I’m currently suffering the UK’s annual heatwave, so my ability to show interest in anything is pretty low. Saying that, it’s perfect weather for a nihilistic looser like me to embrace the act of, well, not doing much of anything at all. I think I was sick over the weekend, although it was difficult to tell, what with all the alcohol. There was definitely a point where I said to myself: “I don’t think what I’m feeling is booze-related”. Good times. Anyway, here’s some popular culture that has somehow managed to stick to me like two odd socks in the dryer.
Did that analogy work? Was it even an “analogy”? Sigh, I don’t know how words work anymore.
SHAMELESS
The UK original, not the American remake. I’ve seen bits of this show over the years, but have never gotten around to properly committing to it. Although I’ve meant to. It’s always appealed to me, mainly because of how brazenly obscene it is, with an abundance of teenage shagging and mother-wouldn’t-approve attitude towards drink. Despite my lack of familiarity with the show, I’ve worryingly come to view Frank Gallagher as a kindred spirit over the years. I’m sure that attitude will change once I get further and further into the boxset. Still, I’m sure I will at least develop a whole new affinity with the show, what with, after the series originally aired, finding myself on a similar council estate for 13 years. The final irony being that my tenure befell me after a very middle-class upbringing. I’m sure I deserve it though. I’ve only watched the first episode so far, which was like a mini-movie in itself. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to cope with the eye-rolling romanticisation of the kind of folk that live around me and make my life a living hell 24/7, but perhaps it’ll help me at least feel somewhat better for tit. Trust me, they don’t deserve your politically correct revisionist affection. I guess that means I don’t either. Oh well. Chin-chin!
THE WONDER YEARS
A show I genuinely don’t think Iv’e seen since it first aired, so much so in fact that I spent much of the first episode in nostalgic tears. Where did it all go wrong, huh? I guess we all ask that once we get to a certain age. Hmm, this paragraph seems to be turning into one of Daniel Stern’s monologues, which I’m fine with. I’m surprised at how frank the show is about sex, considering the age of its main characters, but that just makes things funnier. They would certainly tip-toe around such content nowadays, that’s for sure. I mean, we can’t offend anyone with the truth now, can we?! I regularly find myself daydreaming back to a less conservative time. Even the Thatcherite 80s didn’t give no fucks. Now everything sucks and everybody’s frightened of everybody else. Where on Earth am I going with this?! Oh I don’t know. Anyway, I haven’t gotten too far into the show as yet, but I’m keeping an eye out for bit parts from up and coming actors. Robert Picardo is in there as the coach, although he was well-established already at that point. Robert Picardo makes everything better. Actual fact. I’m also enjoying how low-energy Kevin Arnold and his young friends are, which feels very much in the vein of Peanuts and Hey Arnold. Depressed kids rule.
THE ORVILLE
My cyclothymia decided to ditch my interest in this show about halfway in. I got a bit annoyed with one episode, which asserted the belief that pursuing the natural, wholesome, joyful interest and desire for sex was a “disease”. Did the network demand that at least one episode be written by a right-wing born again Christian or something?! To quote the fabulous Susie Bright on the commentary track for Bound: “Who’s apologising for sex?!”. I lost a bit of respect for the show with that episode. Still, I’ll return once the rules my cyclothymia lays out for me swing back round to enjoying science fiction comedy.
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
I’m on a bit of an opera-kick at the moment, which hasn’t happened in awhile. Well, there’s no greater opera for a homo like me than the works of Gilbert & Sullivan! i’ve heard their songs parodied quite often in popular culture over the years, so it’s interesting to learn that they do feel like intentional comedies. I don’t know how a person could listen to HMS Pinafore and not laugh. As with the writings of P G Wodehouse and Charles Dickens, it’s amazing to discover that people actually had a sense of humour over a hundred years ago. I just thought they sat around covered in soot reading the bible and crying. Go figure.
WARUM KONN ICH NIICHT ARTIG SEIN
Or “Why Can’t I Be Good?”, in English. This German film from 1974 is about, believe it or not, a young boy who has difficulty with authority and keeps losing friends. Sounds familiar. With no English subtitles or dub, I had to try to figure things out myself, but it all came across pretty clearly. While delinquent kids have always been an issue in society, this felt like a film on the cusp of us finally putting medical labels on such mental health disorders and treating troubled youths with counselling and medication. I’m glad we’ve come so far as to be able to stop describing such kids as “bad”, but simply in need of help. While I was never as wayward as my criminally-sociopathic eldest brother, I can tell looking back now that my mental illness started manifesting itself early on, mainly in my inability to connect with those around me. Beyond the emotional themes herein, the film is energetically shot by its director, who gives the film the visual air of an Orson Welles picture. That’s not even an exaggeration. There’s one great continuous shot that starts from inside a house, follows an actor down a long path, continues through a gate, onto a bicycle, then tracks the actor for about fifty yards down the street at full speed. I’ve seen a film by the same director made a decade later, but the visual flare was no longer there. This, however, is definitely worth seeking out as a potential undiscovered masterpiece. The muted colour palette also gives it a black and white vibe, which adds an extra arty sheen to it.
STATS
I’ve had a massive spike in views for my somewhat alternative The Searchers review. Amazingly, I’ve had no angry comments, considering how much of a dick I was. Maybe people just agree with me. I’m so glad I’m not on the big social media sites/apps anymore, let’s just say that. I’m not even particularly comfortable with being on YouTube, having just deleted the bulk of my 1,000+ videos. I was living in fear of getting some nasty attention from them, not that they featured anything particularly provocative. I’ve kept my live streams on there though, as they feel more like episodes of a podcast. Also, with those other, now-deleted videos, there was just too much emotional baggage surrounding them that was weighing me down. I needed to move on.
Well, that’s all for now, folks. I’m sat here barely moving and yet I’m pouring with sweat, so I’m going to go lie down in my pigsty of a bedroom and waft myself with a flattened cardboard box.
Dignity. Always dignity.
Do stay in touch, darlings.
Toodles!
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