@@Under the bridge

[1yeartogo]

Has anyone else watched this. I found it very compelling/powerful. It is also terrifying to think about @@teenagers committing a savage crime like this. I thought it was really well done. I had never heard about this case, but the victim was same age as me at that time…

[tacokick]

I read the book. It was interesting but the author romanticized the main boy involved in an odd way so I wasn’t sure about the show.

[loira]

This happened in my city. I was the same age as those kids when it happened and even though I didn't grow up here, it made national news at the time and I remember we got a lot of bullying talks in school following everything.

It's been interesting to watch the TV interpretation of it because it makes it out like Victoria was some tiny town, but even in the 90s it was a pretty sizeable city. Filming looks like it was mostly on the mainland, not actually in Victoria.

I think a lot of people who lived here at the time were totally ignorant to Victoria's seedy side. There was a ton of dodgy stuff going on here then (today too, TBH).

[tacokick]

Jun 8, 2024 19:24:36 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Jun 8, 2024 17:04:18 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I read the book. It was interesting but the author romanized the main boy involved in an odd way so I wasn’t sure about the show.

I didn’t read the book, but the show did stick true to this.

Good! It was really creepy and disturbing and a lot of new and old reviews of the book don’t bring it up. I’m glad they didn’t gloss over it.

[1yeartogo]

Jun 8, 2024 20:45:55 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Jun 8, 2024 19:24:36 GMT -5 mofongo said:

I didn’t read the book, but the show did stick true to this.

Good! It was really creepy and disturbing and a lot of new and old reviews of the book don’t bring it up. I’m glad they didn’t gloss over it.

Yes this part was really strange, but the show did try to explain her connection to and empathy with the boy. It added another layer since it focused on the crimes not being black and white, and her own emotional response based on her life experience.

Spoiler:

I appreciate that they didn’t make all the teens “monsters” and show their internal conflicts. Most of those involved had suffered a great deal of trauma themselves and had little or no family support love or structure in their youth, and it was important that they shared the concept of them being bic girls and their lives being disposable. In gangs that is really where things escalate creating a bond and sense of value only within that group and devalues all life if you feel your own life is disposable.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Jun 9, 2024 7:31:35 GMT -5 1yeartogo said:

Jun 8, 2024 20:45:55 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Good! It was really creepy and disturbing and a lot of new and old reviews of the book don’t bring it up. I’m glad they didn’t gloss over it.

Yes this part was really strange, but the show did try to explain her connection to and empathy with the boy. It added another layer since it focused on the crimes not being black and white, and her own emotional response based on her life experience.

Spoiler:

I appreciate that they didn’t make all the teens “monsters” and show their internal conflicts. Most of those involved had suffered a great deal of trauma themselves and had little or no family support love or structure in their youth, and it was important that they shared the concept of them being bic girls and their lives being disposable. In gangs that is really where things escalate creating a bond and sense of value only within that group and devalues all life if you feel your own life is disposable.

I agree.  I felt the most empathy for Dusty after watching the show.  It depicted her as someone who was remorseful for her past mistakes and trying to do better, but her circumstances put her in a situation where she had no good options. 
I also felt empathy for Warren the way they showed him because he eventually chose to take responsibility for his actions and repented for them, and I could see why Rebecca was conflicted about whether the rest of his life should be ruined because of something that couldn't be undone (although I feel his punishment was fair), and I'm glad that in the end it seemed it was his decision to face his punishment.  
Jo and Kelly were much harder characters to feel for, Jo because we didn't get as much of her back-story, and Kelly because she was a straight-up psychopath seemingly.  Kelly wasn't a 'bic girl' like the others, so it was unclear where her drive to be like Jo came from.  
I was also glad that they addressed that it was hard for the story to be focused on Reena even though it seemed like it should be a story about Reena.  None of the kids knew or cared about her enough while she was alive, and while her family cared about her, their differences kept them from truly knowing and understanding her, which is what seemed to drive her to seek out the displaced girls in the first place.  
I have the book on hold at the library, so I'm interested to see if there are any more insights into the family dynamics of Reena and/or Kelly's family, or Jo's background.  

