Cancel culture is not the same as the rising desire to engage with art’s social implications. But both phenomena are indications of a country that is fundamentally shifting the way it engages with entertainment. As such, the titles in Houston have been criticized for inaccurate and stereotypical portrayals of Asians. Since its premiere in 2017, theater critics have taken issue with the representation of women and Vietnamese people in “Miss Saigon.” And the local production of “Madama Butterfly” was itself a piece of self-commentary. – Houston Chronicle
Author: Douglas McLennan
What Alan Turing Warned About Our Digital Future
Our digital beings are taking us apart. Pluralism is about holding ourselves together: various mental styles interact unpredictably within us, allowing for unpredictable contact with other thinking beings. Truthtelling B is helpless without the communication of chimerical A and the analysis of stern C. Without honest B, shapeshifting A will retreat to decadence with C, producing a digital tyranny that kills democracy and the planet. – New York Review of Books
Watching Together: TV Is As Much A Community Experience As It Ever Was
Twitter has, for two complementary reasons, been a sustaining force for event television. The fans want to avoid spoilers. They also want to enhance the collective experience by chattering on the platform as events unfold. In the current century, the world is not only watching together, it is also talking to itself as it does so. – Irish Times
All Of The Earth Has Been Transformed By Humans. It’s A Scary Power
“In this newly designated ‘human age’, our species’ impact on the oceans, the land and the atmosphere has become an inescapable feature of the Earth. This idea that humanity has forced a geological transition is capturing people’s attention not just because changes in epochs are rare. It is attracting notice because our species is gripped by the idea that we possess planetary powers.” – Aeon
Journalism’s Dependence On Freelancers Has Impoverished It (And The Profession)
“In truth, freelance journalism, as a career, is mostly an anachronism. Given the rock-bottom rates on offer, few writers actually support themselves with full-time freelancing… But for most of us, freelance journalism is a monetized hobby, separate from whatever real income one earns. The ideal relationship for a freelance journalist to their work becomes a kind of excited amateurism.” – The New Republic
Ralph Fiennes On The Challenges Of Making A Movie About Nureyev
While other films about ballet have gone for big-name actors with body doubles for the dancing bits — think of “Red Sparrow” and “Black Swan” — Fiennes was committed to casting a dancer as Nureyev. Yet the dancing scenes, he says, “were a big, big, big challenge, because I don’t have a ballet background, and I needed the help of the ballet masters and choreographer to know if it was good, because not every time a dancer dances it’s as good as it could be. It was scary.” – Washington Post
What Twitter Thinks About You Based On Your Online Behavior
Seeing what Twitter thinks you like can be a fun activity — but it can also be an odd experience to see what the company infers about you from your online moves. The psychology around targeted advertising is complex. On the one hand, if we have to see ads, it’s probably better that they’re in line with our interests. On the other, knowing how much advertisers know can feel a bit, well, creepy. – Vox
The Strict Rules That Celebrities Have To Follow At The Met Gala
Anna Wintour rules with an iron fist. No selfies (yeah right). No unattractive food. No cellphones or smoking. And don’t even think about declining the invite if you ever want to attend again… – New York Post
The Rise Of Interest In Fascism – Among Readers, Publishers
These books and classes seem to ask an underlying question: Is what the world is experiencing today a replay of the Nazis and Italian Fascists? Probably not. But the parallels these writers see are difficult to deny. Even Francis Fukuyama’s latest books have re-examined democracy in our current age. – Los Angeles Times
Digital Life Is Changing Our Brains. How You Read Turns Out To Be Important
There are old rules in the brain’s design that do not change: Use it or lose it. I would add, Choose it. A great deal hangs on how we work as a society to choose who we want to be—whether we choose to preserve the use of deep reading processes across every medium in our young and in ourselves as we expand our technologies. The stakes are multiple for our next generation: the capacity to discern truth; to appreciate and create beauty; and to be transported outside themselves—to encounter the thoughts and feelings of others so as to contemplate their own novel thoughts, the basis of our shared future. – Pacific Standard