EPISODE 413: I'M DEAD

POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW

So Game of Thrones returns on Sunday (ICYMI) and clearly we’re all getting desperate for information and/or clickbait (whatever Mashable, we’ll check back when you’ve written five volumes and/or 68 episodes of an award-winning fantasy series) (I may have some pretty strong feelings about Bran, he’s the freaking three-eyed raven y’all). But there’s a lot else going on, like the ending of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (it was so good) or the debut of the movie Shazam (which is also apparently pretty darn wonderful).

Also, Killing Eve is back (and there’s this great interview with its version of M – or perhaps Bond, who I can’t believe also played Harry Potter’s horrible aunt Petunia) and Disney just announced the price for its Disney+ streaming service, and it’s going to be cheaper than Netflix or Hulu and include not only new Star Wars shows but a new show about Hawkeye passing the torch and/or bow to a young woman (which is a great storyline in the comic book universe), and what more do you really need.

And if all of this sounds too familiar and you wonder if there isn’t anything else happening in pop culture, well, you’re not the only one asking why everywhere you look it’s pretty much the same two or three topics and/or stories.“Everything is less white than it used to be, but all in the same way.” (And after reading that article I’m now wondering whether Us was actually less a movie than an attempt to capitalize on our cultural narrowness to create a GIF-able, Reddit-ready event.)

And speaking of Netflix, which is raising its prices for the second time in a year (!%&$@), did you know supposedly 80% of the things people watch on Netflix come not from their own choices but from the algorithms the site uses to suggest things to you? Which sounds ridiculous on the surface, but then have you ever noticed that despite the fact the service is always recommending things it never seems to be recommending the new seasons of the shows you already watch? I’ve always thought that’s some kind of glitch in the programming, but no, sounds like it’s intentional. They know we’re going to find the shows we already love, so instead of helping us to get there they try to boost attention to other things they already paid for.

And also speaking of Disney, The Cut did a fascinating interview with Abigail Disney, granddaughter of the Walt Disney Company co-founder Roy Disney on what it’s like when you grow up in a family that has crazytown levels of money.

It’s not a small thing when you don’t have to be patient or be around other people. It creates this notion that you’re a little bit better than they are. And for the past 40 years, everything in American culture has been reinforcing that belief. We say, “Job creators, entrepreneurs, these are the people who make America great.” So there are people walking around with substantial wealth who think that they have it because they’re better. It’s fundamental to remember that you’re just a member of the human race, like everybody else, and there’s nothing about your money that makes you better than anyone else. If you don’t know that and you have money, it’s the road to hell, no matter how much stuff you have around you.

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I’ve spent much of the last four weeks away on a bunch of different work projects, my favorite of which involves me wandering around with an old-timey looking microphone and interviewing some of my Jesuit heroes. I’m hoping to turn the material into a podcast, but honestly it’s also just me wanting to learn as much as I can from guys who are happy in their 70s and 80s. In recent years I find myself getting more crusty and cynical, and while that seemed like a lot of fun at first, who doesn’t love a good curmudgeon!, actually in real life those people are generally the hostile male version of Debbie Downer and you start to need the spiritual version of a dental hygienist with a drill bit to get at the plaque build-up in your heart.

So yeah, I’m trying to sit at the feet of people who have somehow worked through all that before I end up standing on stage before a million generally rich white men and convince myself shouting at a chair is a good and useful idea.

(Remember when that was the definition of crazy Washington? Ah, the good old days…)

The next month or so will keep me running around too, a fact I was worried about until I suddenly discovered this last trip how much I got done while I was away. It’s nice to sleep in my own bed (SO nice), but it’s also amazing how regenerative and creative-inspiring a little travel can be, even when it’s to a place you think you know so well already.

On the other hand, I suddenly discovered a couple weeks ago that I will be directing a men’s retreat on the very weekend that Avengers: Endgame comes out, and this retreat is full on, 4 or 5 talks a day plus liturgies and events into the night, so I’ll have no chance to watch the movie until Monday – at the earliest – (I KNOW!) --and what kind of pop culture fan do I think I am.

I understand Avengershas released like two more trailers. Seriously can’t figure out what their marketing strategy is at this point. If it were me I would have done it like Black Panther’s Chadwick Boseman. (Actually I long for a world in which people respond to terrible questions we somehow expect the press to ask, like “How did X make you feel?” or “Can you spoil this thing that is a secret?” with “I’m dead.” I think we’d all be happier.)

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Also sat in on a screenwriting class taught by one of my classmates tonight. I’ve resisted the idea of teaching screenwriting, fearing that if I get myself caught up in university stuff I’ll lose track of the actual work I want to do. But listening to these students read their scripts I’m immediately realizing what a total error in judgment that has been. It’s just a wonderful experience being with people as they try to learn our craft and write personal stories.

My friend is also an amazing example to watch; the way that these sorts of classes generally work is that a student has their peers read a bunch of scenes and then everyone gets a chance to give some feedback on what they’ve heard. And there can be a tendency in these situations to sort of overwhelm the writer with information – a very natural tendency, and usually coming from a very helpful place. But she holds back from doing much of that; instead she gives her students the time to discover some of what they need for themselves. She was telling me afterwards it all comes from her parenting style. Your kids will teach you what they need from you, she told me. It all kind of blew me away.

++ LINKS ++

The Avengers Read a Children’s Book Version of Infinity War, which can mostly be summarized as "#!%! Thor".

A five year old makes her own mystery podcast (with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation), and it’s pretty great.

And a glimpse into the lives of people through the letters, texts and posts they send each other (like the couple who send each other photos of sunsets and mugs and tomatoes on windowsills when they’re apart).

There's lots around us trying to pull us out of the moment. But you deserve the chance to feel the warmth of spring on your face, to relish the brightly-colored tulip bulbs exploding from gardens, to listen to the birds sing. Forget the clamoring boo-birds of anxiety and despair; give yourself permission to savor.

See you next week.