I don’t want the title of this article to foreshadow 2021. Au contraire, amongst other wishes for happiness and health that I am giving to you for this new year, I am also wishing that by the end of this year we will be able to meet again face to face and take the first steps to a positive change.
Still, for at least some days, we will be in a quarantine mood. Instead of binge-watching (again) our favorite series, I recommend to some Netflix shows that you probably have not heard of before (the mainstream series are fine ones, but we should do justice to every work of equal and perhaps more beauty and meaning).
Netflix shows not given enough credit:
- Self-made: Inspired by the life of Madame C. J. Walker
A magnificent limited series of 4 episodes, starring Octavia Spenser, is based on the true story of Madame C. J. Walker, the first African-American self-made female millionaire. A success story that starts with a feeble woman who is experiencing domestic abuse and appears to not have a single reason to live but…well, the title kind of spoils the ending right? An intriguing premise of a rags-to-riches story that captures the difficulties of life as first and foremost a black person and secondly as a woman in the 20th century. Rivalries, enmity, competition, and secrets around a hair care products empire, a scrumptious ensemble that applies to all tastes.
2. Shtisel
Yes, we all enjoyed Shira Haas in the limited Netflix series Unorthodox, but it is of major importance to remember that members of the Jewish community have commented upon its inaccuracy. Recommended to me by a Jewish friend, this series took my breath away, taking place in a Haredi family in Jerusalem. Plus, Shira Haas played an important role, which is said to become greater in the third season which will soon be launched on Netflix. A rabbi who has trouble accepting breaking the traditional rules or modernizing them; his son, also a rabbi, is a talented artist and opportunities come up to him. Amongst his other children stands out his daughter, whose character really deepens when she has to provide for herself and her children (with Shira Haas playing the role of the oldest daughter) with no help whatsoever. An Israeli series that I particularly cherished.
Less mainstream Netflix shows:
3. Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Well…I am going to refer to an ex-Netflix show, as for some reason it stopped being on Netflix last year. Pity, for I haven’t seen a finest period mystery series. Starring Elsie Davis, based on Agatha Christie’s books, a series taking place in interwar Melbourne. The protagonist, Phryne Fisher, an independent woman on her own right, who is a conscious objector of the status quo, hence decides to have her taste of men without marrying, something unorthodox for the time. Rich and beautiful, she returns to her country to live alone in her family home. A multilingual educated woman, intrigued by the macabre, becomes a private detective, with her loyal companion Dottie on her side, her feminist friend Dr. Mac, with the cooperation of Detective Jack Robinson, charming and sharp and Constable Collins, an amiable young soul who has laid his eyes on pretty Dottie. Let us transfer in jazz clubs and dirty roads, meet with Russian dancers and Chinese businessmen, Zionists, and the mafia. Watch Miss Fisher with her pearl-handled pistol fighting injustice in an era when women were supposed to be decorous and obedient…
4. A Series of Unfortunate Events
So, who remembers the book they got in middle school, but never were able to fully comprehend? Those thirteen novels that appeared simple to read hide a mystery that we are not given enough information to understand. Thank God, the 3 seasons show, with the screenplay supervised by Lemony Snicket, the creator of this surreal universe, gives us the answers we longed for. A mystery begins with a fire burning the mansion of the Baudelaires, a fire which took the life of the parents, but not of the children, who were mysteriously instructed to go to the beach that day. Violet, an ingenious inventor, Klaus, a gifted scholar, and Sunny, a toddler with sharp teeth whose gibberish words are understandable by her kin, are now left orphans and forced to live under a guardian’s care. A devious plot to control the children’s inheritance before they come of age, unrequited love and broken hearts, an organization of volunteers whose schism begun something greater than what mortal sense can perceive, a battle between evil and good with three children unaware of their parents’ past struggling to survive and uncover the truth.
Have a wonderful Νew Υear!
Είμαι από το πανέμορφο Ρέθυμνο της Κρήτης το οποίο γνώρισα στο τέλος του 2001. Σπουδάζω στο τμήμα αγγλικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας στο ΑΠΘ και μου αρέσει να μαθαίνω καινούργια πράγματα, να φοράω τα γυαλάκια μου και να γράφω με τις ώρες. Πιστεύω στον Υπαρξισμό, φτιάχνω τέλεια μαρμελάδα και είμαι υπέρ της άποψης ότι μπορώ ωραιότατα να συνδυάσω έργα της Jane Austen με το Star Wars ή με το Indiana Jones (μεγάλη αγάπη ο Indy), τον Chopin με τους The Doors. Κοινώς το ποιά είμαι είναι μπερδεμένο σαν το πουλόβερ που μου ξήλωσε ο γάτος μου.
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