The Changing Paradigms of Friendship
The 19th-Century etiquette of keeping up appearances has given way to being seen, and understood, on our own unvarnished terms. There is much to be gained by this new norm. But what do we lose?
I have been watching the second season of The Newsreader, a sensationally good Australian television drama starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, which explores the personal and professional lives of people working in a 1980s Australian newsroom.
It’s an extremely well-written period piece, with brick-sized cordless phones, shoulder-padded blazers and blouses, and a deliberately dulled color palate applied to the cinematography.
But what I like most about the series is its exploration of the gap between the lacquered, polished veneer of the newsroom broadcast, and the abject chaos which lurks underneath.
Personal and professional crises abound, but the show must go on. When the cameras start rolling, the newsreaders must cultivate a caricature of someone who is unflawed and unflappable: calm and in control, maintaining a certain “image” at all costs.
