Been away awhile and am trying to catch up - lots of reading.
Terrific posts here! Totally agree for the most part. I have never been a Sarah Fan OR an Un-Fan. I loved her wedding and her wedding dress ranks right up there for me - but she was not anyone I sought out among the royals. I do hate cruelty and thought she was being given a bum rap. But since I do not have much experience of her I had an unformed perspective on her.
But once someone puts themselves forward as Sarah has done with this show that is so very personal - they have to accept that they will be judged. Can't get around it. (Same thing happened with Diana).
Sadly, Sarah does not appear to wear well - at least for me. I doubt she will get any gigs from the 'Finding Sarah' show - though I haven't seen the last episode that will air tonight. She winds up not being a likeable person IMO - her complaints and the constant focus on certain topics gets wearing - yet this is a hard one to call because its a show that's been edited. Is this a true reflection of her - or is it manufactured?
I saw the first 3 episodes and gave her tolerable good marks. She started losing me with the 4th show. And the snow trek one was a waste of my time. Yet that episode was a production decision - not Sarah's 'fault' per se, except it reflects on what the editors had to work with - maybe. They could have combined the 4th and 5th episodes into one episode easily IMO. In fairness to Sarah - all the editing and decisions about what went in and what stayed out - was out of her hands - I am assuming. If it was in any way in her hands - she needs to find a day job.
Again, at this point I don't know to what extent I am seeing Sarah and to what extent I am seeing bad production decisions. In the end I'd have to say this whole exercise was a mistake as executed.
That video of the '10 Questions' Interview was hilarious. She was pissed from the get-go. She was 'selling' nothing except convincing people that it was unlikely this was an interesting person whose book one would want to plunk down some money for. She is not in charge of herself - no sense of the camera and what she has to do for the camera. She is not really a 'natural' in front of the camera, I would say - and several hours of watching her now I have to say, I don't think she is 'changing' - she is going through the motions. I think she worked with good people who take their work seriously - like Dr Phil and Suzy Ormond - but increasingly I did not see Sarah as a person who was really engaged with the process.
The show I am riveted by is 'Tatum and Ryan: The O'Neal's' - I think that's the title - that airs just before (or after) 'Finding Sarah'. Its a winner. Its about Tatum and Ryan O'Neal coming to terms as father and daughter after years of tragedy and alienation. Talk about searing truth - with very human moments of humor. It helps immeasureably that both protagonists are actors and have screen presence. It also entails footage of two people - not just one - and is an exceedingly well edited show with a story-line. I don't know what to make of 'Finding Sarah' at this point - either her production team let her down - or there was not much they could do with what they got.
I will watch the final episode tonight - too bad I saw the '10 Questions' interview first. Its a disaster - an embarrassing one. You know how she comes across to me? She even did it a few times in the "Finding Sarah' - as spoiled. She says: 'This will stop.' 'We are not doing this anymore'. Kinda - royal? Oh dear - so, so, so very sad. Like Diana - I think Sarah is caught in the glare of the stadium lights. I think in her heart of hearts she believes something about herself (poor self-image notwithstanding - it can co-exist with that - in fact, usually does) that is not to her advantage.
Oprah gave her a HUGE opportunity. I think she blew it. I think she knows it. That's what we saw in the '10 Questions' interview. She blew it and she doesn't have the inner where-withal to stay in the game on her own. She does not understand the camera. She hasn't a clue. I may be wrong but that's my 'take' - and its a very sad thing to watch.