La Belle Époque

For decades television was criticized as "an intellectual wasteland;" a medium devoid of knowledge and sophistication. But that was back when broadcast TV needed to appeal to a wide audience for economic viability. The whole venture was based on untargeted advertising.

Today, streaming on TV doesn't face that pressure. As a result, some shows are enlightening. Let's, for example, consider Season Five of "Emily In Paris," released this month on Netflix. Many male critics attack the show as vapid but their perspective is tinged -- no, fatally corrupted -- by sexism. "Emily..." is conspicuously aimed at a female audience with its focus on romance, fashion and exotic locales, but it is more than that. Here are two instances of its higher aspirations.

Over a dozen times this season the show references a remarkable period in European history called La Belle Époque. (That's French for "The Beautiful Era.") In case viewers are unaware of that period, it is explicitly explained as a time of peace, prosperity, scientific advancement and cultural innovation. Art Nouveau, a popular art movement you've undoubtedly heard of, emerged during this time. La Belle Époque spans 1871 to 1914 (the outbreak of World War I).

A second instance of valuable knowledge in Season Five is "the Green Fairy" (slang for absinthe). Absinthe is anise-flavored liquor with a notorious reputation. Legend says the Green Fairy is hallucinogenic and will drive you crazy. Research later proved, however, that the rumor was an exaggeration spread to both promote and discourage consumption. The drink, embraced by bohemians, is socially associated with hipness and social transgression -- making it a perfect symbol for a show like "Emily...".

Watching TV is no longer a shameful activity. You can even consider it "educational". :)

Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoyed the holidays. It's time for New Year's resolutions. What are yours?

Mine are simple: Don't die and stay out of the hospital. These may sound unambitious but you haven't had the year I did. Besides, "join a gym" is already crossed off my list. :)

Happy New Year!

Holiday Mug Shot

"Harold and Maude" (1971)

On this day (Dec. 20th), over a half century ago (1971), one of my all-time favorite movies was released: "Harold and Maude." The movie quickly became a cult classic and is on the Top Five list of many film-lovers.

Buoyed by boisterous music from Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), the movie is comedic and philosophical. It touched the Zeitgeist of the Seventies exactly as "The Graduate" had the Sixties. The film tells the story of Harold, a young man confused by life who attends strangers' funerals for diversion. At one, he encounters a wild free spirit who expands Harold's perspective. Maude, a 79-year old Holocaust survivor, teaches Harold to loosen up and savor experiences. A key moment is when Harold spots a concentration camp tattoo on Maude's arm.

The humor and insights of "Harold and Maude" hold up. Re-watching the movie now continues to entertain us. If you've never seen it and want to laugh, hie thee to a screen!

Pumping Iron

Life can be humbling.

So I'm at the gym yesterday, feeling very good about myself. In addition to working out regularly I'm getting stronger. My personal trainer smartly selects effective exercises and keeps increasing the weights on them. I can feel my muscles growing bigger.

Then, I look across the gym and see a guy doing a dozen chin-ups WITH A 100-lb. DISC strapped to and hanging off his body. Geez! How is that possible? Most of us can barely manage one chin-up with no albatross and this dude has the weight of a foxy girlfriend hanging onto him while casually pumping out a dozen of these torturous moves.

And don't get me started on the female trainers... they have arms bigger than mine and swagger the envy of teenage boys.

"Love Me" [2024]

Can machines fall in love?

The question goes further than whether AI will become conscious someday and is playfully explored in a new film released this year, "Love Me". In the movie Kristen Stewart plays a "smart" buoy, designed to measure ocean conditions, and Steven Yeun plays an orbiting satellite with the history of extinct humanity in its immense memory-bank. There are no other actors in the film and neither character is human.

The machines court, woo and desire connection. So doing, they replicate human behaviors found in social media records left behind by long-dead humans. We feel their struggle to grasp why they exist and what it means to be alive. The movie raises important philosophical issues while entertaining in unexpected ways. We root for the machines' humanity even knowing they don't possess any. That's a tribute to the legacy our species may someday leave behind.

Christmas

My first Christmas present arrived! 

This is the most exciting thing that's happened to me since Santa Claus visited my classroom in the First Grade. 😊

Cause For Reflection

While we often don't realize it our lives are affected, and sometimes even determined, by external factors. Like who are ancestors were, what kinds of society they lived in, what possibilities and limitations they experienced. These factors are as salient as our personal choices.

Today is the anniversary of my father's death (12/11/22). When he died, not only did an individual pass away but the last link to my childhood-family was also severed. Premature losses of my mother and brother thirty years ago were traumatic but my father's continued presence represented something essential. "We" still existed. I wasn't alone (yet). Now I am.

My nuclear family, created in a newly nuclear age, was enviable. Our resources were manifestly meager but our familial bond was rich. For different reasons my mother and father wanted and clung to the very idea of family. Both of them grew up in a chaotic time (World War II); both felt insecure to the bone. Seeking survival and stability my mother designed a structure for the four of us. (It included, not incidentally, some extended relatives.) Everyone was required to adhere to her plan regardless of personal preference. As they say on Star Trek: Next Generation, "resistance [was] futile."

So when I mourn my father, I also consider the larger context in which he played a role. A close-knit family that supported all of us, as disparate and flawed as each of us were. I now see and appreciate what my mother fabricated out of thin air: a coterie of loving support. Without it I would have perished.

Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Richard.

Stoic Philosophy

A little over two thousand years ago a group of philosophers developed Stoicism, a practical philosophy about living. Stoics sought ways to experience life fully and gave advice on how to endure hardship. Their principles have been accepted by many over two millennia.

Stoicism is a philosophy, not a religion. It can exist with or separate from faith. Some Stoics are religious, some are not; Stoicism is independent of religious belief.

I've started studying this ancient philosophy and find much in it that accords with my nature. A surprising amount, in fact, which startles me since I consider myself unusual; few people share my attitude toward life. Stoics do.

Diving into original Stoic texts is difficult but rewarding. That quality of effort mirrors the philosophy generally: hard work has an integrity that fulfills us by itself.

I won't strain your patience and offer just two quotations that resonate with me. They might vibrate your mind as well:

- "If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining." (Marcus Aurelius)

- "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."