charmech

I have never forgotten how miscast I found Sophie Thompson in this otherwise well-made children's drama serial. I even called my mother into the room to ask her if she agreed with me that Sophie looked awkward and rather unattractive in the role. I felt liked laughing at some of the dialogue which portrayed her character as outstandingly beautiful. Since I found out later that she was the younger sister of Emma Thompson, I have conjectured that Emma had been the original choice to play the heroine, but that when she was suddenly unable to perform, her sister had been called in as a last minute replacement.

I am glad to find a home renovation program that uses actual people in the real estate business not actors. I was upset when I looked in IMDb at Hilary Farr (of Love it or List it) and the Property Brothers and discovered they were listed as actors, and had no real estate, interior design or architecture in their resumes. In these programs you hear them laying forth and want to believe that they know what they are talking about, but Tarek and Christina are the only ones who have any real experience backing their opinions. Now when I watch the other two programs, I won't enjoy them because it is all fake. According to a recent law suit, even the things the customers say are scripted. Presumably Jonathan Scott does very little of the work on the houses or else one would be worried about the standard of his skills. He is an actor, not a contractor. Thankfully Tarek keeps his hands off the plumbing and electrical work.

The hairdresser, Kathi, is talking to a dowdy customer in the opening scene. She tries to persuade the woman to let her cut and color her hair in a rejuvenating style. Kathi is so warm and appealing that the customer opens up to her and they get into deep conversation. This scene enchanted me, Kathi has a great personality, and the actress portrays a truly human character, much more real that the stereotypes that commonly seen on the screen. There are interesting insights (for US viewers)into the welfare system in Germany. I enjoyed the humor, although not able to speak German. I don't like reading subtitles usually but this story really got to me. I needed to find out what happened next, would Kathi get her Beauty Shop running in the end, and what about the Vietnamese? Inspiring, feminist and entertaining.