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"The Gilded Age" and the trouble with American period pieces

"The Gilded Age" and the trouble with American period pieces

It's Been a Minute vor 2 Jahren

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21:50

The Gilded Age delighted audiences with its lavish sets, decadent
costumes and social sniping when it debuted. Lucky for us, the
period drama just returned to HBO Max with a second season. But if
we look a little closer at the show, it reveals what we truly want
out of period pieces: to remake the past with our modern
sensibilities and values. As Brandon Taylor wrote in his essay
called "morgan spector pls break me in half," The Gilded Age
engenders "self-delusion" about our history – because to reflect
our past more accurately, would be "too horrifying" for a somewhat
soapy show. Brittany Luse sits down with Brandon to discuss
sentimentality, why we're particularly drawn to this era now and
how it's portrayal could be done better.

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