Pick of the Week: Rich Kids of Instagram
DR3, Mon 20:40
What would you do with your life if you were born disgustingly rich? Well, maybe this documentary that aired on Britain’s Channel 4 in December has the answers.
Filmmaker Osca Humphreys takes us beyond the obvious stereotypes of totally spoiled, ill-mannered young people to provides insight into the lives of the affluent brats. She explores the roots of the materialism that makes them share their latest Birkin or Louboutin bag, Rolex or Ferrari on social media to seek attention and followers.
As one of the featured kids, Nathaniel AKA Cash Fleezy – a 21-year-old wealthy youngster from San Francisco – explains: “When I’m on Instagram, I’m Cash Fleezy. I’m like an avatar, a character that exists within me. But when I turn it off, I’m a normal boy.” (AW)
Also New:
Nobody’s safe from reality TV in Britain. For years they were obsessed with sex and youth – the ‘will they, won’t they’ narrative, a ratings winner since Adam and Eve, was essential for viewing figures, or so they thought.
But now the reverse is true. Old people, with sex out of the equation, provide the honesty we all want, and the ‘will they, won’t they’ narrative applies to whether they will survive until the next episode.
The gardening gloves are well and truly off in Allotment Wars (DR2, Tues 23:55), a BBC one-off that dishes the dirt on the hobby.
It recalls the Republican nomination race, only they do tend to dig deeper. Channel 4’s The Mad World of Donald Trump (DR2, Mon 19:55 or Thu 23:00) aired last month, but given recent results, it couldn’t be better timed.
Would Trump have been better received 65 million years ago or still feared like Dinosaur 13 (DR2, Sat 20:55), the largest and most complete T-rex ever found. Somehow, the wonder got a little lost after Jurassic Park came out.
Elsewhere, Denmark will choose the least bad song for Eurovision in the Melodi Grand Prix (DR1, Sat 20:00); the delayed coverage of The BAFTAs (DR3, Tue 21:00) won’t mean a thing as Danish TV never cuts out the naughty words; and A Touch of Cloth (DR1, Sun 00:05) is back for a welcome S2. (BH)
Coming Soon: The People vs OJ Simpson
Based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book, this FX miniseries premiered in the US on February 2.
Inspired by the trial of the world’s most famous US footballer-turned-suspected wife murderer (Cuba Gooding Jr), the series views the case through the perspective of OJ’s lawyer, Robert Kardashian (David Schwimmer).
“Flat-out entertaining television, filled with strong performances from top to bottom and razor-sharp writing,” applauded RogerEbert.com.
With a whopping 90 on Metacritic, it never lets up on its intensity, even though we all know where OJ is going … eventually. (HS)
Sport of the Week:
Have the top four faced off like this in an EPL double bill before – it’s like the end of Reservoir Dogs! But with four! Miss Arsenal vs Leicester City and Man City vs Tottenham (17:10) at your peril! Elsewhere, France vs Ireland and Wales vs Scotland (17:50) square off in the Six Nations. And PSG vs Chelsea followed by Roma vs Real Madrid (Wed 20:40) mark a welcome return for the CL. (BH)
Film of the Week:
The title’s important. Take Silver Linings Playbook. It’s classy and, yes, it’s a classic. Lay the Favourite sounds like it was dreamed up in a nano-second by somebody thinking about their next vice. Generic, easy to stumble upon on Google, it’s cheesy as hell. While After Earth (Will Smith & Son Ltd) sounds like it was coined by somebody who’d just taken a dump … outside. And yeah, it’s crap. (BH)
