It’s intriguing for its setting and some of its stories — although the fine arts world in New York does call to mind the lighter “Mozart in the Jungle” on Amazon — and yet at the same time it’s often predictable in its premium cable-style plotting and pretentiousness, which is where the irritation comes in.
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It seems that the entertainment and arts worlds will never cease to make themselves into fodder for their own steam engines. I am just as a much a sucker for the show biz stories as anyone else, but the article makes a valuable point, which is that we know all of these stories already, to some degree. I liked Mozart in the Jungle, as a gossipy look into a tightly wound world, but once that story has been told in that format, is there any need for another. I know that networks will make the same show over and over until it stops making money, so I'm sure that the plots will change when the money does. Still, as someone who sheepishly and eagerly consumes media such as Mozart in the Jungle, Smash and Black Swan, I will definitely be watching this show, no matter how bad. I can only hope that this show distinguishes itself in someway, in order to keep this deliciously cheesy genre alive.
Sure this show sounds intriguing, and sex sells, so i totally get there Starz is coming from, but REALLY?!? I get it, ballet is part of the arts, we ‘love’ drama, performers can be unstable and full of personal drama. I just can’t handle this stereotypes anymore. Yes, the shows we preform can be drama, yes because we constantly work with people and theater is a collaborative art, we tend to get into more personal altercations but for god sakes, must every TV show about theater, dance and the arts portray a bunch of crazy manipulative sex crazed people? Also, its clear they assumed people wouldn’t want to actually just watch ballet because the article specifically mentions pole dancing and other ‘intrigues’ for the general audience. On a different note, I dont know why the gazette was surprised that the show got things right about Pitt, they did research, like they were suppose to.
It seems to me that "Flesh and Bone" relies more on ballet dancing as a device than an actual narrative structure. I'm way more interested in what the author comments about it being a psychosexual drama that explores the roots of childhood trauma in its characters. I've seen Mozart in the Jungle, Fame, Black Swan -- you kind of get that cliched arts culture, a bunch of crazy people stuck in a room and forced to make a product. We live it. It is interesting that viewers keep getting sucked into a narrative ploy that's been used so many times. Is it just a functioning genre of television and film, or are we too lazy to explore themes without a typical pigeon-holing atmosphere? I'll definitely try to watch "Flesh and Bone", if only to see how far the writers take the characters down the path of no return. Otherwise I'll stick to watching Mozart in the Jungle -- that, at least, is comedic.
I’m going to be honest, I love movies and tv that have to do with the dance world. I’m so intrigued by the gracefulness of dancers, probably because I have absolutely none myself. Aside from the interesting look into the plot of the show this article points out something that I’ve found extremely interesting about Pittsburgh. In the years that I’ve lived here I have realized that the whole city was economically founded on blue collar jobs. This was the steel city in the middle of Pennsylvania coal country. It totally differs from Philadelphia in this way. Of course there are working class families on the eastern side of the state but the culture is not as strong as it is here. I would say that native Pittsburghers are nice but a bit gruff. There is of course nothing wrong with that but if you look at the Fortune 500 companies that have headquarters here most of them are built on the coal and steel industry. It’s a rough around the edges kind of town.
I expected the show to be set in New York and filmed in Pittsburgh based on the title and first paragraph, and it's funny that they actually didn't shoot in Pittsburgh at all. It makes sense, because even if film permits and crews are cheaper here than in NY, the expense of setting up another shoot somewhere else is quite hefty; there's travel, hotels, replacing non-essential crew with locals which means spending time hiring, etc. I suppose if the show was set more between the two cities it might be worth it.
I smiled at the naivete of the writer's amazement that the character's backstory is planted in Polish Hill and that they got the zip code right. I'm not sure whether the writer truly thought that was worth noting, or only did because he was writing for a Pittsburgh crowd, but it's funny to think that such a level of accuracy is surprising. There are so many people who get paid to make stuff like that happen! There is a great deal of attention to detail in film and TV, and in this day and age it's really not that special that some intern on this show looked up the Polish Hill zip code.
This article brought up some really interesting points about television and the way New York City is portrayed, specifically the world of performance in NYC. What the article states is true; a lot of TV/Movies which center around this world focus on the same two or three themes. But the question is why? Why does every show set in the performing world of NYC involve a cutthroat atmosphere, a variety of mental illness, and inevitable pretentiousness? I think the answer is that those things all exist, with a certain degree of prevalence, in the real-life version of this fictional world. The performing community is incredibly cutthroat and connections are everything. Mental illness is something very common among performers, especially eating disorder. And let’s not pretend that the arts are always warm and welcoming to new-comers; because that’s definitely not true. I think shows like “Flesh and Bone” are getting quite a few things right in their portrayal (although they may take it a bit far at times).
A while ago, an article and video was posted here about how Vancouver never plays itself. I was quite interested to hear that, in the case of "Flesh and Bone", filming did not take place here but Pittsburgh was indeed a very specifically chosen location. I know of several instances where Pittsburgh has been used to fill in for New York, but this is the first case I have heard of where New York filled in for Pittsburgh. With such incentives for filming and TV, I am slightly surprised that the shows did not film the Pittsburgh aspects on location.
That aside, the example of using the right zip code - as well as the other instances cited - seems like a very weak indicator of the creators' and developers' dedication to making the Pittsburgh locations authentic. That's a couple of moments of research and no more. Understanding and judging how well the TV show was able to emulate Pittsburgh will probably have to wait until one can actually see it.
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