I just finished it and then watched the miniseries. I haven't found anyone to discuss it with but there is a lot to unpack. Anyone want to discuss?
#Little Fires Everywhere
Premise: The seemingly perfect life of The Richardsons (Reese Witherspoon and Joshua Jackson) is turned upside down by Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) and her daughter in the adaptation of the Celeste Ng novel of the same name.
| Subreddit(s): | Network: | Metacritic: | Genre(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| r/LittleFiresEverywhere | Hulu | [71/100] (score guide) | Drama |
Links:
They were so beautifully packed and I loved that you found quotes from each book! So sweet.
There is a scene from one of the episodes where one of the main characters finds out she is pregnant with her fourth child. She talks to her mom and says she wants an abortion but her mom tells her that women in her position have no need for abortions (financially stable and married). She then asks if just not wanting another child is a good enough reason and she was talked out of it and had her fourth child. At this point in her life, she was fresh off of maternity leave and ready to get back into the job that she loved and be a successful career woman. Continuing her unplanned pregnancy ruined that.
It is made very clear early on in the series that this child is a problem child. She is disobedient, picky, and generally just super unhappy and poorly behaved. Her mother did not want her and I'm pretty sure it is easy to see that through the way she treats her throughout the series. It seems to me that she has a lot of resentment built up which makes her unable to properly care for and love her child.
This just goes to show that just because you are financially stable enough to have a child does not mean you should have one especially if you do not want one.
I felt this way after Zemeckis and I’m feeling this now after Carpenter. I think it’s especially true of long filmographies. I spend months just obsessing over one director and then once it’s over it’s hard for me to switch gears immediately.
you walk like
you don't know
you're breaking hearts
you laugh
and flip your hair
so unaware
you walk like
you don't know
you're lighting
little fires
everywhere
So I just read this book and loved the insightful, in-depth, understated yet detailed character-driven style. It tugged on my heartstrings! Any similar books come to mind?
Little Fires Everywhere is an extremely well written story with deep complex characters. The drama explores different approaches to motherhood, the stress of secrets, and what it might be like to live in another person's shoes. Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington shine as the main characters but the teen actors are fantastic. Highly recommend. See full review here:
Very similar shows with similar themes - moms and daughters, racial identity in rich white towns pretending to be “progressive utopias”, friendship drama, thriller/mystery, lead character a blond woman with lots of past regrets and flashbacks throughout, other leads as character(s) who have been on the move their whole lives saying “this time it will be different”.
Who did it best, Netflix with G&G or Hulu with LFE?
Anyone else completely disappointed by this book?
I read it because of the hype and thought it was going to be super interesting. But it ended up being one of the only books I ever gave 1 star to.
Holy cow, whomever the composer is for their theme drew heavily on The Crown's theme song.
I just finished watching Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu and it seems like Reese Witherspoon is playing the same character she played in Big Little Lies (though potentially less likeable?). These roles carry strong Enneagram 3 energy to me. No shots at threes in saying she's unlikable - I think all people are easier to type when they're unhealthy and I think it's the unhealthiness that makes her unlikeable. I also think White America carries a very 3 energy and her character is trying to represent the "typical" affluent white progressive American. My question is: the enneagram resources typing celebrities I've seen always list Reese as a three and I'm wondering if that's really her or if it's just the type she is always cast in film/tv. Perhaps that's all we really have to go off of with popular culture examples.
What do you think about trying to type public figures, specifically actors/actresses? Are we always going off their roles or is it more an energy thing? When people get type cast, do you think it's because they are similar to those characters themselves and can naturally channel that?
Also if you have any thoughts on the enneagram of characters in Big Little Lies or Little Fires Everywhere, I am so anxious to discuss!
Patrick Swayze ( god rest his Roadhouse saving soul) plays a southern character who seems to be constantly persecuted because he is from the south and owns slaves. Was that common pre civil war? Everywhere he goes , ( primarily the north) he is questioned on if he has slaves and he is in fact discriminated against several times because of it.
The film opens in 1841 where I know anti slavery tensions and expansionism was high, but I wasn't aware of Southerners travelling abroad being so looked down upon constantly . Is that accurate?
So quarentine reached its peak for me as I sat down and binged the entirety of this 8 hour show in one sitting. Every single character in it is terrible. It is very morally ambiguous, but it is in the end all about mothers. Nothing has made me feel THIS childfree in a long while.
One of the mothers gave up herself to tend to her kids, and ended up full of regret and pain, the other didn't and put her own needs first, and is called selfish constantly.
There are two moments that are particularly infuriating. The first is when the first mother finally wants to go back to work. She is so excited and is ready to get back on the horse after three kids. She is constantly guilted and shamed by her mom and her husband who try their best to make her fully stop or just work part time, when this job is her PASSION. When she goes she sees that not being there has cost her a promotion, and she gets frustrated. After that she finds out shes pregnant again and feels totally helpless. Which leads into the second moment.
This mother already has T H R E E kids, and although she isn't drowning, she still is pretty overworked. So when she finds out she's pregnant she wants to terminate. Her mother basically tells her thats not an option. That she doesn't have a choice. And the mom points out that they both rallied for pro choice and planned parenthood, and her mother basically says it doesn't count because she has the money for the kid so she HAS to raise it. Her husband swoops in and agrees saying that "it's a good thing!" "We already have three!" "Four will be the same as three!" Obviously she has the baby and it is a nightmare. This is followed by a probably 5-10 minute sequence of this poor woman absolutely exhausted while the new baby is screaming crying every second of the day as she tries to take care of her other kids. The husband never helps her, despite her asking over and over, and brushes her off constantly. Now, I normally can deal with baby crying in movies. It irritates my ears and I cringe a little, but most of the time its over quickly and the show moves on. But this scene was too much. I actually had to mute the tv it was so awful. This poor woman has a breakdown and starts smashing glasses and yelling, all while this baby is screaching. I unmuted it for a second to hear the dialogue line "four is different than three". It just makes me so mad that they forced this woman into such an unhappy and horrible life. Obviously this leads to some resentment buil
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Hey guys, I wanted to share a project my friends and I recently completed. We are a comedy/literature podcast and we recently covered The Little Prince over two episodes, with the first one focused on the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the second focused on the plot of the story. I’m really proud of how it came out, as it has tons of silly moments but also really touching ones. We cried with laughter and also just cried. If you want to listen, the show is called Fire the Canon. Link to episode 1 is here.
Thank you all for creating this wonderful community, and safe interstellar travels!
EDIT: spotify link in comments
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