Normal People, is it realistic?

This is not about normal people as such more about the themes of it.

I have watched bits of it a bit moody for me. I am ancient so maybe I do not get it, so what I am wondering is, is it a realistic portrait of a teenage/ twenties relationship in Irish society?

ILoveYourVibes

mariaalice wrote: »

This is not about normal people as such more about the themes of it.

I have watched bits of it a bit moody for me. I am ancient so maybe I do not get it, so what I am wondering is, is it a realistic portrait of a teenage/ twenties relationship in Irish society?

Honestly its the most boring thing i have seen on Irish telly in a while.

cj maxx

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Honestly its the most boring thing i have seen on Irish telly in a while.

What?

ILoveYourVibes

cj maxx wrote: »

What?

Normal/Boring people. My god it was a yawn fest.

posturingpat

It seems pretty accurate for me. A lot of Conal rang through.
I wouldn't have been as smart as him but as a young lad I and I'm sure many other lads were big ****es when it came to telling a woman how we feel or even admitting to our friends if we found someone attractive unless they were universally accepted as being attractive.
Not sure how far the Rte version is on but there's more things he goes through later in the series doubting himself that was basically me for the first half of my 20's.

Omackeral

You might want to get a better thread title and capitalize “Normal People” and state it’s a tv show that you’re talking about. It’s a very confusing opening post tbh if you’ve never heard of it.

seamus

I'm not sure if the relationship is typical, but the characters definitely are.

I absolutely cannot stand the male character, he reminds me so much of all of the wooden personality voids that I went to school with. Dead eyes, emotionless monotone conversation. Which is probably to the actor's credit.

She definitely reminds me strongly of many people I went to college with, who used the new found freedom as an excuse to be overly pretentious and intellectual.

There's not much groundbreaking in the relationship tbh. Most peoples' first sexual experiences are between 16 and 21, and they're often ill-advised, awkward affairs.

Ten of Swords

Thread title has been edited to something slightly less like clickbaity waffle :mad:

Padre_Pio

I think it is, probably too realistic for TV, given the conversations can be awkward and stunted, but that's what people talk like in awkward situations.
I think it's very slow and plodding, but life for most is slow and plodding.

Honestly I see a lot of my own teenage experiences there.

Ten of Swords

Ten of Swords wrote: »

Thread title has been edited to something slightly less like clickbaity waffle :mad:

I am inclined to have a bit of a waffley style of communication makes life interesting.

vandriver

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

Padre_Pio

Padre_Pio wrote: »

I think it is, probably too realistic for TV, given the conversations can be awkward and stunted, but that's what people talk like in awkward situations.
I think it's very slow and plodding, but life for most is slow and plodding.

Honestly I see a lot of my own teenage experiences there.

It dose capture that aspect very well.

highdef

mariaalice wrote: »

This is not about normal people as such more about the themes of it.

I have watched bits of it a bit moody for me. I am ancient so maybe I do not get it, so what I am wondering is, is it a realistic portrait of a teenage/ twenties relationship in Irish society?

I've no idea what you're on about. I'm a fairly normal person, I think, if that helps.

Kermit.de.frog

Mary: "It was like porn Joe"

Joe: "Sure what would yeh see in a porno Mary?"

vandriver

vandriver wrote: »

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

Not a N plate either, so he must be a bit slow? At least 19 and in school!

Maybe its our Americanised saturated media where its all shiny glossy people that make Normal people such a contrast and seem plodding.

listermint

vandriver wrote: »

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

I'd a car in school and I wasn't what you'd call affluent.

Few people had them back then too. This was a community mixed school.

Padre_Pio

Deleted User wrote: »

Not a N plate either, so he must be a bit slow? At least 19 and in school!

He's from Sligo, different rules hai!

DesperateDan

vandriver wrote: »

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

Give him a break, he's 30

hynesie08

Every character in it is a lazy stereotype, just a slightly different lazy stereotype to other shows, and some of the storytelling is just insulting, but it nails a few things, and shure there's the debs like, remember the debs...... But overall style over substance.

lainey_d_123

vandriver wrote: »

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

Eh? It's pretty common for people to have their own cars and drive to school in Ireland, both north and south. You can drive at 17, so what's weird about a final year secondary student driving on a full licence?

unhappys10

vandriver wrote: »

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

I had my full licence in the Feb of the year I did the leaving, I turned 18 the following May.

megaten

vandriver wrote: »

Still at school and driving his own car on a full license.That strained credibility just too far.

Friend of mine managed it around the same time the book is set. Did every single thing the minute he was eligible for it and passed his driving test when he was 18 or a bit after.

ILoveYourVibes

It is in NO way representative of my teen years.

Popular Guys didn't go for 'unpopular' but intelligent girls. They went for popular girls.

If any guy DID get off with a girl no matter WHO the **** that girl was he was telling everyone he got off with someone.

There was way way less money.

There was way way more drugs.

There was way more stealing things.

