Movies and TV that get it right. And ones that don't.
Plus: of course you're exhausted. Unless you're the serene lady in that picture.
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What to watch and enjoy, what to watch if you like cringing
I have had a chronic mental illness for most of my life. It’s major depressive disorder. I manage it, I live a wonderful and fulfilling life, it’s under control, but I am still a mentally ill person. Strangely, I am not a chaotic and unmotivated murderer. How is this possible, you may ask, when there are so many crazy characters out there in popular entertainment who act all spooky and are responsible for most crimes? It’s because: bullshit. People with mental illnesses are far more likely to be the victims of violence than they are to perpetrate violent acts.
I mean, can you imagine a depressed serial killer? It would be so difficult! There’s all that planning and then building up the energy to do it and then having the concentration to follow through? Even if the poor sap really wanted to go on a killing spree, doesn’t it sound a lot better to lie on the couch, get stoned, and watch Battlestar Galactica again?
Anyway, so this week’s show features some picks for movies and tv that get it right, according to a couple of keen-eyed entertainment observers: Tre’Vell Anderson from MaxFun’s own FANTI and Linda Holmes from NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour.
And the nominees for the good ones include:
Meanwhile, over in Stinktown, home of broad generalities, according to our guests:
Whew
That was a lot of clips.
You’re exhausted. You’re still exhausted. Of course you are.
From Anne Helen Petersen’s Substack newsletter:
At this point, I’m not complaining so much as in the throes of realization that I could spend a year doing pretty much nothing at all and still, with just a moderate amount of social life, find myself drained. Am I getting old? (Yes! But that’s not all of it!) Am I an introvert who’s always needed time on my own to recharge? (Absolutely, my mom has referred to my need for “Some Annie Time” since I was, oh, five years old). Am I socially awkward? (Clearly, this is part of why I’m a writer).
But I think the real problem is that life is still exhausting because the pandemic was and remains exhausting in so many invisible ways — and we still haven’t given ourselves space to even begin to recover. Instead, we’re just softly boiling over, emptying and evaporating whatever stores of energy and patience and grace remain.
She goes on to list the places in life where the exhaustion becomes overwhelmingly apparent, like relationships to our jobs, to other people, to parenting. I nodded a lot.
Found via the essential kottke.
Here’s what you’re probably not going to
On Wednesday of this week, I’m traveling out to the hinterlands west of Minneapolis, all the way to Hutchinson, Minnesota, to be part of the Evening of Education, sponsored by 2B Continued. If you don’t already have tickets, it’s too late because it’s sold out.
I guess I must be the headliner or they think I’m just physically larger than Dr. Martin or Dr. Nadeau.
I don’t bring this up to taunt you but just to say that this will be my first in-person appearance since covid started and I’m a little weirded out by it. Over the last year and a half, I have worked from home and the several speeches I’ve given, plus book tour, have all happened from here in my office. Oh, I’ve left the house, been out and about, full of precautions and all. But this will be the first time I stand in front of people and expect them to listen.
It’ll go fine but it’s a measure of the magnitude of the lockdown for me. I’ve always been completely at peace in front of crowds. Ask me to strike up conversations with strangers at a party and I melt away but hundreds of people looking at me while I rock the mic? Easy. So this will be new. Fun! I hope!
Covid vaccine cures mental illness! Not really! But sorta!
According to a recent study, young people taking the vaccine show marked improvement in their mental health. I’m no scientist, but I bet it’s connected in some way to the knowledge that they will now almost certainly not die of covid.
With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, a group of scientists embarked on a study to compare mental health improvements in people who received a vaccine with the improvements in those who did not. The results appear in the journal PLOS ONETrusted Source.
The scientists conclude that “getting the first dose of COVID-19 [vaccine] resulted in significant improvements in mental health, beyond improvements already achieved since mental distress peaked in the spring of 2020.”
How good do those people feel? “Getty stock image of young woman closing her eyes and smiling peacefully” good.
I did a stock image photo shoot one time. I posed in a bunch of unlikely positions and I think they gave me fifty bucks. Let me know if you ever see one.
See also: Brad Stulberg in Time - https://time.com/6099133/why-you-feel-tired-all-the-time/