Warning-The following post contains a reference to eating disorders.
A ballet mystery would combine two of my favourite things, so when I heard about Tiny Pretty Things, I was really excited. Then I watched it, and was disappointed.
I’ve watched worse shows, but some of the problems with Tiny Pretty Things are quite disturbing. It’s a shame, because the idea had real potential.
Set in the Archer School of Ballet, the programme begins with the star pupil, Cassie, being pushed off a roof, and the main character, Neveah, is offered a place at the institution, after an initial rejection.
I say that Neveah is the main character, but she gets sidelined. As Neveah is new to the school, discovering things as the audience does, and is one of the few characters who isn’t a suspect in the attempted murder, she’s a useful character we can trust. There would have been scope for Neveah to turn amateur detective, but this didn’t materialise.
The result is not just a creative problem. Neveah is Black, so to see the greater focus on White characters, like fellow student Bette, is worrying. Based on a book, this adaptation makes changes to the main character’s backstory, giving Neveah an imprisoned mother and a brother who was shot by police, rather than the stable, happy home life of the novel.
Perhaps the show wants to portray the racism present in the justice system. However, it feels like they’re playing to stereotypes and when opportunities are presented to explore racism in ballet, those aren’t taken. For example, Neveah is given a pair of ballet shoes that were worn by Delia Whitlaw, revered Archer School graduate and sister of Bette. Ballet slippers are supposed to match the dancer’s skin-tone. Black dancers have spent years having to use make-up on their shoes, because there were none to match their skin. Yet the show sidesteps this issue.
The series launched with much positivity around the diverse cast, but there isn’t much cause to celebrate if this is the way those characters are treated. Aside from Neveah, Shane, a Gay student at the school, is called a homophobic slur by Matteo, Bette’s new boyfriend. When Shane is angry over this, the other characters act like Shane’s being unreasonable. I’m not saying there are no homophobic 16 and 17 year olds, but I find it strange that none of them would support Shane. It leads to a scene that downplays prejudice.
Mishandling important issues seems to be a recurring theme with this show. Oren is a student with an eating disorder, while I applaud the rare inclusion of a male character with this issue, it then gets ignored. Elsewhere, none of the students seem to have happy family lives. Competition drives them to drug fellow pupils, play mind games, lie and cheat. In their free time, the students jump between sexual partners, drinking and drug-taking. This might be to show the students kicking back against the high-pressure atmosphere of the school. Still, you would have thought some of them would avoid substances and high risk behaviours to give themselves an edge over their rivals.
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the romanticising of mental illness. This seems very present in our fascination with mental health problems in disciplines that require high aesthetic standards, like gymnastics and, of course, ballet. I’m not saying people in these fields don’t have mental health issues, but Tiny Pretty Things seems to have fallen for the misconception that creating art requires suffering.
Technical brilliance does take sacrifice, but making art can also be fun. I’m surprised the programme makers, in the arts industry themselves, would make such an error.
Part of the reason some of the issues and characters don’t receive the correct attention is because so much of the show is dedicated to scenes of a sexual nature. I always skip these and had to fast forward A LOT. On a practical level, the regularity of these scenes disturbed the narrative and wasted time. On an ethical level, I know the actors are older, but the students are supposed to be children, which was really uncomfortable, especially when some of the scenes were between children and adults.
Madame DuBois, the school director, basically runs a sex trafficking ring using students. Exploitation is an important topic to discuss, but there’s always a danger that the show itself will then become exploitative. If I’m honest, Tiny Pretty Things made that mistake.
It wasn’t helped by the addition of what can only be described as random nudity. Normally, you can tell when there is going to be an explicit scene, but suddenly there would be a cut to characters sat in a sauna. There is no reason why these scenes couldn’t have taken place in a dorm room or student area, fully clothed. Again, they’re meant to be children and, also, when scenes feature serious dialogue about Islamophobia, or who put Cassie in a coma, it seems insensitive.
Parading your cast’s dancer figures on screen at a time when body-image pressures are well documented also feels tone-deaf. The whole thing is designed to be edgy, but actually feels dated.
The students are played by actual dancers. I don’t know if they wrote the script with this in mind, but it feels like the writers and directors didn’t trust the main cast to act, and chose to rely on their dance ability and physiques. The dancing is beautiful, but perhaps it would have been better to find people who are primarily actors.
In addition to the uncomfortable nature of the show, parts of the plot just don’t make sense. Ramon Costa, like all stereotypical choreographers, is horrible, and is a predator who had a sexual relationship with Cassie. He’s also stupid enough to have his photo taken with her, which some of the other students find. Then, in the final episode, sensitively titled, Push Comes To Shove, it’s revealed that Delia is the one who pushed Cassie. Delia is going out with Ramon, and when she found out about him and Cassie, rather than report him, she turned to attempted murder. Delia gives the reason that Cassie is, “Younger and shinier,” which seems a rather weak explanation. Cassie would not have been the only shiny, younger dancer. What is she going to do about the others? She can’t push them all off a roof.
We’re meant to believe that Delia is desperate to stay with Ramon to further her career, but he doesn’t seem that respected. He’s not worth staying with, even for selfish reasons.
There is talk of a second season, and I have to ask myself if this show is worth staying with. Do I watch to see if it improves, and at least find enjoyment in the decent soundtrack? Or do I allow the show to pirouette out of my life?