Why Sense8 is Sensational and Something You Should Watch
I'm very picky about the shows I choose to watch. Like reading a book or playing a game, watching a show requires an investment of our most valuable collective commodity: time. If I learn before watching a show that it was cancelled unexpectedly, I often choose not to watch it because I hate unresolved cliffhangers.
On the off chance that you and I have these things in common, I'm using my first non-verification post on Steemit to tell you about a wonderful series called Sense8, its cancellation earlier this week, and why I believe it's still worth your time to watch it even if you share my aforementioned aversions.
Why Sense8 is Amazing
Explaining this well sans spoilers is going to be difficult, but I'll do my best.
The premise of this series is rooted in science fiction, namely a shared telepathic bond that a group of eight strangers stumble into. While various aspects of this are explored throughout the series, it functions primarily as a story element that's sort of hidden in plain sight: once its initial novelty passes, the social implications that surround it become its more intriguing facet.
The heart of the show is the people and places that it explores. The diversity of the characters and their homelands is incredible. The main characters are evenly split by gender. Four of the eight are white, but one hails from Berlin and another was born in Iceland but resides in London. Another is Latino living in Mexico City, another Korean from Seoul, yet another Indian hailing from Mumbai, and the last of mixed heritage between the Kikuyu and Luo ethnic groups of Kenya is based out of Nairobi. The series quite literally exists on a global scale.
Their differences don't end with race, ethnicity, or country, though.
Two of the characters are gay. One of the two is openly so and is transgender, another is closeted and cisgender. One character is questionably asexual, as we only receive an indication of their romantic proclivities late in the series. The characters' shared sexual experiences further serve to paint the whole of human sexuality as a wide spectrum of colors.
The characters' differences also show in their familial backgrounds. Some have only a mother, some only a father, some both, and some neither. One of their significant others has one mother and three fathers. One has a mother who is accepting of their identity, another a father who did nothing but abuse them. One finds a family in the form of their significant other and a close mutual friend, another with fellow inmates in prison. Some find bonds through their gender, others through their sexual identity, and still others via their common interests and pastimes.
The vocations of the characters also showcase their variety. One is a thief. Another is a police officer. One is an actor in action films. Another loves action films and drives a bus. One is a computer hacker and activist. Another is a DJ. One is a scientist. Another is a business person and a martial artist. Their skills, strengths, and perspectives, together with their willingness to help each other, bring them together as a family in their own right.
The series truly is a milestone for mainstream representation of diversity in entertainment, and it's made all the more human for that diversity. The characters come to know, protect, depend on, and cooperate with each other to learn about the nature of their situation and to overcome their own personal struggles as well as a common adversary.
Love, relationships, and sexuality are all explored freely and openly. Fear, hardship, and finding one's own identity are all real issues that have a prominent place in the themes of the series. Elements of drama, action, and romance are all present. Through all of this, the characters have real depth independent of and even despite the surreal nature of their telepathic bond.
Why Sense8 was Cancelled
Honestly, I have no idea. Netflix announced the cancellation after the second season dropped. From what I read, they'd started negotiating with the cast for a third season, and the cast and crew seemed very enthusiastic about returning. As such, the cancellation was not well received by its fanbase. The announcement was covered by the likes of Gizmodo and Vanity Fair.
Netflix doesn't publish any data on viewership, but the #RenewSense8 social media campaign makes me believe it at worst has a cult following, if not one of more substantial size. I truly hope that following gives Netflix pause about their decision, if not outright forces them to reconsider it.
The show is reportedly expensive to produce because of the number of and geographical distance between shooting locations. It's hard to say without exact budget and viewership figures if the return on investment is worth it.
That said, if this is in fact the source of the expense, there are ways to selectively reduce shooting locations without necessarily sacrificing substantial quality of the show. Toward the end of the second season, it appeared that at least four of the eight main characters were going to be in two common locations. CGI may have made it possible, if a bit more difficult, for actors in common scenes to shoot in disparate locations. If Games of Thrones managed it, I suspect Sense8 could as well.
Overall, this particular show's cancellation comes across as a compulsive, unilateral, and ill-formed decision made by upper management who chose to stretch company resources too thin too quickly on too many new original properties, and some of those properties are now suffering the consequences as the company is being ordered to scale them back.
Why Sense8 is Worth Your Time
A wise and well-known film character, one much more skilled with words than I, once described the idea of sucking the marrow out of life.
This series has substance and meaning. It tackles social themes and issues head on, fearlessly exploring the human condition in all of its splendor and immensity. It not only appreciates but celebrates the diversity of the human race and all of its cultures. It seeks to tell a compelling story of fiction while also remaining believable and close to real life.
These characters make you feel for them, want to know them, befriend them, even love them. Their homes make you want to learn about the world, explore it, travel it, know it as you would another person. They show the richness of our beautiful planet and all that it has to offer us.
In all honesty, I feel like I can find no words that truly do justice to this show or sufficiently distill its essence into a description that will make you understand why it's so wonderful. So, I will say this: just watch it. Tell others about it. Watch it again. Most of all, take it all in, absorb it as you would a book that makes you stop and think, and actively seek out other stories like it that help us enrich and explore who we are as individuals and as a people.