Early in the series, The Office had a slow smallness to it unlike anything on television. It was willing to linger where other shows would skip ahead, which allowed the audience to practically participate in the tension. The slow smallness gave dimensions to characters who could’ve easily been one-dimensional. Of course, there were stories, too: …
The video (hereafter, “art piece”) for Kanye West’s “Monster” is controversial. That’s for sure. Read pretty much anything that’s been written about it already, or just watch it, and find out why. That part of it’s not interesting to me. As controversial content goes, I’m relatively unmoved. I am offended by something, but it’s not …
I’m earnest in my appreciation and support for women and homosexuals. As I mature and learn and listen, I become more aware of the discrimination, injustice, and violence with which people have to contend simply because of their gender and/or orientation. With that awareness, I’m confronted by my own incongruity, discovering unexplored prejudices that appall …
Three moments struck me as particularly poignant and of one accord in “Goodbye, Michael,” Steve Carell’s final episode as the star of The Office. Each (like much of the rest of the episode) put a nice shine on the strangely beautiful development that we’ve witnessed over the past seven seasons, both in the Michael character …
In its research, its content, its writing, and its timing, Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other is impeccable. Professor Turkle brings to it her experience as a sociologist and a licensed clinical psychiatrist, three decades of teaching at MIT, four decades of observing the human relationship …
As legend has it, 16 year old Earl Sweatshirt’s hip-hop career was a secret to everyone but his OFWGKTA cohorts and fans. Then, his parents found out about his music. So disturbed were they, upon listening to his raps, that they sent young Earl to military school. As a result, his crew is left shouting, …
The excess of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — the most celebrated 2010 album in hip-hop, and maybe any genre — left me feeling more than a little turned off. A thought that entered my mind (but not my blog) was that the album represented a moment in hip-hop that mirrored some kind …