{"id":2325485,"date":"2024-08-16T04:51:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T08:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-pox-on-netflixs-plague-comedy-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-16T04:59:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T08:59:39","slug":"a-pox-on-netflixs-plague-comedy-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-pox-on-netflixs-plague-comedy-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"A pox on Netflix\u2019s plague \u2018comedy\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-pox-on-netflixs-plague-comedy-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2325485&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The text is a review of Netflix&#8217;s adaptation of &#8220;The Decameron,&#8221; directed by Zosia Mamet, described \u200bas a misguided modern take on Boccaccio&#8217;s classic work set during the bubonic plague in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/draculas-castle-in-transylvania-set-up-as-covid-19-vaccine-site\/\" title=\"Dracula\u2019s Castle In Transylvania Set Up As COVID-19 Vaccine Site\">14th-century<\/a> Italy. The \u200ccritic expresses disappointment with the show, \u2062characterizing it as overly reliant on screeches and exaggerated accents, lacking the humor present in similar comedic works. The adaptation is criticized for its anachronistic dialogue and superficial characters, leading to a viewing\u200d experience that is deemed &#8220;pestilentially stupid.&#8221; The plot revolves around Pampinea, portrayed by Mamet, who schemes to claim a manor under false pretenses amidst the chaos of the \u200cplague. The review ultimately concludes that \u2062the performances are poor, the humor fails to land, and the overall production feels lazy and uninspired. The\u2062 critic laments \u200bthat &#8220;The Decameron&#8221; does not \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netflix-turns-legendary-avatar-the-last-airbender-romance-into-lesbian-love-story\/\" title=\"Netflix transforms the iconic &#039;Avatar: The Last Airbender&#039; romance into a lesbian love tale\">provide engaging content<\/a>, questioning \u200bthe\u200d minimal \u200ceffort\u2062 involved in its creation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-sacff-txt\">Magazine &#8211; Life &amp; Arts<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">A pox on Netflix&rsquo;s plague &lsquo;comedy&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>What must David Mamet think of <em>The Decameron<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/netflix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Netflix<\/a>&rsquo;s laughless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/comedy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>comedy<\/a> of medieval prurience and plague? In the 1990s, long before his turn as a conservative provocateur, the dramatist was famous in iconoclastic circles for his condemnation of modern acting, with its endless &ldquo;funny voices.&rdquo; Yet strained artificiality is the new production&rsquo;s primary mode, not least in the performance of Mamet <em>fille<\/em>, Zosia, formerly co-star of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hbo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>HBO<\/a>&rsquo;s <em>Girls<\/em>. An exceptionally loose adaptation of Boccaccio&rsquo;s 14th-century masterpiece, the show is a veritable feast of screeches, squeals, gasps, and unlikely accents. If the high priest of &ldquo;just say the line&rdquo; directing has a kind word for his daughter&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/critics-slam-legendary-puerto-rican-actress-rita-morenos-defense-of-lin-manuel-miranda-fair-skinned-always-say-wait-your-turn-to-darker-skinned-people\/\" title=\"Critics Slam Legendary Puerto Rican Actress Rita Moreno\u2019s Defense Of Lin-Manuel Miranda: \u2018Fair Skinned\u2019 Always Say \u2018Wait Your Turn To Darker Skinned People\u2019\">recent project<\/a>, I can&rsquo;t imagine what it is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Is pop-Freudianism an odd beginning for a television review? I suppose so. It is a mark of how little <em>The Decameron<\/em> offers, however, that the critic is reduced to speculative family counseling. Not so much anchored by the young Mamet&rsquo;s performance as dragged by it to the sea floor, Netflix&rsquo;s latest is a disaster not only of casting but of form and style as well. Set in bubonic Italia, 1348, the series is <em>Monty Python<\/em> without the guffaws and <em>Bridgerton<\/em> without the sizzle. If pressed, I would concede that the costumes are interesting. Beyond that, the show is so pestilentially stupid that I left it to die in the street after three episodes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Zosia Mamet and Saoirse-Monica Jackson in The Decameron. (Giulia Parmigiani\/Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like its literary progenitor, <em>The Decameron<\/em> follows Florentine noblepersons to a country villa, where our heroes hope to wait out the Black Death in style. Unlike that source material, the series produces abundant dialogue in the &ldquo;Yeah, no, you&rsquo;re right&rdquo; vein, seemingly laboring under the delusion that anachronisms must be funny. (&ldquo;F*** yeah, signora,&rdquo; declares some poor bastard halfway through the pilot.) Among the production&rsquo;s other attempts at humor are catfights, insults of the &ldquo;mouth-breather&rdquo; variety, and visual gags involving, e.g., a character&rsquo;s perfume allergy. Dare I say these jokes don&rsquo;t land? Indeed, <em>The Decameron<\/em> plays more than anything like an economic experiment on the part of its host platform. What is the minimum amount of talent, effort, and money that can be exploited to produce eight new hours of streaming content?