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More Profit Thoughts - What about the Children
Since it's a Greenwalt show, it's sort of interesting to compare - to some extent - some of the vibes I get from Profit, and some I picked up from AtS and BtVS. And not just the way Bobby and Jimmy's relationship and the Angel(us)/Darla relationships seem to sort of echo each other a little... but that's something else for another day when I am drunk and actually in a room with other people who could discuss this in person...
Random observations... like the oft noted observation that on BtVS, the parents are absent to the point of non-existence. Whereas, Profit is a world devoid of children. Part of this is the office setting. But, as office/corporate shows go, "family" is a recurring concern - and the absence of a younger generation speaks to the barrenness of the Gracen family and the G&G world.
Chas and Connie almost certainly do not have children - presumably, this would have been a topic of conversation should a divorce have happened, and as well given her frequent absences. One questions why there are no children - whether childlessness is a product of such an unhappy marriage, or whether childlessness is one of the issues at root of the unhappiness. It's probably a waste to look too deeply here, when it isn't fleshed out. Especially since Keith Sarabajka's role on AtS is so heavily trapped with fatherhood... whereas Chas would seem so much more disinterested and uncaring of that. But I do wonder.
Nora and Pete do not have children. Probably, this is mostly due to the fact that Pete can't get it up. As to whether or not Nora would want kids, I don't know. I sort of assume Pete would, except that he probably would have been afraid to have to be a parent - being the screw-up younger brother creates a comfort zone, even if it's one he doesn't like.
Nora's frustration isn't so much a case of childlessness, but barrenness is a theme. She's frustrated because her life isn't producing anything. As far as one can tell, she doesn't work, though she seems active on the benefit circuit. She definitely thinks she could/should be doing more, but she doesn't speak up about this to Pete - who really is the one person she should.
And then we have the only children actually referenced on the show - Jack Walters & Elizabeth Gracen Walters. She's close enough to her cousins that she can get Chas to hire her to do decorations, yet not so close that she'd be warning Chas or Pete about Profit - the man who framed her husband for murder. And where are their kids --- boarding school. They send the kids away to protect/isolate them from the actual crappiness of the Gracen grownups. (In this case, Elizabeth's alcoholism and public infidelity)
Not to get too mawkish, but if you live in a world where children get sent away and excluded "for their benefit/safety" it's a really lousy world. It's a barren world. You can grow lots of Profits there, and Profit is really swell, but is that really such a great thing.
Random observations... like the oft noted observation that on BtVS, the parents are absent to the point of non-existence. Whereas, Profit is a world devoid of children. Part of this is the office setting. But, as office/corporate shows go, "family" is a recurring concern - and the absence of a younger generation speaks to the barrenness of the Gracen family and the G&G world.
Chas and Connie almost certainly do not have children - presumably, this would have been a topic of conversation should a divorce have happened, and as well given her frequent absences. One questions why there are no children - whether childlessness is a product of such an unhappy marriage, or whether childlessness is one of the issues at root of the unhappiness. It's probably a waste to look too deeply here, when it isn't fleshed out. Especially since Keith Sarabajka's role on AtS is so heavily trapped with fatherhood... whereas Chas would seem so much more disinterested and uncaring of that. But I do wonder.
Nora and Pete do not have children. Probably, this is mostly due to the fact that Pete can't get it up. As to whether or not Nora would want kids, I don't know. I sort of assume Pete would, except that he probably would have been afraid to have to be a parent - being the screw-up younger brother creates a comfort zone, even if it's one he doesn't like.
Nora's frustration isn't so much a case of childlessness, but barrenness is a theme. She's frustrated because her life isn't producing anything. As far as one can tell, she doesn't work, though she seems active on the benefit circuit. She definitely thinks she could/should be doing more, but she doesn't speak up about this to Pete - who really is the one person she should.
And then we have the only children actually referenced on the show - Jack Walters & Elizabeth Gracen Walters. She's close enough to her cousins that she can get Chas to hire her to do decorations, yet not so close that she'd be warning Chas or Pete about Profit - the man who framed her husband for murder. And where are their kids --- boarding school. They send the kids away to protect/isolate them from the actual crappiness of the Gracen grownups. (In this case, Elizabeth's alcoholism and public infidelity)
Not to get too mawkish, but if you live in a world where children get sent away and excluded "for their benefit/safety" it's a really lousy world. It's a barren world. You can grow lots of Profits there, and Profit is really swell, but is that really such a great thing.
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There was also the girl scout in the Uncle Art episode. Yikes, yikes, yikes...
Profit the show was all about the the grownup and how the horrific childhood created the person they are today, so I think children would have been out of place, frankly. This was a Grimm's fairy tale already, where the adult cast are the main characters: either at the mercy of Profit or other characters, or mentoring under Profit or other characters, etc.
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I know. But that's the Meta. I was just sort of pondering inside the meta to look at what kind of world that would be...
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I've been waiting ever since then for it to come out on DVD - so I can watch it one more time. Even though I only ever got to watch about 6 or so eps of it, it's remained in my memory all this time. Now the thing is, to import it in now, or wait for the UK release...
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As per the waiting - I give very high marks to the DVD set, and it's got a bunch of cool commentaries with Greenwalt & John MacNamara (the other head writer) and with Adrian Pasdar.
I guess you just have to check and see how long it'll be before the UK release. I want to have more people to gush about this show with.