An Introduction...

What am I doing here / what I am doing here

Why I Think Art Matters

There are many reasons a person turns on a TV. For some, it’s an escape. It’s the screen as a tool for disconnection. After a long day of work, it feels great to sit and stare and not think. For others, the TV is a place to connect. They turn on their favorite show to feel the emotions of the story and bond with others who watch. To be sure, there is no right or wrong reason to pick up the remote and start watching something. And for many people, movies and shows can provide a mix of both experiences. Sometimes I enjoy turning on Netflix and turning off my brain. But personally, that’s not the type of experience I love most. I watch things to connect. To try to gain a better understanding of the world by watching someone tell their story.

But whether you watch things to relax, or to think, or to feel, or for any other reason, what is certainly true is that the things we watch are deeply connected to the world we live in. Not only do the references seep into our conversations but the way certain pieces of art resonate within our culture indicates something deeper about us that we may not even know ourselves. And while none of these theories of popular culture and society are assuredly true, they create the space for questioning our relationship to the things we watch. Why is the gap between prestige TV and popular TV so wide? How do certain box office bombs become cult classics? These types of questions center both the art and the audience and they allow us to think through the symbiotic relationship between the things we make and the things we consume. 

Popular culture extends beyond movies and TV. It includes everything from politics to sports and spans across multiple mediums, from the written page to our cellphone screens. At this very moment, the parameters of popular culture are amorphous and ever-changing, constantly responding to the new technologies and ideas that allow us to more uniquely communicate with each other and about each other. Because of this, there is no better time to explore the vast and expanding landscape of popular culture than now. 

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Why I Think You Should Subscribe

In addition to my passion for pop culture, I have a tendency to be unreasonably opinionated. I’ll inundate my family, friends and co-workers with takes so hot and so half-baked that I sometimes don’t even believe them myself. On a walk this fall in D.C., I started shouting one to a group of friends. To my surprise, one of them (Brett) enjoyed that particular take and told me I should start a podcast (embarrassing) and call it “Things I Think I Think.” I got immediately jealous that he thought of such a good name. In fact, I almost wanted to take him up on it because of how good the name was. It also happened to perfectly illustrate what I will attempt to do here. 

When it comes to writing, thinking or talking about popular culture, no one is necessarily “right.” We’re all just saying what we think. Art has objective elements but our individual reactions to it are mired in a bunch of unique and personal factors that render any semblance of complete objectivity moot. But regardless, it’s still fun to talk about things we think, even if they are completely wrong or completely ridiculous.

Each week, I will write about a topic that I have been thinking about. It will probably relate to movies or television and it will almost always tie back into the way we think about the medium. As previously mentioned, I claim no authority on the topic. I usually won’t be sharing facts. What I will share are my subjective thoughts on the content and art that populates our pop cultural landscape. If you choose to read on, thank you! That’s really cool and I’ll be super grateful. And if you choose to read on and disagree with me, that’s great too. Message me and tell me why. In this newsletter, right and wrong don’t matter. All I hope to provide are some interesting perspectives on popular culture that make all of us think together.