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The show stars Zosia Mamet as Pampinea, a not-entirely-fresh aristocrat on the verge of a favorable marriage. Unbeknownst to our protagonist, her intended, Leonardo, has succumbed to the plague, leaving his scheming servants to run his manor. When, in a move that recalls the stock plots of <em>commedia dell&rsquo;arte<\/em>, these underlings announce that Leonardo is merely traveling, Pampinea hits upon an idea. If she can persuade her fellow refugees that the wedding has already taken place, the estate, and safety, will be hers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If <em>The Decameron<\/em> is not quite an inheritance saga, many of its players nevertheless have pecuniary motives. Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin) is Leonardo&rsquo;s formal heir and wants the estate despite his crippling hypochondria. Licisca (Tanya Reynolds), a penniless maid, has begun to impersonate her mistress (Jessica Plummer) after pushing the latter off a bridge. For those ensemblists ungoverned by money, carnality provides a handy substitute. Both Neifile (Lou Gala) and her husband (Karan Gill) lust after Dioneo (Amar Chadha-Patel), Tindaro&rsquo;s attendant physician and friend. Dioneo himself wants Licisca, whether or not she is who she claims to be.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Though the faces in question are memorable enough, the viewer is unlikely to keep these names straight. Neither is he liable to experience any cast member as more than a one-note caricature. In part, this is due to <em>The Decameron&rsquo;s<\/em> incurable silliness, which prevents our taking seriously any given fear or desire. Yet it is also true that the performances on display are simply bad. God&rsquo;s own model of ironic detachment, Zosia Mamet is woefully out of place as a 14th-century <em>anything<\/em>. (One is reminded of Cynthia Nixon&rsquo;s disastrous work in HBO&rsquo;s <em>The Gilded Age<\/em>.) Other actors appear barely to be trying, having been instructed, one assumes, to aim for petulant shrillness above all. It is at this point that the critic typically reaches for an exception, if only to prove himself unbiased. There aren&rsquo;t any. Unwatchably lazy and brainless, <em>The Decameron<\/em> isn&rsquo;t even <em>almost<\/em> entertaining. It&rsquo;s just a sad, unengaging dud.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The show is, if television executives know what&rsquo;s good for them, one of the last outings of its kind. Ever since <em>Hamilton<\/em> blew the doors off American theaters in 2015, showrunners have been sprinting to create the latest in race-blind historical programming. That trend is now exhausted. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-finally-admit-biden-poses-grave-danger-to-country\/\" title=\"Media Finally Admit Biden Poses Grave Danger To Country\">problem isn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t, let us be clear, the presence of minority actors in &ldquo;white&rdquo; roles. It&rsquo;s that unlikely casting decisions have tended to inspire far less successful distortions. Thus is Hulu&rsquo;s <em>The Great<\/em> a target-free &ldquo;satire&rdquo; rather than the perfectly functional costume drama it might have been. Thus have recent <em>Bridgerton<\/em> seasons been shameless exercises in progressive fan service. To be sure, the gonzo historical comedy can work: See Yorgos Lanthimos&rsquo;s <em>The Favourite<\/em> (2018) for proof of concept. Note, however, that that film is 120 minutes long. <em>The Decameron<\/em>&rsquo;s minutes add up to more than 400.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Is length the real problem here? It doesn&rsquo;t help. Still, I suspect that Netflix&rsquo;s newest offering would have failed as a six-minute <em>Saturday Night Live <\/em>skit, never mind a television series of any reasonable span. &ldquo;Richer by far in coin than in wit,&rdquo; Boccaccio writes of one of <em>The Decameron&rsquo;s<\/em> many characters. How well he understood the world. Nearly 700 years later, the series he inspired may make a dollar or two for someone, but it doesn&rsquo;t deserve to.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Graham Hillard is editor at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal and a <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine contributing writer.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>**Magazine &#8211; Life &amp; Arts: A Critique of Netflix&#8217;s &#8216;The Decameron&#8217;**<\/p>\n<p>What might David Mamet think of Netflix&#8217;s The Decameron, a humorless take on medieval themes and the plague? In the 1990s, before he became known as a conservative provocateur, Mamet was well-known in avant-garde circles for criticizing contemporary acting styles that relied heavily on &#8220;funny voices.