wattWhen Barack and Michelle Obama visited Ireland in 2011, they drank Guinness, visited the birthplace of the president’s great-great-grandfather and spoke Perfect for jokes and speeches. The reception was in a warm atmosphere.
Their current foray into Irish culture is proving even more divisive. The Obamas did not attend in person, but in their capacity as executive producers of the Irish comedy series “Bodkin,” which debuts on Netflix this week. Comments were polarizing.
The Irish Times said, “This is yet another entry in one of the worst genres ever created – rural Irish tramps, booze flowing and scowl-faced nuns.” “This is a deeply irritating show. , which sees itself as criticizing a cliché about Ireland when it aggressively adds to its stock, let’s just ignore it and hope it goes away.
It was a harsh sentence for the first foray into scripted television by the Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground, which signed a deal with Netflix in 2018.
The seven-part series follows an American true crime podcaster and a gruff, cantankerous Guardian reporter as they travel to the fictional Cork village of Bodkin to investigate ritualized folk horror killings. Starring Will Forte, Siobhan Cullen and Robin Cara, its whimsical style has been compared to Murder in the Building.
The Irish Times praised the former first couple for their good intentions. “In keeping with the thoughtful and socially conscious Obama brand, it aims to critique our obsession with true crime podcasts and have fun with Americans and their teary-eyed vision of Ireland.”
But the show allegedly reimagines Father Ted without any jokes or self-awareness. “If the Bodkin natives are gradually revealed to have behaved slyly in front of naive Americans, the series still delves into the depths of silly nonsense.”
Although he didn’t write the show, this pan-out is a far cry from 2011, when Obama regaled viewers with a joke that satirized Americans’ pursuit of their Irish roots: “My name is Barack Obama and I I came back to Ireland to find my Irish roots.” My missing apostrophe. “
The Irish Independent’s review began with a warning. “We know from painful experience what happens when Netflix collides with rural Ireland: shit like The Irish Wish [an Ireland-set romantic comedy]. At first glance, Bodkin looks like he’s about to fall into the same dark pit where rice is processed.
According to reports, a coastal town in west Cork has a funny-sounding name and is home to a group of approachable eccentrics, but the future of this town is not good. “If that’s not enough to make your Irish gibberish-detection antennae twitch, the animated opening credits featuring a pint of Guinness, a nun and the Cross of St. Brigid should be.”
Then the comments took a turn. “But wait – don’t run away, because Bodkin isn’t what you feared it would be. This is smart, funny, gripping stuff: a deliciously offbeat mixture of (intentionally) silly and sinister, with a fondness for setting up more shamrock-laden clichés , so you can’t shake them, and then tear them apart with glee.
Other reviews hover somewhere in the middle. The Guardian gave it three stars out of five, saying it occasionally matched the fun of Murder in the Building. “It never took off the way that very unique show did, which was unfortunate, if foreseeable, but not fatal to enjoyment.”
The Times praised their performances and said that screenwriter Jez Schaff’s script was good and often witty, but there was little authenticity to the characters or plot. “It also felt – what’s the word? – cartoonish, as if we were playing a cliched Irish bingo game. Everything was mixed together and the resulting pie was uneven, with some parts larger than others. Portions are more delicious.
