Put “Fuck” in the Headline
It’s possible the editor – if they have such arcane old things – scanned the piece, said “this isn’t very good. Put fuck in the headline” and she had to comply, but it’s likely she was taking her cue from the rest of the site.
Lileks, J. (2017, August 4). The Bleat. Retrieved from http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/17/0817/080417.html
Distraction
Binoche is a woman whose heart has been so pounded by war that she seems drawn to its wounded, as a distraction from her own hurts.
Ebert, R. (1996, November 22). The English Patient (Review). Retrieved from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-english-patient-1996
For all his badassery, he never rises about the level of a minor supporting character—which is notable, since he’d probably be the protagonist in 90% of action thrillers taking place in urban America. The series is quite up-front about that fact that he’s just one cog in the social machine that keeps the drug trade afloat, and that few of his actions truly matter in the grand scheme of things.
The Wire Savagely Deconstructs Police Procedurals. Retrieved 2017, Dec 4 from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeconstructorFleet
I always think of Calliou as that kid in the Twilight Zone episode who can kill with his mind, so everyone else has to be super accommodating.
gottabefunky (2017, Sept 28). Re: Henry wasn’t the only train to receive a death sentence [Reader Comment]. Retrieved from https://www.metafilter.com/169670/Henry-wasnt-the-only-train-to-receive-a-death-sentence#7179003
Because He Can
That’s the crucial thing about Facebook, the main thing which isn’t understood about its motivation: it does things because it can. Zuckerberg knows how to do something, and other people don’t, so he does it. Motivation of that type doesn’t work in the Hollywood version of life, so Aaron Sorkin had to give Zuck a motive to do with social aspiration and rejection. But that’s wrong, completely wrong. [Zuckerberg] isn’t motivated by that kind of garden-variety psychology. He does this because he can, and justifications about ‘connection’ and ‘community’ are ex-post-facto rationalizations.
Lanchester, J. (2017, August 17). London Review of Books: You Are the Product. Retrieved from https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n16/john-lanchester/you-are-the-product
Nothing is Static
It used to be enough that when I came home angry and knowing that my life wasn’t toeing my five-year plan, I could clean my condominium or detail my car. Someday I’d be dead without a scar and there would be a really nice condo and car. Really, really nice, until the dust settled or the next owner. Nothing is static. Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart.
Palahniuk, C. (2005). Fight Club: A Novel. W. W. Norton.
Predictable Answers
But let’s begin with him, skipping over his Republican enablers, who had nothing to do but lob softball questions and praise his answers.
If Judge Gorsuch wasn’t the least forthcoming Supreme Court nominee ever to appear at a confirmation hearing, it’s hard to imagine one who could be less forthcoming while still breathing. More interesting and less predictable answers could have come from Siri on an iPhone.
Greenhouse, L. (2017, March 30). The Empty Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/opinion/the-empty-supreme-court-confirmation-hearing.html
Neither Gifted with Intelligence
We meet two of the other local studs, John and Tom, neither gifted with intelligence, both violent products of brutal backgrounds. They have the same attitude toward women that the gun nut has about prying his dying fingers off the revolver.
The film is about hanging out in gas stations and roller rinks, and lying sprawled on a couch looking with dulled eyes at television, and soul-crushing jobs, and about six-packs and country bars and Marlboros. There is a reason country music is sad.
Ebert, R. (1999, October 22). Boys Don’t Cry (Review). Retrieved from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/boys-dont-cry-1999
Mr. Trump understands that attacking the media is the reddest of meat for his base, which has been conditioned to reject reporting from news sites outside of the conservative media ecosystem.
Sykes, C. J. (2017, February 4). Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/04/opinion/sunday/why-nobody-cares-the-president-is-lying.html
Active Resistance
Havel believed, “as long as our humanity remains defenseless, we will not be saved by any technical or organizational trick designed to produce better economic functioning.”
…
Active resistance is necessary because it is the moral and political indifference of demoralized, self-seeking citizens that normalizes despotic power. According to Havel, true escape from despotism requires “living in truth,” which means not only refusing all participation in the regime of untruth but also rejecting all false refuge in the “small pleasures of everyday life.”
Mishra, P. (2017, February 8). Václav Havel’s Lessons on How to Create a “Parallel Polis.” Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/vaclav-havels-lessons-on-how-to-create-a-parallel-polis
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