Confession:
I am not embarrassed at showing emotion at TV and Movies anymore. Ten years ago? I would be ashamed of my tears and laugh them off as “allergies”.
So much so, in fact, that it became a joke, something I would post on the Internet: “This movie gave me allergies.”
Well, now I am comfortable saying, “This movie (or tv show or book or song or leaf floating down from the sky) made me cry.”
And it’s fine. I mean, why was I so afraid of emotions in the first place, Jan. (Idk who Jan is in this instance, it just felt right here.)
I know that answer, and it is because the parents I had and most of the people I surrounded myself with my entire life were scared of emotions. We never talked about them growing up, except to point them out to make fun of each other.
Except for Anger, of course. Anger has had a space in every house I’ve lived in. Yes, even this one. Not mine, though, cause while I’ve done better about not being embarrassed about crying at fictional things, I am still terrible at feeling like my own anger is ever justified. Everyone else’s Anger takes precedent over my own.
No wonder I had my nose stuck in a book so often… those were private stories and private emotions.
TV
Game Changer: S7E9 (Dropout)
In the interest of being spoiler-free, I am not telling you the story of this episode, just how it made me feel and what my brain thought about it. (all good things. it was incredible. it made me cry.)
Who wants to be Jacob Wysocki? I do. But not for the Big Ending of this episode, but because he is surrounded by a work community that 100% supports him and delights in him and accepts him. The acceptance is the hardest part to get, I think.
In my experience, surface support is easy to get, people delighting in you can come in small doses, but acceptance doesn’t come as easy. And when I say acceptance, I don’t just mean things like, “Oh, so and so is poly, that’s cool for them!” I mean, doing the work to learn who someone is as a person, flaws and all, and accept them as is, with no pressure to change. Like, you understand that they are an adult too, and you know being a grown up human being is a complicated thing to do, and you accept that they are doing the best they can. You accept that they realize their own flaws and they are working on them, but you don’t pressure them to change.
I don’t think you can ever understand another human 100% and I think that is okay. It seems wild to expect that. In my head, this is an impossible task. Cause while you see the surface workings from the outside, and you can think you know what’s happening with the gears turning in their heads, you can’t really know if you are right, can you?
You might think you can imagine, but you cannot. You can only assume you understand what is happening in there. So, to me, that is why acceptance is so important.
And the folks at Game Changer and Dropout accept Jacob as he is… which is awesome, because he is great. He deserves all the love and fun and adoration he receives.
It’s episodes like this (and this) that make me incredibly glad that I have my own Dropout subscription. It’s the best $7 I spend every month.
Rap Sh!t (HBOMax)
Okay, we watched this because of Aida Osman. I had no idea who she was before last week, when I saw her on Big Biz with Mandal. Her interview intrigued me enough to seek more info about her. When I saw she was the star/writer of Rap Sh!t, a show that had been recommended to me by the algorithm many times over, I knew it would be our next watch.
Season 1 was… interesting. Like, I wanted to love it. I love Issa Rae (creator of the show). I think she tackles topics in a real fresh way… and tackles groups of people that aren’t getting the exposure they should on television. I haven’t watched the final season of Insecure yet, because I don’t want to be done with their stories.
I loved what they tried to do with Season 1, really bringing social media to the forefront. So much so that it was almost the preferred filming method… seeing the story unfold from a social media lens instead of a traditional television lens. It was jarring, but I still applauded it. I feel like maybe it helped make the show more accessible to the younger generations. There was just too much of it in the first season for my brain to latch onto.
The second season, though? GIVE ME 3 MORE OF THEM, plz. Yes, I know the show is cancelled, but season 2 was excellent. The story, the acting, the music. I hated people; I loved other people. I was rooting for (half of) this duo. I was fully invested in the story and looked forward to what these folks were getting into every episode.
Season 2 was phenomenal, and I’m quite sad they aren’t making more.
Twisted Metal (Peacock)
Y’all, this doesn’t have any business being as good as this is. I normally have an “I don’t like you” mental block when it comes to Anthony Mackie, but I think Twisted Metal has surgically removed it from my brain. This was a certified bop.
I played the FUCK out of Twisted Metal when D was younger, so I was familiar with the characters. Well, as familiar as my peri-menopausal brain can be. Oh, hey, other ladies going through the hell on earth time and worrying about the terrible brain fog and processing issues we go through at this time in our lives, I read something that gave me hope:
The brain fog portion of events goes away eventually. It’s not like all the things we can’t access in our brain right now will be inaccessible forever. This is just a temporary situation, and I cannot wait until it is over, because my brain right now does cause quite a bit of panic for quite a few dumb reasons. Something to look forward to in this hellscape, I guess.
Five minutes into the first episode, I said, “They nailed the tone of this.” and they DID. It was the perfect mix of camp and video game violence & drama. The acting on all parts was exactly as it should be.
We’re waiting on season 2 until it’s complete, but it looks like NoHo Hank has been added to the cast and I couldn’t be happier.
Ted (Peacock)
We just started this, and it’s another other-ip-to-tv adaptation that nailed the tone completely right. Max Burkholder holds a special place in my heart because his portrayal of Max on Parenthood helped me figure out and navigate my neurodivergent brain. And also opened myself up to a bunch of “Pokin’ fun a Jacki” times from my friends.
Just, like, be nice to your friends, y’all. There is literally no purpose to making them feel bad about themselves. If you are a person who does this, spend some time and sit with why you feel the need to do that to other people. You might be surprised at what part of yourself you are protecting when you do this.
Oh, so Max Burkholder plays a 16-year-old version of Mark Wahlberg’s role from the movies, and he nails it. You know who also nails it in one of the greatest performances of her career (and she’s had a lot!): Alanna Ubach. Her portrayal of Susan is equally hysterical and heartbreaking, and had me close to tears a couple of times. Seems weird to say about a television show of this level, but she’s incredible.
Also amazing? Scott Grimes as the dad.
And!!! This show gave me one of my favorite things… a new talent to watch! This one is Giorgia Whigham, who plays Blair, the niece. She commands every single scene she’s in. I’ma keep an eye on where her career goes, cause I think she’s a massive talent.
The Bear, S4E4: Worms (Hulu)
This season is too calm, and it is making me nervous. Listen to Logan and me talk about this here.
Movies
Eddington (Theaters)
I went into this as blind as possible. I mean, I knew I was going to an Ari Aster movie, so I was planning to be stressed out. I also knew about the cast, and there was an election involved.
I didn’t know how compelling it was gonna be. It felt like a Western so much that when it’s streaming, I’ma have to really study the scenes. I felt like some of the conversations were set up like a duel. This is a movie ripe for me to dissect.
One of my favorite theater-going experiences happened during this showing, even though there were only two other people in the theater. At a certain point, with about an hour left in the movie, *something* happened and all three of us gasped, loudly. We were NOT expecting it.
I would put this in what I would call my favorite categories of movies: I liked it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Did you see it?! What did you think!!!!!?!
