The reply to the comment that made you laugh feels like “found poetry” 😂 I found Yellowstone almost unwatchable, in spite of the natural beauty and great actors because of the ugliness and smallness of the characters. Violence was strength, cynicism wit. I’ll skip this show too.
My father used to tell a story. He was a boy, on the UES, walking behind an old woman with a cane. When she tripped, a man with a briefcase slid his bag across the sidewalk (I picture it like a bowling ball) and it stopped just under the woman's knees and caught her fall. It was his myth on Manhattan's kindness, and it was mine, too. Also: we are not poor, but our kids REGULARLY eat frozen pizza and hot dogs. Final point! I've begun to find myself annoyed by social tear-downs. I'm tired of critics, too. We live in a time where people who have the resources to make social commentary pieces should focus on building, not adding to our corrosion, even if it's tantalizing and 'sells.' Don't waste Michelle!
"The (`free´) West" abandons & destroys itself by believing that evil, dumb, nasty, stinking hollow puffed-up shit such as "Netflix" and similar `series´ are worthwhile watching and spending more than half a cent for it, and by believing that `Islam´ is or can be `peaceful´.
I watched The Madison last night. As a writer, Taylor Sheridan is an incredible writer, as a person, well, let’s just say I’ll separate the man from his art. But my sentiments were the same when the young woman was punched. There is no way people would just walk by. And are you kidding, someone absolutely would have tackled the guy and beat him to a pulp. New Yorkers are kind, not nice. Unlike say LA where they are nice, but not kind. One of my favorite New York moments was seeing a woman ask for directions and as the woman was being helped by a guy, another guy overheard it and gave her different directions then the two guys started arguing about the better directions. That is quintessential New York.
There were so many moments like that in S1 E1 that poorly portrayed life in NYC. I agree with the social commentary made about food. To this day I cannot even look at Ramen noodles because that was all I could afford when I started my first business as a clueless and poor 23 year year old. I’ve been to Japan, greatest Ramen in the world and I couldn’t.
I also felt for Russell (Patrick J. Adam’s) he was trying so hard and the women treated him like crap (first Princess Meghan now this!). I kept thinking this poor guy dealing with these people. I also wanted to hear more about the shipping deal. But TS loves his “Jimmy” characters. In Yellowstone there was a character Jimmy who was a meth-head lowlife and they bring him to Yellowstone as a favor for his grandfather to “make a man” out of Jimmy. The whole crew hazes Jimmy until he finds his calling as a rodeo rider. Then after an accident he is sent to the 666 ranch owned by a character played by TS where Jimmy really becomes a cowboy. A little middle finger to John Dutton / Kevin Costner and their feud that is was TS who really turned Jimmy into a cowboy. Every show TS has a Jimmy, a fish out of water on a ranch, an oil field, a county bumpkin town, a prison, a clandestine operative who will find their true life’s calling by manning or womaning up. I guess we will see poor Russell get good with tools and probably figure out how to make indoor plumbing for the ranch and will give up shipping deals and finance for fly fishing and husbandry. I share so many of the same sentiments. As a writer, there were so many unusual flaws with the story I was shocked, but the silver lining was even TS can struggle on a pilot.
Excellent points about the poor and food. I don’t think people with access to actual grocery stores realize what it’s like to live in a place without them. Where I live and teach poor black kids, there is no regular super market. Much food comes from corner stores that have an incredible array of junk food. The kids come to school with bags of Doritos Takis and candy which they eat all day. Almost none of the kids have lunch packed at home. All in the School District of Philadelphia have free lunch and breakfast. The food is truly horrible- sugar carbs almost no protein. It is likely that the last person who knew how to make real food in the family is my students’ grandmother who is just age 51. It’s much cheaper to cook and eat but healthy ingredients are not readily available and the corner stores spring up right next to schools. They take EBT which almost everyone has. Our farmers market has a wonderful program where if you purchase food on EBT you get back for every $5 spent a coupon for $2 in fresh produce. When I’ve been on EBT I’ve taken good advantage of it. I also think those who are financially secure don’t get how economic insecurity drains your prefrontal cortex energy. It’s hard to be disciplined when you are under the stress of not being able to reliably make ends meet. And if course the best way out of poverty involves a lot of discipline. Let those who have not lived in urban poverty reserve judgement. So glad to hear that you support a food bank David. Of course you do!
