Watching

Film/television, another 90 Day Fiancé think piece

I prefer Prime Video to other streaming services but recently made a brief (I use this term literally, as in I watched all five seasons in less than a week) return Netflix to rewatch Breaking Bad for the millionth time. The complexity and genius of this series that has me consider rewatching every few months pinpoints to the fragility of a personal belief system, in that you come to understand why each character, antagonist or protagonist, does what they do. This alone, deciding for yourself what makes something good or bad, can either reaffirm your preexisting ideals or shatter them completely. You come to sympathize with an antagonist, but begin to wonder why they are considered an antagonist which leads to the realization that you are viewing that universe solely from a main character’s perspective, thus being biased without knowing it. The idea of what makes something good or bad is very abstract, and you can definitely dissect a person’s personality based on how they view specific characters. A very easy tell is whether someone strongly dislikes Skyler, and why - very important things to ask on a first date /s. This identity crisis of sorts is in plain sight and the show writer’s main discussion point in most articles or interviews I’ve dug up over the years, but the idea of Walter transitioning from “protagonist to antagonist“ rattles the brain because something bad can be considered good if it’s done for a reason you can agree with.

Getting straight to transparency, I am fully obsessed with 90 Day Fiancé and ‘obsessed’ may still not fully convey how invested I am. There is a spin-off airing at any time even when the season has already ended, so there are many, many couples to tear apart all year round like that basil plant you forgot about but seems to be flourishing with or without you. As my main options to watch this show are between buying each episode on Prime Video or secretly using my brother-in-law’s Xfinity account, I’ve had difficulty finding someone in my private life who also obsessively keeps up with the latest season(s). The subreddit has quickly become part of my Sunday/Monday night routine - it’s great to post, argue, and laugh with hundreds of others all watching at the same time. As someone great once said, growth is making fun of Reddit users then becoming a Reddit user. Currently, The Other Way is finishing up its second season and while nearly all the couples are either generally unlikeable, uninteresting, or very clearly incompatible and quickly headed for a messy end, Sumit and Jenny’s relationship is more than often the topic of that long discussion post with replies that turn into threads. What makes this relationship complex is not necessarily the stunning age difference (over thirty years), but the cultural systems at play as well as gender roles which all seem to stem from a general inability to empathize. Not only have Sumit and Jenny previously been on the show, but this season reintroduces them in a totally different light with all new revelations that, once again, make you reconsider the stance you had on their relationship. The nearly infinite plot twists that come with two seemingly simple people have made many heads spin as well as knock together - either you are on their side, Sumit’s parents side, or you just can’t stop watching this absolute trainwreck. Like Breaking Bad, you understand everyone’s point of view which makes it all the more difficult to pick a side.

Many relationships on the show remain “unexplained,” in that it is extremely difficult to understand why two people stay together despite the circumstances which range from totally opposite cultural beliefs to financial hardships but all root from an unwillingness to compromise or rather empathize. Jenny is essentially homeless in the United States, or rather couch surfing at her adult daughter’s home. Sumit, half her age, relies heavily on his parents financially as well as emotionally. Jenny, the American, cannot sponsor Sumit in the United States, rendering the green card accusation fruitless, and cannot have any more children. Neither have much to offer the other except love, which Sumit’s father does bring up in an attempt to separate the couple. Many question why a man at the age of thirty cannot just drop his family for the woman he loves, and this is where sociocultural systems come into effect. This show is often reduced to glorified trash television which makes it seems almost unintentional how heavy the material actually is. It provides the opportunity to empathize and sympathize, and unlearn. By bringing personal judgment from what one has learned about a specific country and its people, religion or societal expectations, regardless of accuracy or whether that idea was formed in good faith, many people display their bias relentlessly and unknowingly both on the show and in online forums. The unrelenting human spirit is showcased in its purest, most raw form and, at its very core, 90 Day Fiancé is beautiful and complex - an accidental work of art.

Through this tweet, I entered a 2AM rabbit hole of the Roman empire’s history and Elagabalus particularly fascinated me. Detested and abhorred during their short but salacious reign as emperor, the assassination and subsequent attempts to wipe their existence from history seem to be successful as it’s still very difficult to find anything that goes farther than what’s available on their Wikipedia page. A biopic is long overdue, quite literally, but in the meantime I found The Roman Empire: From Augustus to The Fall of Rome on Prime Video - it watches like a film a substitute teacher puts on during high school history class, but still interesting to watch.

I’ve also recently enjoyed watching Beetlejuice and Frankenweenie, both I previously watched back-to-back on a layover flight after an incredible summer trip in 2019. I felt particularly nostalgic for that time in my life.