There was also way more craic and being daft in my teen years.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

The secondary school episodes are set in 2011/2012, had they already brought out the N plates by then?

lainey_d_123

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

It is in NO way representative of my teen years.

Popular Guys didn't go for 'unpopular' but intelligent girls. They went for popular girls.

If any guy DID get off with a girl no matter WHO the **** that girl was he was telling everyone he got off with someone.

There was way way less money.

There was way way more drugs.

There was way more stealing things.

Weirdly, it's not about you.

Fairly realistic I'd imagine ........... from outside looking in, boring as fnck.
From an entertainment viewpoint, not great. Maybe it appeals to folk in their teens?

MoonUnit75

mariaalice wrote: »

Maybe its our Americanised saturated media where its all shiny glossy people that make Normal people such a contrast and seem plodding.

Well it's a soap opera with more sex, mood music and all of the light hearted stuff taken out. If you explained the storyline to someone who never saw it there's nothing really in there that you wouldn't expect in Home and Away or Neighbours. I guess the glacial pacing makes the impact on the main characters more real. But they are all stereotypes and no one really develops in any meaningful way.

I guess it ticks a lot of nostalgia boxes and

the lack of any conclusion

means it lingers on afterwards. Everyone can relate to

'the one who got away'

.

lainey_d_123

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

The secondary school episodes are set in 2011/2012, had they already brought out the N plates by then?

Nope. They came in in 2014.

ILoveYourVibes

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Weirdly, it's not about you.

No but i would say my teens are fairly universal.

ILoveYourVibes

Augeo wrote: »

Fairly realistic I'd imagine ........... from outside looking in, boring as fnck.
From an entertainment viewpoint, not great. Maybe it appeals to folk in their teens?

Ya ...like TWILIGHT!

Kermit.de.frog

We need to get this fornicating filth off our televisions

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Nope. They came in in 2014.

The year the book/show ends.

ILoveYourVibes

TBH Irish teens are going through a lot right now. I think they deserve a bit of fornicating filth marketed toward them.

Sardonicat

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

We need to get this fornicating filth off our televisions

....and into our bedrooms!

ILoveYourVibes

Sardonicat wrote: »

....and into our bedrooms!

It won't come ..i've tried luring it and everything! :mad:

vandriver

listermint wrote: »

I'd a car in school and I wasn't what you'd call affluent.

Few people had them back then too. This was a community mixed school.

Were you paying 4 grand insurance while doing your leaving?

unhappys10

vandriver wrote: »

Were you paying 4 grand insurance while doing your leaving?

What are you raving about?
3 or 4 people in my year had cars at 17, one in particular paying something like 600 as a named driver, they were farmers though.
Not everyone pays stupid money to start off.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I knew several people with cars in their final year of school. That's quite realistic.

MoonUnit75

unhappys10 wrote: »

What are you raving about?
3 or 4 people in my year had cars at 17, one in particular paying something like 600 as a named driver, they were farmers though.
Not everyone pays stupid money to start off.

Exactly, they live in the town and his mother is a cleaner. He seems to be the one driving her around. Not explained how he affords the car and insurance. It would have made more sense for Marianne to have a car.

RobertKK

Maybe it is realistic to some, for others not.

That is how varied life is.

ILoveYourVibes

unhappys10 wrote: »

What are you raving about?
3 or 4 people in my year had cars at 17, one in particular paying something like 600 as a named driver, they were farmers though.
Not everyone pays stupid money to start off.

Yes they do ...

Dude ...young guys when i was at school were quoted thousands for insurance ...this article says 18k.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/teenager-quoted-18-693-90-to-insure-a-14-year-old-car-1.3731834?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fteenager-quoted-18-693-90-to-insure-a-14-year-old-car-1.3731834

To be a named drive at that age depending on the country etc and the car ..easily 4k.

unhappys10

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Yes they do ...

Dude ...young guys when i was at school were quoted thousands for insurance ...this article says 18k.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/teenager-quoted-18-693-90-to-insure-a-14-year-old-car-1.3731834?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fteenager-quoted-18-693-90-to-insure-a-14-year-old-car-1.3731834

To be a named drive at that age depending on the country etc and the car ..easily 4k.

No, they don't. I just have you an example of one that didn't.
I don't care what articles you throw up, it's not true for everyone.

Ps unless you can throw up an article detailing the amounts paid by every person starting off for the last 20 years?
Didn't think so.

Padre_Pio

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Yes they do ...

Dude ...young guys when i was at school were quoted thousands for insurance ...this article says 18k.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/teenager-quoted-18-693-90-to-insure-a-14-year-old-car-1.3731834?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fteenager-quoted-18-693-90-to-insure-a-14-year-old-car-1.3731834

To be a named drive at that age depending on the country etc and the car ..easily 4k.

Mine was 2k. Car was 1500.
Not a bother when working over summer and living at home.

EDIT: and my parents paid for part of it :rolleyes:
Long time ago now..

