I'm curious to see what kind of art/pop culture will emerge from this era we're currently living in. I find it quite dark so will pop culture push back against this? Or will AI take over anyway so it doesn't really matter.
I think we’re seeing some semblance of that burgeoning in social media with humor/meme culture as a tool to deal with crisis. I’m thinking of the Luigi/UHC and how that’s played out online. People acknowledging the horrors behind it while at the same time making TikTok memes of it. Same with Diddy and all the Mase video remakes. But it’s a good question. My only issue is how far we veer toward desensitization and apathy as a coping mechanism and how AI will do the heavy lifting of thinking for us.
I read somewhere that both rampant optimism and nihilism can be flip sides of the same coin because both invite inaction. I wonder how that will play out in art and culture as we go into a new year, Trump presidency, et all.
I had to come to grips with a few stories I'd written, that are currently getting more love since I published them in a book of fictional tales this past October. All of them are dark yet with just a glimmer of hope in the end to give others, well . . . hope. I love this:
"But regardless of what we choose even the bleakest stories have the right to exist because they are one of a story’s many paths and possibilities. Because they are a version of an author’s truth. Because cruel, unimaginable things happen all the time for no reason. Because while we may want to shield our eyes from the dark and not see things we can’t unsee, the darkest perhaps of human nature will always exist.
It’s up to us as artists to be strong enough to realize that while our work may not be for everyone, it’s always enough for someone."
We don't know the impact of our work until it touches someone--until it reaches someone it needed to at the very moment it needed to. That's the beauty of what we do.
Happy Belated Birthday, lady! I hope it was what you needed and wanted it to be.
Happy Birthday, Felicia. PS. Your writing is fine.
Thank you!!
Happy, early, Birthday!
I'm curious to see what kind of art/pop culture will emerge from this era we're currently living in. I find it quite dark so will pop culture push back against this? Or will AI take over anyway so it doesn't really matter.
I think we’re seeing some semblance of that burgeoning in social media with humor/meme culture as a tool to deal with crisis. I’m thinking of the Luigi/UHC and how that’s played out online. People acknowledging the horrors behind it while at the same time making TikTok memes of it. Same with Diddy and all the Mase video remakes. But it’s a good question. My only issue is how far we veer toward desensitization and apathy as a coping mechanism and how AI will do the heavy lifting of thinking for us.
I read somewhere that both rampant optimism and nihilism can be flip sides of the same coin because both invite inaction. I wonder how that will play out in art and culture as we go into a new year, Trump presidency, et all.
Happy (early? Belated?) birthday!
It’s tomorrow. I wrote this essay early this morning. 😊
Very well said, Felicia. As always! It’s the holidays, yet I eagerly await the release of “Nosferatu!”
Great film!
I had to come to grips with a few stories I'd written, that are currently getting more love since I published them in a book of fictional tales this past October. All of them are dark yet with just a glimmer of hope in the end to give others, well . . . hope. I love this:
"But regardless of what we choose even the bleakest stories have the right to exist because they are one of a story’s many paths and possibilities. Because they are a version of an author’s truth. Because cruel, unimaginable things happen all the time for no reason. Because while we may want to shield our eyes from the dark and not see things we can’t unsee, the darkest perhaps of human nature will always exist.
It’s up to us as artists to be strong enough to realize that while our work may not be for everyone, it’s always enough for someone."
We don't know the impact of our work until it touches someone--until it reaches someone it needed to at the very moment it needed to. That's the beauty of what we do.
Happy Belated Birthday, lady! I hope it was what you needed and wanted it to be.