It can be worse to be poor where there is no public transportation and everything from grocery stores to government and social services are a car ride away and you don’t have a car.
I used to like Taylor Sheridan, and I still like some of his films like Hell or High Water. But I really hate the constant bashing of cities as being only for annoying shallow rich people or violent scary poor people. Hillary Clinton got so much shit for saying some trump voters might be racist, but meanwhile the MAGA-adjacent world loves to shit all over people who live in cities as if we are all ghouls, and nobody cares.
I've not seen the show, so what do I know? but I am not hearing only that cities are bad. I am hearing cities are mean, unsafe, and you'll get punched and ignored, the country is dangerous, wild and will kill you. Probably you should live in suburbia.
Rich people are boring and shallow. Poor people are stupid. Probably you should aim to be in the middle and produce services that rich people like and need.
The point of this show might be to be happy with your boring, suburban life with a meaningless career that doesn't do anything for your soul because it could be worse.
Oh no! Hubby and I are enjoying the Madison. We love the leads and the scenery. I didn’t believe that no one would have helped the daughter when she was punched and I wondered if she was representative of Gen Z when describing the perp, avoiding “POC.” I don’t believe their apartment would have been so ultra modern without a hint of Kurt’s character in this penthouse. An Ansel Adams picture would have helped. We’ve watched a few episodes. Michelle’s character is already changing as is her eldest daughter.
We live in a society that woefully lacks perspective. That leads to the opposite of perspective- ignorance, narrow mindedness and blindness.
One of the reasons I started reading your weekly Substack was the interesting perspective you offered. I’ve stayed a reader for the wonderful writing that allows me to grow understand another’s perspective.
We were at the Met on Thursday to see the stunning Helen Schjerfbeck exhibit, and I was thinking about all this. I've only ever been treated with kindness in the city, with one exception that's more funny than awful. Disdain for the poor is built into America's myth that if you work hard and 'play by the rules' you won't be poor, or at least no more poor than you deserve. Not true, and the rules are unfair to begin with.
(On another topic - I think you have tickets to see the Antigone play at the Public, or at least your wife does. The play was uneven for sure, but the NYT review was really over the top. The reviewer is remarkably ignorant about Greek tragedy despite her attempts to play the expert. I'd just sat down to finish my post about it, but your terrific headline distracted me.)
I will skip this show but am loving Sex Education for its heart, humor and honesty. Michelle Teheux’s piece challenged me and I’ve restacked it with pleasure and chagrin. Thanks for the tip.
My cousin lives in Wyoming. Raised in a small town in Michigan, moved to Colorado to be in nature, couldn't afford it, so moved to Wyoming. He hunts. He caught an elk a couple of months before our visit at Christmas. He walked 10 miles (all put together) to quarter and carry out the elk he caught. He drawed it himself with the help of my aunt (it was a big job) and he graciously shared the choice cut with us for dinner one night. It was the best price of meat I have ever had in my life. Even my aunt, who lives in the US of NY and can eat anywhere the best steak is served, said it was the best meat she ever had. And she was nervous it would be gamey being so close to the source! Go figure. If the apocalypse happens, Ink ow I can head to my cousin's and I will make it through. If I head to NYC to the UWS, not so much.
Stirring up class hatred is a reliable way to get attention, that show’s producers know.
See also left-right, rich-poor and urban-rural divides.
THANK YOU for the call-out! It means lot to me.
One of my main goals is for people to realize poor and working class people are largely in that class for reasons unrelated to intelligence and merit.
