Normal People, is it realistic?

Aongus Von Bismarck

MoonUnit75 wrote: »

He’s some guy though, working after school and weekends, has an active social life, drives his mother around, plays lots of sports, has a secret girlfriend and still gets enough points to do literature at Trinity.

Sounds just like my final year in secondary school to be honest, only I got enough points in the LC to study German and Business in Trinity.

That was 20 years ago.

I really enjoyed Normal People. Both the book, and the TV show. It's a piece that resonated with me, and the characters were as relevant to a man in his late 30's as they would have been to a teenage me. It's also a gorgeous show to look at.

Arghus

Read through the thread there.

I have neither watched the show or read the book.

It's about some young fella trying to buy a car is it?

SusieBlue

Arghus wrote: »

Read through the thread there.

I have neither watched the show or read the book.

It's about some young fella trying to buy a car is it?

The car is the up there as possibly the least significant and most irrelevant thing in the whole show, but some people here chose it as their hill to die on. Bizarre.

StupidLikeAFox

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Yes - she was aloof, snappy, intellectual. She had an opinion of herself an certainly wasn't a crowd pleaser or trying to fit in with anyone and didn't suffer fools. This would paint a target on her back regardless of her looks.

Beautifully summed up.

Read through the thread there.

I have neither watched the show or read the book.

It's about some young fella trying to buy a car is it?

Large tracts of the book involve him getting insurance quotes for a Fiesta he saw on DoneDeal.

Tork

Did it explain where he got his chain? Argos?

lozenges

I'm at about episode 6 (I think). Love it so far. The male lead is a phenomenal actor. The girl is pretty good as well. I find it extremely realistic as well, it really evoked pretty much exactly what school and college felt like for me.
I don't think the sex scenes are sensationalist either. Looks pretty much like normal sex to me.

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say. The Deb's stuff seemed totally believable though and he actually seems less able to communicate his feelings in college, more in keeping for a guy his age.

AllForIt

The guy could be Mario Rossenstocks' son. Is he?

ILoveYourVibes

Apparently some right wing people think its a subversion of Irish culture by the director. I think they rang joe duffy and gemma o doherty.

AllForIt

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Apparently some right wing people think its a subversion of Irish culture by the director. I think they rang joe duffy and gemma o doherty.

Would you be referring to this?

https://youtu.be/QztgQDBGm68?t=645

Beechwoodspark

I’m 90% sure some (not all) of those callers were plants on joe Duffy to stir up publicity for the show

Beechwoodspark

lozenges wrote: »

I'm at about episode 6 (I think). Love it so far. The male lead is a phenomenal actor. The girl is pretty good as well. I find it extremely realistic as well, it really evoked pretty much exactly what school and college felt like for me.
I don't think the sex scenes are sensationalist either. Looks pretty much like normal sex to me.

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say. The Deb's stuff seemed totally believable though and he actually seems less able to communicate his feelings in college, more in keeping for a guy his age.

When I saw it first - knowing nothing of the novel - his maturity and appearance made me wonder was there a plot device that he was a mid-late 20s guy pretending to be much younger. And then a twist further in the series when this was revealed to the girl that he was living a lie.

It’s a definite let down in terms of casting.

Decisions on casting should never cause such confusion with the audience.

Beechwoodspark

SusieBlue wrote: »

The car is the up there as possibly the least significant and most irrelevant thing in the whole show, but some people here chose it as their hill to die on. Bizarre.

You see that’s where you’ve picked it up wrong with the posts, with respect

Ppl are naturally pointing out the car is not realistic for this guy when we know his background - just on or slightly above poverty line, single mother who is working as a cleaner in his secret girlfriends mansion - gah ...even just typing that - such cliched tripe !

But back to the car - ppl rightly are saying it doesn’t have the ring of truth and authenticity about it. That’s all.

mariaalice

The things it does capture very well is the teenage feeling or more likely imagining that everyone else is normal except them and not realising that because of teenage self-absorption everyone else is wearing a mask as well.

It also captures that inarticulate speech heart of someone too young to have the skills, life experience and maturity to articulate what is happening to them.

Feisar

lozenges wrote: »

I'm at about episode 6 (I think). Love it so far. The male lead is a phenomenal actor. The girl is pretty good as well. I find it extremely realistic as well, it really evoked pretty much exactly what school and college felt like for me.
I don't think the sex scenes are sensationalist either. Looks pretty much like normal sex to me.

The only thing I found slightly unbelievable was that in the first few episodes I thought Connell was very emotionally mature for a teenager and a lot of his dialogue I thought sounded like something a much older guy would say. The Deb's stuff seemed totally believable though and he actually seems less able to communicate his feelings in college, more in keeping for a guy his age.

Funny, I thought the same and I'm only hearing/seeing snippets, my wife is watching it.

SusieBlue

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

You see that’s where you’ve picked it up wrong with the posts, with respect

Ppl are naturally pointing out the car is not realistic for this guy when we know his background - just on or slightly above poverty line, single mother who is working as a cleaner in his secret girlfriends mansion - gah ...even just typing that - such cliched tripe !

But back to the car - ppl rightly are saying it doesn’t have the ring of truth and authenticity about it. That’s all.

I come from a socioeconomically disadvantaged area and a lot of the kids in my class had their own cars too, so it’s not something that strikes me as unusual.

