You might have to bear with me on this one. I’m sure there’s a thread here somewhere.
My plan is to show you some random stuff and tease out a connection that comes to a heartbreaking, devastating conclusion that will change you – or at least show you good things : )
We’re starting with in-vogue psychological buzzword concept the HEDONIC TREADMILL (see snazzy infographic above)
‘The hedonic treadmill (also known as hedonic adaptation) is a theory positing that people repeatedly return to their baseline level of happiness, regardless of what happens to them.’
Put simply it’s all about the hard slog of being a hedonist.
I’ve been watching a few Tod Browning movies recently, his Dracula was the first talkie horror movie, and It’s pretty terrible. But his career destroying Freaks is a whole different ballgame – both a subversive masterpiece and lumpen schlock nonsense…and strangely relevant.
Music writer Garry Mulholland’s movie podcast What’s Wrong With This Picture has a great episode which explores the complicated relationship the viewer has with this movie.
John Smith is a British experimental filmmaker who’s been making off kilter short films since the 70s. His Black Tower is both funny and a bit dark – but
The Girl Chewing Gum is his magnum opus – it is daft but strangely beguiling (click the pic above and you’ll see why).
It finds fun and gives pleasure from precisely nothing – well, it gives me pleasure.
The new Arctic Monkeys album is oddly ordinary. There’d better be a Mirrorball is a great single (above) – but every time I try to listen to the wholeness of the album, I lose interest. It all sounds uniformly ‘quite good’ – you can hear the time/money that has been thrown at it, but the peaks and troughs have been smoothed out into something rather dull.
Do you get my drift?
Maybe the thing I’m trying to tease out here is this – the extremities may be painful, difficult and even problematic. But they are the stuff that excites and inspires and can help us off the treadmill – even for a moment.
And that has to be a good thing.
And here’s the ace new single by Orbital and Sleaford Mods
Speak soon
Pendle & Percy
Happy/sad human and sad/happy dog
