I really enjoyed watching 40, well most of it! I started wondering whether it was a reaction to anything or a working out of something. Maybe it's just a general consideration of 'life beginning at 40'. I certainly got a sense of new beginnings, particularly at the end of the last episode. It was as if the whole event of the reunion party was the pinnacle or pivot of the central characters' lives (except Rob for obvious reasons if you've seen it). New life is symbolized/personified in Anita's unborn child.
There were so many themes tackled in this series: love, sex, sexuality, drugs, careers, and life and death in general. It even tackled illegal immigration briefly. I like the way the two daughters of two of the main characters are complete contrasts. the youngest is sensible and kind and the makers of the programme deliberately show her wearing a crucifix and a white nightdress. the older one rebels against her parents, mostly her father. although, it becomes clear that she loves him and misses him, she resents him because of what she finds out about him. Her reaction is to apparently impose herself on the sex industry as a release, which doubles as a reaction to the things we know her father does.
I think the programme lacked slightly because it never fully explained the mysterious Jess. I didn't like this character, she was a good character, I just didn't like her personally, but I was glad when she got her own back on Rob, even in the most extreme of ways. I would have liked to know more about her and why she was as manipulative as she was. I want to know why she ever had a family because she really doesn't seem to care about her two young children.
The illegal immigrant, Christina, was a very interesting ingredient to the mixture. I loved it when she too got payback on Rob because he was no better than the ones who had tortured her in her own country. The way it was revealed that she was actually a doctor even though we'd seen her working in the lowest of low jobs earlier on brought a slight bit of reality into the series. I thought it was very skillfully done.
There is so much to go into with this series and I would definitely watch it again. I absolutely loved the format of the episodes. I liked the way everything was revealed in stages, it keeps you hanging on and wanting to know more. However, it was sometimes easy to forget important thing that happened at the very start when it was all over. The different viewpoints of each character were shown in an interesting way. It didn't really matter to me that not all of the characters connected. That wasn't the point. I think the point of it was that people don't change as they grow older - they simply become who they are.
There were so many themes tackled in this series: love, sex, sexuality, drugs, careers, and life and death in general. It even tackled illegal immigration briefly. I like the way the two daughters of two of the main characters are complete contrasts. the youngest is sensible and kind and the makers of the programme deliberately show her wearing a crucifix and a white nightdress. the older one rebels against her parents, mostly her father. although, it becomes clear that she loves him and misses him, she resents him because of what she finds out about him. Her reaction is to apparently impose herself on the sex industry as a release, which doubles as a reaction to the things we know her father does.
I think the programme lacked slightly because it never fully explained the mysterious Jess. I didn't like this character, she was a good character, I just didn't like her personally, but I was glad when she got her own back on Rob, even in the most extreme of ways. I would have liked to know more about her and why she was as manipulative as she was. I want to know why she ever had a family because she really doesn't seem to care about her two young children.
The illegal immigrant, Christina, was a very interesting ingredient to the mixture. I loved it when she too got payback on Rob because he was no better than the ones who had tortured her in her own country. The way it was revealed that she was actually a doctor even though we'd seen her working in the lowest of low jobs earlier on brought a slight bit of reality into the series. I thought it was very skillfully done.
There is so much to go into with this series and I would definitely watch it again. I absolutely loved the format of the episodes. I liked the way everything was revealed in stages, it keeps you hanging on and wanting to know more. However, it was sometimes easy to forget important thing that happened at the very start when it was all over. The different viewpoints of each character were shown in an interesting way. It didn't really matter to me that not all of the characters connected. That wasn't the point. I think the point of it was that people don't change as they grow older - they simply become who they are.