It’s been too long since we’ve done a mailbag. Last time we discussed how to quit Twitter, what’s good about Gene Wolfe, and how a self-driving AI should select its victims in trolley-car-type situations.
Discussion topics are up to you: I’m looking for burning questions, incisive comments, great recommendations, and truly worthwhile shitposts. Please leave your queries and complaints below, or respond directly to this email.
And thank you, as always, for your continued support of my worst instincts and stupidest ideas.
How do you archive your online life? I come up with systems and databases for a while for files, photos, notes, etc. And then I move onto a different platform. I feel like I leave semi-organized detritus all around, some abandoned forever, some rescued when I remember where things are. Any tips?
In Ian Svenonius's The Psychic Soviet, he writes an essay making a somewhat convincing argument that the trifecta of Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex and the City were created through a government initiative to reverse white flight by portraying city life as appealing and (most importantly) full of endless, semi-anonymous sex. Even though the book is full of essays about stuff like this, this particular argument has always stuck with me. If this really was the case, what would be the hidden intent behind similar current shows? (or do they even exist anymore?)
Recently I saw the Danish/Dutch horror movie "Speak No Evil" on Shudder. It's pretty well-made, especially as these things go (I got scared!), and has been positively reviewed in the NYT, RogerEbert.com, etc.
Lots of the reviews treat it as "misanthropic," and the director states he was trying to make something shocking, disturbing, etc. Obviously.
But after watching it, I couldn't help but read it as a sort of reactionary parable against "PC culture" or w*keness or whatever. I won't put any spoilers here but...these people literally meet their doom because they're too cucked or whatever. And the symbolism in what happens to the children in the movie (I won't spoil it!) is not subtle at all!
Yet, none of the reviews or criticism of the film read it this way. The director has said in an interview or two that he was critiquing "politeness" but none of the interviewers have pushed him on this point.
Am I reading too much into this film? Have I wrongly trained my brain to interpret political messages where there might not be any? I could go on but...you really have to see the film to know what I'm talking about. Has anyone else?
What are your thoughts on the shuttering of the Vertigo imprint at DC, and it being replaced with DC Black Label ? I like the fact they're doing more stuff with Sandman in the Sandman Universe, but it seems like a loss to lose a creator-owned imprint at DC. Any other comic books you'd recommend that are under-rated / under-read?
Why does the new Lord of the Rings show feel so alien? I can see a more meaningful connection to the original trilogy when I watch Merlin or the Witcher show
How do you archive your online life? I come up with systems and databases for a while for files, photos, notes, etc. And then I move onto a different platform. I feel like I leave semi-organized detritus all around, some abandoned forever, some rescued when I remember where things are. Any tips?
did u ever find more hoagie westerns?
In Ian Svenonius's The Psychic Soviet, he writes an essay making a somewhat convincing argument that the trifecta of Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex and the City were created through a government initiative to reverse white flight by portraying city life as appealing and (most importantly) full of endless, semi-anonymous sex. Even though the book is full of essays about stuff like this, this particular argument has always stuck with me. If this really was the case, what would be the hidden intent behind similar current shows? (or do they even exist anymore?)
Recently I saw the Danish/Dutch horror movie "Speak No Evil" on Shudder. It's pretty well-made, especially as these things go (I got scared!), and has been positively reviewed in the NYT, RogerEbert.com, etc.
Lots of the reviews treat it as "misanthropic," and the director states he was trying to make something shocking, disturbing, etc. Obviously.
But after watching it, I couldn't help but read it as a sort of reactionary parable against "PC culture" or w*keness or whatever. I won't put any spoilers here but...these people literally meet their doom because they're too cucked or whatever. And the symbolism in what happens to the children in the movie (I won't spoil it!) is not subtle at all!
Yet, none of the reviews or criticism of the film read it this way. The director has said in an interview or two that he was critiquing "politeness" but none of the interviewers have pushed him on this point.
Am I reading too much into this film? Have I wrongly trained my brain to interpret political messages where there might not be any? I could go on but...you really have to see the film to know what I'm talking about. Has anyone else?
What are your thoughts on the shuttering of the Vertigo imprint at DC, and it being replaced with DC Black Label ? I like the fact they're doing more stuff with Sandman in the Sandman Universe, but it seems like a loss to lose a creator-owned imprint at DC. Any other comic books you'd recommend that are under-rated / under-read?
Why does the new Lord of the Rings show feel so alien? I can see a more meaningful connection to the original trilogy when I watch Merlin or the Witcher show