#a first season--unless it's a standalone show like the haunting anthology--is never going to reach the potential it deserves

[novelconcepts]

Honestly if Paper Girls did rotoscope animation similarly to the show Undone (also on prime and also a fantastic show) I would have been in heaven. It would have cost a fortune and would have taken much longer to make, but the visual style would have been more suitable for the kind of small town paranormal vibe, the vivid color scheme of the comics could have been kept without seeming too sanitised, and the special effects would have blended in smoothly and looked so good. I'm kinda sad now.

I think the "cost a fortune" bit is probably what stopped that road being an option. This is a story led by four 12-year-old girls, and realistically, I'm not sure Prime would have been willing to trust that would do well enough to merit the money. Which sucks! Royally. This show deserves the world. It's built on the expectations (real and imagined) of preteen girls and the fury that fuels them, it's got Black, Chinese-American, Jewish lesbian, and low-class queer stories at the forefront, it has a ton of women behind the scenes--it's coming-of-age and dark and silly and so much fun. It deserves that weight thrown behind it. But, as we've been seeing lately...stories with women, especially WOC and queer women, are, um. Not being considered financially valid. Which is why I'm so worried about this show getting another season, even in the form we got. It still can't be cheap to make, and I'm super stressed about its chances.

#ask #paper girls #paper girls spoilers #i've felt really helpless about shows lately and never so much as right now #amazing stories like this deserve money and more than that they deserve TIME #a first season--unless it's a standalone show like the haunting anthology--is never going to reach the potential it deserves #and the idea that streamers are thinking solely with their pocketbooks and just destroying any chance of a realized story #especially with stories this big and glorious and queer and interesting #is...hideously unjust. and it makes me furious #i'm so glad they took ANY route with this show. ANY chance on this story. it doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful #i was stunned to see that trailer at all and even though it'll never look exactly like the comic #i really really want it to have a chance to grow into its own thing #i also want to stress: I LIKE this show. i love it. i love what they did and how these girls are handling it #i don’t feel in the least like I’ve settled for something #i just have two little boxes in my head now and both are marked with a heart in different ways