Try to compare "Haters Back Off!" to Ricky Gervais' "The Office", a British series brilliantly written around the concept of some characters missing an accurate self image the lack of which leads to sometimes cringe-worthy hilarity, and you will find Colleen Ballinger's latest creation severely lacking in the writing department.
The only thing that made me sit through 8 frequently painful episodes of Ballinger's 2016 Netflix debut come release was the on screen presence of Lee Strasberg Institute alumna Francesca Reale, who managed to instill some sense of reality in her tragically sporadic scenes as main character Miranda's (Ballinger) sister Emily. I had never seen her before and now cannot wait for Tyler Walker's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" (2016) to see the light of an online release.
The scenes that were not saved by the young Californian's outstanding acting felt like someone had created a new Bermuda triangle between boredom, cringe and shoddy writing that tries to suck all joy out of the life of even the most dedicated "MirandaSings" YouTube fan. Even though I had not anticipated the series at all or been aware of it prior to its Netflix release, just being familiar with Ballinger's frequently hilarious YouTube venture left me feeling utterly disappointed to say the least.
Lighting, blocking and photography are solid if a bit uninspired at times, with the sound and music (Amotz Plessner) neither standing out positively nor leaving much to be desired. Todd Rohal (The Guatemalan Handshake) managed to make Episodes 4 and 5 almost fun to watch, with "Staring in a Musicall" (Episode 5) being the only memorable bit (in a good way) of the series.
Overall, the thing "Haters Back Off!" could have benefited from the most would have been a competent writer or two. Neither Todd Rohal (responsible for one of the stars in the above utterly meaningless rating) nor young Miss Reale (responsible for two more) managed to turn this series into something I could recommend as good entertainment, and looking at the ratings I seem to be in ample company among the rest of the Netflix viewership with this assessment. As it stands, this series remains one of the reasons I am happy not to have to write reviews for a living.
Anselm Hildebrandt
The only thing that made me sit through 8 frequently painful episodes of Ballinger's 2016 Netflix debut come release was the on screen presence of Lee Strasberg Institute alumna Francesca Reale, who managed to instill some sense of reality in her tragically sporadic scenes as main character Miranda's (Ballinger) sister Emily. I had never seen her before and now cannot wait for Tyler Walker's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" (2016) to see the light of an online release.
The scenes that were not saved by the young Californian's outstanding acting felt like someone had created a new Bermuda triangle between boredom, cringe and shoddy writing that tries to suck all joy out of the life of even the most dedicated "MirandaSings" YouTube fan. Even though I had not anticipated the series at all or been aware of it prior to its Netflix release, just being familiar with Ballinger's frequently hilarious YouTube venture left me feeling utterly disappointed to say the least.
Lighting, blocking and photography are solid if a bit uninspired at times, with the sound and music (Amotz Plessner) neither standing out positively nor leaving much to be desired. Todd Rohal (The Guatemalan Handshake) managed to make Episodes 4 and 5 almost fun to watch, with "Staring in a Musicall" (Episode 5) being the only memorable bit (in a good way) of the series.
Overall, the thing "Haters Back Off!" could have benefited from the most would have been a competent writer or two. Neither Todd Rohal (responsible for one of the stars in the above utterly meaningless rating) nor young Miss Reale (responsible for two more) managed to turn this series into something I could recommend as good entertainment, and looking at the ratings I seem to be in ample company among the rest of the Netflix viewership with this assessment. As it stands, this series remains one of the reasons I am happy not to have to write reviews for a living.
Anselm Hildebrandt
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