Apr 29, 2023 04:50 PM
If someone wants to scare their offspring or grandkids away from wedlock and parenting, this is the documentary to do it. I only expected to sample this for a few minutes before switching to something else, but wound-up watching the whole thing.
Surprisingly, he never gave a flip about puppets in the beginning -- going down that road was purely accidental, thanks to a children's proposed show being the one that saved their fledgling company in the end from failure, in the 1950s.
Didn't realize he and Sylvia had such a nightmare marriage, only topped by that of his own parents (two people who absolutely loathed each other but were tied together in those divorce-resistant days -- a relationship that he was the collateral damage of).
As his first wife said, he was likewise a monster in his own way -- neglecting his initial family via uncaring indifference, workaholism, cheating (with the cliché secretary no less), and reciprocal petty squabbling.
But Sylvia (his second wife and originally THAT secretary) was deliberately "fiendish" in a planning, calculating sense -- rather than the zombie side effect of a wounded personality. She was a genius of manipulative ambition that he was totally out of his league with. Especially playing him like a fiddle in the lengthy, child custody battle aftermath of the divorce. (Albeit there would obviously be some bias in the POV of any film concerning either of the two, despite 3rd-parties producing it.)
Since she was addicted to doing whatever it took to be in the limelight and stay there, and he was diffident in that respect, it could be argued that Sylvia was the missing factor that he had needed for success. Though there were actually two or three other members on the creative team that the media simply ignored -- choosing to misrepresent the core as a husband/wife duo.
Like Ted Hughes (sans the spousal suicides), I guess you could say he finally achieved domestic stability or happiness with the third wife[1], but had one foot in the grave by then. ([1] Woops, forgot Hughes didn't marry Assia Wevill. Just shacking-up.)
Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted ... https://youtu.be/5DPLSGkIKlY
Surprisingly, he never gave a flip about puppets in the beginning -- going down that road was purely accidental, thanks to a children's proposed show being the one that saved their fledgling company in the end from failure, in the 1950s.
Didn't realize he and Sylvia had such a nightmare marriage, only topped by that of his own parents (two people who absolutely loathed each other but were tied together in those divorce-resistant days -- a relationship that he was the collateral damage of).
As his first wife said, he was likewise a monster in his own way -- neglecting his initial family via uncaring indifference, workaholism, cheating (with the cliché secretary no less), and reciprocal petty squabbling.
But Sylvia (his second wife and originally THAT secretary) was deliberately "fiendish" in a planning, calculating sense -- rather than the zombie side effect of a wounded personality. She was a genius of manipulative ambition that he was totally out of his league with. Especially playing him like a fiddle in the lengthy, child custody battle aftermath of the divorce. (Albeit there would obviously be some bias in the POV of any film concerning either of the two, despite 3rd-parties producing it.)
Since she was addicted to doing whatever it took to be in the limelight and stay there, and he was diffident in that respect, it could be argued that Sylvia was the missing factor that he had needed for success. Though there were actually two or three other members on the creative team that the media simply ignored -- choosing to misrepresent the core as a husband/wife duo.
Like Ted Hughes (sans the spousal suicides), I guess you could say he finally achieved domestic stability or happiness with the third wife[1], but had one foot in the grave by then. ([1] Woops, forgot Hughes didn't marry Assia Wevill. Just shacking-up.)
Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted ... https://youtu.be/5DPLSGkIKlY