YouTube link here. No kitties to see, but you get to see a tablet!
This week is the start of the new format. But no one gave Craig the memo. So we discuss three small questions in one email from our chief foreign correspondent. Also, we find a metaphor we love, so you know it takes over the show! Enjoy!
I won’t be posting the “questions” anymore, as they are now emails of varying size and complexity. You wanna know what we talked about? You’ll have to listen.
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The first thing I think of associated with Kanye West is the kanye wes anderson blog where someone’s taken Kanye West’s lyrics and paired them with stills from Wes Anderson’s movies. My favorite is the one my son has as his cover photo on facebook which says “He Got That Ambition, Baby” paired with an image of the kid from The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
That’s a great metaphor! Poisonous stories–this is something that really describes something I’ve tried talking about or asking about in the past. I think of these more in terms of culturally poisonous rather than personally though–though of course they can be both. Like The Watchmen movie was poisonous in both senses for me because the overall message of that story (and it is not unique in having this message) is that people are so evil or corrupt that the only way to accomplish good things in the world is by horrendous manipulations.
This is making me think of The Titans series I’m watching on HBO at the moment. This one doesn’t seem personally poisonous to me, but it definitely has a culturally poisonous narrative most of the time which can best be summarized as the Frank Miller version of Batman told over and over using different characters to stand in for Batman. The thing is, though, that I really like the people they’ve chosen to play the characters and I think the actors are doing a great job. The plots just suck.
I know what my “candy” is–genre fiction that is just fun. Like this series I’m reading right now that is fantasy-heist genre. I can’t think of any stories that would count as “broccoli” for me. I guess I just can’t imagine that something I didn’t enjoy would be good for me in some way. I guess I’m very hedonistic when it comes to reading.
We all know my “candy,” my legit guilty pleasure.
Found footage horror. It’s *so* bad. I can’t get enough.
Of course, non-fiction is also stories.
I think textbooks are the broccoli for most people. Or news.
Yeah, I think I reject the broccoli analogy for stories. I think if a story is unpleasant to read, difficult to understand, etc., then it isn’t good for you. It doesn’t matter if it has useful information if the information isn’t conveyed in a way that makes it enjoyable, clear, and so on. It’s just a bad story.
I think this might actually be part of the science/humanities divide that I talk about in my paper. There’s a false binary where science is about facts/reality and isn’t entertaining, creative, imaginative, and the humanities isn’t about anything real but is entertaining.etc. And may also explain why the process that I just went through to have my paper accepted at a science-oriented journal was excruciatingly frustrating and difficult to comprehend. But in the end, it got accepted!! Yay!!
I agree. Especially since leaving academia (um… 22 years ago?), I don’t go through… “harrowing” stories for their character building value, I guess?
I find there are no lessons in art for me that are worth genuine trauma, at this point. In my opinion, at least.
(Yay! 😊)
Of course, I couldn’t agree more. But part of that is because I like both textbooks AND broccoli! 😆
Ok, but the real question is… for both you and Tony… what is your story equivalent of beets? 😉
For me, beets would be an essay that’s so good I’d HAVE to email it to friends and share it on social media. Mmmm … compelling essays…
Though now that I think about it, the essays I forward to Tony probably are also beets to him. 😆
True Crime. True Crime is my beets.
People who like them REALLY like them. They’re really in fashion right now. But I REALLY hate them. To the point that if something I would otherwise like even has a tiny bit of it in it, I can’t stand it.
Well, I also love broccoli! Except maybe if somebody boils it to the point where it has no flavor. That to me would be kind of comparable to some textbooks–flavorless and all the good taken out of it.
But as to beets–it’s still the same analogy problem. In stories, there is nothing that is good for you but is also as off-putting as beets. If it is that off-putting then it isn’t good for you. Like there are all these horror films that Pete would like me to watch ’cause the story is great, the acting is great, the directing is great….but I can’t stand horror films so all that greatness that will come through for other people, isn’t going to come through for me, whereas if somebody distilled all the nutritional value of beets into some form where I could ingest it without getting a headache and feeling nauseous, then I could get some good out them. Actually, that does work for horror movies, ’cause I can read about what makes a particular one good, or hear someone discuss it, and appreciate what is good about that particular one. I guess horror might be my beets ’cause they both cause me to have a strong negative physical reaction. :p
Is getting your news distilled through monologs of late night comedians count as broccoli with cheese, or is more like fruit snacks (healthier than candy, but not really fruit, replete with fruit’s health benefits, at all)?
Ooh! I like this idea. I’m not sure. I think there’s an air of “this is telling me the news,” but also it’s totally just for entertainment purposes.
But then, we have to consider the nutritional value of watching an actual news broadcast. Then the metaphor spans into “fad diets” and “herbal supplements” and things like that, I think. 🙂
Yeah, I’m with Tony. This is a good one. 😄
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!
I was trying to think of other examples besides the sword in the stone, and Odysseus’s bow and Mjolnir were the only things I could come up with.
Green Lantern? I mean, media is littered with “I’m passing the magic McGuffin onto you, before I died..” stuff. That’s kinda like that, right?
Yeah, that’s true.. Green lantern works. I wonder if the costumes themselves count–like the multiple “Robins.”
My favorite episode of “What If” was the “What if T’Challa had become Star-Lord” one. I liked how T’Challa was such a strong positive influence that he changed the whole universe for the better.
After that the episodes got weird and dark.
Also my favorite, for the same reasons. Though it had issues too.
The zombie one just was the most ridiculous in a way that I didn’t *care* about its issues? So that helped.
But it also had a lot of Pym Particle business going on, and I hate everything about the Pym Particle, so…
Unrelated to the episode, just wanted people to know that William is out of surgery, and the doctor said it couldn’t have gone better! Will update if there’s more to tell, but basically, it should be all good now. 🙂
Yay!!!
Give him my best!
😊
William – I laughed out loud when you said you were going to assume; “apologies to Jim McGregor.” Thanks for that moment of humor for your long time listeners.
The pleasure is all mine! 😄
I also thought that was awesome! But I can’t be seen praising William on air, so… you know..
I liked when you put the questions in the show notes; it helped me keep track of what episodes I had already listened to and which ones I hadn’t yet heard.
I can appreciate that. But unfortunately, it’s just not feasible, given the length of the emails. Sorry. 🙁
I was (and still am) behind so I’m fairly sure when I sent those in I hadn’t heard the announcement about the change in format.