culture

Rock and Roll As Youth Culture

I used to have a well-worn VHS cassette of Sonic Youth’s tour video, 1991: The Year Punk Broke. It featured a just-experiencing-stardom phase of Nirvana, but that wasn’t the reason I watched it over and over. I was more interested in the Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. performances that were recorded at these giant European music festivals. Until Lollapalooza sprang forth from the mind of Perry Farrell, we didn’t have bands like Sonic Youth playing huge outdoor venues in North America.¹

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// 6:07 PM, Jan 7

I enjoyed Amazon’s Rings of Power series to such an extent that it actually delayed the watching of my most anticipated Star Wars series to come to episodic television. Some fans, though, had problems with the way the series handled canon. Adrienne Westenfeld writes about how the series was actually very clever in its intersections with canonical material.

To be clear, the Star Trek and Lord of the Rings fandoms are not without their own share of bad behavior—and for some fans, even simply enlarging the canon is still a bridge too far. “But Gandalf wasn’t in Middle-earth during the Second Age,” these persnickety purists argue, taking aim at the all-too likely theory that Rings of Power’s mysterious Stranger is, in fact, the notorious wizard Gandalf. Sure, Gandalf the Grey had yet to arrive in Middle-earth during the Second Age setting encompassed by Rings of Power, but during this timeline, he was knocking around the continent by other names in other forms. Where canon-obsessed fans might see a limitation, any good storyteller would see a tantalizing mystery. Tolkien himself often amended and expanded his own work, so why shouldn’t Rings of Power take some creative liberties, especially with the author’s gray areas? Isn’t it more fun to think about what could be true, rather than what must be true?

Westenfeld’s point that it can be interesting to color in the gray areas is well taken. I think that the creators have to be judicious enough not to feel chained to the idea of filling in every piece of history, though. Some things are better left to the imagination.¹

→ The Problem With Canon | Esquire
1. See the Star Wars prequels. ↩︎
// 7:17 PM, Nov 22

Star Wars: An Epic Poem

Jack Mitchell brings to us The Odyssey of Star Wars, an epic poem in blank verse.

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// 6:30 PM, Nov 17

When Love Is Gone

Disney+ is releasing the uncut version of The Muppet Christmas Carol. The song “When Love Is Gone” (AKA, the breakup song) was originally on the VHS version of the movie that I remember from when I was younger. I always miss hearing it in the later versions from which it was cut. The song was written by Paul Williams, who also wrote “Rainbow Connection,” which may explain why I like it so much.

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// 7:26 PM, Nov 3

Rings Of Power Surprise

⚠️ Warning: Spoiler alert for Amazon’s Rings of Power series.

I just finished watching the first season of the Amazon series Rings of Power, and I can honestly say that I didn’t realize it was going to turn into a mystery. “Who is Sauron,” was the question that seemed to drive most discussions about the show, like “who shot J.R.” did back in the early days of Dallas. James Hibberd interviews Charlie Vickers, who plays Halbrand, the self-proclaimed king of the Southlands. Vickers didn’t know going in that he was playing Sauron, but he had some hints.

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// 5:44 PM, Oct 21

Comics Con

Alan Moore wrote some noteworthy comics and graphic novels. Those titles include Watchmen and Batman: The Killing Joke — which was huge when I was growing up. However, he has now given up writing comic books, and now looks with disdain (and maybe a certain amount of fear) at what they’ve done to society.

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// 8:16 PM, Oct 12

Andor Depicts War Amongst The Stars

I’ll start by showing my cards here and admitting that I can’t wait to see Andor, the latest of the Star Wars shows to premiere on Disney+. The only reason I haven’t already dipped back into the Star Wars universe is that my imagination is currently in Middle Earth, where the harfoots are undertaking a perilous journey and Sauron and his juicy, sunscreen-hoarding orcs are on the move. If I weren’t so deep into the story that Rings of Power is weaving, I would have settled down in front of the big screen with the lights off and watched for that familiar Star Wars logo that has brought joy to me since I was a kid. I’ve been waiting for a while for Andor to come out and I have greater expectations for this show than any of the previous Star Wars episodic TV shows (although I ended up enjoying them all).

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// 9:58 PM, Sep 26

Culture Wars Come To Middle Earth

In Your Favorite Pop Culture Has Just Gone “Woke.” Now What? by Jason Morehead, the author examines some perceived changes brought to Middle Earth mythology by the new Amazon Prime series Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. If you’ve come across any of the common objections to the show, this is a really helpful piece to read. I mention this in large part because Morehead has a good grasp of the material being examined and brings an informed view to the debate. In discussions over nerdery and pop culture, familiarity with the source material and thus, understanding of authorial intent, generally wins the day.

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// 6:05 PM, Sep 11

📺 Finished watching Moon Knight. What a strange trip it has been.

// 3:24 PM, May 8

I really enjoy the roundups that Matt Poppe does of new Disney+ series for Christ and Pop Culture. From his writing about Moon Knight, it sounds like his background and the churches he’s attended give him a particular insight into some of the religious aspects of the new series. Specifically, he addresses how the intentions of followers of a “cult of personality” type of faith can be misled.

Like many of us who live and breathe inside circles of faith, Marc (and now Steven) are beginning to realize that leaders who capture our commitment often twist their followers’ zeal and idealism toward their own selfish ends. There you were, happily shedding your time, money, and talents to planting churches throughout India and Ethiopia. It comes as some shock, then, to learn you actually propped up the domestic expansions of Mark Driscoll’s vanity projects instead.

I’ve had mixed feelings about the series, so far. I like Oscar Isaac, and I think he’s done a fantastic job, but I also feel sometimes like they are trying to stretch his acting skills too far with jamming multiple characters inside his body and it comes out as a bit schizophrenic.

→ Moon Knight: Playing God In The Process | Christ And Pop Culture

// 6:00 PM, Apr 20

🍿 Got around to watching the Oscar for best picture winning CODA and I’m very glad that I did.

// 5:02 PM, Apr 17

🍿 Just watched Free Guy and it was delightful. It borrowed concepts from Groundhog Day as well as the other films mentioned. There were a lot of laughs to go along with the action.

// 6:00 PM, Mar 24

Tatooine Under New Management
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⚠️ Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Book Of Boba Fett. 
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Matt Poppe typically reviews the new Star Wars and Marvel shows for Christ and Pop Culture. He’s now onto The Book of Boba Fett, though not reviewing every episode, as he has done with previous shows. So far, he hasn’t been impressed.

And that’s because any guy who comes into town and thinks he’ll get it right where everyone else got it wrong tends to either fail miserably or become a weird, psycho cult leader. Whatever the outcome, this isn’t the type of person onto whom I want to project my hopes and cares as I’m munching down Little Caesars on the couch with the rest of the Poppe fam.

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// 4:17 PM, Jan 23

Common Sense Violence

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Apple TV+ series Foundation, as well as some graphic depictions of violence, both real and fictional.

My wife and I started watching the new Apple TV+ sci-fi series Foundation last weekend. The trailer for the show promised exciting visuals and an intriguing plot. The review from the site Common Sense Media was mostly very positive. The write-up on the show focused quite a bit on the show's diverse cast and little on the violence. The quick summary on the site encapsulates their review well:

"Cerebral sci-fi drama has diversity, some violence." Representation is important, but I'm ashamed that we've become so saturated in violence that we consider the level this show contains barely worth mentioning.

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// 7:00 PM, Oct 28