Little Fires Everywhere - An almost great exploration of race, class and human nature - with one particularly glaring weak spot

[EmpireOfTheClouds]

So who here has watched Little Fires Everywhere, the new miniseries from Hulu (distributed elsewhere to Amazon Prime)?

I just finished the series today and give it a 7/10. it's almost fantastic. it's gorgeously shot, has a great, twisty storyline, has very interesting character dynamics- in particular between a rich white woman who has a full family, and a poor, single black mother with a daughter wanting a better life, but caught in the crossover of the tensions between both families, and an adoption case surrounding an illegal immigrant who abandoned her baby in the cold.

I want to think it's better than it is, I really do. So what's the elephant in the room?

Kerry Washington.

I think if someone like Viola Davis had played the black mom, her character would have been easier to respect, but Kerry Washington plays literally the same character she does in everything else, to the point where I tune out whenever she's on screen.

it's funny I make that criticism, because Reese Witherspoon also plays the same character in everything. But it's almost apparent that the role was written with Reese in mind, and Washington's role was written with better actress like Octavia Spencer or Viola Davis in mind.

that said, I still really do recommend the show.

What are everyone else's thoughts on it?

 

[Mariposa Electrique]

Really great show, they should have continued it as maybe an anthology series. Viola is too old to be the black mom. I really liked Kerry Washington as the young irresponsible mother because she just rubbed everyone the wrong way like a lot of single moms. The way Reese's character treated her daughter in the last episode made me cry profusely. I've met a few families like the white one in the film. It never ends well.

 

[EmpireOfTheClouds]

Really great show, they should have continued it as maybe an anthology series. Viola is too old to be the black mom. I really liked Kerry Washington as the young irresponsible mother because she just rubbed everyone the wrong way like a lot of single moms. The way Reese's character treated her daughter in the last episode made me cry profusely. I've met a few families like the white one in the film. It never ends well.

Yeah, Izzy reminded me a lot of myself growing up, being the gay black sheep and what not.

I think it's just that I've seen Kerry play the same character in basically everything ever, so that's just me.

This show kinda falls under what I call a Batman and Joker type story, in how Batman and the Joker are inverse reflections of each other, Elena and Mia are basically that. They have more in common than they're both willing to admit, except one seems to actually be aware of it. I've always found those stories to be the most interesting.