Normal People on BBC3

[Bouledeneige]

Binge watched it yesterday and loved it. Emotional, passionate and two really great leads. Thoroughly recommend it (so long as you don't mind lots of love scenes). Cried lie and felt bereft when it finished.

Thanks @RedHelenB and @wigglybeezer, interesting points. I read that in the book Connell says very little so the actor has his work cut out. I didn't really know what to make of the Helen character, she didn't add anything.

We seem to have a couple of Mary Whitehouses on the thread. I had no issue at all with the sex scenes and they moved the story along. Not for the sake of it.
If Normal People is in place of a porn movie, porn has got quite tame.

oh yes there’s no doubt he’s desperately insecure about his position with his friends at school and later at uni. I was confused as to why at school he was so worried about his image when he was clearly top dog in the group. What was he actually scared of?

I think it’s quite common to be ‘top dog’ in a group of teenage boys and still be desperately insecure and lacking in confidence, also hiding depression and anxiety.

When they all go out in the last episode why does Marianne go over and hug all the mean girls?

@LadyEloise

It's annoying, especially if you want to try and watch things as a family.

Who actually watches a TV show to watch people shagging? Just put a porn film on.

I didn't watch Normal People with the sole aim to watch people shagging. just use the arrow to skip through it if it offends or you have delicate family members.

`I don't think Connel is "top dog" , his gang of friends seem to have him on a bit of a pedestal due to his sporting success and brains but he seems rather passive and doesn't seem to initiate any of their social activities, he just goes along with things if he feels like it. He goes to a party at one point and Rachel says "I wasn't sure if you'd come".

He mostly seems to drink and listen and people project an image onto him.

@Sparklingbrook

Why are these scenes necessary though? I remember the days when you could watch TV shows without the excessive pornography and it wasn't that long ago.

The book has sex in it @MadamMarie, it's important to the storyline what sort of sex it is. The scene where Marianne sleeps with Connell for the first time addresses consent and safe sex.

If you think it's pornographic then you are watching the wrong pornography.

Also there is a clear warning at the beginning of each episode that sex is contained within so a choice can be made. There's plenty of other stuff to watch if it's not your bag so to speak.

I think it’s quite common to be ‘top dog’ in a group of teenage boys and still be desperately insecure and lacking in confidence, also hiding depression and anxiety.

I think this is absolutely true. He may have been top dog but our experience of the teenage years and socio-economic demographics tells us how precarious that can be. Poor, brainy, single parent family, gymslip mum all things that can be used as beating sticks. They could easily have turned on him and those fears would have shaped his actions.

Thinking further, I suppose it depends on what you mean by Top Dog. Does top dog mean leader or just most popular? With girls the stereotype of the "Queen Bee" is definitely a leader who drives the action but with boys the top dog is sometimes a more passive figure if he is a school sporting hero anyway.

You couldn't miss the sex out of this story, its how the characters communicate best and their strong sexual chemistry is what drives the relationship forward, if they didn't show it the characters would have to talk about it all the time instead and TV is a visual medium.
Its a story about the limits of intimacy and we have to get intimate with the characters to really connect with them and their struggles, other wise its just another soap really.

Actually I agree, I think Connell is a really typical ‘top dog’ character. He’s sporty, clever (altho doesn’t shout about it) and he’s good looking, it tends to be the quieter ones that everyone, especially teenage girls ime, works that bit harder to impress because getting a reaction at all is harder. The class clowns, always making others laugh, are less impressive in a way as they’re so easily pleased. A character like Connell on the other hand would be difficult to get the attention of.

You definitely couldn’t have the story without the sex scenes. The fact that Marianne and Connell connect intellectually is secondary, they get together because they want to have sex. Her as much as him. You see the progression of their relationship through the sex they have.

It does seem to be a theme in Sally Rooney’s writing that her characters experience events physically and their reactions are unconscious and come as a surprise to them. The conscious mind is always playing catch up. Everything moves from the outside in.

I had missed that it was the teacher coming on to Connell too.

Blee-me too! I wondered who it was.

In one of the first two episodes Connell was seen laughing with that teacher (miss Neary? ) after class and Marianne asked him about it. Also asked him if they were having an affair.

I've watched 8 episodes and still "not getting" the love for the series.

I wouldn’t bother watching the rest then if you aren’t feeling it.

I've also watched 8 episodes and not sure I'll carry on. I'm just not invested at all in the characters and couldnt really give a shit what happens to them. It's just such unrelenting misery. Two damaged people who dont seem able to communicate on even a very basic level. The scene when they say they can read each others minds is so totally unbelievable given that they seem to have no emotional connection at all causing misunderstandings which would have been clear even to a couple of 6 year olds. And not a single second of fun. Did they even laugh once throughout the whole series?

Talking of fun, why are the students the most boring freshers in the history of time. And why did they dress and act like 40 year olds? And why was Connell, a supposedly talented writer and English student, unable to string more than a couple of sentences together. The constant brooding silences and monosyllabic answers were just infuriating.

I think that's fair enough kingkuta, I liked it but found a lot of it frustrating. There are a lot of unanswered questions and things that don't quite make sense.

I just accepted it for what it was and tried not to think too deeply about it, as it's TV entertainment.

Well said well written kingkuta.

Hard to believe in as Connell looks so old, and she dresses and acts so old.
Frustrating that they don't communicate. She only expresses anything through sex. I am on about episode 7.

Agree with previous posters. It gets worse not better. So bloody miserable.

I didn’t mind the sex Scenes. Just the non stop view of her boobs

They can show sex without the woman being constantly naked Or show both naked

I’m far from a prude but as said before reminder me of shades of grey

I think they managed to have all that sex without him touching her boobs once.

@Sparklingbrook, I noticed that too!