tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post1201067574516266899..comments2024-03-28T22:40:10.893-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: How to Create a TV Show, Part 15: Establish the Philosophy And/Or ThemeMatt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-46306208325333631482012-05-02T08:17:36.123-04:002012-05-02T08:17:36.123-04:00I just spent some time on your blog, Lockhart, (24...I just spent some time on your blog, Lockhart, (24timespersecond.blogspot.com/) and really enjoyed it-- your wit is certainly a bit more lacerating than mine: "DiCaprio & Hammer with slabs of veal glued to their faces" indeed.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-71770449199106258222012-05-01T23:45:16.322-04:002012-05-01T23:45:16.322-04:00Thanks, Lockhart.
J.S.-- Actually I would say th...Thanks, Lockhart.<br /><br />J.S.-- Actually I would say that "The Wire" itself somewhat straddles that line: our heroes do eventually figure out a different and better philosophy of crime fighting and they do largely achieve what they set out to do in most of the seasons, but nevertheless the result is always more unsatisfying and ironic than they would like it to be. <br /><br />Also please note a 15 Minutes Project callback: Both shows begin with our heroes having friendly conversations with black men who are never seen again!Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-73063639894149320362012-05-01T21:44:58.856-04:002012-05-01T21:44:58.856-04:00I haven't looked at this blog for a few months...I haven't looked at this blog for a few months, but I was reviewing my own blogroll and came to check it out. Wow! I forgot what good work you do! I don't have time to go down the rabbit hole now, but I know I will be recommending this to my film students come fall semester.<br /><br />Thanks!Lockharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13533251453746731956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-83165344896645143112012-05-01T21:00:57.340-04:002012-05-01T21:00:57.340-04:00The best part about that first scene from THE WIRE...The best part about that first scene from THE WIRE is that David Simon didn't have to invent a single word of it. It's ripped off verbatim from his own nonfiction book HOMICIDE. It's such a funny and odd anecdote that, like all the best statements of theme, can be read in a number of different ways. I like the way you've put it.<br /><br />There's also the feeling of America itself as a kind of common criminal enterprise, a set-up and a sucker's game, where the best a little guy has to hope for is a chance to play a hand he's destined to lose or to risk his life foricbly taking what little everyone else around him has.<br /><br />I'm not sure I agree about MAD MEN, though I'd have to go back to the pilot myself as it's been a while. "People refusing to change while the world changes around them" is certainly the Matthew Weiner worldview -- as you noted in an earlier post it's even evident in the seasons of THE SOPRANOS he ran. But is it the controlling idea of MAD MEN? <br /><br />I also don't see Don Draper's statement of philosophy as merely or chiefly self-destructive or as unimportant to the series. It's this kind of practical existentialism that's allowed him to thrive in a business that traffics in of-the-moment appearances. And it's his fantasy that he can exist alone, without the support of others, that is consistently challenged by his relationships on the show.<br /><br />Of course, it seems more important for the writer to have a theme(s) than for that theme to be easily intelligible or reducible to a pithy statement.<br /><br />What about something that straddles the art/entertainment line? Is there a good example of a show like this and the way its theme or philosophy works differently?j.s.noreply@blogger.com