AIBU to think ‘Normal People’ is just a bit....shit?

[Returnofangeldelight]

Honestly, everyone has been raving about it, especially during lockdown so last week I thought I’d give it a go.

I’m now watching episode 9 and in all honesty, I’m just sat here bored of Marianne’s sulky, miserable face and bored of all the drama and angst about absolutely nothing?!

I know there’s a few episodes left so I’m really hoping something actually HAPPENS, otherwise it really is 12 episodes of hardly anything happening?

AIBU? What am I missing? (No spoilers please)

I thought it was very believable, and took me back to the games you play with love at that age. I haven't read the book yet, but found the series compelling, and beautifully acted.

The pp who said that if it hadn’t been set in Ireland then it would just be standard pretentious “intellectuals being tortured and pretentious” was entirely accurate.

I read the book some time before it was adapted and it left me utterly cold as well.

I never watched it because the book was one of the worse things I've ever read. Utter shit. I can't believe I actually carried on reading to the end. I was just waiting for something to happen but it was endless pages of nothingness.

Agreed. Nothing happened. We persevered to the end thinking something would happen. I didn’t care what happened to any of them by the end!

It's shite

The sexual chemistry between them was great but I just wanted to bang their heads together. For all their apparently intelligence they had absolutely no bloody sense whatsoever.

The book is shite too. Like something written by an awkward, sheltered 16 year old with an overly romantic idea about all the mediocre sex their peers might be having and how many insufferable posh people without personalities they'll meet at university.

YANVU I think I managed 3 episodes because all of the 'Hype'
It's shit and all the characters are shit and I don't care about any of them.
It's shit .
End of.

Totally agreed. Load of crap. Should have been called 'Two boring bastards'. All that faffing about - falling out, getting back together, on repeat. Christ, my own life is more interesting and that's saying something. I held on in the hopes there was some huge twist or reveal - no such luck.

Read the book at start of year. Just awful, trite rubbish. No pacing, characters who one didn't have any affection for. Very auto biog re uni and sex. Not exactly new-just-in.Glad I avoided the tv series.
Would be nicer to be kinder, but it was a few hours to read and it was time wasted.

I think you're missing the point a little - it's about normal stuff and normal people. It's about how excruciatingly stupid/awkward/insecure/lonely many of us 'normal people' can be - I certainly remember being awkward and self conscious and not knowing how to 'be' when I was a teenager.

I agree with this - it's not meant to be fast pace riveting stuff, it's just about, well, normal people. I'm up to episode 5 and really enjoying it, and thinking about when I was that age.

Loved it and loved the book too, really interesting character development, cried buckets too

What were you expecting, car chases, phantom pregnancies and serial killing sprees in a quiet drama about small town misfits going to university ?

I loved what it looked like and thought the two leads were good, though Daisy Edgar Whatsit’s accent slipped from time to time, but I agree the sex scenes felt endless — whereas in the novel they aren’t usually described, or get a single sentence. The first time they have sex is never described at all. It skips from Marianne arriving at Connell’s house to a month later when they’re applying for university.

I’m also baffled that so many people find Paul Mescal compellingly attractive — he’s got the kind of likeable, eejitty GAA face you could find around any pitch in the country, accessorised with criminally poor dress sense and an inability to articulate his emotions. I went out with the exact type of Connell at least twice in my teens.

Awful navel gazing wank, imo.

I absolutely loved it.

But you can’t be unreasonable for not liking a TV programme, it’s just personal taste. It’s weird when posters state their opinion as fact like some have on here, but very entertaining.

I particularly liked this one,

It's shit and all the characters are shit
It's shit
End of.

Some people are hilarious.

Well I found this adaptation incredible moving and poignant. It put me right back at age 18/19 and the intense drama of first love. I found them absolutely compelling to watch on screen. When I got to there end, I watched it all over again. And cried in all the same places.

You have no soul OP!

I read the book and watched the series. I thought it was good, but not great. I just wanted to shake them both and say talk to each other ffs.

And I normally can’t bear sex scenes on tv but this was so beautifully done and never gratuitous, no banging the headboard and faking orgasms, they just really connected and were so in love, it was gorgeous.

Read the book

I quite enjoyed the first few episodes, but I really didn’t enjoy watching her abusive relationships. I watched most of it, but after the episode with the boyfriend in Sweden, I just didn’t feel I wanted to watch any more. I’d also gathered from newspaper articles, comments, etc, that the ending was unsatisfactory, so I didn’t feel any regret about not watching the last 2 or 3 episodes.

My issue with it is that I work with that age group. And I'd rather not know what they get up to behind closed doors .

The little sketch here from RTE comic relief absolutely nailed the dynamic between the couple! and how there is so much drama over nothing!

@TheNewLook

And I normally can’t bear sex scenes on tv but this was so beautifully done and never gratuitous, no banging the headboard and faking orgasms, they just really connected and were so in love, it was gorgeous.

My problem with it was that they had that beautiful connection, yet he was so embarrassed that his mates would find out about that her that he hid the relationship from them and wouldn't invite her to the debs. If that were real the damage that that would cause someone could be huge!! and probably be a huge factor in why she wanted men to treat her like she was worthless in bed in her later relationships.

It wasn't simply her family who made her feel that way. It was him. He shared those beautiful moments with her but let her know how ashamed he was to be seen with her.....cementing the idea in her head that she was worthless.

I could never like his character after that lol!!

Okay, so I have just FINISHED the final episode of ‘normal people’

I actually did feel a bit teary at the end, but frustrated STILL because why wouldn’t she go to NYC?! What is she actually staying in Ireland FOR? To go swimming?! That seems to be all that’s changed

My verdict is- it’s okay. Moving in parts but mostly just a bit ‘meh’ and nothingy.

To people saying was I expecting endless drama, car chases etc. No of course not, but literally NOTHING happens. The most action was the nose breaking scene. And even the characters don’t really talk much. It’s mostly just them sitting in silence, communicating the ‘through their eyes’

I haven’t read the book, but am an avid reader and have read this storyline over and over in other books over the years. It reminds me of a lot of Tilly and Louise Bagshawe books, always a heroine that’s come from a tough upbringing. Just all very cliched IMO

I found what I saw of it (2 episodes), unbelievably dreary, like the book