&#8221; However, this new production is characterized by its forced artificiality, particularly evident in the performance of Zosia Mamet, his daughter and former co-star from HBO\u2019s Girls. This loose adaptation of Boccaccio\u2019s 14th-century work is filled with exaggerated sounds and peculiar accents. If Mamet has anything positive to say about his daughter&#8217;s project, it\u2019s hard to imagine what that could be.<\/p>\n<p>Is it strange to start a television review with pop-Freudianism? Perhaps. Yet it reflects how little The Decameron offers that critics are left speculating about family dynamics. Rather than being supported by Zosia&#8217;s performance, the show feels dragged down by it; it&#8217;s not just poorly cast but also lacking in form and style. Set against the backdrop of bubonic plague-ridden Italy in 1348, this series resembles Monty Python without any laughs or Bridgerton without any allure. I might concede that the costumes are somewhat interesting; however, beyond that point, I found it so painfully dull that I abandoned it after three episodes.<\/p>\n<p>Like its literary counterpart, The Decameron follows Florentine nobles who retreat to a country villa hoping to escape the Black Death in comfort. Unlike Boccaccio&#8217;s original work though, this series features an abundance of dialogue filled with modern phrases like \u201cYeah no\u201d as if anachronisms were inherently humorous (e.g., one character exclaims \u201cF*** yeah\u201d midway through). Other attempts at humor include petty squabbles and visual gags related to allergies\u2014none of which land effectively.<\/p>\n<p>The show seems more like an economic experiment for Netflix: what is the least amount of talent and effort required to produce eight hours of streaming content? Zosia plays Pampinea\u2014a somewhat stale aristocrat poised for marriage\u2014unbeknownst to her that her fianc\u00e9 Leonardo has died from the plague while his scheming servants manage his estate under false pretenses.<\/p>\n<p>While not strictly an inheritance story per se, many characters have financial motives driving their actions. Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin), Leonardo\u2019s heir despite being overly anxious about health issues; Licisca (Tanya Reynolds), a broke maid who impersonates her mistress after pushing her off a bridge; both Neifile (Lou Gala) and her husband lusting after Dioneo (Amar Chadha-Patel), Tindaro\u2019s physician friend\u2014all these characters lack depth or nuance due largely to their caricatured portrayals.<\/p>\n<p>Zosia Mamet struggles significantly as she embodies someone from 14th-century Italy\u2014her modern sensibilities feel out-of-place much like Cynthia Nixon did in HBO&#8217;s The Gilded Age\u2014and other actors seem equally disengaged or directed towards exaggerated petulance rather than genuine emotion. Typically at this juncture critics would highlight some redeeming quality; unfortunately here there are none.<\/p>\n<p>Unwatchably lazy and devoid of substance or entertainment value altogether\u2014the series stands as one among many failed attempts at historical comedy since Hamilton revolutionized theater back in 2015 prompting networks toward race-blind casting trends now running dry due primarily because such choices often lead only towards less successful adaptations rather than enriching narratives themselves.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion: while some gonzo historical comedies succeed\u2014like Yorgos Lanthimos\u2019 The Favourite\u2014it must be noted those films run around two hours long compared with over four hundred minutes dedicated here! Is length truly part problem? It certainly doesn\u2019t help but even condensing into shorter formats wouldn\u2019t salvage what appears fundamentally flawed within execution itself either way! As Boccaccio once wrote regarding certain characters being &#8220;richer far in coin than wit,&#8221; nearly seven centuries later we see how true those words remain today\u2014the series may generate revenue but hardly deserves any acclaim whatsoever! <\/p>\n<p>Graham Hillard serves as editor at James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal alongside contributing writer roles within Washington Examiner magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":956,"featured_media":2325486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/LA.TV_.decameron-082124.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[7958,7375,5158,18256,32076],"class_list":["post-2325485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-comedy","tag-criticism","tag-netflix","tag-plague","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/LA.TV_.decameron-082124.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/956"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2325485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2325486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2325485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2325485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2325485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}