TV Corner: Big Little Lies

[Content Note: SPOILERS. Discussion of domestic violence and rape culture.]

I just finished the HBO limited series Big Little Lies, based on the book of the same title by Liane Moriarty. Since it was such a popular series, I thought I'd open a thread for discussion, in case anyone else has also watched it and wants to talk about it.

I thought it was very good, and there was a tremendous amount I liked about it, starting with the fact that there were five fully realized female characters, three of whom were over 40.

I hadn't read Moriarty's book on which it was based, but I figured out almost immediately the three central parts of the mystery: Who was bullying Amabella; who was Jane's attacker and Ziggy's dad; and who died and why.

Normally, that would be a big strike against a story that centers around a tangled mystery, but, in this case, it's a credit to how well the material dealt with rape and domestic violence. I figured it out because it was real.

Instead of some bullshit Law & Order: SVU twist on sexual violence, Big Little Liars told a very realistic story. I was able to predict the outcome because I know how sexual violence works in the real world.

And to see the story unfold exactly as it should have was immensely satisfying in its own way.

Much more so, in fact, than had it told a story that SHOCKS! for the virtue of shocking, at the expense of real-life survivors' truth.