Category: TV

Fragments of thought

It’s November, and like a lot of other people I’m attempting to write 50,000 words. At least 40,000 of those are going to be fiction (hopefully more), but I thought it was also worth trying to write down the other things in my head – the things that don’t really belong in a piece of fiction. I have no intention of posting them all here, but I thought a few fragments based on the sort of things I usually write in this blog wouldn’t hurt.

Things I have done this week have involved writing, a small bit of housework, and a few hours in front of the TV (watching Hemlock Grove, a bit of Once Upon a Time and all of Mr. Robot). The latter has some themes that are quite close to what I’m writing, which made me consider stopping what I was working on (I didn’t). I also answered some questions (via email) for a website related to the http://nownownow.com/ movement. I should probably update my /now page to say that answering questions about things like this is generally something I’m willing to do (I love being interviewed).

I’m listening a lot to old Cardiacs records this week. I’ve also found some complete concerts on YouTube which I’m enjoying very much.

My Rough Trade album of the month is Elaenia by Floating Points. I love it, and it sounds a lot better than the description. I like discovering new artists in this way, although I’m a little miffed that the vinyl version won’t arrive until after I’m back at work, and will therefore involve a trip to the post office.

I’m now watching this recording of the Masada String Trio from 1999 – time to catch up on the hundreds of hours of concert footage I’ve downloaded from YouTube over the last few months. The software I use is called youtube-dl (you can get it for Linux or OS X).

One day I’ll get round to writing a blog post about my musical heroes; people I’ll buy/listen to everything they have ever done. Joy Division/New Order, The Cure, British Sea Power, Cardiacs, Red House Painters/SunKil Moon, Jim O’Rourke and John Zorn. Maybe a few others as well, but these will probably have to be the main ones. I suspect this would be a very long piece of writing (10 pages +). I might want to talk about my teenage Felt fixation, and probably throw in a bit of House of Love/Wedding Present related writing as well. I also suspect people will realise exactly how much music I own if I write this post, and also how much some of it is worth (I have New Order and Cardiacs CDs/cassettes that I could sell for above £50 each right now).

Also a post about my vinyl buying experiments, and what you get for your £20 (which varies greatly depending on the artist/record company). Also some of them are a lot less than £20 now which pleases me (I’m waiting for my 1st sub-£10 record purchase in many years to arrive – a re-pressing of Joy Division’s Closer).

I think John Grant wins the “what you get for your £20” competition right now. Double album, CD version included, plus a bonus CD and an insert containing a load of really nice artwork.

Closer arrived, and it’s gorgeous. An exact replica of the 1980 vinyl, with sound from the 2007 remaster. Best of both worlds. Ian Curtis hung himself just after making this record, but listening to it always fills me with hope.

I’m listening to Felt’s The Splendour of Fear. One of the first records I ever bought, and something I love, but would probably never recommend to another human being. Six tracks, four of them instrumentals, clocking in a little over 30 minutes.

I am not sure I’m going to write anything today apart from this. The story I’m writing has hit a brick wall in that I’ve written a whole load of fragments, edited them together into three sections, and now I can see the narrative and chronology starting to form. I’m not sure what else to do though – it’s not clear enough for other people to understand, and so many sections need fleshing out more and rewriting in a more descriptive style. I’ve also got whole chapters that are just dialogue – probably more dialogue than other people write. I think I’ve probably written something that needs to exist in a variety of formats – novel, poem, play, movie, interactive adventure. But I also think it’s not original enough, and that I’ve managed to drag a few things into the chronology that I wasn’t expecting (like the way it’s turned out to be a Grail quest, like everything I write does, it seems).

My process for creating art (of any kind) is largely the same. Improvise fragments, juxtapose the fragments until their context to other fragments gives them meaning, and then take that as a starting point to flesh it out into a finished piece. It’s what I do with music, and writing, and pretty much everything I create. The finished product is just a synthesis of distinct parts that work due to their proximity to other parts. Also known as “there is no perfect chord” (sorry Leonard).

