DERRY GIRLS
Created by: Lisa McGee
The Show:
A half hour, episodic, dark comedic exploration of Erin Quinn's coming of age in small town Derry, set against the backdrop of extreme violence in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles".
Literal Question of the Series:
Will Erin, her friends, and her family solve their day-to-day, small-world problems reflecting their culture, their values, their traditions, and the unwritten rules/social structure of their close-knit community - as the world destroys itself around them?
Emotional Question of the Series:
Can Erin, her friends, and her family forgive each other, love each other, honor each other, and celebrate each other in traditional ways while simultaneously facing the tumult of the rapidly changing world?
Thematic Question of the Series:
Is joy revolutionary in the face of depravity? When everything is changing rapidly - in the world, in our homes, in our institutions, in our bodies as teenagers, how do we know when it is time to adhere to traditions and when it is time to revolt, push back, do things differently? When is it time to rise up and fight? When is it time to acquiesce? This essential human question plays out in every episode - represented by daily decisions in Erin and her family's personal lives...
Derry Girls is so successful because it explores an incredibly massive question about humanity and dissects it via the tiny prism of small-town, everyday life in Derry. Derry Girls is an answer to Casablanca's question "Do the problems of three little people amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world?" ... Derry Girls' answer is: Yes. While never losing sight of the small insignificance of it all, against the backdrop of the world stage. A simple show with a complex thematic question: is finding joy in each other a revolutionary act?
Point of View:
The younger generation - through Erin Quinn.
The older generation - through Mary Quinn, Erin's mother.
Tone:
Dark comedy exploring the human condition in the specific world of Northern Ireland in the '90s.
Why is Derry Girls brilliant? Because it understands what it is completely and unapologetically and fiercely tells its story. You want to know what good television is? It's Derry Girls.
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