1. Sons of Anarchy debuted in 2008 and ran until 2014 having 7 full seasons. It originally was featured on Fox although I cheated and was able to just stream it on Netflix as it has already ben out for three years.
2. The genre that the show falls into is American Drama and I'd say it fits this well. Every episode is packed with drama, sometimes too much drama.
3. The episode that I have most recent watched was titled "Los Fantasmas". The storyline for this episode is a run on from the pervious episode. In a sad turn of events, I young kid had brought a gun to school and has killed some of his classmates, using a gun that was sold by the main characters motorcycle club. Now, the police are searching for evidence to prove that the gun was sold so that they can bring justice to the case. There are some big name actors in this T.V. show starting with Ron Perlman, he plays the father figure in the series. Next up would be Charlie Hunnam who plays the main character Jax Teller. Who ends up gaining control of the motorcycle club and tries to steer it in the right direction but is struggling to do so. Then Katy Sagal, who plays Jax Tellers mom Gemma. She is the main female lead role in the series. Lastly, would be Tommy Flanagan who plays Chibbs, Jax Teller's right hand man and vice president in the Motorcycle Club.
4. Sons of Anarchy was the brain child of Kurt Sutter. He is one of the producers with a dark past. He was a know drug and food addict through his teenage years. After winning the battle with these addictions he turned that experience into the hit T.V. series. Kurt Sutter also plays a small role in the series as a convicted felon who is in the MC and helps them from the inside. Kurt Sutter has been know to be a little bit "different" when it comes to being a produce. Using fowl language and having a "take shit from no one attitude", he came come across a bit aggressive. In this article about Kurt Sutter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/sons-anarchy-kurt-sutter-bastard-817495, a reporter goes into detail about his run in with Mr. Sutter and how he thinks he has changed.
5. The T.V. series has a very aggressive style. All the characters in the film are dressed in leathers and have tattoos from head to toe. The language that is used is similar to what you could imagine in a locker room full of guys who just won a football game. There is a deep bond built between the characters, but the love they show for each other is often turns into tough love.
6. I would say that a t.v. show that is somewhat similar to Sons of Anarchy would be the hit t.v. show Breaking Bad. Both shows have a lot of violence and drug use. Both shows are about a guy or group of guys trying to gain a profit by selling illegal drugs and or firearms. I think this style is a little bit different from a lot of the less violent t.v. shows such as Modern Family, but play a key role into adding a bit of diversity.
7. What makes Sons of Anarchy unique is the vast contrast from the violence and then the show of love. Constantly throughout each episode there is either death, or near death. Someone getting tortured, shooting up drugs, or getting gunned down. But, in the same episode there is always a showing of compassion. Wether that be from brother to brother, or from father to son. It shows that even those all these guys are criminals, and most have committed murder, that they have a soft spot or two. This makes these characters seem real, and relatable. You can see the struggle that they go through when having to make tough calls. Not just some action hero that is fine with all the death and killing that surrounds him. The moral struggle that is present in every character is well depicted.
8. The stereotypes in this program are very obvious and almost act as a negative in the show. In the show, there are various types of gangs. All these gangs however are broken up by race. There is a Mexican gang, a Black gang, and a white gang. All play a very specific stereotype. The Mexican gang ride around in lowrider vehicles, blasting Spanish music. They are dressed in long cargo shorts and flannel shirts and all seem to have a similar attitude and dialect. The Black gang have all of there motorcycle "pimped" out with big rims and flashy colors and always have some sort of rap music playing in the background. The white gang has racist nazi tattoos on their necks and shaved heads. Often flaunting racist attire and symbols. Everything in the t.v. show is as if we were back in the 30s and 40's. All of the gangs hate the other gangs simply because of the color of their skin. To me, this has a negative effect as it makes me feel disconnected from the t.v. show as the area that I have grown up in doesn't have these stereotypes as prominent.
9. The target audience for this t.v. show would be 16-35 year old caucasian male and female. There is a ton of violence in the series and most adults would probably shy away from it. There is also a lot of use of foul language which would deter a certain amount of people away from it.
10. If I was a visitor to the United States this series would make me not want to come to the United States if I felt that what happened in the series actually happened there. In most parts of the United States I would say that these activities do not happen, but if I felt that these crimes were committed on a much more common basis, I would not visit the area. The culture it shows is one of violence and aggression.
11. The strengths in the series would be the character development. After watching 6 seasons of the show I am very emotionally connected to the characters. Which makes scenes when these characters look to be facing certain death, very intense. You get to see the strong and the weak sides of each of theses characters and it allows you to be able to relate to them. The weakness in the series would be the reality factor. The characters commit countless crimes throughout the season, yet hardly ever face punishment. If I were to guess on the number of murders that occur in the first 6 seasons I would take a guess at about 150. Yet, only several members of the cast of served jail time for these crimes and even when they did, were short sentences. This kind of makes everything seem a little unreal. As the vast majority of murders occurring in this series go unsolved.
12. What I like most about the show is the bond between the characters. You get to see this very strong brotherhood between the cast that reminds me of the relationships that I have with my friends. What I dislike about the series is the incredibly racist stereotypes. Like I had mention before, the stereotypes are uncanny in this series. It just puts a bad feeling in my stomach that we don't get to see a different variety of the ethnicities. The most memorable thing about the t.v. show is the twists that occur. Several times it looks as if something is going in a terrible direction and there is no way out and then the characters pull something out of their sleeves that was not shown to the audience to get themselves out. Some big shockers have happened over the season and keeps me guessing on what is going to happen next.
13. One critic wrote an article about the content in the series http://variety.com/2014/tv/columns/sons-of-anarchy-criticism-exposes-sex-violence-divide-1201358573/ saying that the sex and violence shown in the series was not suitable for the rating. Only rating at Pg-13 I would say that this critic is correct. I did not watch the series on cable, I watched it on Netflix. However, If I was a parent and my son was scrolling through the channels and landed on Sons of Anarchy, there are certain scenes that even for myself, a 23 year old male, find discomforting.
14. I watch this series just about every day. I watch it with my fiancé, which surprisingly, likes the show more than I do. With all of the season being out on Netflix it makes watching the series a nightly routine. Sometimes watching 2 or 3 episodes depending on how the last one ended.
15. I don't follow anything on social media as I am afraid of the spoilers. The last season has already come and gone and I don't want to accidentally read something that will give away a key part in the series.
16. I have learned that producer/director of this series really fits the part! You watch a lot of big hit movies or shows written by someone who you wouldn't necessarily think would be into the material. After further evaluation of Kurt Sutter, this was his life. He was a drug addict, a food addict, living a dangerous live and was able to rebound and make something of himself, very similar to the plot of the t.v. show.
17. What surprised me the most about the show was the lack of funds that lead to the ending. After reading some articles I had found like http://uproxx.com/sepinwall/how-sons-of-anarchy-ran-off-the-road-before-the-end/ describe how the show ended kind of abruptly due to lack of funds. The way the show as being ran, and with the characters involved this got expensive and ultimately lead to the end. Which makes me sad, as I only have about 10 episodes left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc8yjWGXBP8 Intro to the T.V. show
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