The reply to the comment that made you laugh feels like “found poetry” 😂 I found Yellowstone almost unwatchable, in spite of the natural beauty and great actors because of the ugliness and smallness of the characters. Violence was strength, cynicism wit. I’ll skip this show too.
I thought I was the only one!
I thought Yellowstone had some cool moments, but it was to cartoonish and hateful towards cities.
My father used to tell a story. He was a boy, on the UES, walking behind an old woman with a cane. When she tripped, a man with a briefcase slid his bag across the sidewalk (I picture it like a bowling ball) and it stopped just under the woman's knees and caught her fall. It was his myth on Manhattan's kindness, and it was mine, too. Also: we are not poor, but our kids REGULARLY eat frozen pizza and hot dogs. Final point! I've begun to find myself annoyed by social tear-downs. I'm tired of critics, too. We live in a time where people who have the resources to make social commentary pieces should focus on building, not adding to our corrosion, even if it's tantalizing and 'sells.' Don't waste Michelle!
A post about a TV show. Yawn. Kill your television for cryin’ outloud. That’s like the one good piece of advice from your generation.
Well of course you can believe in dragons ! 🐉 dragons are real!
"The (`free´) West" abandons & destroys itself by believing that evil, dumb, nasty, stinking hollow puffed-up shit such as "Netflix" and similar `series´ are worthwhile watching and spending more than half a cent for it, and by believing that `Islam´ is or can be `peaceful´.
I watched The Madison last night. As a writer, Taylor Sheridan is an incredible writer, as a person, well, let’s just say I’ll separate the man from his art. But my sentiments were the same when the young woman was punched. There is no way people would just walk by. And are you kidding, someone absolutely would have tackled the guy and beat him to a pulp. New Yorkers are kind, not nice. Unlike say LA where they are nice, but not kind. One of my favorite New York moments was seeing a woman ask for directions and as the woman was being helped by a guy, another guy overheard it and gave her different directions then the two guys started arguing about the better directions. That is quintessential New York.
There were so many moments like that in S1 E1 that poorly portrayed life in NYC. I agree with the social commentary made about food. To this day I cannot even look at Ramen noodles because that was all I could afford when I started my first business as a clueless and poor 23 year year old. I’ve been to Japan, greatest Ramen in the world and I couldn’t.
I also felt for Russell (Patrick J. Adam’s) he was trying so hard and the women treated him like crap (first Princess Meghan now this!). I kept thinking this poor guy dealing with these people. I also wanted to hear more about the shipping deal. But TS loves his “Jimmy” characters. In Yellowstone there was a character Jimmy who was a meth-head lowlife and they bring him to Yellowstone as a favor for his grandfather to “make a man” out of Jimmy. The whole crew hazes Jimmy until he finds his calling as a rodeo rider. Then after an accident he is sent to the 666 ranch owned by a character played by TS where Jimmy really becomes a cowboy. A little middle finger to John Dutton / Kevin Costner and their feud that is was TS who really turned Jimmy into a cowboy. Every show TS has a Jimmy, a fish out of water on a ranch, an oil field, a county bumpkin town, a prison, a clandestine operative who will find their true life’s calling by manning or womaning up. I guess we will see poor Russell get good with tools and probably figure out how to make indoor plumbing for the ranch and will give up shipping deals and finance for fly fishing and husbandry. I share so many of the same sentiments. As a writer, there were so many unusual flaws with the story I was shocked, but the silver lining was even TS can struggle on a pilot.
