the real world is better than the decadence and self destruction that takes place. Why would I care about characters that don't care about themselves?
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Maybe Boardwalk Empire is trying to tell the story of the human condition. They do it well if the human condition is a lack of happiness, chasing one's tail, and destroying what we love simply for monetary gain or personal vendetta. Maybe it shows that even the people who have it all have nothing and those who have nothing want it all but don't know what is in store for them.
Maybe it is a cautionary tale for society to see that government is a failure and that is not what to put our hope in. I have no idea what the purpose of the show is besides telling a sad story of a large ensemble of people who live double lives.
Boardwalk Empire was billed as historical drama but has misfired greatly in regards to the culture it is performing to and the story it seeks to tell. It does not promote any sort of common history that allows the viewer to redefine or critically analyze their identity as Americans. Further it fails in story telling because it is so concerned with the appearance of the show and the safe story telling that each show plods along like a elementary student telling a story. Once an episode someone acts violently that affects roughly 1/6 of the cast of the show. Never is it an important character and never do these encounters reveal anything more about the character but only confirms what the viewer already knew. Characters are highly detailed and possibly complex but are static and lack any arc at all (a trait associated with network comedies).
I want to like Boardwalk Empire but I find the story dull only spiced up with random nudity, some intense sex scene, or requisite every other episode brutal killing. Its message is not one of great interest. I'm not denying that people are bad or dualistic; I'm just saying I don't want to watch it. It lacks spontaneity, aggressive pacing, and is formulaic. It is just uninteresting.
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