I believe the reason for the many negative evaluations of this series is that it mixes two genres, and thereby two audiences. People who expected horror were alienated by the close connection to historical (and present) reality, while people who expected realism were alienated by the "weird" elements.
But I think that "Them" actually succeeds extremely well in combining the two genres. The series is not realistic, in that such an excessive pile up of events, each of which is absurdly horrifying in itself, is unlikely to have ever occurred. Not every inhabitant of a white suburb in the 1950s was a foaming-at-the-mouth racist, not every Christian settler in the 19th century was a delusional bigot, and no, a black family with an experience as depicted in the infamous Ep. 5 would not have gotten away only to buy a house in an all-white neighborhood.
But that is not the point. The series is neither "realistic" nor divorced from reality; rather it concentrates the scattered realities of centuries of racism in the US symbolically in the experiences of one black family (as well as another black couple in Ep. 9). In this concentration they are completely over the top, but for the purpose of driving home the point.
And because the series is not realistic but symbolizing reality, the elements of supernatural horror mesh in elegantly. They are not random ghosts thrown in just for the fun of it, but they are the demons haunting race relationships in the US - as another reviewer put it, since its foundation on genocide and slavery. But maybe even preceding that: In one scene in Ep. 9 it is demonstrated how the Bible, the purported ancient manual of everything good and just, can easily be used to justify bigotry, theft, and murder.
The demons depict the legacy of racism as a manifest evil force, which drives white people to appalling acts of harassment and violence, but also threatens to destroy the minds of the oppressed black people to the point of turning on themselves and on each other. In my opinion, this is a brilliant use of the tropes of horror, where evil is usually depicted as coming from outside (the monster, the ghost, the lunatic) and corrupting originally innocent human minds; or so we would like to believe. But maybe it's just that that evil is so profound that we can only imagine it as coming from outside, from "the devil", whether that the reality or not.
I also found it impressive how, in addition of its central theme of racism, "Them" touches almost in passing on a number of other evils: Patriarchal structures, sexual abuse, and misogyny, homophobia, corruption of police and other officials, and the dehumanizing psychiatry of the time. Some have asked what the point of Betty's later side story is. Simple: It shows that someone who is a vicious racist ruthlessly exploiting the power granted by their color can in other contexts be oppressed. That doesn't diminish or excuse their racism, but it illustrates that oppression is not a simple thing with only two sides.
While the comparison to Jordan Peele's work is obvious, personally I didn't feel even remotely as emotionally engaged by his movies as I have been by "Them". What some criticize here, that the horror elements are a gimmick thrown in rather than belonging organically, that was what I actually felt with Peele's films. Especially the acclaimed "Get Out" I found unconvincing, because for me the horror premise doesn't make sense, within the logic of the film itself: Why would white racists want to move their pure white souls into black bodies? I'm also unconvinced by the comparison to "American Horror Story", which I tried to get into several times but failed; to me it seemed overstylized and gratuitous, with no actual persons present.
I felt more reminded of the work of David Lynch, especially "Wild at Heart" and "Twin Peaks". Not in tone, which is entirely different, but because they also examine the idea of connecting human evil to demonic forces. In Lynch's films however this appears more as exactly that, a fascinating idea, rather than as something reflecting reality.
This is a hard series to watch, but I believe it is worth it, especially due to the elegant blending of genres.
But I think that "Them" actually succeeds extremely well in combining the two genres. The series is not realistic, in that such an excessive pile up of events, each of which is absurdly horrifying in itself, is unlikely to have ever occurred. Not every inhabitant of a white suburb in the 1950s was a foaming-at-the-mouth racist, not every Christian settler in the 19th century was a delusional bigot, and no, a black family with an experience as depicted in the infamous Ep. 5 would not have gotten away only to buy a house in an all-white neighborhood.
But that is not the point. The series is neither "realistic" nor divorced from reality; rather it concentrates the scattered realities of centuries of racism in the US symbolically in the experiences of one black family (as well as another black couple in Ep. 9). In this concentration they are completely over the top, but for the purpose of driving home the point.
And because the series is not realistic but symbolizing reality, the elements of supernatural horror mesh in elegantly. They are not random ghosts thrown in just for the fun of it, but they are the demons haunting race relationships in the US - as another reviewer put it, since its foundation on genocide and slavery. But maybe even preceding that: In one scene in Ep. 9 it is demonstrated how the Bible, the purported ancient manual of everything good and just, can easily be used to justify bigotry, theft, and murder.
The demons depict the legacy of racism as a manifest evil force, which drives white people to appalling acts of harassment and violence, but also threatens to destroy the minds of the oppressed black people to the point of turning on themselves and on each other. In my opinion, this is a brilliant use of the tropes of horror, where evil is usually depicted as coming from outside (the monster, the ghost, the lunatic) and corrupting originally innocent human minds; or so we would like to believe. But maybe it's just that that evil is so profound that we can only imagine it as coming from outside, from "the devil", whether that the reality or not.
I also found it impressive how, in addition of its central theme of racism, "Them" touches almost in passing on a number of other evils: Patriarchal structures, sexual abuse, and misogyny, homophobia, corruption of police and other officials, and the dehumanizing psychiatry of the time. Some have asked what the point of Betty's later side story is. Simple: It shows that someone who is a vicious racist ruthlessly exploiting the power granted by their color can in other contexts be oppressed. That doesn't diminish or excuse their racism, but it illustrates that oppression is not a simple thing with only two sides.
While the comparison to Jordan Peele's work is obvious, personally I didn't feel even remotely as emotionally engaged by his movies as I have been by "Them". What some criticize here, that the horror elements are a gimmick thrown in rather than belonging organically, that was what I actually felt with Peele's films. Especially the acclaimed "Get Out" I found unconvincing, because for me the horror premise doesn't make sense, within the logic of the film itself: Why would white racists want to move their pure white souls into black bodies? I'm also unconvinced by the comparison to "American Horror Story", which I tried to get into several times but failed; to me it seemed overstylized and gratuitous, with no actual persons present.
I felt more reminded of the work of David Lynch, especially "Wild at Heart" and "Twin Peaks". Not in tone, which is entirely different, but because they also examine the idea of connecting human evil to demonic forces. In Lynch's films however this appears more as exactly that, a fascinating idea, rather than as something reflecting reality.
This is a hard series to watch, but I believe it is worth it, especially due to the elegant blending of genres.
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