"The Thorn Birds" - anyone else here a fan?

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Plus, they keep remaking the same scripts, the same stories over and over. Grandma’s version of “A Star Is Born” didn’t need to be remade four times.
 
I know. And that’s why it’s good to see nuanced characters. (I’m a big fan of the Brother Cadfael series as well). We don’t want the equivalent of Barbara Cartland romance when we say “clean romance” because it’s treacle; but there are clean romances which aren’t treacle, which keep the authentic faith bright by showing that yes, people fail, but instead of trying to justify the failure with ‘we’re only human’, actually regret and try to do better.
 
Definitely. Ellis Peters (pen name) was terrific, but Barbara, whose heroines were. . .so addicted. .to. . ellipses. . .when speaking. . .made my head spin.
 
FYI: Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve heard many other people suggesting it, so I decided to watch it.

I have a strange job where I write stuff all day (and I’m still not that good of a writer). I can often watch shows on my ipad while I write and when I need brief breaks. At least I’ll know what all the fuss is about over this show after watching it.
 
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I remember watching the miniseries in the '80’s and I really liked the actress who played Meggie. And of Course Barbara Stanwyck has always been a fav of mine since The Big Valley. I thought it was an interesting story if a bit anti-catholic in it’s theme of a priest falling in love with a young girl, having an affair and a subsequent child with her. The concept of his ambition was new to me at the time. I never thought of priests as being so ambitious prior to seeing the show. My mother was pretty chillax about watching it. My future Mother-in-Law was horrified at the idea of having it on her tv.
 
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I prefer “Mermaid’s Chair” as para- Catholic story. Because it is about discernment and guilt even if the main characters get lost on their way of understanding besides being given wise advices along the way.that could have prevented their falls.
And also despite the fictional.depiction of Asenora, a.wrongly accused woman with a sinful past in the Christian tradition, not a magical.siren. But the her story is well.inserted in the plot.and it all makes.sense in the end…
But the story is developping and it ends in hope. “Thorn Birds” is just dark and deppresive. I saw the series, at the end I hated her for being so divisive in her love for her two sons. She seemed selfish and mean. Why the priest liked her was beyond my comprehension. Maybe just for the pretty aspect, Idk.
 
An episode of the PBS series Pioneers of Television profiled The Thorn Birds. Rachel Ward felt very hurt by the negative reviews she received. She hasn’t worked too often in Hollywood since the miniseries originally aired.
 
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I have tried and tried and tried to get through it. I bought it on Audible (it is like 700 hours long). Nope.

The only book that is WORSE than “Moby Dick”.
 
I don’t think my mother ever thought I’d pick up her copy and read it when I was a kid. My pre-teen self was not prepared to encounter what I did. I’ve never been Catholic, but I knew such shenanigans weren’t something priests were supposed to get up to. You know, my mother is very conservative when it comes to these types of things, so I asked her recently about her even owning the book. She told me she only picked it up because it was popular at the time, but that she was never a fan once she found out what it was about. Personally, after reading the book, I never had a desire to watch the mini-series. While the prospect of a forbidden love theme can be appealing, I’ve always found that theme when combined with people forsaking their obligations and vows to God to be a massive turn off.
 
JanetF said:
I thought it was an interesting story if a bit anti-catholic in it’s theme of a priest falling in love with a young girl,
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I didn’t think it was particularly anti-Catholic, but more along the lines of “what-if?”
 
Mary888 said:
I saw the series, at the end I hated her for being so divisive in her love for her two sons. She seemed selfish and mean
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It’s also really sad because in an earlier scene, she says that if she ever has children, she wouldn’t love one of them more than the others.
And then she winds up doing that very thing.
 
So I watched about 3/8 of the series (i.e. Thorn birds), and I read the description of the series online. My thoughts are this…

No matter how well the series is acted and written, the underlying message needs completely rethought in the context of the present abuse crisis. A priest essentially raised a little girl. When that girl grew up and became a woman she had a relationship with the priest, and the priest fathered a child with her. The paternity of this child gets pinned on another man. This priest later becomes a cardinal. This scenario is appalling, and it should not be romanticized.
 
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The punching of women was endemic in many 1970s movies and into the 80s, not just Westerns either but everything. Cop pictures, romances, dramas etc. Glad that trend bit the dust.
 
I think that was the mini-series that caused Mother Angelica to found EWTN.
 
This was/is a phrase used for comics/graphic novels. For those of us outside the comics scene, the phrase is just kinda ghoulish.
 
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