One of the nice things about finally having a smartphone again is not having to listen to public radio unless I really want to. Having firmly embraced my book reading for information habit, I find I *really* don't want to, and listening to my local outlets feels like nails on chalkboard when I encounter it. No, this isn't because I'd prefer to listen to commercial radio, but because NPR has made me roll my eyes since the ad for the video game--excuse, extremely long PR piece for the video game--and the PR spot for nuclear energy (I know I've been bad about linking lately, but if I could find this link I would. If you don't believe me, just keep listening until you hear a similar puff piece.) And fine, this is what "the news" is now, but then don't make me sit through hours of BS during fund drives about how that isn't what you are at all.
My husband hasn't lost his patience with public radio as much as I have, bless him, so today I relented when he wanted to listen to Fresh Air. This was a "Best Of" episode that featured an interview with Mark Ruffalo. What could possibly go wrong?
OH MY GOD. Please, please, please. I have been railing over Performance for over a year now, but only because I finally had a name for it. It's what the kids are really getting at when they obsess over being a non-conformist or authenticity or whatever terminology people are using now. Since I'm not a teenager, I understand that we do have to go through some performances, especially when we interact with people we don't know. Very well. But at my age, do I really need to listen to some actor going through the motions of self-effacement talking about New York City, anonymity, and what he's lost--but also gained!--by being in a movie franchise that mints money? Or how comedy is such a different animal from drama? Especially when he says NOTHING I haven't heard and read hundreds of times before?
Why do these people pretend They're Just Like You and Me (TM)? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was on a press junket for the movie he's been nominated for, and he was just answering questions, but still in all, ew. Your craft, yeah, whatever. The vast majority of us aren't going to act in any venue, and the way he puts on a character isn't that interesting to me. Tell me about the finances, tell me whether you made any money on the back end, tell me when you're going to start producing your own movies, tell me SOMETHING I haven't already heard, or just move on.
No, right, they're not going to do that--so I guess I'll have to. Fresh Air, you had a good run (and when you were good, you were very good--this interview with Dorothy Allison still haunts me), but you've been done, at least for me, for a while. (And the same to the vast majority of public radio.)
Thank god for books.
Deb in the City
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