Saving up from the weekend job, gifts of money for their 18th birthday & Christmas and a loan from the CU to pay the balance had most of them driving their own cars by after Christmas in 6th year.

It was even more common when I started college, pretty much everyone I met from the countryside had been driving for a number of years because they lived in the middle of nowhere and there was no bus service. Their parents helped them with it financially rather than spending all their time dropping them to and fro.

I get that people think it’s unrealistic because of their own experiences but to to write it off as another major plot hole when MANY people here are saying it was the norm in their circles isn’t very fair.

LeYouth

Does anyone here get off on sex and violence?

To be honest it just makes me want to vomit.

Man, HBO is the worst for these types of shows Puts me off telly.

Better Than Christ

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Ppl are naturally pointing out the car is not realistic for this guy when we know his background - just on or slightly above poverty line, single mother who is working as a cleaner in his secret girlfriends mansion - gah ...even just typing that - such cliched tripe !

It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to believe that (like most people in her position) she's working as a cleaner in several different houses. Maybe she doesn't know how to drive, and doesn't want to learn either. Therefore her son, who also has a part-time job, ferries her around the place, and she contributes towards the cost of running an ancient 1.2L Fiesta.

Just Be Confident Bro

Why would I watch a tv show that will just remind me I'm a loser who missed out on teen love?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

ongarboy wrote: »

Originally from Kerry. We all drove in our late teens and that was back in the 90s. We'd have been working class so money was tight enough but cars (albeit bangers) were a necessity to get from A to B. We just were named drivers on our parents insurance until we got our full licences.

I think Normal People is so brilliantly realistic. I'm far more critical of Irish dramas as often I don't feel it's convincing or tries to borrow Americanisms and phrases that young Irish people simply wouldn't say but this show feels so accurate. The inarticulate communication and the repressed dialogue from Connall in particular is spot on.

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

NSAman

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

You went to finishing school???

Was it reform school??? Or did you have a private chauffeur?

Flavour Diaper

Is there much heavy breathing in this? Herself looks fairly mountable but I don't want to go five episodes in with no pay day.

Better Than Christ

Flavour Diaper wrote: »

Is there much heavy breathing in this? Herself looks fairly mountable but I don't want to go five episodes in with no pay day.

You should definitely stick it out (for want of a better phrase) until episode five.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

NSAman wrote: »

You went to finishing school???

Was it reform school??? Or did you have a private chauffeur?

But of course. I speak like Jackie O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ZyLJvXQQo

kowloon

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Weirdly, it's not about you.

If there was a series about me it would have all the cringe of The Office or Curb Your Enthusiasm but without any plot development, character development or sexual development. I would be played by Tilda Swinton.

ILoveYourVibes

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

I’m 90% sure some (not all) of those callers were plants on joe Duffy to stir up publicity for the show

I KNEW IT!

Portmanteau

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

The one person who drove to our school in leaving cert ('90s) was like a celebrity. And it was her parents' car.

A city school though, so plenty of public transport. But as you say, your school was rural.

One eyed Jack

Portmanteau wrote: »

The one person who drove to our school in leaving cert ('90s) was like a celebrity. And it was her parents' car.

A city school though, so plenty of public transport. But as you say, your school was rural.

That’s the whole setting of the story though - a rural secondary school in 2008, post-boom, just on the cusp of the economic downturn. Ford Focus were a popular choice among both teachers and Leaving Cert students alike, and it wouldn’t have been unrealistic or unreasonable for young people to be driving decent cars then, In the 90’s before then it wasn’t unusual for students to be driving bangers (NCT only came in in 2000 or thereabouts).

Can’t help the feeling that the story is in some parts autobiographical in some ways given the authors own background -


Rooney was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, in 1991, and grew up there. Her father worked for Telecom Éireann, and her mother ran an arts centre. Rooney has an older brother and a younger sister. Rooney studied English at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), where she was elected a scholar in 2011. She started (but did not complete) a master's degree in politics there, and completed a degree in American literature instead.

Rooney was the top speaker at the European University Debating Championships in 2013. Before becoming a writer, she worked for a restaurant in an administrative role. She lives in Dublin.


It’s definitely geared towards the American market, not surprised it’s been something of a popular phenomenon here either (Celia Ahern’s career took a similar trajectory). Plenty of people can relate to the “big fish in a small pond” / “small fish in a big pond” role reversal between secondary and third level education, particularly the characters experiences, but the writing is almost as though you can smell the influences of American literature studies student off both the book and the tv series - introspective navel gazing nonsense that resonates with a similar sort of person.

AllForIt

.... introspective navel gazing nonsense that resonates with a similar sort of person.

Spot on.

fattymuatty

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I’m from a rural west of Ireland area, late ‘90s early ‘00s teenager. Pretty much no Leaving Certs had cars in my school. Or even in the few years after finishing school. I’m sure some people drove their parents cars but having a car of your own was virtually unheard of.

Same here. Same time frame too. I pointed out the car thing to my husband when we were watching it because it didn't seem realistic to me. Leaving Certs having their own cars didn't happen where I grew up.

We both thought the whole show was pretty wooden. I didn't feel the chemistry between them at all. I watched the whole 12 episodes waiting for it to get better because it was so hyped but it just didn't.

StupidLikeAFox

Is the car really that big a deal? Don't know how people are getting so hung up on the fact he drove - its the most inconsequential thing in the show