Bookmarks: January 2024
Crying, Collapse, and Canine Companions
Hi, welcome to Dilemmas of Meaning, a journal at the intersection of philosophy, culture, and technology. This is January Bookmarks in our Discovery series. In this month’s post we’re highlighting Universality and Relatability in Film, Writing while your nation collapses, A truly alien television show, Animal Companions in Cinema, and Reinventing Social Media.
Keep your recommendations coming. See you all next month.
If It Makes You Cry, It Must Be Good - Caitlin Quinlan
2023 was a good year for cinema. From Barbenheimer to Past Lives, All of Us Strangers to Talk to Me. There was something of a catharsis in many movies achieving popularity after the COVID downturn, twin Hollywood strikes, and the many financial misses of 2022. Caitlin Quinlan places this success as a consequence of their universality. Barbie became Warner Bros’ highest grossing film by appealing to people all over the world. The universality, however, might have robbed these stories of potential. Comparing the broad churches of Barbie to the divisive and particular Killers of the Flower Moon, Quinlan wonders if the financial incentive for universality does cinema a disservice. As one of the biggest fans of 2022’s Tár, I’m happy that someone is flying the flag for a movie that didn’t try to be relatable.
There Once Was an Empire - Anton Cebalo
One from a fellow Substack writer. As the climate changes, prices rise, and governments appear less than concerned about the wellbeing of their citizens (delete/add whichever appeals to your socio-geographic context) it is easy to believe that we live in an era of decline. Especially here in London, we have seen the rise of a great city and are on the downward slide to eventual collapse. Anton Cebalo, from the Novem Newsletter, explores the feeling of collapse via a generation of Austria-Hungarian writers living in their end times. Rich, revealing, and (for some) incredibly relevant. A must for fans of history and life in interesting times.
Why Scavenger’s Reign Actually Feels Alien - Nerdwriter
A friend of mine once mentioned his affection for a show not for its story nor its set pieces but its world. He found enjoyment in being transported to a location he, a boy from Pennsylvania, found foreign. There is a sense of wonder in vicariously living in an alien world. For my friend, that was 13th century China but for this entry in Bookmarks, we’re going a little farther from home.
Scavenger’s Reign is a wonderful show that (if you’d allow the cliche) allows the setting to be its own character. In this Nerdwriter video essay, he discusses why it achieves the feeling of truly being alien. I really need to finish the show!
A Year in Review – Blog of the American Philosophical Association
A Year in Review
Over on the Blog of the APA’s Substack, I reappraised some of the great work in public philosophy published in 2023. Along with my interpretation and thoughts about these pieces, this article also serves as a source for a diversity of ideas from burgeoning and established scholars.
Kelly Reichardt’s Animal Kingdom - Bota Koilybayeva
Right before the pandemic, I journeyed to East London to watch a film about a cow. Kelly Reichardt is a director whose work I rarely enjoy but always find rewarding. She takes her time and allows the artists and their stories room to breath. I am embarrassed that until I read this wonderful piece by Bota Koilybayeva, I did not appreciate that those artists included the numerous animals that populate her films. Showing Up was one of my films of 2023 and this exploration of the role of animals in Reichardt’s filmography has only made me love it more.
2023 in social media: the case for the fediverse - David Pierce
Where will we all spend our time in 2024? It’s possible it will be the same place: arguing on Reddit, gloating on Instagram, being reminded of birthdays on Facebook. David Pierce wonders whether the social media landscape is about to change and reason might be a term we’ll be hearing a lot of in 2023. Federation or the fediverse is an attempt to change the power balance of social media, from corporations offering gilded cages to user controlling their data. If AI was the zeitgeist last year, this piece gives you an edge on what might dominate for the next twelve months.