I’m listening to the new Grimes album on Spotify. I’ve read a few reviews of this record, and thought I’d have to actually listen to it as the reviews are really not that helpful (in that no-one can agree whether it’s a good record, whether they like it, what sort of music it’s meant to be). I’ve only listened to it once, but my first impression is that I like it, I’ll listen to it again, and that it’s intelligent pop music that utilises a really varied sonic palate. It’a also on 4AD, who have a habit of never releasing bad records (I may be a little biased as many of my favourite musicians have some sort of link with 4AD). I think the Quietus review does the best job (as it often does), although some of the comments are horrible.

My nownownow.com profile page went live last night. I should get round to writing something about this movement soon, because I think it’s really important.

Beyond Good and Evil : Morality and Duality in Once Upon a Time

I’ve recently been watching the US TV show Once Upon a Time. I saw the first two seasons a couple of years ago, but then decided to wait until it was all available on Netflix so I could binge-watch all four seasons. For those who are not aware, Once Upon a Time takes traditional fairytales and gives them a modern twist, and also draws in more modern fairytales from recent movies such as Frozen and The Little Mermaid. One of the main themes that runs through the series is the battle between good and evil, and specifically what makes a hero and what makes a villain. As someone who is more interested in the shades of grey that all characters (and indeed people) possess, it maybe doesn’t seem like this show is something that would appeal to me, but I really do think that no character in Once Upon a Time is wholly good or wholly evil. In fact, it is the way the main characters move between the two that makes it so interesting to me.

This started me thinking about what defines our morality, and how people start on the path that ends with them being fairly close to one end of the spectrum. Do all people start out good (or at least neutral) and change according to things they do and things they see others do, or are there people who are literally born evil? I’m not sure I’m in a position to answer that question for the world in general, but I will try and answer it in the context of Once Upon a Time.

Season One of Once Upon a Time has several main protagonists. Emma Swann, her biological son Henry, and her parents Mary-Margaret and David are the heroes of the show. Mary-Margaret’s stepmother Regina (also Henry’s adopted mother) and the mysterious Mr Gold are the villains. At the start of the series they are all mostly adhering to type, although the season does chart Emma’s change from being a quite self-centred “normal person” to being the “Saviour” of the other characters (and the closest to a genuine hero by the end of the first season).

But if you scratch beneath the surface it is not quite that simple, and as the motivations and histories of all the main characters (and a plethora of minor characters) are explored, then it soon becomes evident that even the most evil characters started off with good in their hearts, and that every hero had to do some morally dubious things “for the greater good”. Additionally, the series takes fairy stories we know very well (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Peter Pan) and twists them a little, so that the audience make certain assumptions about the morality of the characters and then have those assumptions turned inside out. Compare J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Captain Hook with their Once Upon a Time counterparts and you will see that things are not always what they appear.

Telling these complex moral stories only works due to the non-linear aspect of the storytelling. Once Upon a Time was conceived by the team that created Lost, and uses the same method of flashing back to add colour and context to each character’s current predicament. And it is only through juxtaposing the scenes set in the past and in the present that a morally accurate picture of each character is painted. And even when you reach the point where you think you know how a character would act in any situation, the story throws up a scenario where villains find something or someone to die for, whilst heroes find themselves needing to perform acts that they would condemn others for even thinking about.

I’m at the end of season 4 now, and I’ve not come across one wholly good or evil character, but I have noticed a definite trend in every character who has ended up being quite dark at some point. In no case were they born that way, but instead all went through a time where they were let down or otherwise disappointed by someone they looked up to as a figure of authority or moral guidance. And if there is a moral message at all it is that no-one is born good or evil, and that everyone has the potential for both. And while nature may play a small part, moral descent and decline seems much more about nurture, cicumstance, choice and consequence.

I suspect Once Upon a Time has a few more twists to come, but I’m glad that it seems more interested in genuine character development than in telling a simple story of the battle between good and evil. I think many other TV shows could learn a lot from it.