can see the strings

[mustinvestigate]

What all has taken up my brain space lately:

• five seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street
• All three His Dak Materials
• Likewise The Hunger Games
• The odd Tobolowsky file and sundry slashfilm podcasts
• Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender
• and a massive semi-digestible chunk of Philip K Dick. My brain kept trying to classify VALIS (via mp3)

Comments

[mustinvestigate]

It’s worthwhile to keep watching, just with somewhat lowered expectations. We just finished the fifth season (called the fourth in the UK, for some reason), and decided to stop there. We’d survived the show-wounders, but the real show-killers were around the corner, and…sigh. I can’t go through that again. Last year I read a book called Digimodernism, which, long story short, made a convincing argument for a creeping childishness across all ostensibly adult or even teen media from mid-90s on, and I was really seeing this in Homicide seasons 4-5. Even though the characters were older than the first season, they began regularly acting like middle schoolers. Urk.

I’d known about Munch holding the tv world together, but man that grid…I are impressed. Thank you Tommy Westphall for being that damn imaginative :D

No, I was faffing about more conceptually - something about how all three universes (PKD [various], Watchmen, and Homicide) were conscious simulacrums several steps from a reality grounding which played in-universe with their made-up nature. And destabilising disconnection in human relationships was involved or caused it or made it as real as reality to some degree. It’s something like three pages of frothing idiocy in my paper journal :D

[scarlet_carsons]

Oh man, I don't know if I could put up with H:LOTS getting worse after season 2. I found it bad enough when Bayliss threw a tantrum over some cookies and pulled a gun on a store clerk, and I'd like to forget that the improbable 'female serial killer with DID' storyline ever happened.

last year I read a book called Digimodernism, which, long story short, made a convincing argument for a creeping childishness across all ostensibly adult or even teen media from mid-90s on

Now I'm intrigued. Would the book make much sense to someone who isn't very knowledgeable about postmodernism (i.e. me)?

conscious simulacrums several steps from a reality grounding which played in-universe with their made-up nature

My... brain hurts.

[mustinvestigate]

Yeah, it’s a different show after the first season. Bayliss in particular has a lot of emo kid moments (royally pissing off his real-life counterpart, who had to put up with no end of teasing). There are more overdramatic cases like that serial killer, too. On the plus side, the complicated work relationships stretch out over episodes and seasons, and they do let Baltimore be Baltimore rather than the typical network “American City!”. Hell, I’m the wrong person to give an opinion, when it’s enough just to see my old coffeeshop every other episode.

My... brain hurts.

How I got through grad school, right there :D Sorry, I seem to have only two modes, either in pidgin academic or "it's like, yeah, and stuff!" I blame an east coast education.

The book’s not nearly as obtuse - it covers the various concepts of postmodernism in the beginning (tho really, writing kinkmeme fanfic means we’re pretty much the living embodiment of postmodernism, except in a good way), and the language is mercifully straightforward. I’d be happy to send you my copy, actually, since we’re moving south in a few months and most of my books will be charity-shopped anyway.

[scarlet_carsons]

(royally pissing off his real-life counterpart, who had to put up with no end of teasing)

Yeah, I... kind of forgot that the characters were meant to be based on real people. Ouch.

I can see H:LOTS's good points, especially re: Baltimore. I have a feeling that I would've found the series easier to enjoy if I hadn't already been spoiled by The Wire.

I’d be happy to send you my copy, actually, since we’re moving south in a few months and most of my books will be charity-shopped anyway.

That would be awesome. Can I paypal you the P&P cost?

[mustinvestigate]

Sure, I'll get it in the mail this week and let you know how much it was. Can you message me the address?

Supposedly the guy Pembleton was based on (Edgerton) was a bit of a sad case - he took being Frank Fucking Pembleton to heart, and kept alienating the coworkers and brass until they found a reason to can him. He ended up doing security guard work, poor guy.

[scarlet_carsons]

Address sent!

Supposedly the guy Pembleton was based on (Edgerton) was a bit of a sad case

Oh dear. Color me unsurprised, though. (Ironically, I actually found Pembleton relatively tolerable for a character who fit the 'tactless, uncompromising loner' archetype.)