To explain what it is I like about the show, I'm going to break it down a little. I'll start with the setting.
The main characters occupy an unremmiting pit of squalor. A flat that is not so much a home, as a vortex that sucks in all the flotsam and jetsam from a pair of misery and frustration-filled lives. It's a deathtrap. But an incredibly filthy flat is nothing new. That sort of thing has been done before. And that's true. But what makes the setting of Bottom special is the way it's influenced for the better by the traditional sitcom trappings and limited budget. The majority of the episodes take place in the flat; when any action takes place elsewhere, we are immediately transported to another cramped, interior location. While there are some exterior scenes, these are usually at night and marked by the same squalor as the homestead. The effect of this is that it gives off the feeling of a maze. An endless promenade of dull and dirty rooms that the main characters are trapped by, like rats in a maze.
A rat is a very fitting comparison for the two main characters, who were semi-revolutionary in that they have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Richie is a stupid, pompous, and loudmouthed sociopath with delusions of grandeur and pathological sexual frustration. Eddie is a drunk, violent, and equally stupid waster of a man. Their entire lives are spent in pursuit of a magical prize that will give them some brief flicker of enjoyment in their lives, be it money, alcohol, or the chance to expel some liquid (sex).
Eddie, (left) and Richie (right).
Richie is a character that I hate to call 'affeminate' so much as simply lacking in any real masculine qualities. He is deeply immature, self-obssessed and has never had sex. As such, he is fixated on being able to 'do it', despite having no ides how to woo or even talk to a woman. Or mostly anyone else for that matter. He is universally disliked by almost every person he encounters. To me, this makes him fascinating.
At his core, Richie is the man that every boy fears he will grow up to be. He is a bundle of adolescent traits, pathetically trying to squeeze into an adult-shaped role. He's every bit as socially and sexually awkward as the average teenager. This is what a neurotic and insecure young man would look like if he never went through the phase of maturation. The fact that he's a virgin isn't just for laughs, it goes some way to explaining his immensely puerile nature. As a character, he represents the quintessential failed human male.
If Richie is who we were afraid to be, Eddie is who we were afraid our friends would become. Eddie is a friend of necessity, motivated by opportunism. He lives with Richie because he has no wish to pay bills or work, and spends most of his time drinking or drunk in a bid to escape Richie's constant and infuriating company. They hate each other, but have come to rely on each other for companionship and safety. Eddie has nowhere else to go, and it is unlikely Richie would ever make another friend. Despite this antipathy, they still feel the need to impress and compete with each other, just like children.
Together, they form an incredibly dysfunctional relationship, incorporating all the worst aspects of the family unit. Sometimes they're an overbearing mother and disobedient son, sometimes they're a bitter and violently abusive couple. Most of the time, they're just bickering siblings.
As I said, the characters are essentially imprisoned both by the setting and their own personalities. It's not surprising therfore, that most of the plots involve around Richie and Eddie aquiring something that will allow them to escape the misery, if only for a short time. They have no concept of stability or emotional security, and both of them are always chasing the next great white hope that they think will fix their lives, whether it actually exists or not. They live from treat to treat, with no regard for those around them, or each other. This is depressingly compelling to watch, a sort of grim voyeurism as you see the lives and hopes of two people wither and die constantly.
So that's Bottom. It's exquisitely hopeless, like a children's book written by an alcoholic widower.
*** ***
On second thoughts it's more like a performance of Waiting for Godot, with the scripts replaced by issues of Viz.
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