How’s everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Six.
Took a trip to the movies recently to see the latest “Scream” film.
It delivered––grisly, gruesome and bloody. A stab wound to the stomach might as well be a punch in the gut. Almost all of the good guys and gals somehow survive. It’s all part of the “Scream” experience.
Big ups for the popcorn and soda––the sodium/sugar indulgence part of the appeal of leaving one’s own environmentally controlled home theater for AMC. The film looked and sounded great. Throw in the reclining seat and it made for a comfy two hours.
But one aspect of the atmosphere inside the theater detracted from the overall “movie” experience.
Throughout the film, with almost every breath, I could not escape the faint scent of weed.
I couldn’t tell if it was from a group of young guys smoking in the back row or just lingering from previous theatergoers. Either way, I encountered the same situation seeing “Top Gun: Maverick” over the summer. An usher showed up then but what’s he going to do? The theaters need the business.
And that’s the paradox here.
We as a society still long for shared experiences. A desire to gather and congregate is human nature. We can’t shake it and are drawn to collaborative spaces for big event movies like “Avatar” or “Maverick” or “Scream.”
(A prediction…that’s where theaters are headed. They’ll cater to prestige films, switch to more of a Broadway business model than Dave & Busters.)
But as a culture want our cake––and weed––and eat it too.
And it’s not about the weed, but the people exhaling. Those inside the theater smoking or vaping show an impaired foresight beyond one’s own impulses.
They want what we want when they want it.
That’s where the societal decay lies. At least one example of the decay.
Yet the answer isn’t legislation banning vaping or THC or guns or social media. That’s the last thing we need, Big Brother slapping us on the head, squeezing our nipples and throwing us into forced labor camp.
What we need is what I didn’t do.
Confront the bad behavior and tell the jackasses to stop screwing up the experience for everyone. Vigilance over apathy.
The foundational tenants of a civilized culture is the belief that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.
Well, not everyone. You have to earn that right.
There’s too much pandering today from institutions and politicians around the ideas of “safety” and “respect.” These words are spoken ad nauseam today by the ruling class. What they are doing is propagandizing verbiage in an attempt to form voting coalitions around victimhood and oppression. Recent election results reveal the strategy’s effectiveness.
Now there’s a level of discernment that goes along with conflict; cognitive reason must be the rule of law. But if we don’t challenge obvious bad behavior, broken mirrors become house fires, weed smoking in movie theaters becomes, well, something more rotten.
I failed to step up at the movies. I won’t be so passive next time (and there probably will be a next time).
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Big Names and Big Money in Suburban Races.
While late money pours into the Chicago mayoral race, we are seeing investment in down ballot races in collar counties. Suburban school board and library board races are now drawing interest from GOP and Democratic party benefactors (one of them being Gov. Pritzker, who’s checks always cash but the money comes with a price). This video clip via WGN news provides more insight into the unprecedented influx of donations coming in for elections that in previous cycles drew little to no interest.
2. Stanford’s War Against It’s Own Students.
Stanford University hit the news cycle the past few weeks over the treatment of a visiting speaker, a U.S. judge. Students showed up at was supposed to be a benign speech/Q&A about constitutional law and turned it into a scene from a “Resident Evil” film, apparently upset over positions the judge had taken that they interpreted as hateful towards LGBTQ people, immigrants, Black voters, etc. Administrators attending the event dumped gasoline on the building inferno, admonishing the judge for his “hurtful” comments. Whatever. These attacks on free speech continue to pop up on campuses all over the country with no end in sight. But at Stanford, it’s not just visiting speakers the university shows downright hostility towards. The Free Press with a terrific story on the shenanigans going on between university and their own students.
3. School Principal Fired For Showing Statue In Class.
In general, I’m in favor of more parental choices when it comes to education. Vouchers, open boundaries and more encouragement of agency by parents are all positive developments. School board elections are in 10 days. That’s an exercise in choice. But there’s a distinction between choice and control and we are seeing more circumstances where control can be destructive. Take this case about a private school in Florida (not exactly an island of ‘land of the free, home of the brave’ these days). The principal of the school, named Tallahassee Classical School, was fired recently after parents complained about yes, the showing to students of the Statute of David. At an art school. The Independent with the laughable details.
4. Coffee Study: More Exercise, Less Sleep.
I can probably speak for most consumers of liquid in this country when I say that if forced to give up one, coffee or alcohol, I’d choose alcohol. A life without caffeine would be much more impossible to bear than one without alcohol (a litmus test would be Lent and although I have yet to attempt the ‘sacrifice’ forgoing 40 days of IPA’s seems much more reasonable than Peet’s Major Dickason’s). No studies I have found disprove the benefits of caffeine (in moderation of course) and this article via The Washington Post admittedly is a classic case of confirmation bias. The piece is a summary of a recent New England Journal of Medicine study that shows how, “coffee has striking effects on physical activity levels, causing people to move more, taking, on average, 1,000 extra steps a day — a significant boost in activity that might help explain why coffee consumption has long been linked to better health.” Not that coffee devotees needed any more social proof but here’s more.
5. “Succession” Returns: Brian Cox Shows The Kids How It’s Done.
Appointment television is from a bygone era. Gen X’ers fondly recall “Must See TV,” the classic 1990’s Thursday night lineup on NBC. Rare are the shows that require viewing in real time but one returns to the airwaves (ancient reference!) tonight when the fourth season of “Succession” debuts. HBO’s most prestigious of prestige shows contains the ingredients of all hit shows: terrific writing and fantastic casting. The patriarch of “Succession”––a show loosely based on the family ties of media baron Rupert Murdoch––is Logan Roy, played with wicked charm by veteran actor Brian Cox. This profile of Cox by Town & Country takes readers through his considerable acting career (he debuted on Broadway in 1985 and once played Hannibal Lecter) and motivation for playing the irascible Roy: “He’s not Rupert Murdoch. He’s certainly not Donald Trump, and he’s not Conrad Black. He is a self-made man, but there was something in his childhood that made him decide, ‘Fuck it. It doesn’t work. None of it works.’”
6. Best Songs Of All-Time By Fake Artists.
We dig our lists here at the Six! Your dutiful editor is careful about what he curates and posts, though. Having just completed a re-watch of “Almost Famous,” this Rolling Stone inventory of songs seemed karmic when it appeared on my Twitter feed mid-week. Remember “Fever Dog” by the band Stillwater? What about “Big Bottom” by Spinal Tap or “The Dark Side” from Eddie and the Cruisers? What they all have in common––other than being great songs––is they were performed by made up bands. I spent way too much time this week on You Tube ‘researching’ clips of the songs being performed in the films (I’d long forgotten how funny Matt Damon was impersonating a Blink 182 cover band in “Euro Trip.”) One oversight from the RS list? Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band spoofing a 50 Cent song in the movie “The Hangover.” Hilarious stuff.
Thanks for reading everybody and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com