# Them - on Amazon Prime **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, amazon-prime\ **Created:** [April 11, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818 "2021-04-11T20:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/1 "2021-04-11T20:52:22Z")
This is the weirdest damn show… I’m not finished with the series yet. I’m currently on Episode 7. Everybody sees a different invisible person. Lucky’s trauma is horrific, but this whole family is fucked up beyond recognition. Please don’t spoil me on the ending. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/2 "2021-04-11T23:17:22Z")
Ok, I’m done now! And the ending explains a lot! It was so creepy, and over the top with the depiction of 50s racism. Not that I would really understand the reality of it. So who has seen it, and what did you think? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/3 "2021-04-12T10:54:01Z")
I’m eager to watch _Them_, just finishing up _Red Rock_. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/4 "2021-04-12T10:56:23Z")
We should do a contrast-and-compare exercise about portrayals of black suburban families menaced by otherworldly figures. It’d be _Us_ vs _Them_. \< runs away \> ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/5 "2021-04-12T11:59:06Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > We should do a contrast-and-compare exercise about portrayals of black suburban families menaced by otherworldly figures. > > It’d be _Us_ vs _Them_ . > > \< runs away \> The first time I saw a commercial for this I only caught about half of it and thought it was related to _Us_ and was later disappointed to learn it was not produced by Jordan Peele. I’ve only seen the first ep so far. It’s well done but the cruelty toward the family is a bit hard to watch and the death of the dog almost made me give up on it. c Will definitely be watching more, although it’s one that I might only be able to take one ep at a time. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/6 "2021-04-13T10:03:57Z")
I stopped right after the family moved into the house. I just couldn’t bring myself to watch any more. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/7 "2021-04-13T19:21:41Z")
I watched the entire show in the past few days. The first episodes sucked me in. I became more and more uncomfortable with the show as it went on, but kept watching until the end, which I found very disappointing and poorly written. Here’s my opinion of _Them._ It’s “torture porn.” It’s a continuation of the same genre as _Last House on the Left,_ _Funny Games_, and _Hostel_ - a pure shock genre with very, very little to redeem it, in my opinion. The creator of _Them_ seemed to relish in torturing the characters and…virtually nothing else. To me, the theme of racial struggle was just window dressing. I did not find it to be socially relevant or in any way a “take” on any timely racial issues of the day. I think that the show’s creators were, in fact, cynically hijacking these topical themes as a vehicle for their shock porn. As is my common practice, after finishing a series or movie, I usually delve into the reviews and Reddit to see what other people thought. In this case, as I suspected, a hell of a lot of other people feel the same way. I’ll add this disclaimer. I am a white guy. _Them_ is a black show. I know there’s potential here for me to sound patronizing or dismissive of it because of the legacy of racism in this country. I hope, most sincerely, that my criticism of it isn’t taken this way. Racism, even in its most violent and disturbing forms, is an important issue that legitimately deserves to be explored by movies and shows. I do not believe this was an example of that. At all. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/8 "2021-04-13T19:47:11Z")
The reviews I’ve read, and which I can already agree with somewhat, even having only watched the first ep, is along the lines of " real life racism is horrifying enough, and depicting it over the top with other worldly elements trivializes it". There are some things about the show I like; the cast and the setting are excellent and capture 1950s L.A.(or at least how I imagine it). But I can’t watch the constant victimization of these folks if there is to be no comeuppance for the bad guys. It’s just too much. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/them-on-amazon-prime/939818/9 "2021-04-14T11:54:48Z")
I agree with y’all - it was created to be shocking just for the sake of shock, not for exposing racism. That was just a vehicle.