The Internet is an angry place

I'm not telling you anything new here, but the Internet is fully of angry people and you have to wonder why? What has made people so angry?In short I think it's because people have so much access to information and because they do feel it's their right to share their opinions on everything - whether or not it has any affect on them.

You could write a hundred books all on the things people get angry about, but I'm going to focus on 2 specific instances I have seen recently - both of which affect exactly zero people.

1 - Being the Ricardos

Unless you have been under a rock (there has been so much advertising) Amazon Prime released a movie in December called Being the Ricardos. This is a bio pic about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz during one very specific week while making the second season of I Love Lucy. It is not a full life biography.

Now I'm not going to do a review of the movie or give away any spoilers - except to say I loved it - but instead I'm going to focus on the choice of actors to play the lead rolls (specifically Lucy).

A couple of years ago it was announced that this movie was going to be made and that Cate Blanchett had been attached to the role of Lucy. I was excited about this, but nothing more was said until earlier this year when it was announced that in fact Nicole Kidman would play the role of Lucille - this is when the Internet erupted.

There was so much hate for the choice of Nicole and so many people voiced their opinion that she was the wrong choice, she would be terrible and that Debra Messing should play the role.

If you're a Will & Grace fan you will know that there was an episode (maybe 2) where Debra played the character role of Lucy Ricardo, and she was great. She pulled off the look and the mannerisms and it was a great portrayal, but it was a portrayal of the character Lucy Ricardo, not Lucille Ball the person. This is where people struggle to differentiate. It was also just a couple of scenes from a couple of iconic I Love Lucy episodes - remember the wine stomping or vitameatavegamin?

Nicole was cast to play the real actress Lucille Ball, and for this she did a great job. Lucy Arnaz (the daughter of Lucille and Desi) was involved and approved of the casting, so who else's opinion matters? No ones. I have even seen comments on posts by Lucy Arnaz in support of the casting and movie where people outright said that Nicole was wrong and that "Lucy and Desi would not approve" - how would they know? They're just angry keyboard warriors with nothing better to do.

2 - Anne Boleyn

Earlier in 2021 a new 3 part series about Anne Boleyn was released, and since it was first announced the Internet was angry, and it was for just 1 reason - the title role of Anne Boleyn was to be played by a black actress - the amazing Jodie Turner-Smith.

I struggle to see how the casting of Jodie to play a role of a historical figure from 500 years ago in a series that was no doubt based on fact, but used some license to dramatise the story, has any affect on anyone! Lets face it - it doesn't. People just need a reason to complain, and there was so much actual hate.

I think that Jodie did a fantastic job in the role, but personally the show didn't grab me. I'm a big history buff and have a particular interest in Tudor history, but someone about the writing and pace for the show just didn't win me over.

To those keyboard warriors I say, get a life and spend your energy on things that really matter.