# Masterpiece: South Riding **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085 "2011-05-16T13:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/1 "2011-05-16T13:48:15Z")
Did anybody else watch this mini-series? Despite it being a ‘chick flick’ (all men are brutes and bastards; all women heroic and stoic), it was very well acted and produced. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/2 "2011-05-16T16:40:48Z")
I thought it was good. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/3 "2011-05-16T16:55:31Z")
I thought Midge’s decision a bit sudden and concise under the circumstances. [spoiler] It’s uncharacteristic for such an anxious girl to just “Oh, well, I’ll leave everything I know then, shall I?” and go. I would have liked a bit of insight into her thinking; she had to have had some dislike for the old man given his treatment of her parents? [/spoiler] I appreciated the closure regarding Carne, but Surely the huge break in the cliff would have been obvious? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/4 "2011-05-16T19:33:01Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I thought Midge’s decision a bit sudden and concise under the circumstances. [spoiler] > It’s uncharacteristic for such an anxious girl to just “Oh, well, I’ll leave everything I know then, shall I?” and go. > > I would have liked a bit of insight into her thinking; she had to have had some dislike for the old man given his treatment of her parents? > [/spoiler] > > I appreciated the closure regarding Carne, but > > Surely the huge break in the cliff would have been obvious? I would have thought so, too. In fact, I thought the entire ending was rushed unnecessarily. There was probably another half-hour of material that hit the cutting room floor to make this fit within an hour. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/5 "2011-05-16T19:56:51Z")
I had this feeling as if someone said “Well look, it’s obviously going to be either _Downton Abbey_ or _Upstairs, Downstairs_ that gets the funding, so I reckon we’d better just wrap this up quickly.” ---
**Author:** ![jehan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@jehan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jehan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/6 "2011-05-16T22:03:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Did anybody else watch this mini-series? Despite it being a ‘chick flick’ (all men are brutes and bastards; all women heroic and stoic), it was very well acted and produced. I would disagree with that- several men were shown somewhat sympathetically-Lydia’s father, Joe Astell, even Robert Carne is shown as a complex man with good and bad characteristics. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/7 "2011-05-16T22:56:04Z")
> [@jehan](#): > > I would disagree with that- several men were shown somewhat sympathetically-Lydia’s father, Joe Astell, even Robert Carne is shown as a complex man with good and bad characteristics. You mean except for that whole rape thingy with his wife, right?. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/8 "2011-05-16T23:07:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You mean except for that whole rape thingy with his wife, right?. Complex ≠ perfect. That incident was clearly one of his bad qualities (& he did suffer for it). Also at the time his actions were perfectly legal & even somewhat socially acceptable (thought admitedly foolish since he didn’t let her “put her thing in”). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masterpiece-south-riding/582085/9 "2011-05-17T01:10:14Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Complex ≠ perfect. That incident was clearly one of his bad qualities (& he did suffer for it). Also at the time his actions were perfectly legal & even somewhat socially acceptable (thought admitedly foolish since he didn’t let her “put her thing in”). Well, I didn’t particularly want this thread to turn into a debate about rape, but I have to say that legal != moral, and doesn’t make him any less brutal, domineering and violent. Rape may have been socially acceptable, but only to the male half of the population. Rape is also not a “quality” in any sense of the word.