The Rehearsal

Started by Drenk, July 15, 2022, 05:33:03 PM

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Drenk


This is Nathan Fielder doing his thing, it starts tonight.
Ascension.

Jeremy Blackman

It's so good to have Nathan back on the TV. This has so much Nathan For You DNA that it kind of just feels like the new season.

The premise definitely has potential. My favorite aspect was the rehearsal actors – they take the job seriously, closely studying their real-life counterparts. It's impressive seeing them employ their fully-developed character in improvisational conversation.

I know someone who used to work with young adults who have trouble transitioning into post high-school life, most of them being on the autism spectrum. One of the main things they do is rehearse social interactions. They train students to write scripts for important phone calls. Really not that different from this show.

So I guess I'm saying at least some of Nathan's methods are already accepted practice & proven methods in the real world. And I would be shocked if the subject of episode 1 is not on the spectrum. It's arguably in bad taste that they don't acknowledge it, and that Nathan pantomimes autism to some degree, but it still works.

WorldForgot

Oh man, the TENSION.

Spoiler: ShowHide
I feel like he used a rehearsed lie to get the table he wanted?
that part had me FLINCH haha cuz I didn't know if the person who was giving up their seat would try to ask more about his 'grandmother's passing

 I loved how it communicated how high the 'personal' stakes were for the person rehearsing, even if their secret - to me - seemed way more low stakes than he felt. Also, I'll probably never tire of watching the subjects see locations from their life rendered as sets. Looking forward to that.

polkablues

I wasn't sure how I was vibing with this for the first 10-15 minutes, but god I'm glad I stuck with it. It feels like Fielder really used Finding Frances as an evolutionary turning point in his work, shifting the target of his absurdity from the satirical to the deeply personal, and this is the culmination of that journey. There will always be ethical concerns around using real people in the way that he does, but I feel like the participants in this one aren't the butt of the joke in the way that the participants in Nathan For You often were. The joke is on the "Nathan" character's entire thesis, the idea that the messiness of life can be overcome with enough preparation. It's a deeply sad premise, and this show leans hard into that in a way that Nathan For You only ever hinted at until the end. I can't wait to see where it goes.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Drenk

Ten minutes in, I want to say that I would be more upset as a friend about being used in a weird, manipulative way for a television show than about what seems like an innocent lie. Well, I wouldn't believe the lie was innocent if I had also been used for a television show. (This is about the fake interview with the actress.)

Okay, I'm going back in.  :yabbse-grin:
Ascension.

Drenk

I wish Nathan Fielder would let the situations in The Rehearsal breathe instead of trying to do Bits about the Meaning of the Bits for His Fake Personality. I've laughed a lot, but I've found this second episode very frustrating. It hasn't been for a second about this woman and motherhood. Even if they acknowledge that she may not care and just be in it for the dream house. (That said, I suppose that being alone with a kid is radically different from her day to day life. We just see the woman holding the kids.)

Last week was better in that regard, but there was still too much narrative about his FEELINGS, and I suppose it is willingly off, but it is heavy handed in a way Nathan For You wasn't because the parts in The Rehearsal are sophisticated in a way the previous show wasn't.

To be fair, I thought: "You obviously don't care about the people doing this crazy, elaborate rehearsal, we're barely seeing anything about it, why don't you participate?" and he did, so next week will be way better. I was not a fan of the personal stuff in Finding Frances—I could have done without it—but he was participating, he was "dating" a real call-girl. To be a witness is interesting, but I'd like to witness this stuff with him a little bit more.

And:

https://twitter.com/Sall_Gud/status/1550686285936750592

https://twitter.com/Sall_Gud/status/1474937868543873026/photo/1
Ascension.

Yes

Isn't the point he's making is that the designer and simulator cannot help but be complicit and enter their simulations/creations?

polkablues

I would say the important thing is to recognize that the Nathan Fielder character (a figure notably distinct from Nathan Fielder, the real person) IS the main character of the show. In the process of putting on these rehearsals for other people to try and control the things they have no control over, the show is actually telling the story of Nathan's ill-fated attempt to try and control the things he has no control over. It's not a documentary or a reality show, it's a fictional narrative that skillfully incorporates real people into the narrative (with seemingly varying degrees of awareness). The show barely focused on Angela's attempts at motherhood simply because it's ancillary to the story that Fielder is actually telling.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Jeremy Blackman

So is there going go be a part 2, or what?

polkablues

The next episode appears to be a continuation of the child-rearing storyline, yes.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Drenk

Quote from: polkablues on July 24, 2022, 12:35:48 AMI would say the important thing is to recognize that the Nathan Fielder character (a figure notably distinct from Nathan Fielder, the real person) IS the main character of the show. In the process of putting on these rehearsals for other people to try and control the things they have no control over, the show is actually telling the story of Nathan's ill-fated attempt to try and control the things he has no control over. It's not a documentary or a reality show, it's a fictional narrative that skillfully incorporates real people into the narrative (with seemingly varying degrees of awareness). The show barely focused on Angela's attempts at motherhood simply because it's ancillary to the story that Fielder is actually telling.

Yep, which is why I found the episode frustrating: I'm not sure there has been a great balance between the real events and the fact that it is obviously a heavily scripted narrative and everything has to follow its logic. But it was basically setting up the story/premise of the rehearsal for the next episode (or the rest of the season?), and I'm sure he has many tricks up his sleeves. This episode taught me that the show wouldn't follow a clear « case of the week » structure. For now, he hasn't been failing enough to control what's happening in these episodes as we see them even if he pretends to be failing to control things.

Maybe the difference with Nathan For You, which is as much fiction in my opinion, is between engineering (The Rehearsal) and reverse engineering (Nathan For You). (But that's never as clear as that with Fielder, he often knew what he wanted in Nathan For You too.)

These tweets are priceless:

https://twitter.com/ayla_byla/status/1550688711150424066?s=20&t=05WiEM3GV6yBXAo-lqzv9A
Ascension.

WorldForgot


polkablues

I would watch a season-long behind the scenes documentary just about the casting process for this show.
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Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: polkablues on July 24, 2022, 12:20:32 PMI would watch a season-long behind the scenes documentary just about the casting process for this show.

They must have given that woman a custom-made dating app filled with pre-selected guys. Their criteria was "Christian dudes who are definitely wrong for her."

polkablues

There seems to be a rising trend of people on the internet smugly asserting that everyone on the show is an actor and totally in on it, and it's infuriating to me on a level I can't even articulate.
My house, my rules, my coffee