[loira]

Jun 9, 2024 10:21:36 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

Jun 9, 2024 7:31:35 GMT -5 1yeartogo said:

Yes this part was really strange, but the show did try to explain her connection to and empathy with the boy. It added another layer since it focused on the crimes not being black and white, and her own emotional response based on her life experience.

Spoiler:

I appreciate that they didn’t make all the teens “monsters” and show their internal conflicts. Most of those involved had suffered a great deal of trauma themselves and had little or no family support love or structure in their youth, and it was important that they shared the concept of them being bic girls and their lives being disposable. In gangs that is really where things escalate creating a bond and sense of value only within that group and devalues all life if you feel your own life is disposable.

I agree.  I felt the most empathy for Dusty after watching the show.  It depicted her as someone who was remorseful for her past mistakes and trying to do better, but her circumstances put her in a situation where she had no good options. 
I also felt empathy for Warren the way they showed him because he eventually chose to take responsibility for his actions and repented for them, and I could see why Rebecca was conflicted about whether the rest of his life should be ruined because of something that couldn't be undone (although I feel his punishment was fair), and I'm glad that in the end it seemed it was his decision to face his punishment.  
Jo and Kelly were much harder characters to feel for, Jo because we didn't get as much of her back-story, and Kelly because she was a straight-up psychopath seemingly.  Kelly wasn't a 'bic girl' like the others, so it was unclear where her drive to be like Jo came from.  
I was also glad that they addressed that it was hard for the story to be focused on Reena even though it seemed like it should be a story about Reena.  None of the kids knew or cared about her enough while she was alive, and while her family cared about her, their differences kept them from truly knowing and understanding her, which is what seemed to drive her to seek out the displaced girls in the first place.  
I have the book on hold at the library, so I'm interested to see if there are any more insights into the family dynamics of Reena and/or Kelly's family, or Jo's background.  

The real Kelly has shown very little remorse over the years and has been on parole since 2017. I also saw an old interview with Nicole (Jo's character is based on her) that resurfaced where she basically had zero remorse for putting out a cigarette on someone's forehead, and didn't seem keen to take any blame in starting the fight.

ETA: I've never read the book but what I've found interesting about the show so far is that I never knew the Virks were Johovah's Witness. That must have made them a minority within a minority, especially here. While Vancouver in the 90s was already well on its way to being a vibrant multicultural city, Victoria was (and to a lesser extent still is) pretty white. I can only imagine they experienced a lot of racism and ostracization even within the local Indian community.

I'm watching on Disney+ so the finale hasn't been released but does the show ever get into Cam's background? It alludes to the fact she was adopted and I'm assuming she's First Nations -a ton of FN children were taken from their families and put in foster care in a system that wasn't designed for family reunification or to take into account their rights to their culture and language.

[tacokick]

Jun 9, 2024 10:46:56 GMT -5 loira said:

Jun 9, 2024 10:21:36 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

I agree.  I felt the most empathy for Dusty after watching the show.  It depicted her as someone who was remorseful for her past mistakes and trying to do better, but her circumstances put her in a situation where she had no good options. 
I also felt empathy for Warren the way they showed him because he eventually chose to take responsibility for his actions and repented for them, and I could see why Rebecca was conflicted about whether the rest of his life should be ruined because of something that couldn't be undone (although I feel his punishment was fair), and I'm glad that in the end it seemed it was his decision to face his punishment.  
Jo and Kelly were much harder characters to feel for, Jo because we didn't get as much of her back-story, and Kelly because she was a straight-up psychopath seemingly.  Kelly wasn't a 'bic girl' like the others, so it was unclear where her drive to be like Jo came from.  
I was also glad that they addressed that it was hard for the story to be focused on Reena even though it seemed like it should be a story about Reena.  None of the kids knew or cared about her enough while she was alive, and while her family cared about her, their differences kept them from truly knowing and understanding her, which is what seemed to drive her to seek out the displaced girls in the first place.  
I have the book on hold at the library, so I'm interested to see if there are any more insights into the family dynamics of Reena and/or Kelly's family, or Jo's background.  

The real Kelly has shown very little remorse over the years and has been on parole since 2017. I also saw an old interview with Nicole (Jo's character is based on her) that resurfaced where she basically had zero remorse for putting out a cigarette on someone's forehead, and didn't seem keen to take any blame in starting the fight.

