Like this newsletter? Or the Depresh Mode podcast? Like how it all exists? If enough people donate, we can exist. If they don’t, the whole thing will shut down. Go here, pick a level that works for you, then select DEPRESH MODE from the list of shows. And thank you.
From the podcast, Elizabeth Ito!
You really should watch City of Ghosts. It’s on Netflix, six episodes long, and it’s a delightful and important exploration of Los Angeles, cultures, and how we manage history. City of Ghosts also happens to be, at least at first glance, a show for children. It’s animated and features a group of kid characters who fan out across L.A. to interview and record the ghosts that live there. It’s guileless and smart and often very funny.
Elizabeth Ito created the show. She wanted to create something less intense and anxious for her son, who often got overwhelmed by children’s shows. She also wanted to pay tribute to her hometown and the people and cultures that have been there. You can tell City of Ghosts comes from the heart.
Unfortunately, the show was canceled after just one season. Then it won the prestigious Peabody Award. And all of this made for a tremendous emotional roller coaster for Elizabeth, who is prone to anxiety and depression.
Two things I often think:
- People with mental illnesses are the people least equipped to navigate the byzantine and infuriating American mental healthcare system. And yet they must.
- The necessity for an artist to be open and sensitive to the world is a major contrast to the cold tenacity necessary to merely exist, let alone thrive, in the economy of the arts. And yet the artist must have both.
An article that caused a new injury in me brought about by hammering my head on the desk in frustrated disgust
On The Wrap, an article that sets out to talk about athletes and entertainers taking breaks from their work and says… well, I’m not sure what it says. Says a bunch of pointless stupid stuff.
Most recently, Jonah Hill announced that, for mental health reasons, he would not be doing media appearances to promote any of his upcoming projects, including his new Netflix rom-com “You People,” which also stars Eddie Murphy, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny, all of whom presumably will be making themselves available to promote the film (except for Murphy, who, as far as interviews are concerned, has been on a mental health break since 1997, when cops pulled him over with a transgender sex worker in his car). After all, promoting a film is almost as important to the job of being a movie star as acting in it.
Eddie Murphy got pulled over 25 years ago. What does that have to do with Jonah Hill experiencing panic attacks and deciding not to do junkets anymore? Nothing. Why does Eddie Murphy not to do a lot of interviews? Well, first, that’s his fucking business why not. And secondly, maybe because people would bring up an arrest 25 years ago and he’d rather not talk about that.
And thirdly, he doesn’t owe anyone a fucking interview. No one does.
The article goes on to list Shawn Mendes, Jordan Elssas, Tom Holland, Naomi Osaka, and Simone Biles, all of whom took some time off and none of whom owe any of us anything. If they take time off, fuck, that’s their decision to make.
To be sure, mental health is indeed real.
Oh it is? THANKS.
It’s obviously a good thing that psychiatric conditions are being taken more seriously in the workplace, including on Hollywood soundstages and in boxing rings. And although it’s not my job — nor anybody’s — to police the veracity of a star’s mental health claims, Elsass, for one, is clearly going through something dark; in July he checked himself into a facility for a month-long stay. I have no idea what’s up with Jonah Hill or Tom Holland or any of the others, but if they say they’re in a bad place, who am I to argue?
And good news! The article ends there!
No it doesn’t!
Still, what happened to that showbiz adage “The show must go on”?
Oh I can tell you that. Nothing has happened to it. It’s still the same bullshit tagline as it always was, benefitting the people who are financially invested in the show going on. Listen to me: the show doesn’t have to go on. It’s a show. It’s only a show. I make my living with shows. I love shows. THEY ARE ONLY SHOWS and people are more important.
The article goes on cite Lady Gaga, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise and others who battled physical problems and did their work anyway to provide us with our precious amusements. But you know what? A broken angle IS NOT A MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM.
The article ends in a sneer:
Good for them. In fact, I can relate. Right now, for instance, part of me feels compelled to do my job and make the effort to finish this article by writing a smart, pithy kicker that sums everything up with a few catchy lines. But you know what? Who needs the stress?
I get annoyed sometimes.
I’m spent. Let’s look at cereals created via artificial intelligence.
Janelle Shane’s AI Weirdness site tried to get an AI engine to create various breakfast cereals.
It did okay.
Eh. It did not so great.
"A box of fruity pebbles on a grocery store shelf":
"A box of lucky charms cereal on a grocery store shelf":
What’s the matter, honey? You’ve barely touched your Chamily Luikes.