The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on April 14, 2023, 03:14:37 pm ---So, the theme of deception continues in "Shouts & Murmurs" with Steve Martin's "My Husband's Secret Life." Unfortunately, it's not funny. (S&M is satire, and perhaps satire is not supposed to be funny, or at least not overtly funny.) But it does make a clever point: deception is practiced by both the con person and the person duped.
--- End quote ---
Elizabeth Kolbert reviewed a book on animal deceptions in the April 3 issue. At least that article by her wasn't doom-and-gloom depressing. It introduced me to a fish with the wonderful name bluestriped fangblenny. :)
I wonder if that fish only comes out when it's brillig? ;D
Front-Ranger:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on April 11, 2023, 08:41:25 pm ---If you have not read the article about the Irish author Sebastian Barry (March 27), at least go back and look at page 74 for the wonderful column filler "How's That Again? Dept." ;D
--- End quote ---
That was funny! And the article on Barry was too. Gotta love the Irish! Also in that issue, the article on diet pills and fat shaming cited research that "implicit bias against fat people actually grew from 2007 to 2016 with 81% of people exhibiting it by the end of the study. Every other implicit bias in the study--regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability--waned during that period." Which tends to support your theory, Katherine, that LGBTQ+ people are treated better and given more support these days. Among school-aged children though, I'm skeptical. Children can be cruel, even today.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on April 16, 2023, 10:35:46 am ---Children can be cruel, even today.
--- End quote ---
I guess that's one thing that never changes. :(
serious crayons:
Children, being humans, can be cruel. But different kinds of cruelty go in and out of fashion. It?s not cool to be homophobic these days. In fact, it?s now cool to be non-binary (whether you actually are or not, I often suspect).
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on April 14, 2023, 03:14:37 pm ---So, the theme of deception continues in "Shouts & Murmurs" with Steve Martin's "My Husband's Secret Life." Unfortunately, it's not funny. (S&M is satire, and perhaps satire is not supposed to be funny, or at least not overtly funny.) But it does make a clever point: deception is practiced by both the con person and the person duped.
--- End quote ---
I didn?t get that point myself. I thought it was dumb and that the celebrity byline as usual overrides the need to be funny. To see proof that satire can actually often be very funny, look at The Onion. And that publication has my enduring respect for putting out a 9/11 issue that managed to be funny without being offensive or ?too soon.?
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