ILoveYourVibes

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Mine was 2k. Car was 1500.
Not a bother when working over summer and living at home.

Yeah ....most guys who did drive paid more for the insurance than their car.

I heard of one guy ...who bought a sports car ..insurance KILLED him.

lainey_d_123

MoonUnit75 wrote: »

Exactly, they live in the town and his mother is a cleaner. He seems to be the one driving her around. Not explained how he affords the car and insurance. It would have made more sense for Marianne to have a car.

He works in Centra. Wages in Ireland are high, even minimum wage. It's pretty easy to save up for stuff when you're not paying rent and bills and the like. If he works at the weekend and during the holidays, how can he not afford a car and insurance?

ILoveYourVibes

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

He works in Centra. Wages in Ireland are high, even minimum wage. It's pretty easy to save up for stuff when you're not paying rent and bills and the like. If he works at the weekend and during the holidays, how can he not afford a car and insurance?

Teens have expenses.

Tork

Yeah, I thought it was fairly realistic, even though things have changed a lot since I was their age. I winced at some of the scenes where Marianne was being bullied and Connell kept his mouth shut. It reminded me of a girl in my class who we all picked on (I am ashamed to say I was one of them) for no other reason than that she didn't quite fit in. As an adult, I wish I'd stood up for her instead of moronically joining in with the chorus of classmates who mocked her. I honestly didn't see how hurtful we were at the time but quite frankly, we were ****s. By and large, teenagers don't want to stand out from the crowd and they fear the consequences of being the one who doesn't belong in the gang. I thought Normal People really nailed that. Connell not inviting Marianne to the Debs and failing to understand why that was wrong is typical teenage behaviour. It's to his credit that he came to realise why he had got it so wrong.

The sex was realistic too. How many of us had sex in childhood bedrooms, slept in single beds and got jiggy when parents weren't around? And I can relate to the fear and excitement of having sex for the first time. I just wish it had been with someone was nice as Connell but that's neither here nor there

Connell moving to Trinity also brought back memories of what it was like to go to college. It isn't today or yesterday since I went to college but those feelings of loneliness, disconnection, not belonging, wondering what the hell you're doing here etc. are universal. I didn't go to TCD but I can confidently say I met all those types of people Marianne and Connell did.

The inarticulateness of the characters was really realistic too. I think we've got so used to watching articulate Americans with carefully crafted lines of dialogue, we forget that humans don't talk like that. We aren't always articulate or good at constructing proper sentences in our heads. We don't say what's on our minds, even though we should. If Connell had been better at saying what was on his mind, it would've made life a lot less complicated for him.

listermint

vandriver wrote: »

Were you paying 4 grand insurance while doing your leaving?

Feels like

A. You didn't have a car at that age.
B. Weren't working since you were allowed to either.

Have I hit the nail on the head ?

Get a job ya bum. Being in school doesn't prevent you from doing that.

ILoveYourVibes

Tork wrote: »

Yeah, I thought it was fairly realistic, even though things have changed a lot since I was their age. I winced at some of the scenes where Marianne was being bullied and Connell kept his mouth shut. It reminded me of a girl in my class who we all picked on (I am ashamed to say I was one of them) for no other reason than that she didn't quite fit in. As an adult, I wish I'd stood up for her instead of moronically joining in with the chorus of classmates who mocked her. I honestly didn't see how hurtful we were at the time but quite frankly, we were ****s. By and large, teenagers don't want to stand out from the crowd and they fear the consequences of being the one who doesn't belong in the gang. I thought Normal People really nailed that. Connell not inviting Marianne to the Debs and failing to understand why that was wrong is typical teenage behaviour. It's to his credit that he came to realise why he had got it so wrong.

The sex was realistic too. How many of us had sex in childhood bedrooms, slept in single beds and got jiggy when parents weren't around? And I can relate to the fear and excitement of having sex for the first time. I just wish it had been with someone was nice as Connell but that's neither here nor there

Connell moving to Trinity also brought back memories of what it was like to go to college. It isn't today or yesterday since I went to college but those feelings of loneliness, disconnection, not belonging, wondering what the hell you're doing here etc. are universal. I didn't go to TCD but I can confidently say I met all those types of people Marianne and Connell did.

The inarticulateness of the characters was really realistic too. I think we've got so used to watching articulate Americans with carefully crafted lines of dialogue, we forget that humans don't talk like that. We aren't always articulate or good at constructing proper sentences in our heads. We don't say what's on our minds, even though we should. If Connell had been better at saying what was on his mind, it would've made life a lot less complicated for him.

True ..teens are fascist sheep.

ILoveYourVibes

listermint wrote: »

Feels like

A. You didn't have a car at that age.
B. Weren't working since you were allowed to either.

Have I hit the nail on the head ?

Get a job ya bum. Being in school doesn't prevent you from doing that.

Feels like someone had parents who helped ...and has forgotten.