Alright, so I got a day off from homework and whatnot so I thought I'd put up a review or two of some stuff I watched this past week. Last weekend the hubz and I were looking for something to watch and stumbled upon the show. Zane and the content of her books have been the subject of a friendly debate between him and I for awhile now, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see his opinion on the show and expand our debate. My mom and I actually caught an episode of this show about a month before hubz and I moved in together and we found it hilarious; I'll explain why in a minute. Now before any of you raise your brows that I was watching a softcore with my mom, let me explain something and get a little sentimental for a second.
My mom and I have probably the most open relationship of any parent-child that I know and she truly is my very best friend. I can tell her any and everything, can discuss so many things with her, and I trust her with all I have. She knows when to be my mom and when to be my friend and acts accordingly, which I have appreciated so much through the years. We can watch something completely dumb, like softcore lite, and dissolve into giggles. Now if its something more risque, then of course this toes the line and we won't watch that. But something more along the lines of a simulation, then we're all on it--to ogle the man, to critique (or laugh at) the "acting"....or the woman lol, to analyze the plotline--whatever. And I'm trying to teach her about Zane and the world of erotica, so I figured why not watch and see what she thinks? Was hilarious to say the least. But yeah...my mom is my best friend and closest confidante..because our relationship has always been open so that I did not feel as though I could not talk to her about what was going on in my life, we can watch silly things like that without batting an eyelash. And I love it. Some kids, even grown ones, cannot even mention porn around their parents. But my mom is a total boss and that's why I can. lol
Now anyway, hubz and I saw that the program was on last weekend so we figured, what the hell, let's watch it. Within 5 minutes, both of us were a little on the 'wtf?' side of the spectrum. I've always pumped Zane up to hubz, because I felt that he had a rather stereotypical view of Zane and her books. He, like many other people, most of who have never even read an entire Zane novel from start to finish, classify her work as straight porn or think the entire book revolves around sex. I disagree--I just feel that the way she describes the sexual content in the book is better than most others I read because instead of rawdoggish degrading sex, she finds a way to make it sensual or romantic or whatever the mood in the novel suggests. If the characters in the book are actually making love, then the description and content sets the scene. If they are going at it like animals, you definitely know it. There is actually a plot to ALL of her novels, they just happen to feature--gasp!--sex.
With that said, the show differs dramatically. Patience, the lead character of the show, is based on Zane's own experiences with people who email her for advice, to try & cuss her out (lol), who update her on things they have tried, etc. but she falls flat. Zane, even on her FB page (please add her--the page is great)appears to be calm, yet somehow larger than life. The show's portrayal makes her seem as though she is this know-it-all who feels as though she is on some sort of pedestal, above her friends, and takes more of a 'scolding parent' tone with them. I wish Chronicles would show more of Zane the way we see her on her FB page. No offense to the actress (lesser known fact, she used to play one of the Avatars on Charmed a few years back), but to play someone based off of Zane, I just feel it needs more personality. The biggest thing hubz and I noticed though was that the plotline of the show itself needed more continuity, and more...well, you know...sex. lol It is hard, especially for those who have not seen all of the episodes, to come in and get a good feel for what's going on. The segues between the main characters were rather choppy and seemed to jump around, not to mention the actual dialogue wasn't all that great. This differed extremely from the books, where the dialogue was my favorite part, second only to the sex. LOL What can I say, I'm an erotica fan. However, I was pleasantly surprised at first to see that Cinemax didn't take liberties and turn Zane's excerpts into all out sexfests, but it turned to disappointment when I realized there was not only barely any sex at all, but the scenes that were featured weren't risque by any means. I felt that the show in general was, to be blunt, a very poor imitation and portrayal of anything I've ever read by Zane or heard from Zane herself. I'll say that its typical of Cinemax softcore in both content and sex, but compared to the novels and excerpts that I have read from my favorite erotica author and one of my favorite authors period, this was a poor portrayal. It's okay to watch if you have no expectations. But if you expect this show to just bring it with some chips because it has Zane's name on it, you'll probably walk away a little disappointed. Just my opinion. You had permission from the Queen of Erotica herself, Cinemax! You should have used that shit and created gold, not fool's gold. Random fact--I believe Zane has said she wasn't too fond of the "Queen of Erotica" moniker, but even though she isn't I believe it fits. If it weren't for her, many other authors doing the same thing wouldn't have gotten many places. I truly believe Zane opened the door for erotica as a genre to become such a force and has made it a watercooler topic, a go-to guide for your man (or lady) in the bedroom, or a wonderful escape. I love and respect Zane fully but I feel Cinemax could have done better with this series.
Apparently though, Zane's The Jump-Off will be premiering soon, so let's see how this one goes.
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