#obviously i have no inside knowledge on dropout's production practices | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thevalleyisjolly · 1 year ago

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It's impossible to describe the experience of watching Total Forgiveness to people, like how do I explain that this is one of the most compelling shows I've ever watched and it's even one of my comfort rewatch shows but also I cannot rewatch a good third of the series because it makes me so viscerally uncomfortable and this would absolutely never be greenlit by the Dropout of today but it's also essential viewing for understanding not only the development of the company but the public personas of many of the key people involved in Dropout. It's funny and then it's painfully dark and then at the last minute it's hopeful and heartwarming again but damn if it isn't raw all the way through. From the crushing pressure of living under late-stage capitalism to the severe toll on personal relationships that the very premise of the show enables. Also there's a jaunty little soundtrack. 11/10 will rewatch again and again. Except the MLM challenge. I am psychologically unable to watch that again for any sum of money on this planet.

#the valley is posting #it's like my favourite rewatch show that i cannot watch a good third of #like the poop challenge is painful and the flea market challenge is like a slow motion tragedy #but something about the mlm challenge is just so viscerally uncomfortable that i cannot rewatch it to this day #and i think a lot of how dropout is today as a company is informed partially by the experience of making this show #obviously i have no inside knowledge on dropout's production practices #but it seems like they're very conscious about the safety and ongoing consent of everyone involved in a production #also total forgiveness showed that they were capable of doing high concept and high budget shows with a stunt and a money element #if you compare game changer s1 and s2 with later seasons (especially post lockdown)#you can see a change in the formula that invests more in the personalities on each episode rather than the novelty of the hook #more targeted episodes designed around specific casts and more game samers to test out potential spinoffs

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