Why does everybody want to run the world?
"Pale Shelter" is okay, but "Mad World" just really gets me...
Yesterday was the 10th edition of Highly Transmissible!
Let me know how I’m doing in the comments, on Twitter @bpreeves or write to me at breeves.writer@gmail.com.
And let’s all wish reader Ali Smith a very happy birthday today. ¡Ya queremos pastel!
It was bound to happen eventually: The world is ending.
Well, not really. But every day that passes there seem to be more people who want to tell us that it is. On Sunday, Flatbush Avenue was graced by a gentleman with a megaphone who stated succinctly that, The end is near so you better find Jesus while you still have a chance. His message was pretty clear, but his choice of location in front of a closed storefront meant he wasn’t reaching much of an audience. Doom-saying, like real estate, is all about location, location, location.
This guy had a job to do, and he clearly believed he was an essential worker, even though the rest of the world wasn’t necessarily on the same page. Social distancing—or should we say physical distancing—was definitely cramping his style. And like a lot of media, he probably was struggling to find underwriting. Sometimes the news just feels like too much. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going, or at least shout a little louder. Pandemic lockdown cramping your prophesying? That’s just a challenge to overcome. If you shout loud enough, you can create your own reality (that certainly seems to be the playbook in the White House).
This morning while walking dog, I saw first hand that the prophets of the end times are upping their game in more ways than one. Bedford Avenue played host to a town crier who came equipped with a microphone and mobile amplifier on a rolling cart. The sound was crystal clear—so props to him—and there was no way anyone on the whole block didn’t hear him. And his message was truly poetry: The time is now. Find Jesus. We all need some Jesus right now, because the end times are coming. Wake up, wake up for Jesus!
Okay.
Then he saw my dog: Hey puppy, love you puppy, gotta find Jesus puppy. I LOVE YOU PUPPY.
Respect. This dude wasn’t going to leave anyone out.
And here’s the thing: If you really think the world is ending, and if you really believe it’s your job to tell everyone, then you have to overcome whatever barriers you encounter. Brooklyn’s seers of doom are not going to be cowed by something as trivial as a global pandemic.
TODAY’S RECOMMENDATION: Hunters (2020)
For today’s edition of Highly Transmissible, I caught up with reader and veteran screenwriter and playwright Loren-Paul Caplin to talk about what he’s been watching recently and why. Caplin teaches screenwriting at Columbia University, the Brooklyn College Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema and New York University.
Caplin’s recommendation for today is the new Amazon series Hunters, starring Al Pacino, which follows a team of Nazi hunters in the 1970s United States as they seek out cells of war criminals who are intent on creating a Fourth Reich. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
So what does Hunters do that makes it stand out?
Hunters isn’t the best thing. It’s a 10 episode series starring Al Pacino for Amazon Prime, so we could argue it’s a fairly mainstream deal. It’s not unusually esoteric. But what they’re doing is going to be the palette going forward. It’s a mashup of distinct and bizarre creative styles. The tone of this thing is fairly stylized, and the dialogue is stylize, and the art direction is stylized.
In what ways?
For example, in episode two, when they introduce the team, they freeze frame them and then have subtitles come out that say “POW” and “WOW,” and it’s a play on the 70s martial arts form. In a later episode, it’s a hyperreality of a 70s era quiz show, only it’s What Do We Do With The Jews in the show. It’s a virulently anti-Semitic American quiz show, and this is a departure from the normal craziness of the show. Periodically they have these sort of tonal, style mashups.
What’s the purpose of these tonal mashups?
I suspect that as shows compete for eyeballs—whether its television or film—writers rooms are going to be looking for way out of the box aspects of creativity. The dialogue is musical, it’s fucked up, it’s crazy. They’re probably younger writers than me. They probably weren’t born in the 70s. They’re just rapping. It’s worth looking at on that level alone.
That being said, I do not believe that it’s for everything. I don’t want to see this in the middle of Shawshank Redemption or shows that sustain certain tones. I think if you’re competing for eyeballs this is a way to do this. Mr. Robot began a version of that. Atlanta had aspects of that.
This could really be pointing the way toward the future of TV.
Now, something that you’re working on—whatever it is—suddenly in the middle of that you can now just get hyper-creative. There’s always been aspects of this throughout cinema, but it’s typically not been in the mainstream reality. It’s been alt. I have to argue that someone’s conceiving this as a mainstream deal.
Hunters is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
READING LIST:
If nothing else, the coronavirus pandemic has really shown who the true public servants are. Staten Island Congressman Max Rose (D-NY) helped create the state’s first drive-through testing center and has just deployed with his National Guard unit to work on the COVID-19 response in his district.
AWA Studios, the new comic books publisher set to take on DC and Marvel, launched the first issue of The Resistance, its flagship series, right as the coronavirus lockdown hit. But have no fear, they’ve put it online as a digital issue, and you can read it now. It’s an incredible introduction to a new shared universe, and it presciently predicted a global pandemic originating from China.
I recently interviewed Axel Alonso, who is heading up creative for AWA, and we talked about the challenges of breaking into the comic book industry and the creative drive behind AWA’s new titles.