You can make anything Mean Something by tweeting enough times
The Slap/Not The Slap, WeWork, insulin BS & Bandcamp Friday!
I think I could avoid a cult.
I know that’s not the lesson we’re supposed to take from cult documentaries. They include all types to show that even smart, skeptical people can fall for the right con. (In the case of NXIVM, we have to accept What the Bleep Do We Know!? as a document of rigorous scientific inquiry.) But I’m sorry. I know it’s wrong, but I genuinely believe I’m better than these people!
Hulu’s WeWork documentary is full of them. They are trustworthy because they… assess the value of corporations. Sure, sounds totally sane and possible! Tell me more.
All these people are tricked by the main WeWork guy whose name I forget and don’t feel like looking up because it isn’t worth remembering. Adam, maybe?
Maybe-Adam is a cardboard cutout of charisma who moves like a rusty robot. Everyone talks about him like he’s Jesus F. Christ and the “F” is for Fabio, but it’s like, you guys know we can see this fool, right? The rapturous descriptions would carry more weight if we didn’t have clips of him acting like an absolutely unconvincing unclothed emperor.
The most telling part of the doc is people recounting how they interrupted their vacations to read the document that exposed the inner workings of WeWork when it dropped. They took time away from their families and European hiking trips to revel in this weirdo’s weirdness. I hate to break it to you guys, but the joke here is on you! Your commitment to upholding the sanctity of corporate America is showing.
There are times when pop culture becomes a cult. Kinda entertaining moments that don’t symbolize anything are imbued with Meaning we’re all forced to accept. It happened with Kanye interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs, and now it’s happening with The Slap.
I’m not saying whatever issues people are bringing up in their Slap thinkpieces—misogyny, toxic masculinity, anti-Blackness, ableism—aren’t real. I just wish the messages came wrapped in something other than the tinfoil of celebrity.
For now, however unreasonable, condescending, and counterproductive it may be, I encourage you to join me in feeling superior to anyone with an opinion on The Slap.
Got a response to something here? Want to join my weekly workshops for storytelling or kickstarting your creative practice? Reply or comment, and I’ll hit you back.
THIS IS MY PODCAST, THIS IS YOUR AFTERLIFE
Shalewa Sharpe (HBO, Comedy Central) is a comedian who is funny like this:
“I Get It, Dave Chappelle. It’s Hard to Be a Comedian in Your Mid-40s”
And this:
And as a homeless woman on Bust Down.
She has highly specific opinions about guardian angels, and her coma moment is the semi-unusual (for the podcast) negative one!
MOOD BOARD
I would love to offer my services for money.
Speaking of which, there are spaces open in my Sunday and Thursday workshops for April. It’s not too late to reply and join to work on writing, storytelling, performing, comedy, or plain old accountability and community.
This Is Your Afterlife is starting to affect other art in the world! My buddy Oui Ennui released a record today that reflects our most recent public conversation. It’s a concept album about his compulsion to release concept albums, and it’s the first time I’ve ever made the liner notes of an album!
Jerrod Carmichael’s Rothaniel special premieres on HBO tonight, and I can’t wait.
I'm so stoked for this special. Checked HBO Max this morning before realizing it's a live debut this evening 😡. 8 was a Hall of Fame special for me, and Carmichael Show was legit so, so, so good.In addition to being happy for him, I’d just like to say that “The Carmichael Show” was excellent and ahead of its time. https://t.co/7l4DXRlGec
Saeed Jones @theferocity
I love a message of hard-earned hope and Rebecca Solnit’s writing, so enjoy this piece in The Guardian that includes, “Despair is a delusion of confidence that asserts it knows what’s coming.”
Also in The Guardian, this scary but informative piece about the long-term neurological effects of COVID, even in those with mild symptoms. I might talk about this more in the future, but last night, I went to a PACKED comedy show in the basement of a bar (awful ventilation) and was the only person wearing a mask because I can’t afford to risk it or catch COVID to “just get it over with.” There are so many of us for whom this is personal.
Are you interested in diabetes news? The “Affordable Insulin Now Act” is some HOT BULLSHIT. It’s a COPAY cap, not a price cap on insulin, and even then, the savings for diabetics are minimal to nil. Insurance companies, like all corporations, will find ways to get their money.
MAY I PLAY YOU A SOUND?
It’s Bandcamp Friday, and I’ve listed my haul below. But I mostly want to draw attention to one song (not ambient for the third week in a row!). I’ve listened to it several times a day for the past week. It’s “Hyacinth” off New Preoccupations, the new album from Philly post-emo band Caracara.
I’m a sucker for an excellent rhythm section, and the drummer here skitters under the long, loud strums of guitar to create the kind of satisfying contrast that keeps you coming back to a song.
Apparently, there’s a sobriety narrative to this album, which gives me an opportunity to project my own recovery onto it. So when I hear the “I don’t feel like myself anymore” chorus, I appreciate the surface level of wallowing in self-alienation. But the singer’s bellowing abandon also conveys the freedom of distance from the self that tried to destroy you.
Bandcamp Friday picks:
Romance – Once Upon a Time: Ambient music made of chopped & screwed Celine Dion samples.
Oui Ennui – Water Softener: The aforementioned new Oui! Less dance-y than his last one. More the kind of electro-collage journeys that are actually my favorite OE stuff.
Hiroshi Minami/Eiko Ishibashi – GASPING_SIGHING_SOBBING: Glitched-up jazz recommended by Oui and Cole Pulice, both of whom put out records I bought last Bandcamp Friday.
Ki Oni – Stay Indoors and Swim: A lot of the ambient music I listen to is of the “creepy spa” variety (as my partner calls it), i.e. dark, somber, down. This is not that! Bright, gurgling, aquatic ambient tunes I’m excited to bounce through the apartment as spring arrives in earnest.
Caracara – New Preoccupations: The source of “Hyacinth.”
Anymore,
DM