As someone who was a teenager during this time period (late 90's/early 00's) the production design is very good. From the Nokia phones and cars to the costumes, this show definitely reflects Australian culture during this time period.
However there's a real issue here with balance and restraint in terms of the writing. In particular with the back stories of each of the band members.
I enjoyed most (not all) of the individual girl's back stories and how their dysfunctional and often self destructive behaviours are a result of and/or exacerbated by this high pressure environment they are living in. It does lend a feel of authenticity to the girls' experiences, especially in terms of the sacrifices and compromises they have to make to chase fame.
I also applaud the writers for not shying away from some sensitive topics (for example, self harm). However there are a few scenes that took this a step too far and graphically depicted things that they didn't need to (like projectile vomiting).
The problem is that they ALL have messed up backgrounds and self-destructive behaviours. Every single one of them. As individual stories they are compelling but if you put 5 of them together, it becomes overwhelming. There needed to be one or two of the girls who are emotionally stable to provide a necessary juxtaposition between each of the girl's individual experiences. There's no room for the audience to breathe or compare each girl's experience against a baseline of what that experience would be for a "normal" person.
The writers were so busy trying to pack in as much drama and "shock value" as possible, they completely lost perspective of the fact that these types of shocking dramatic storylines only work when there's also related characters or plot lines that are more neutral to contrast them against.
The other major problem with the relationships between the band members is that the writers never really took the time to establish the group dynamic and the relationships of each of the girls as a part of the whole. There is no collective group here. There's just 5 disparate individuals that orbit each other. One of the taglines in the ads for this series is about "tearing them apart". They were never together in the first place.
So overall an interesting mini-series exploring the toxicity of chasing fame but with some flaws in terms of storytelling.
However there's a real issue here with balance and restraint in terms of the writing. In particular with the back stories of each of the band members.
I enjoyed most (not all) of the individual girl's back stories and how their dysfunctional and often self destructive behaviours are a result of and/or exacerbated by this high pressure environment they are living in. It does lend a feel of authenticity to the girls' experiences, especially in terms of the sacrifices and compromises they have to make to chase fame.
I also applaud the writers for not shying away from some sensitive topics (for example, self harm). However there are a few scenes that took this a step too far and graphically depicted things that they didn't need to (like projectile vomiting).
The problem is that they ALL have messed up backgrounds and self-destructive behaviours. Every single one of them. As individual stories they are compelling but if you put 5 of them together, it becomes overwhelming. There needed to be one or two of the girls who are emotionally stable to provide a necessary juxtaposition between each of the girl's individual experiences. There's no room for the audience to breathe or compare each girl's experience against a baseline of what that experience would be for a "normal" person.
The writers were so busy trying to pack in as much drama and "shock value" as possible, they completely lost perspective of the fact that these types of shocking dramatic storylines only work when there's also related characters or plot lines that are more neutral to contrast them against.
The other major problem with the relationships between the band members is that the writers never really took the time to establish the group dynamic and the relationships of each of the girls as a part of the whole. There is no collective group here. There's just 5 disparate individuals that orbit each other. One of the taglines in the ads for this series is about "tearing them apart". They were never together in the first place.
So overall an interesting mini-series exploring the toxicity of chasing fame but with some flaws in terms of storytelling.