Something Substantial: Being Human

So it occurred to me that some people might actually want to learn a few things, be made to think about things, have their interest piqued or their emotions stirred when they read my blog. Whaaaaaaaaaaat? I know, right? Anyways, I guess for the next few days/weeks, I'll be posting up things that I enjoy doing or have an interest in and some information about it in case you find you'd like to take it up yourself. Hopefully I'll find you something super awesome great to do!

First things first: I found an awesome new show on Syfy a little while ago, and I've been pretty obsessed with it ever since. It's called "Being Human," and it is usually on Mondays at 8, but is currently between seasons. I don't know when the second season premiere is supposed to be, but I imagine it won't be for quite a while (some sources say 2012. Boo.). It's based off of the British show of the same name, which is currently up to season three in the UK. I haven't watched any of the British version, but things are probably pretty similar, except for the location and the names of the characters. Here's the gist of things in the US.

Josh is a 20-something year old guy who just wants a normal life. He was scratched by a werewolf two years ago and is now cursed with the whole werewolf dealio. He lives in Boston with Aidan, a vampire who was turned during the Civil War, who has been trying to live "clean" and not drink from live humans, subsisting instead on bagged, donated blood, which apparently tastes like dirt or pickled goat's tongues or something else really really nasty. Josh and Aidan also live with Sally, who is a ghost, trapped in the house where she died, and unable to remember how she passed or why she is still here, and is really really happy to have someone to talk to after being ignored for the past six months.

Top left: Aidan, top right: Josh, bottom left: Sally.

I really like it because not only is it supernatural and funny, it also raises a lot of questions about what it means to be human. What does it take to be classified as such? Is it really just a certain number of chromosomes or a certain arrangement of genes? What about the capacity to love, to learn, to feel pain, happiness or compassion? It also deals with the issue of family. SPOILER WARNING! SKIP TO THE  NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RUIN IT FOR YOURSELF. Josh's family thinks he had a mental breakdown and ran away, Aidan killed his wife and son, and Sally's fiancee killed her by pushing her down the stairs. These three are pretty messed up, but they somehow band together to form a cohesive, mildly functional family unit. Yay!

I should warn you though. This show is not for little kiddies. You probably shouldn't watch it on the family TV if you have children under the age of 15 or so (it's all up to your discretion, but that's my personal opinion). There is lots of blood and gore, sex, death, and such like. It can get pretty dark and existential sometimes, which I enjoy, but isn't for everyone. Anyways, if it sounds interesting, go here for the official show webpage and here for the Wikipedia page with all the episode summaries and things. You can find all the episodes on this YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Lastly, few bits of trivia, for all you Star Wars geeks out there, like me.

~Aidan is played by Sam Witwer, who some of you might recognize as Starkiller from the video game "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed." He provided the looks and the voice for that character, as well as the voice for Emperor Palpatine in that game! Crazy, right? You can also find him in Smallville, season 8 as Davis Bloome/Doomsday.
~Josh is played by Sam Huntington, who Star Wars geeks may recognize as Eric from the parody movie "Fanboys," Jimmy Olsen from the movie "Superman Returns," and/or Marcus Adams from the new movie "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night." He's been in a lot of stuff!

Until next time,

~Becca