Is the Broader Audience Finally Ready For a New Perspective?

Was that a yes? Here’s three portrayals to add to your watchlist.

Finally, breaking norms are paying off. At least in dramas, cinemas, and on stage recently. But hey, that’s always the start, right? The audience and critics, including me, are loving the stories being told on screen, showing new perspectives. It’s possible to reflect and feel with the person, unattached to the norm. This means, it allows writers, producers, and actors to portray a personality, without having the weight of using token women or men, but just a person.  

This has, of course, taken years of struggling, trying to get more perspectives into an industry being dominated by the norm. (And there’s still a long way to go.) But we’re slowly coming closer to understanding, first and foremost, every emotion behind the struggle or the success, not the person you’re representing. Portraying real stories as naturally as possible, no matter the gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or dysfunction, and it’s finally paying off. 

Here are three acknowledged works lately, to keep an eye on if you ever want to be thrilled, touched, or overwhelmed. 

Arv (original title: The Inheratage):

The Inheritance is a play by Matthew Lopez inspired by the 1910 novel Howards End by E. M. Forster. The play has been displayed in London and on Broadway in 2019. Now the play has gotten a Swedish adaption and is currently taking place at Dramaten, Stockholm, being completely sold out. The play is giving the audience an unforgettable experience while binding a beautiful, yet heartbreaking, queer community together throughout history. The play is almost 8 h long and keeps you completely spellbound all the way through. The actors display a palette of emotions, and the play is set up with remarkable lines performed with innovation and brilliance.

Last of Us

The good old computer game, with storytelling at its best, has turned into a television series on HBO Max. A near-time dystopia, with fungus and dead walking people aside, with some pretty good stories to be told. The series puts desperation and love in a new perspective. This time, episode 3, (I promise, no spoilers) as we speak, is being voted as one of the best episodes made. Ever. In history. Press play and watch it yourself. But I promise you a beautiful, unexpected story, probably found in many places, yet never displayed like this before. 

The Banshees of Inisherin

Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.” Obviously putting men in a broken emotional relationship in the darker parts of Northern Ireland is a winner. Or at least that’s what the jury of the Oscars is thinking. Nominated in 9 categories during the 2023s annual Oscars gala. 

So, what do the three of these have in common? Breaking patterns of what’s expected with stories beyond traditional relationships. And the audience are approving and ready for more.