ETA: I've never read the book but what I've found interesting about the show so far is that I never knew the Virks were Johovah's Witness. That must have made them a minority within a minority, especially here. While Vancouver in the 90s was already well on its way to being a vibrant multicultural city, Victoria was (and to a lesser extent still is) pretty white. I can only imagine they experienced a lot of racism and ostracization even within the local Indian community.

I'm watching on Disney+ so the finale hasn't been released but does the show ever get into Cam's background? It alludes to the fact she was adopted and I'm assuming she's First Nations -a ton of FN children were taken from their families and put in foster care in a system that wasn't designed for family reunification or to take into account their rights to their culture and language.

In the book she does get into the JW aspect and how that really isolated her family from pretty much everyone. Interesting that they didn’t bring that up in the show. It was one of the things I thought the book did well.

In the book she focused on how attractive the main boy was and how all girls loved him to a frightening degree. He seemed very manipulative in the book in a way the author didn’t seem to realize.

Cam is a composite character. No one in the book shares that back story. Interesting that they added that in the show.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Jun 9, 2024 10:46:56 GMT -5 loira said:

Jun 9, 2024 10:21:36 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

I agree.  I felt the most empathy for Dusty after watching the show.  It depicted her as someone who was remorseful for her past mistakes and trying to do better, but her circumstances put her in a situation where she had no good options. 
I also felt empathy for Warren the way they showed him because he eventually chose to take responsibility for his actions and repented for them, and I could see why Rebecca was conflicted about whether the rest of his life should be ruined because of something that couldn't be undone (although I feel his punishment was fair), and I'm glad that in the end it seemed it was his decision to face his punishment.  
Jo and Kelly were much harder characters to feel for, Jo because we didn't get as much of her back-story, and Kelly because she was a straight-up psychopath seemingly.  Kelly wasn't a 'bic girl' like the others, so it was unclear where her drive to be like Jo came from.  
I was also glad that they addressed that it was hard for the story to be focused on Reena even though it seemed like it should be a story about Reena.  None of the kids knew or cared about her enough while she was alive, and while her family cared about her, their differences kept them from truly knowing and understanding her, which is what seemed to drive her to seek out the displaced girls in the first place.  
I have the book on hold at the library, so I'm interested to see if there are any more insights into the family dynamics of Reena and/or Kelly's family, or Jo's background.  

The real Kelly has shown very little remorse over the years and has been on parole since 2017. I also saw an old interview with Nicole (Jo's character is based on her) that resurfaced where she basically had zero remorse for putting out a cigarette on someone's forehead, and didn't seem keen to take any blame in starting the fight.

ETA: I've never read the book but what I've found interesting about the show so far is that I never knew the Virks were Johovah's Witness. That must have made them a minority within a minority, especially here. While Vancouver in the 90s was already well on its way to being a vibrant multicultural city, Victoria was (and to a lesser extent still is) pretty white. I can only imagine they experienced a lot of racism and ostracization even within the local Indian community.

I'm watching on Disney+ so the finale hasn't been released but does the show ever get into Cam's background? It alludes to the fact she was adopted and I'm assuming she's First Nations -a ton of FN children were taken from their families and put in foster care in a system that wasn't designed for family reunification or to take into account their rights to their culture and language.

Yes, the finale episode does address Cam's background and how unsanctioned her removal from her birth family likely was and she confronts her adoptive father about it.  I was pretty impressed that the show was able to put so much nuanced information into one episode.  

[eddy]

I loved it. Obviously it was hard to watch, but I thought the all the actors were really great.

[eddy]

I actually didn't pick up on the fact that Kelly was a well off girl who lived with her family. I somehow missed that detail, which made her even more heinous. The others you could sort of understand how they got to the place they got. Kelly had no excuse.

I also loved that the actor for Warren was Javon Walton. He was in Euphoria. He really made Warren someone you wanted to feel sympathy for. It made me wrestle with my own feelings on why I wanted him to have an easier time. I don't think those are entirely correct feelings. But I was able to examine some of my biases/and or admit I like Warren because the actor made him likable. He was more likable than some of the others, even though what he did was worse then say Jo.