In the world of entertainment,The Swingin’ Stewardesses making people cry is in. One of the highest compliments anyone can give a TV show or movie is “I was sobbing by the end,” a recommendation that speaks to the show’s emotional quality and overall worthiness in the media landscape.
The current king of making people weep their sweet, wanted tears is NBC’s This Is Us, a show that is so famous for hurting feelings that people make sure they have tissues on hand before viewing, but summer TV has its own queen of the cry in FX’s Pose.
SEE ALSO: The 'Pose' pilot is a master class in making people care about its charactersOn the surface, Poseand This Is Usare wildly different. One is about the Pearson family’s wins and losses in their quest to live up to the sky-high legacy of their virtually flawless (and super dead) dad, and the other is about LGBT people of color in New York who find and forge a home for themselves in the 80’s ballroom scene. Both shows, however, rely heavily on the importance of family — blood or not — and use an ensemble cast of phenomenal actors to wring tear ducts dry with stories about joy, isolation, death, and love.
Both shows, however, rely heavily on the importance of family — blood or not — and use an ensemble cast of phenomenal actors to wring tear ducts dry with stories about joy, isolation, death, and love.
Poseand This Is Ushave similar approaches to those topics, which form the bricks of human existence, but the joyful sequences on This Is Us— Kate’s wedding, Rebecca finding happiness with Miguel, Randall teaching William how to drive — are presented as the pretty moments that punctuate the lives of people who are deeply affected by a shared trauma. It is worthy, but fleeting, and often accompanied with the feeling that something else is about to happen soon, a concept best presented in “event” episodes where it’s Christmas….but Toby has a heart attack. It’s a road trip...but William won’t make the trip back home.
In Pose, joy is the endgame. When its characters find happiness wherever it is, it means they’re winning in a society that wants to see them beaten down. Joy is valuable, something to be held onto and protected, and is never treated like a pit stop on the way to a dramatic twist of the misery knife. The balls themselves are explosions of joy, and each character’s lust for a ballroom victory is echoed in their desire to feel the love and acceptance they deserve as people. It’s pretty gratifying to see them when they get it.
Those victories are of course tempered with the very real issues that face the LGBT community. Pose’s setting in the 1980s allows it to focus on the HIV/AIDS crisis that cut down thousands of people in the USA alone, and viewing the effects of the crisis is naturally heartbreaking.
But for the HIV-positive characters in Pose, the threat of death is a motivator and not a time bomb. It propels them to do more than die like the world expects (and in some ways, wants) them to, and their every action post-diagnosis is deliberate — they build a legacy for their families to follow when they’re gone and educate them as best they can before the end.
Jack Pearson would probably think that’s nice. William definitely would. Randall would already be crying by now.
Humans crave catharsis. It’s natural to want to press a button, experience something vicariously, sob a lot, and then turn it off. PoseandThis Is Usare both calibrated to give people that catharsis while also educating their watchers about the nuances of what it means to be a person. Those who like one show will probably like the other, and if the current TV landscape seems to be a little tearless these days, Poseshould fix that right up.
Enjoy the feelings.
The cicadas aren't invading the U.S.
Miley Cyrus announces on Instagram she prefers Hindu prayers to the Super Bowl
CNN and Kellyanne Conway's Twitter feud just escalated hilariously
Julian Edelman's clutch, jaw
Best Samsung deal: Save $60 on 64GB Samsung Galaxy Tab A9
Bernie Sanders is now a fashion icon and he's not sure what to make of it
Man finds a genius way to walk his pug after he misplaced its leash
This stock photo of an 'over
Shop the Shark FlexStyle for 20% off at Amazon
UK mosques open up to visitors for food, tea, and a chance to talk
Time to Unite
Uber hires veteran NASA engineer to develop flying cars
J.K. Rowling and Ricky Gervais join forces to shut down Donald Trump
This DIY triple
Seven Steam games whose reviews have changed a lot
Nicki Minaj trolled the world with a pregnancy announcement
PlayStation 4 Pro 'Boost Mode' aims to make all your games run better
The truth behind Airbnb's Super Bowl ad
U.N. aims to make carbon emissions cost money at COP 25 climate talks
Skywatchers spot bright fireball as it streaked across the Midwest
Instagram will hide like counts in some postsCrowdfunding is giving parents all the baby gear they didn't know they neededAdele posts heartwarming message to fans after finishing tour'Game of Thrones': The meaning behind Arya's Valyrian dagger, explainedDrake gave the perfect shout out to Arya Stark and everyone's in a spinTrump supporters are pissed he won't pursue charges against Hillary ClintonBumbling Trump adviser Kris Kobach's secret plan for America, revealedOculus Quest and Rift S VR headsets launch on May 21 for $399Bird's new monthly eOnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro leaks may have just revealed everything about the phonesDonald Trump cancels, then uncancels, meeting with the 'not nice' New York TimesWhy 'Game of Thrones' is heading for a Stark family victoryArguments over the true colour of these stupid flip flops can now cease'Game of Thrones' cinematographer weighs in on that super dark episodeQualcomm expects to get $4.5The new 'Child's Play' poster is dark stuff for 'Toy Story' fansHotel's magical Christmas decor comes from Apple designersBoys' childhoods are ruined by discovery of Thanksgiving turkey's fateMom hilariously can't remember the names of her daughter's friendsInstagram announces new anti Let's talk about the iPhone 8 'notch' Netflix's 'Atypical' struggles to keep up with its star Google cancels diversity meeting because of alt Counterfeiting ring faces jail time for forging arcade cabinets Calm down people, the Moscow Mule is probably not going to poison you Enough with the online collectible card games 'Game of Thrones' recasting: 11 characters who switched roles Sorry, but you're doing your pa$$w0rds all wrong New TV show is basically the 'Masterchef' of LEGO 'Own the School Year Like a Hero' sign displayed above Walmart gun rack Yes, there's a new app with the sole purpose of giving you dank memes Hackers of the future could use malware stored in DNA to infect computers Android O's name might be announced on the day of the solar eclipse Tesla's autonomous trucks will move in platoons, report says Even the best passwords are no match for this simple hack Facebook is finally ready for its next big move: Taking on TV Life for Snapchat just went from bad to even worse FaceApp removes racist 'ethnicity change' face filters from its app Taco Bell's new burrito features a generous sprinkle of spicy pop rocks 2 Chainz kicks off tour in pink 'trap wheelchair' after breaking his leg
2.1641s , 8225.0078125 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【The Swingin’ Stewardesses】,Wisdom Convergence Information Network