THere is an exchange in the new mini-series The four seasons This will land with many married women for a long time. Kate de Tina Fey and her husband Jack, who played by Will Forte, are late for an obligation, and Jack mentions that he has not eaten all day. An exasperated kate observes in her breath how pleasant it would be to be married to an adult who could meet her own needs. It's a very small moment, but he captures the atmosphere of many women in the Have-All era: will the goalkeeper never end?
A large part of Fey's postSnl An acting career was built on reading or creating a version of 30 Rock's Liz Lemon, the only person sensible in the room. In Wicked girlsShe was the voice of reason in the hazelnut world of secondary clicks. In Baby MumShe is the mother to the same responsible mother in front of the substitution out of control of Amy Poehler. And in THE Four seasons, It is a myth of marriage, seeking to take romantic notions of his friends on the long -term unions of a notch.
In a first scene, for example, she dispenses with the romantic idea that they each found their souls sisters. “Do you really believe that there is a person for each person on earth with whom they are supposed to be?” she asked. “And then this person also happens to be in the same dorm in college?” His friends are incredulous. “Who” asks the character of Steve Carell, “guest the Incel?” The sisters are a fundamental idea in our romantic landscapes, but its logic is irrefutable.
In the show, which began to broadcast on Netflix about a week before Mother's Day, three sets of couples of friends leave in four trips together. Each trip is in a different season, but with regard to marital life, they are all in the same, seeking to spend the rest of their lives with a person of zero novelty. Fey presents a number of ways to manage this situation. In the first episode, which takes place in the spring, the richest of husbands – played by Carell, whose sympathy can resist in a reliably with ignoble behavior – reveals that he will leave his 25 -year -old wife (Kerri Kenney). His misfortune is of the usual type of the 21st century. Now that the nest is empty, he wants an adventure, while the only land that his wife seems to want to break is Farmer.
Divorce sends a shock wave through the relationships of other couples – a known effect in wedding scholarship– And as friends move through their summer, fall and winter trips, there is a lot to do. The mini-series is based on a 1981 film of the same name written and directed by Alan Alda. In this version, the character of Alda, a therapist, is the emotional center, always trying to be the best person. In the update, written by Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfeld, the role is played by the character of Fey, whose commitment to make the right thing frequently transforms it into something fun.
Fey chose an interesting moment to draw a pearl on long -term mating habits. The annual divorce rate fell about a third Since the first Four seasons came out. The marriage rate has also dropped, but not Among the types of educated university people who populate these two entertainment offers. Two people of the same sex can get married (the couple in this version is played by Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani), and more recently, there has been an increasing interest in ethical non-monogamy, the relationships in which people have consensual extramarital partners.
Kate dispenses with the last so-called innovation fairly quickly. “Puke. Disgusting, ”she said to her best friend, played by Domingo, of the suggestion that she could take a lover. “I'm not here seeing a new set of thickened nails.” She also laughs at Rich-Guy's classic habit of finding a 2.0 version of the first wife. When Nick brings his girlfriend to one of their holidays, and the brilliant light of their new relational energy throws a tint on the predictable habits of established couples, Nick accuses his friends of being bizarre. Kate bristles at the idea that spouses can be so easily prohibited in and outside the life of everyone. “It's weird that Anne is not there,” she said. “And it's weird that your girlfriend was not born when Reagan was killed.”
More broadly, it seems that Fey and his writers examine how much marriage is more, especially for women, who Now launch most divorces. Many magnetic forces that have attracted people to get married – sex, children, financial security, respectability – weaken, because these things are easily available for singles. Married people, overall, Always report that they are happier than singles unless they are older women. Most of the first marriages survive, but it is not a large majority – by the way 59%. And the only age group where the divorce rate did not decline is over 50 years old, the empty nest workers that populate this show. Fey and his team hurt to present the two parties in the divorce with a certain empathy. No one is written of the plot because their marriage did not last.
Of course, there are things on long -term relationships that have not changed in the 44 years since the first Four seasons came out, or 302 years since Vivaldi wrote the concerts, or even since the four distinct seasons were identified. Married couples are still on the last nerve of the other, often by doing what gathered each of them. Comforting stability can look like inertia. A gentle partner can look like an unnecessary pushover. Being fed may have the impression of being muffled. In addition, nobody never wants to go to couples therapy. And everyone always wants more sex, theoretically, but cannot really gather the pieces to get there.
Fey herself has been married for almost a quarter of a century and has been in a relationship with her husband, Jeff Richmond, for more than half of her life. When they met, “I had short hair with a permanent on the top, and I wore a overall jeans singer overalls,” she said in a 2010 speech. “And that's how I know that our love is real.” The character of Fey, Kate, also praises longevity as a virtue beyond physical attraction. It will not be surprising for fans of a form of romantic comedy that his insistence on the failure of marriage is really a failure of character is done on his face.
In the end, however, the series ends with a note of hope. Marriage can be like learning to play the violin – an apparently endless Slog of rehearsal and errors and a desire to refuse activities that seem more fun, but it is worth it. And not only because a violin cannot leave you. Long -lasting couples still fold for this spark of early romance, but they don't really want to go back. “When you are young and in love, it's out of your will,” explains the character of Domingo, in what looks like the working thesis of the series. “What we have now is the result of knowledge and experience. We chose each other. ” In other words, you will probably not find a soul mate, but you could become one.
