Lilyhammer Critique

-
I am now finished watching the season of Lilyhammer. I have to admit, I really liked the show. I don't think I liked the main character, I thought he was sexist, violent, manipulative, and "righting wrongs" for freedom's sake. All things that make the show entertaining I suppose. I do like the show though and it really helps watching with learning the language. In some ways I think it gives the wrong image of the country as in the American gangster main character disapproving of what I would best call "way of life" for Norwegians. It's breeding ground for ethnocentrism from an American point of view, BUT again this is what makes the show entertaining! All 8 episodes tend to show some aspect of this and the theme of the show is based around that while still maintaining the story line. This is an extremely  minor part of the show, but for example, ( I will try to tip toe my way around trying to give away any spoilers!!!) in one episode it shows the non-violent tendencies of Norwegians and how to work through conflict peacefully. A child is bullied, other Norwegians talk to the bully, but Giovanni (main character) sees fit to speak with the child victim of bullying and tells him to fill his mittens with rocks and hit the bully, teaches that it's right to stand up for himself and he doesn't understand this "talking" stuff. Another MINOR part of this particular episode was a jail or prison scene where Giovanni walks into a cell and asks the officer, "Where's the mini bar?" as it looks like a small motel room. The cop replies with something to the extent of, "In Norway prisons we think when you are in nice surroundings you feel better on the inside." The show briefly shows prison scenes to get a glimpse of prison life and ends with Giovanni comparing Norwegian prisons to Christian summer camp. Overall, great show and I can't wait for the 2nd season though I have read in an article there is no certainty on a set date. :-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Expat Life

-
I've finally begun reading a book that has been in my reading list for a few years now; Norwegian By Night by Derek B. Miller. The author is actually an American man from Boston living in Oslo. Although it's a thriller, the expatriation of the main character is relatable. Sheldon Horowitz, a Marine, relocates to Oslo with his granddaughter, an American married to a Norwegian man. One particular quote, or paragraph rather, stood out to me, "Lars, being Lars, was overjoyed and encouraging and optimistic about her ability to adapt and join the pod. Norwegians, true to their nature, prefer to spawn in their own waters. Consequently Oslo is peopled by Norwegians married to a shadow population of displaced souls who all carry the look of tourists being led like children through the House of Wax." According to Wikipedia  16.8% of Norway's population is made up of immigrants. Granted this number also includes children born to immigrants regardless of being born in Norwa
Read more

The Dyne

-
Image
Separate dyne!  On beds a dyne (duvet) is used and you purchase covers in many prints and different types of fabrics. These are a pain in the butt to put over the duvet, but we manage. Many people have a duvet for summer months and a duvet for winter months. Oh, and the most common thing is for each person to have their own duvet. Moving to Norway as a newlywed, I wanted to have one duvet that we shared on our bed thinking it would be extra cozy and we'd cuddle more. Newlyweds are hilariously idealistic though! This lasted only a few months before we surrendered with white flags in the war zone that was our sleeping quarters. Turns out, I'm quite territorial over the duvet. I hear a lot of women are like this. I freeze easier than my husband so I was often less comfortable than I wanted to be and he's a night owl who goes to bed later than I do which means every time he lifted the duvet, a gush of cold air would follow him waking me. We gave up with our idealism o
Read more

Movie Title Translations

-
Watching TV earlier, I noticed some movies are given different titles translated into Norwegian. I believe the movie being advertised on TV was Couples Retreat, but being translated into something different it was something like Trøbbel i paradiset. Translated it would be Trouble in the Paradise - you can see the similarities in the language in that title. All original English speaking movies are still spoken in English with no voice overs, but they are shown in Norwegian subtitles. There is an exception to this with children's movies and TV programs which do have Norwegian voice overs. I asked Arild why some movie titles are in English, some are translated, and some are translated into names completely different. He said he really didn't know and thought of a coffee table book he has which has a list of the most off-titled movie translations. He pulled out Typisk Norsk from under the coffee table and started reading these to me: I'll do the correct English title, t
Read more