Thanks for this. I also appreciate that The Last of Us is primarily about human beings rather than simply doing battle with zombies. As a lover of thrillers, I'm currently enjoying the Strike (TV series). We get good mystery, some perilous moments, but also some really powerful human moments. In an episode from the third season, they watch a snuff film as they attempt to solve a missing person case. First, they show very little of the sexual terrorism. No sexualized pornography here. The female detective—a survivor of sexual assault—is disturbed (but not unable to view at least part of the video, for work purposes). Her partner, Strike, silently grimaces. Most interestingly, they bring in a (male) police officer to help with the case. After watching the video, he responds with a simple statement, "That was the worst thing I've ever seen." I can't help but to think that in a typical American detective story we would have heard some sophomoric deflection of the healthy emotion evoked by the scene. Yet another reminder of the importance of distinguishing between cathartic violence from entertainment violence, as Sissela Bok discusses in Mayhem. More generally, I share your disinterest in films premised on gimmicky eccentricity. There’s so much to be discussed and explored in otherwise ordinary human existence. It’s nice to put those lives and relationships in unique circumstances—disaster films are a favorite of mine. But we shouldn’t forget that it’s the “human” and not the alien/zombie/asteroid/technology etc. that matters most. (A reason why one of my favorite films is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012). I haven’t yet written about it, but it’s been a favorite springboard into the “Meaning of Life” question in my courses.
I’’m a thriller lover, too, and C.B. Strike is especially good. (A new season just started, didn’t it?) In general, the British are best at that genre. I loved Happy Valley. Unforgotten. Broadchurch. Line of Duty. Luther. And of course Prime Suspect. If you haven’t seen any of those, I highly recommend. And I’m always looking for ones I haven’t seen, if you have any recommendations. BTW, I love the title of your substack. I fretted over what to call mine, and finally just gave up trying to come up with something that was more descriptive.
Yes, the episode of CB strike I referred to is from the current third season. Still have another episode or two to go. Really love it! I also really enjoyed broadchurch. I'll check out some of the others you mentioned.
I actually wrestled quite a bit with the title of my sub stack. On the one hand, I'm well aware of the fact that it is going to be off-putting to some. Part of me wanted to give it a name that was a bit more digestible. But in the end I had to side with integrity and name it according to the spirit and heart of the endeavor. I started with the humanities as a high school dropout turn community College student. And what I fell in love with was the emphasis on the human and the ends of life in defiance of the means-centered obsessions of dominant society. I keep returning to Erich Fromm's notion of "biophilia" as the heart of the humanities or at least my conception of it. And I view the best of the humanities as a "revolt" against necrophilia in all of its various manifestations (patriarchy, economic exploitation, transactionalism, autocracy, etc.)
Well, the title is precisely what got me interested in it--so it worked for this subscriber at least! (I haven’t read any pieces yet; I’m still getting used to the platform and all its ins and outs. But I will!)
Thanks for this. I also appreciate that The Last of Us is primarily about human beings rather than simply doing battle with zombies. As a lover of thrillers, I'm currently enjoying the Strike (TV series). We get good mystery, some perilous moments, but also some really powerful human moments. In an episode from the third season, they watch a snuff film as they attempt to solve a missing person case. First, they show very little of the sexual terrorism. No sexualized pornography here. The female detective—a survivor of sexual assault—is disturbed (but not unable to view at least part of the video, for work purposes). Her partner, Strike, silently grimaces. Most interestingly, they bring in a (male) police officer to help with the case. After watching the video, he responds with a simple statement, "That was the worst thing I've ever seen." I can't help but to think that in a typical American detective story we would have heard some sophomoric deflection of the healthy emotion evoked by the scene. Yet another reminder of the importance of distinguishing between cathartic violence from entertainment violence, as Sissela Bok discusses in Mayhem. More generally, I share your disinterest in films premised on gimmicky eccentricity. There’s so much to be discussed and explored in otherwise ordinary human existence. It’s nice to put those lives and relationships in unique circumstances—disaster films are a favorite of mine. But we shouldn’t forget that it’s the “human” and not the alien/zombie/asteroid/technology etc. that matters most. (A reason why one of my favorite films is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012). I haven’t yet written about it, but it’s been a favorite springboard into the “Meaning of Life” question in my courses.
I’’m a thriller lover, too, and C.B. Strike is especially good. (A new season just started, didn’t it?) In general, the British are best at that genre. I loved Happy Valley. Unforgotten. Broadchurch. Line of Duty. Luther. And of course Prime Suspect. If you haven’t seen any of those, I highly recommend. And I’m always looking for ones I haven’t seen, if you have any recommendations. BTW, I love the title of your substack. I fretted over what to call mine, and finally just gave up trying to come up with something that was more descriptive.
Yes, the episode of CB strike I referred to is from the current third season. Still have another episode or two to go. Really love it! I also really enjoyed broadchurch. I'll check out some of the others you mentioned.
I actually wrestled quite a bit with the title of my sub stack. On the one hand, I'm well aware of the fact that it is going to be off-putting to some. Part of me wanted to give it a name that was a bit more digestible. But in the end I had to side with integrity and name it according to the spirit and heart of the endeavor. I started with the humanities as a high school dropout turn community College student. And what I fell in love with was the emphasis on the human and the ends of life in defiance of the means-centered obsessions of dominant society. I keep returning to Erich Fromm's notion of "biophilia" as the heart of the humanities or at least my conception of it. And I view the best of the humanities as a "revolt" against necrophilia in all of its various manifestations (patriarchy, economic exploitation, transactionalism, autocracy, etc.)
Well, the title is precisely what got me interested in it--so it worked for this subscriber at least! (I haven’t read any pieces yet; I’m still getting used to the platform and all its ins and outs. But I will!)