Published inFanfare·Nov 20Member-only‘The Gilded Age’? More Like The Gilded Boss LadiesThe Gilded Age gives us middle-aged women in million-dollar dresses hustling modern New York City into existence — yes, it’s the best thing on TV — Julian Fellowes holds a coveted seat at the small table of television creators who (some) normie Americans could identify by name. If the Yankee zest for his charming ITV-to-PBS period drama Downton Abbey surprised the proper chap of the landed gentry, it shouldn’t have. Give an American a costume drama…The Gilded Age9 min readThe Gilded Age9 min read
Published inFanfare·Oct 25Member-only‘Dartmouth Park’ Drags Modern Male EstrangementDartmouth Park is frighteningly adept at knocking the reader off their pedestal of 21st-century assumptions — Anyone who’s had a panic attack (I sympathize, and I’m sorry) will recognize what’s happening in the opening scene of Rupert Thomson’s latest novel, Dartmouth Park. Some benign event or observation triggers the heartbeat for blast off, the world tilts away, not a single thing remains safe or familiar. …Dartmouth Park6 min readDartmouth Park6 min read
Published inFanfare·Oct 14Member-onlyBeing 40 with BeyoncéEntering middle-age with Queen Bey in Toronto: highly recommend. — Behold a woman only slightly your senior, draped in a mini shift dress of delicately strung pearls, hair waving in perfected crescendos from the gusts of a hidden wind machine, singing into a microphone for screaming fans, both diva and audience sharing one unshakeable conviction: this is the only place…Music6 min readMusic6 min read
Published inFanfare·Sep 18Member-onlyWith The Cohens, ‘The O.C.’ Made Everyone A California DreamerIn the year 2004, as a 21-going-on-67-year-old English major, I took books seriously and would have mocked any dingbat who tried to argue it was even possible to do the same with television. Most easily dismissed of TV’s then-regrettable offerings were the glut of teenage soap operas. “Buffy the Vampire…Television8 min readTelevision8 min read
Published inFanfare·Aug 25Member-only‘Great Man’ Theory Of Fatherhood: ‘Oppenheimer’s Children of the DesertParenting norms come inevitably shaped by generational trends. My Uncle Robert will tell you that as a boy in Casper, Wyoming circa the mid-1950s, any adult could and would physically assault you for misbehavior, whether actual or perceived. Such threats of regular corporeal interventions from their elders failed , incredibly…Movies7 min readMovies7 min read
Aug 8Member-onlySpare a Thought for the Disappearing Middle ChildAs Middle Child Appreciation Day arrives on August 12, a middle child case study for you: It’s Christmas some year in the early 2010s, a bygone era when CD burning was still a thing, but an old enough thing to have crossed the bounds of adolescent/youth culture and become known…Middle Child10 min readMiddle Child10 min read
Published inFanfare·Jul 28Member-onlyMotherhood Is The Heart of “Barbie,” a Cinematic Coup for the AgesSitting in stupefied awe during an early morning showing of “Barbie”, a line from Dave Eggers’ forward to Infinite Jest came to mind. He wrote that with most novels, “It’s possible… to break it down into its parts, to take it apart as one would a car or Ikea shelving…Film6 min readFilm6 min read
Published inFanfare·Jul 7Member-only‘The Bear’ Serves Up TV’s Most Terrifying MomEarly on in “Fishes,” the Christmas nightmare episode of ‘The Bear,’ Donna Berzatto (Jamie Lee Curtis) does something with butter I’ve never seen before. …Television8 min readTelevision8 min read
Published inFanfare·Jun 9Member-onlyOn ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,’ No Mom Gets It AllIts inaugural season earned “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” a mostly positive response with one blaring exception — its flippant and ludicrous portrayal of motherhood. …Television7 min readTelevision7 min read
Published inFanfare·May 13Member-only‘Ted Lasso’ Celebrates Hollywood’s Awful Vision Of American ParentingTed Lasso — protagonist of the eponymous Apple TV sitcom, played by Jason Sudeikis — kicks off the show’s first season by leaving his 7-year-old son back in America for a job coaching professional soccer (football!) in London. …Ted Lasso6 min readTed Lasso6 min read
