I read about this for years before being able to get a hold of a copy of the DVD set (first season), and how wonderful and unique and groundbreaking it was. Gee, what a letdown! There is nothing special or even original in this series, except perhaps for using the "f" word three times in every sentence. Unless you are a very juvenile type, this gets mind-numbingly boring after a few episodes. (Interviews with Mr. Milch, who swears about as much as his main characters, suggests that he is referencing his own behavior and not the norms of the Old West.)
The REAL Deadwood was a fascinating place that existed for a very brief time, before becoming a sort of ghost town tourist attraction. Some traditional westerns show the violent action set in places that eventually grew into sober, stable cities and towns -- not the case here. That sense that Deadwood is doomed is entirely lost in translation, though.
Is the profanity realistic? (The DVD even features a short documentary talking a bit about this.) In my opinion, NO. While rough miners and brothel owners undoubtedly used profanity in 1876, it was not identical to the profanity we use today. The "f" word dates back to the Shakespearean era (if not earlier), but it was used as a verb to describe sexual activity and NOT as an adjective, modifying literally every noun. This is entirely a modern adaptation of that word. As such, it is as out of place in 1876 as cell phones and i-pods.
There WAS a lot of profanity, but what was considered profane in the 19th century were phrases like "god damn" or "blast" or "tarnation" -- seriously, those were heavy duty, obscene swear words.
Another problem I have is with the depiction of women -- and I mean how they are dressed. (For the record, I studied both fashion and historical costume at the university level, with the intent of being a curator at a fashion museum.) Modern day filmmakers have long had a problem with the fact that prior to the present era (post 1960s), virtually all adult women wore their hair UP. The modern fashion of long, loose hair simply did not exist -- it would have been stranger to see a woman with her hair all about than to see her walking down the street naked. Part of the reason was that nobody had the resources (detergent soaps, unlimited hot water) to wash their hair on a daily basis as we do today. Nor did they have hair dryers! Washing one's hair meant taking many hours to let it dry -- and possibly in cold or windy weather...it would have been impossible.
Look at photos from the era: every woman, even whores, are wearing hair elaborately styled UP, often greasy looking to our modern eyes, but firmly arranged with lots of hair pins. Most women wore hats in public -- most men, too. It entirely ruins a period film for me when women are shown with long loose contemporary hair, not to mention things like eye makeup and lip gloss. Bad form and certainly not within the "ultra realistic" premise of "Deadwood".
On top of that, all the women depicted are rail thin, per the present desire for a very thin body. However, that style is fairly recent, and would have seemed very bizarre to anyone from the 19th century -- this was the absolute era of plump, curvy, corseted women (fat by our odd standards). Of course, some individual women were thin, perhaps sickly or even consumptive, but this would NOT be considered attractive.
I could go on -- no woman would have appeared on the public streets undressed, in short garments exposing her bare legs, in underwear, etc. -- not even a whore. (If you look at actual photos of 19th century prostitutes, they are wearing normal, if gaudy, clothing.) Any community of Deadwood's size (about 10,000) would have had some children. Where there are women, even whores, there are going to be babies -- that's simple biology. Birth control was non-existent at the time, and yes, prostitutes did get pregnant.
Basically, this is a stupid, badly researched show made largely for the kind of childish audience that thrives on potty mouth stuff like South Park, where genuine humor and cleverness is undone by a constant need to use shock swear words (in that case, coming out of the mouths of cartoon kids). On the positive side, some excellent performers, including the rightly praised Ian MacShane as Swearingen (based on a real life Deadwood resident, but how lame is it to take a character with such a name and have him "swear" a lot???), the excellent Powers Boothe, and Keith Carradine in one of his very best roles.
This would have been vastly better as a trimmed down, four-to-six hour mini-series...with swearing and costumes true to the era. A wasted opportunity and vastly overpraised. Don't bother to subscribe to cable for this -- I got the DVD set at my library for free.
The REAL Deadwood was a fascinating place that existed for a very brief time, before becoming a sort of ghost town tourist attraction. Some traditional westerns show the violent action set in places that eventually grew into sober, stable cities and towns -- not the case here. That sense that Deadwood is doomed is entirely lost in translation, though.
Is the profanity realistic? (The DVD even features a short documentary talking a bit about this.) In my opinion, NO. While rough miners and brothel owners undoubtedly used profanity in 1876, it was not identical to the profanity we use today. The "f" word dates back to the Shakespearean era (if not earlier), but it was used as a verb to describe sexual activity and NOT as an adjective, modifying literally every noun. This is entirely a modern adaptation of that word. As such, it is as out of place in 1876 as cell phones and i-pods.
There WAS a lot of profanity, but what was considered profane in the 19th century were phrases like "god damn" or "blast" or "tarnation" -- seriously, those were heavy duty, obscene swear words.
Another problem I have is with the depiction of women -- and I mean how they are dressed. (For the record, I studied both fashion and historical costume at the university level, with the intent of being a curator at a fashion museum.) Modern day filmmakers have long had a problem with the fact that prior to the present era (post 1960s), virtually all adult women wore their hair UP. The modern fashion of long, loose hair simply did not exist -- it would have been stranger to see a woman with her hair all about than to see her walking down the street naked. Part of the reason was that nobody had the resources (detergent soaps, unlimited hot water) to wash their hair on a daily basis as we do today. Nor did they have hair dryers! Washing one's hair meant taking many hours to let it dry -- and possibly in cold or windy weather...it would have been impossible.
Look at photos from the era: every woman, even whores, are wearing hair elaborately styled UP, often greasy looking to our modern eyes, but firmly arranged with lots of hair pins. Most women wore hats in public -- most men, too. It entirely ruins a period film for me when women are shown with long loose contemporary hair, not to mention things like eye makeup and lip gloss. Bad form and certainly not within the "ultra realistic" premise of "Deadwood".
On top of that, all the women depicted are rail thin, per the present desire for a very thin body. However, that style is fairly recent, and would have seemed very bizarre to anyone from the 19th century -- this was the absolute era of plump, curvy, corseted women (fat by our odd standards). Of course, some individual women were thin, perhaps sickly or even consumptive, but this would NOT be considered attractive.
I could go on -- no woman would have appeared on the public streets undressed, in short garments exposing her bare legs, in underwear, etc. -- not even a whore. (If you look at actual photos of 19th century prostitutes, they are wearing normal, if gaudy, clothing.) Any community of Deadwood's size (about 10,000) would have had some children. Where there are women, even whores, there are going to be babies -- that's simple biology. Birth control was non-existent at the time, and yes, prostitutes did get pregnant.
Basically, this is a stupid, badly researched show made largely for the kind of childish audience that thrives on potty mouth stuff like South Park, where genuine humor and cleverness is undone by a constant need to use shock swear words (in that case, coming out of the mouths of cartoon kids). On the positive side, some excellent performers, including the rightly praised Ian MacShane as Swearingen (based on a real life Deadwood resident, but how lame is it to take a character with such a name and have him "swear" a lot???), the excellent Powers Boothe, and Keith Carradine in one of his very best roles.
This would have been vastly better as a trimmed down, four-to-six hour mini-series...with swearing and costumes true to the era. A wasted opportunity and vastly overpraised. Don't bother to subscribe to cable for this -- I got the DVD set at my library for free.