“We want to see them fight because, to an unusual degree even for comic books, the fights mean something. That is, they are about something – or some things. Namely: how to make a better world, with Superman operating through hope and inspiration, and Batman through fear and intimidation. As the villain Lex Luthor puts it in the new movie, it’s ‘god versus man, day versus night.'”
Tag: 03.21.16
Claim: Dressing Formally For Opera Is A Plus, Not A Minus
“People like to dress up. My grandfather started that off because he thought the audience ought to show respect for the artists on the stage, and that’s a nice reason to do it. People like to dress up, they like to make an effort and they don’t have to do it very often these days.”
Violin-Making Is An Old, Traditional Craft From A Long-Gone Century. Who Still Does This Work?
It’s a slow, patient, calming craft that has largely remained unchanged since the 1800s – much like the wage, Richard Wilson jokes – but why are people still drawn to it? And do they make any money?
Did ‘American Psycho’ Predict The Future?
“Its detractors loathed it, and even its fans would agree that its anti-hero, Patrick Bateman, is one of the most unsavoury creations in literary history. So what does it say about us that we’re now willing to whistle along to his depravity? Have we inched closer to Bateman’s way of thinking over the past 25 years? Or has the story told in Ellis’s novel been diluted with each subsequent retelling? The answer is somewhere in between.”
How Western Theatre Has Historically Engaged With Islam
“There is still a long history of playwrights attempting to engage with Islam in ways that might make us uncomfortable today.”
You’ve Seen Pseudoscience, Now Have A Look At Pseudolaw
“These days, we are distressingly familiar with alternative, conspiracy-theory versions of science and medicine. Less well-known is the legal version of this phenomenon, not as visible as creationism or anti-vaccine activism but in many ways as destructive.”
An Entire Festival Of Plays That Pass The Bechdel Test
“Bechdel Theatre Festival has been created by Beth Watson, the founder of Bechdel Theatre, which began life as a Twitter campaign last year. It promotes and celebrates plays that pass the Bechdel Test – which asks whether a play has at least two women in it, who talk to each other about something other than a man.”
Is This The Best New Opera House In The West?
“Chapman University opened what might have been a modest, multi-purpose 1,044-seat facility. Instead, thanks to Toyota, the city of Orange now houses an ideal opera house, potentially the best in the West and maybe even something more.”
Study: Group Drumming Has Mental Health Benefits
An “exploratory examination” found 10 weeks of group drumming provided significant benefits for a group of people who had sought help for mental-health issues. What’s more, the improvements persisted for at least three months after the sessions concluded.
Twitter At 10 – How Should We Take Stock?
Robinson Meyer: “After all, there’s been no shortage of chances over the last decade to note How Twitter Has Changed Things. Infinite comparisons can be drawn between Twitter and any other social network. … It also doesn’t seem worth dwelling on Twitter’s shortcomings. (For that, I can wait for earnings day.) Instead, it’s worth seeing Twitter not just as a 10-year-old social network, but as a product of its time.”