Excellent points about the poor and food. I don’t think people with access to actual grocery stores realize what it’s like to live in a place without them. Where I live and teach poor black kids, there is no regular super market. Much food comes from corner stores that have an incredible array of junk food. The kids come to school with bags of Doritos Takis and candy which they eat all day. Almost none of the kids have lunch packed at home. All in the School District of Philadelphia have free lunch and breakfast. The food is truly horrible- sugar carbs almost no protein. It is likely that the last person who knew how to make real food in the family is my students’ grandmother who is just age 51. It’s much cheaper to cook and eat but healthy ingredients are not readily available and the corner stores spring up right next to schools. They take EBT which almost everyone has. Our farmers market has a wonderful program where if you purchase food on EBT you get back for every $5 spent a coupon for $2 in fresh produce. When I’ve been on EBT I’ve taken good advantage of it. I also think those who are financially secure don’t get how economic insecurity drains your prefrontal cortex energy. It’s hard to be disciplined when you are under the stress of not being able to reliably make ends meet. And if course the best way out of poverty involves a lot of discipline. Let those who have not lived in urban poverty reserve judgement. So glad to hear that you support a food bank David. Of course you do!
Or in rural poverty!
It can be worse to be poor where there is no public transportation and everything from grocery stores to government and social services are a car ride away and you don’t have a car.
I used to like Taylor Sheridan, and I still like some of his films like Hell or High Water. But I really hate the constant bashing of cities as being only for annoying shallow rich people or violent scary poor people. Hillary Clinton got so much shit for saying some trump voters might be racist, but meanwhile the MAGA-adjacent world loves to shit all over people who live in cities as if we are all ghouls, and nobody cares.
I've not seen the show, so what do I know? but I am not hearing only that cities are bad. I am hearing cities are mean, unsafe, and you'll get punched and ignored, the country is dangerous, wild and will kill you. Probably you should live in suburbia.
Rich people are boring and shallow. Poor people are stupid. Probably you should aim to be in the middle and produce services that rich people like and need.
The point of this show might be to be happy with your boring, suburban life with a meaningless career that doesn't do anything for your soul because it could be worse.
Oh no! Hubby and I are enjoying the Madison. We love the leads and the scenery. I didn’t believe that no one would have helped the daughter when she was punched and I wondered if she was representative of Gen Z when describing the perp, avoiding “POC.” I don’t believe their apartment would have been so ultra modern without a hint of Kurt’s character in this penthouse. An Ansel Adams picture would have helped. We’ve watched a few episodes. Michelle’s character is already changing as is her eldest daughter.
We live in a society that woefully lacks perspective. That leads to the opposite of perspective- ignorance, narrow mindedness and blindness.
One of the reasons I started reading your weekly Substack was the interesting perspective you offered. I’ve stayed a reader for the wonderful writing that allows me to grow understand another’s perspective.
We were at the Met on Thursday to see the stunning Helen Schjerfbeck exhibit, and I was thinking about all this. I've only ever been treated with kindness in the city, with one exception that's more funny than awful. Disdain for the poor is built into America's myth that if you work hard and 'play by the rules' you won't be poor, or at least no more poor than you deserve. Not true, and the rules are unfair to begin with.
(On another topic - I think you have tickets to see the Antigone play at the Public, or at least your wife does. The play was uneven for sure, but the NYT review was really over the top. The reviewer is remarkably ignorant about Greek tragedy despite her attempts to play the expert. I'd just sat down to finish my post about it, but your terrific headline distracted me.)
I will skip this show but am loving Sex Education for its heart, humor and honesty. Michelle Teheux’s piece challenged me and I’ve restacked it with pleasure and chagrin. Thanks for the tip.
I do like me some elk.
I love elk!! Ever make elk chili?
My cousin lives in Wyoming. Raised in a small town in Michigan, moved to Colorado to be in nature, couldn't afford it, so moved to Wyoming. He hunts. He caught an elk a couple of months before our visit at Christmas. He walked 10 miles (all put together) to quarter and carry out the elk he caught. He drawed it himself with the help of my aunt (it was a big job) and he graciously shared the choice cut with us for dinner one night. It was the best price of meat I have ever had in my life. Even my aunt, who lives in the US of NY and can eat anywhere the best steak is served, said it was the best meat she ever had. And she was nervous it would be gamey being so close to the source! Go figure. If the apocalypse happens, Ink ow I can head to my cousin's and I will make it through. If I head to NYC to the UWS, not so much.
BTW hope your falls aren’t indicative of a physical issue. 🙏🏻