Skip to main content

Intro

Welcome! Much like the rest of the internet, I have thoughts about the media I consume. Media writing has become a bit of a hot topic lately; not to be a hipster about it, but I've been sharing my thoughts on my favorite media since I was a teenager on LiveJournal. While the Internet can be a solitary place, the stories we create as a society are meant to be consumed as a society, shared and discussed. Stories are how we have communicated to and about each other for thousands of years; they represent a way of understanding and empathizing with people unlike us, as well as a way to join people with similar experiences from half a world away. And so, I wanted a place dedicated to the sharing of these stories.

As this is a project devoted to looking at the stories I find myself consuming this year, I won’t be talking about those high-quality stories that I just can’t get into. As a now-sadly-defunct podcast I love articulated for me, there is a difference between quality and enjoyment. Sometimes you don't like good quality stories; sometimes you love things that aren't well-thought out or constructed. I can't guarantee my enjoyment will line up with good quality, though I hope we'll have something to share, regardless.

The stories I will be discussing have a common through-line and can be roughly sketched as: character-oriented, dealing with serious topics, but usually with a feeling of hope and optimism. Sometimes, this will take the form of "grimdark" and gritty stories that can bring catharsis with their pain; sometimes, it'll be focusing on the heights of human joy, rather than the depths of human depravity.

If you’re interested in hearing about character-driven stories, often with important social implications, and a healthy dash of hope and joy, stick around.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Rec: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

I've lived my whole life near enough Salem, Massachusetts for an easy weekender, but I've never done so. I mean, it's roughly the same time as my usual monthly trek to see my long-distance paramour, just the opposite direction, and yet, I've never gone. It might be that I'm worried the mystique will wear off; or, just as likely, that the mystique will increase to the point where I'm another silly tourist, dropping dollars left and left on callous reminders of a deeply misogynistic rampage-turned-horror movie twaddle. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane , by Katherine Howe, is an immensely effective way of checking yourself before you wreck yourself when getting into the mythos of Salem.  I'll quote the author biography on the back flap for some insight into what this book is really about:  "Katherine Howe is completing a PhD in American and New England Studies, and is a descendant of Elizabeth Proctor, who survived the Salem with trials, and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Movies to Watch on the Big Screen

I have been meaning to make this post for three months, but I stand by the premise. If at all possible, go watch these three movies on a big screen with a big speaker and some overly-salty junk food. I promise you, it's how they should be watched. Black Panther You thought the three-month comment was a joke, huh? Nope, I've been meaning to write about the awe-inspiring Black Panther movie since I watched it. So much has been written about it now, much of it really beautifully complex, and all of it by people smarter than me, so go read all those thinkpieces about Killmonger and T'Chaka and Wakanda's places in narrative and morality. Gosh, this was a stunning movie: the sumptuousness of the colors and the soundtrack, the compelling characters, the way it navigated through real-world consequences and history without feeling a need to blame or console the characters or the audience for being complicit. A truly masterful work. Tomb Raider I'm a huge fan of the p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Rec: Blackfish City

"Money is a mind, the oldest artificial intelligence. Its prime directives are simple, its programming endlessly creative. Humans obey it unthinkingly, with cheerful alacrity. Like a virus, it doesn't care if it kills its host. It will simply flow on to someone new, to control them as well. City Hall, the collective of artificial intelligences, is a framework of programs constructed around a single, never explicitly stated purpose: to keep Money safe. What would it take to rival something so powerful? What kind of mind would be required to triumph over this monstrosity? What combination of technology and biology, hope and sickness? How can we who have nothing but the immense magnificent tiny powerless spark of our own singular Self harness that energy, magnify it, make it in something that can stand beside these invisible giants, these artificial intelligences, weighty legal words on parchment and the glimmering ones and zeros of code in a processor somewhere? You sco...
Post a Comment
Read more