Penelope
One may feel irritated for a moment in the first couple of episodes of the Netflix original series, “Penelope” since it feels quite self-indulgent in its cuteness. The series, an eight episode tween version of “Into the Wild” which by the way includes a whispered citation of this book late on the series, is executed by the mumblecore sweetheart Mark Duplass who shouldn’t be restricted in this genre, seems to take time to get a less obnoxious vocal tone. It is assumed to be a program for the little ones a sort of Freeform version of “Walden”, in which a little blonde girl looking for a self-stay up and goes outside to find out where she fits and why the show includes numerous time unnecessary nail beatings of self and faith discussions. However, what is even more shocking about Duplass and co-writer dir megs Eslyn’s show is that, is that you, just like the main character, get mesmerized by the peaceful grandeur of the space around you.
We are introduced to the character of sixteen year old Penelope (Megan Stott, the younger Reese Witherspoon from “Little Fires Everywhere and since it feels like the prequel of ‘Wild’ in a way whence she’s introduced) early in the film enjoying herself at a silent rave in a forest, headphones on but in reality just moving her body without any audio coming. We understand without words that she feels out of place amongst her contemporaries, as well as the society that she has appeared in. Only through these fragments, but Stott’s emotionally resounding or expressive face contributes in giving us a clue as to why, without saying anything, she steals camping gear worth five hundred dollars from a supply store and hops trains deep into the Washington forest. “I’m not going away”, She mumbles into the last voice mail message which is overheard in a voice recording. “I feel as if I am actually running into something.”
That there is so much about Penelope’s past we don’t learn before she decides to become Jeremiah Johnson is probably the purpose, at least it would seem so; this is a person’s blank slate and while this does indeed make it a little difficult to relate to her as an audience in the beginning, the slow rhythm of the season lays bare to us why that void or emptiness is actually her main vice.
Samantha feels an absence in her teenage years, a void that she believes can be compensated by linking back with the natural world. The urge to Mother Nature is overwhelming, inexplicable, a drive she struggles to articulate. Before long, she’s found a way into a national park in the Pacific Northwest without a permit for camping, and she has decided that she will hunt and forage for food in the wild. ‘Where have you been all this time?’ she croons to a moss decked sequoia as she falls asleep at the end of the first episode. This is where she belongs.
The anchor that quest to make the wilderness her new home is the premise of all the 25 minute episodes of “Penelope”. However, Elsyn and Duplass make an unusual narrative choice, in that there is little urgency or danger in Penelope’s way initially. However, she was able to endure through the experience of being completely novice with respect to those skills due to the assistance of a detailed wilderness handbook and her unyielding determination. These setpieces often provide the structure for the episodes. For example, in this case, we can expect a second episode where Anderson tries to learn how to start a fire and put up a tent. Her victory celebration is reminiscent of Tom Hanks in “Cast Away.” Halfway into the series, a twenty-minute montage sequences the event where she constructs a piece by piece log cabin for her new home.
Most of the episodes continue in silence; they are contemplative episodes which one will appreciate better when under some relaxing substances. They can be a bit too precious for their own good; the kind of dialogue that is considered deep by a tween, and Nathan M. Miller’s camera work does at times get quite bland, although it does manage to capture the beautiful rural scenery quite well. The score composed by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians, combined with Julia Piker’s constant emotive vocalizations, has quite a few heavy tasks assigned to it which allows Penelope’s inner thoughts to come across. It is, however, exhilarating to see Stott take a series on her shoulders because, in creating Penelope, she draws on poignant emotional reactions that are refreshingly simple and unpretentious. She talks to herself, scolds the rain in her temper, and does her best to awkwardly interact with people her age or older. It is an incredibly exposed performance, and Eslyn is wise to keep her eyes on it.
She is, however, not the last throughout the entire show, “Penelope” has her meet quite a few more lost characters. There is the wacky guitarist (Austin Abrams), who is trying to assist her even before she reaches the preserve, a group of three highly religious teens including Rhenzy Feliz from “The Penguin” who also go to the woods to search for themselves. Particularly, “Krisha” actress Krisha Fairchild is remarkable as she puts on a great performance as an old geologist who lives inside the woods and spends her life in the preservation of the wonderful trees that the preserve harbors. (she doesn’t just cry when one of them is chopped down, she claims that it is like having a darling little child killed). Each one of those characters applies to Penelope’s inner, as well as outer, development and each time she strives to find herself.
It is a testament to the imagination of the creators that the storyline leaves no room for doubt. Viewers may wish to shout at the tv and encourage the woman to back away from the baby black bear she attempts to befriend in one scene or to query her survival amid the vicious encounter later described as particularly “Revenantish.” But “Penelope” does not care about the wavy realism from the beginning. It is a fantasy, an adventure that in all probability has a core similar to the fictional character that makes the movie. It is a well known story in a children’s book; a child of a few has been pampered and now wants to leave his house and explore the world. And besides, bear cubs are really cute and Penelope is not the first one to consider giving them oats.
It is well known that the Duplass brothers self-financed “Penelope” and whether it would see a second season is anyone’s guess. Compared to in the pre teen stage, what he likes is different quite and perhaps overly so for the intended YA audience. (It seems to be the type of program that teenagers watch, but adults create for them and only the ones who probably don’t are Girls5Eva’s culture: New York’s deeply solitary boys.) But the show has a good conclusion until the plot starts to get too concerned with Penelope’s history and her parents, a very important turning point for this young lady so she can develop further. Is it possible that the world she returns to may not be able to appreciate her? Or choose to go back there? The thoughts and debates found in “Penelope” are not ones learners would write their thesis on, which is basically great. But these are ordinary, primitive issues that everyone, everywhere and every day faces, and only a handful of TV dramas such as this one have the guts to present this drama so beautifully.
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