The Over Analysis of Netflix The OA, episode 2: S01E02 – The New Colossus
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A UK podcast discussion about the weird and wonderful Netflix series The OA. Each episode is discussed immediately after watching, so we have no idea of where the plot is going and no spoilers for future episodes…
Here Ethan and Talia discuss episode 2 of Season 1 of The OA, ‘The New Collosus’. Including: the poignancy of Emma Lazurus’ poem; possibly over-zealous psychiatric prescribing practices in the 1990s; and whether the future evil plans of new apparent bad guy Hap are going to involve recreating old Keifer Sutherland movies.
New episodes published just as soon as we watch them (roughly weekly).
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hey ya’ll,
I’m an Over Analysis podcast listener in the Carolinas to chime in as a potential “in the States” expert. If I can remember correctly here are the clarifications you seek:
1) “Military Schools and the threat of being sent there, is that a thing?” It is indeed a thing. Military schools here in the states are private and can be for all school ages, just High School (9th thru 12th grade) and even colleges (exceptions are the official branch colleges such as West Point for the U.S. Army, Annapolis for the U.S. Navy, Air Force Academy for the U.S. Air Force, etc) What’s interesting about private military schools is that they are expensive and can be used to threaten students of wealthy parents who want to their children to straighten out. But there are plenty of students who choose to go to military school for the challenge of training and potential network of business and life contacts. Those who want to go to military school usually don’t need the discipline, but benefit from it any way. Most states have a couple of military schools depending on the region of the country, some have dozens.
2) “Are doctors even 20 years ago quick to dole out drugs to children instead of trying therapy?” Realistically I’d say “no”, prescriptions would be the last resort for trusted physicians. But this storyline is widely accepted in the states b/c we do see our society as ‘drug heavy’. Children with behavioral issues in the classroom, for instance, tend to take meds for ADD, ADHD and all the other disorders we hear so much about.
3) “Are there ‘Conduct Clauses’ in athletic scholarships?” yes, some are referred to as ‘Morals Clauses’, but they’re common in the Academic and Business worlds. Pro Athletic contracts and other high profile employment agreements also contain such clauses. A school or a business wants to have some control over the image of their institution. If their athletes or employees behave badly, it’s bad for business. In the past, schools and businesses have been burned on the PR front with scandal. To give them the power to nip such a problem in the bud, they put in the Conduct Clause.
Patiently waiting for the podcast to catch up with my bingeing,
Carl in the Carolinas
Hi Carl – thanks for your message! Great to have a US perspective on these things…
Interesting about Military school, in the UK we see this crop up in US films from time-to-time and it’s always interesting, we don’t really have an equivalent threat that parents can hang over teenagers’ heads!
I think Talia and I thought that a doctor doling out drugs that quickly was a little unlikely… though as you say that kind of storyline is quite widely accepted – in fact it has just reminded me of a Ken Robinson TED talk where he talks about the steep rise of Ritalin being proscribed to treat school children diagnosed as having ADHD. Difficult to know where the truth lies between news reports and what you actually hear about though…
And really interesting to hear about Conduct Clauses, I’d never even heard of those before, I don’t think we have any kind of equivalent in the UK – or at least I couldn’t find any mention of it from a google search (though I could be wrong – it’s a while since I was at college).
Thanks for you patience with the podcasts – Talia and I are old-school in that way, wanting to do just one a week. We like to think it ramps up the anticipation…
regards
Ethan