![]() Many programs have lazily used those things to give their stories "edginess" or "darkness," or to give their program an unearned aura of adult sensuality. In the 15 years I've been a critic, there have been any number of debates about how sexuality, nudity and sexual violence have been employed on television. When it comes to those subjects, "Spartacus" regularly put far more expensive and widely praised shows to shame. I haven't seen a ton of clear-eyed assessments of how intelligently these elements were deployed during the show's run. I've seen a lot of mockery of the sex on "Spartacus" by those who haven't seen it or haven't seen much of it. You might not guess this during the first episode or two, but "Spartacus" ends up being one of the most fervently and unabashedly political dramas I've ever seen.Īnd by the way, I can't think of many shows that did a more responsible job of depicting sexuality, nudity and rape. Underneath all of those colorful elements - which make the show a lot of fun to watch - is a meticulously constructed drama with a fantastically committed and ferocious heart. "Spartacus" is bawdy, lusty, over the top, bloody, adventurous and exciting, but all of that stuff is merely the icing on the cake. It's one of the most enjoyable dramas of the last decade, and I have been banging the drum for it since it debuted in early 2010. But there's much more to "Spartacus" than sex, togas and violence. Well, sure, amputations and sex are not exactly uncommon on the show, which ran for 39 blood-soaked episodes on Starz. You may be asking, "Are you serious? Why would I want to watch 'Spartacus'? Isn't it pretty much just people boinking and cutting each other's limbs off?" Here are some excerpts from Maureen Ryan's summary of Spartacus:īut let's back up for a minute. The plot is developed consistently, without lulls or dud episodes or filler, through 4 (3.5) seasons. However, underneath the aesthetics and humorous speech-patterns, the show has an intricate, well-crafted story a solid grasp and discussion of meaningful themes some of the most memorable acting roles I've seen in my entire life (Battiatus, Illythia, and Gannicus). I obviously understand where this is coming from, the show presented itself in a very shallow way, tapping into the juvenile "300"'s aesthetics. I think this is pretty insulting, since I certainly think that. ![]() Whenever someone says the prefer Spartacus to GoT or Rome, some people invariably reply with a disbelieving "what!? you must be joking, nobody thinks that". ![]() Over and over, to a certain degree of agreement, people would point out that the former can't be compared with the latter since it's a "joke show", all blood-and-tits, not meant to be taken seriously like a "prestige drama", etc. I was prowling around through reddit and bumped into a series of threads that compared Spartacus and Game of Thrones. ![]()
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