Sharp Objects (HBO) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Alan’s inaction might be the most horrifying thing in a show filled with generally horrific people and incidents.

He failed to protect his children. I think your analogy with him being the equivalent of a mother who refuses to acknowledge that the husband is molesting the kids is a very good one. But he ultimately made a choice that he’d prefer to go through life taking the path of least resistance, and whether or not he had valid reasons to feel that way, when you have kids that you’re responsible for, that’s no longer a consequence-free choice.

Vickery also comes off looking pretty terrible because it seems clear that at least on some level, he also knew. Maybe not while Marian was alive, but at some point after her death, he knew and decided that keeping up appearances was the top priority.

Actually, maybe that’s the most horrifying thing. That an entire local culture is infinitely more comfortable with exiling and gaslighting Camille than confronting what they know in their bones.

Poor Camille. She gets gang raped by the football team as a teenager and over a decade later, the entire town is still actively hostile towards her because (by their peculiar brand of magical thinking) she’s the one who put everything at risk.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Vickery also comes off looking pretty terrible because it seems clear that at least on some level, he also knew. Maybe not while Marian was alive, but at some point after her death, he knew and decided that keeping up appearances was the top priority.

I actually don't think he did know, not until Det. Willis confronted him with the idea and then Amma's lackeys/accomplices confirmed it when they mentioned that Amma was home sick.

He didn't live in the house like Alan did, so it would have been easier for Adora to hide the truth from him. And given Adora's authority in the area, my guess is that the doctors at the hospital never even reported Marian's case to the police. And when Jackie O'Neill did, it was easy enough to dismiss her as the town gossip who became a town drunk.

But I think the biggest part of him not knowing was because his admiration for Adora as the power in town and his sexual desire for her blinded him to the bigger picture.

Poor Camille. She gets gang raped by the football team as a teenager and over a decade later, the entire town is still actively hostile towards her because (by their peculiar brand of magical thinking) she’s the one who put everything at risk.

I got the impression that Camille slept around quite a bit, though I would not be at all surprised if the gang rape was the inciting incident for that. Both Camille and Amma use their sexuality as a shield, and occasionally as a dagger.

I think the biggest thing the town held against Camille is that she refused to sufficiently conform. She had an assigned role in town, a very privileged role that most of the townspeople would have killed for, and she refused to play it.

 

[Citizen87645]

Here's my modification of it. Watch it before it gets taken down.

 

[Citizen87645]

I accidentally purchased a subscription to HBO on my Fire TV, so Sharp Objects was first on my list to watch. I read Flynn's novel a couple years ago, and of her three books I'd probably rank it #2, with Gone Girl being #1 and Dark Places #3.

Having read the novel, I knew who the show's killer was (assuming they hadn't changed anything in the adaptation), so it was interesting watching it with that knowledge, especially in the last few episodes. I also think in my head the novel's setting of Wind Gap and Adora's home was much more oppressive and decayed (i.e. more "goth") than the show's set design.

I thought the performances all around were uniformly strong and agree that what seems most abhorrent was the willful ignorance/naivete/denial of the Wind Gap men, Alan and Vickery. I also agree that there's not much reason for me to revisit the show, though now I'm curious about the film Dark Places with Charlize Theron. I may have started that one, but never finished it.

 

[Citizen87645]

It goes to show how forgettable Dark Places was, as I did watch it before, then watched it again, and barely remembered most of it.

In contrast, my mind goes back to Sharp Objects on occasion. The thing that popped into my head just now was probably the funniest moment in the series, when Camille tries to criticize Amma by referencing her being in an afterschool special, and Amma just replies, "What's that?" Great way to neutralize things.

 

[Wayne_j]

I just watched this during the past week and I am glad that I got to see Scanlon in something other than the sick one who dies in Little Women.