you two so alike
ANOTHER ONE RIDES THE BUS
It was the late 1980s and we did not have the internet really, and making parody songs was something my friends and I did a lot. I don’t remember this being distinctly or overtly Weird-Al-inspired, but of course that was the cultural soup we were floating in as teenage noodles, so it probably was. There was one to the tune of “Strangelove” about the cafeteria pizza. There was a retelling of the Odyssey set to Toni Basil’s “Hey Mickey!” (that one was an assignment for class but it turned out pretty good). There was also a parody of “Jessie’s Girl” that was about squirrel fashion:
I wish that I could dress a squirrel
I wish that I could dress a squirrel
Where can I find a squirrel-sized hat
Et cetera. It originally went “I wanna be a dressy squirrel” and was sung as a fashion-obsessed squirrel who wore all the right brands (and sung with dripping contempt, because my friends and I were ABOVE ALL THAT), but I changed it later, because I think it is much funnier sung from the POV of the squirrel’s stressed-out stylist. The squirrel has been invited to the Oscars or something, and the stylist is like how the fuck am I going to dress a squirrel. Will Christian Siriano sew something small and rodential if I ask him really nicely?
Speaking of this reverse snobbishness, I would venture to say I am not the only GenX person to have it and I think it has served us oddly well in the personal finance department. If you grew up “alternative,” with the idea that luxury or brand-name items were embarrassing, selling out was the worst thing, dressing like everybody else was extremely pathetic, and big corporations are lying, you may end up making (relatively) healthier personal-consumption choices. A hangover from life in the time of AdBusters, Jello Biafra, Microserfs, etc.
On the other hand if Google is to be believed my cohort has the highest credit card debt of any generation, so there goes that theory,
THIS MEAL IS: FINE
In searching around for a new drama series (Dear Succession: I will miss you forever), I tried some other HBO thing called Task. I remember liking the creator’s other thing, Mare of Easttown, although I had not thought of it in a long time. That very fact—that the series did not stick in my mind at all—kicked off a bunch of thoughts about this type of television.
Both Task and Mare of Easttown are, at first glance and especially while you are actively watching, “good.” The performances are good because they hire good actors (Marc Ruffalo, Kate Winslet). The lighting is good, the set design is good, the cinematography is good because HBO has the money and the time to make things look good.
However, the writing is not good. I think it takes a while to see this, because all the right elements of “prestige TV” are there, but it is just not good. It is competent enough, I guess, but there is dumb dialogue and huge plot holes (not really forgivable in a plot-driven show) and easy, cliche tropes that make my eyes just about roll out of my head. It’s a crime show but it’s really about family trauma? We have seen this before. Troubled law enforcement personnel who drink too much? Check. (Mark Ruffalo plays an alcoholic ex-priest who is also an FBI agent and a foster parent. I mean come on.) There are morally gray bad guys and a child in peril (groundbreaking) and it all feels a little FX under the hood. Without HBO money I argue that these shows would be considered not good at all. On the other hand,* I should probably stop comparing all TV writing and character development to Succession because my television life will be a series of incredible disappointments otherwise.
*This is the second “on the other hand” and I truly apologize! It is No-Delete Thursday so I have no recourse.
LINKS
Amazing and bird-related.
Here is a completely fascinating long-form article about two lunatics. My favorite quote from one of the lunatics is the one about death metal.
—mimi smartypants won’t dance, don’t ask her.