Thursday, October 16, 2014

Are you watching "Selfie"?


From the vastness of time and space, Karen Gillian (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy) and John Cho (Star Trek) come down to modern day Los Angeles for this updated take on "My Fair Lady." Gillian plays Eliza Dooley, a social media obsessed sales rep for a children's pharmaceutical company, while Cho plays Henry, a young but old-fashioned-at-heart marketing guru at the same company. When Eliza realizes that, despite her social media popularity, she doesn't have any real friends, she turns to Henry for help in "rebranding" herself.

Hijinks ensue, of course, as Eliza struggles to follow Henry's instructions in befriending coworkers and forcing her paramour to value her as more than a casual hook-up. On the other hand, Henry realizes that although he might understand the rules of interaction better, he doesn't really have friends himself. It's clear to see that together they are going to balance each other out, and it'll be a fun ride to get there.

So what emerges is a fun and surprisingly deep sit-com. Gillian and Cho are perfectly cast and the first three episodes have been well written and directed. It's not really any cleaner than any sit-com these days, but it's about self-worth and valuing yourself and others beyond what the 'ratings' tell you to do.

Are you watching "Selfie"? If not, I think you should give it a try.

3 comments:

Elaine J. Dalton said...

My husband and I are having a lot of fun watching it. I didn't even catch on that it was a modern retelling of My Fair Lady. Nice. :)

Unknown said...

I was pleasantly surprised, and love the fact it's a My Fair Lady retelling! Though it is odd seeing Karen with an american accent!

Unknown said...

I was excited for this show before it started, simply because social media fascinates me. But then I heard her name was "Eliza Dooley" and the basis clicked, so I got even more excited. Pygmalion has been a long-time favorite of mine.
I'm really enjoying the show, and I think that it's making an excellent point about our media-saturated world (which will hopefully click with people watching!).