Bildungsroman Blitz: 2021 In Review
Plus, "On the next Arrested Development..."
Formula and structure can provide a comfortable container for writing. The process of putting together the individual words remains excruciating time after time, but if you know what it should look like based on a pre-agreed format, it’s a little easier to crawl to the finish line.
Formula and structure can also stifle your writing if you feel creatively drawn in another direction. What if a listicle isn’t quite enough space to convey to other people why a Netflix miniseries unlocked feelings in you about religion, horror and theatre?
I’m glad I followed my instincts in wanting to try something a little different for the newsletter. The bad news is, without that nice container that Bildungsroman Blitz had been working under, I now have an “outline” that has ballooned into pages and pages of works cited. Spoiler alert: this essay is not coming out in 2021. But I’m hoping that’s how we start things off in January!
For Bildungsroman Blitz 2.0, I am planning to shift from highlighting 2-3 new things I watched/read/played/consumed to focusing on perhaps one new thing and connecting it to other works through something that might be considered a theme. January’s issue will be about Midnight Mass and its twists on vampires and Catholicism, its dedication to The Monologue as an artform, and how I realized a giant number of plays have used religion and/or horror (and certainly monologues) to similar effect.
But I couldn’t leave 2021 without making some sort of final recommendation list. I’m not usually big on doing Year-End Reflections, but I did turn 30 this month, which kind of forced me to be in a reflective mood. Commentary about that birthday milestone may or may not pop up for some of these items, but the number is informing the length of the list. Here, in absolutely no order1, are 30 things I experienced in 2021 that I have not already talked about at length in the newsletter.
All About Nina (film, 2018)
An unflinching look at the ramifications of abuse on everyday intimacy. And, about how shitty it is for women in comedy. Anchored by a hilarious and heartbreaking performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Consider this in conversation with Hacks and Lolita Podcast, both later on the list (and the latter being how I learned about this movie).
Bad Times at the El Royale (film, 2018)
A morality play disguised as a neo-noir. The film is perhaps overstuffed with plot, characters, and twists, but I personally found its interrogation of what “goodness” means to be very compelling. Chris Hemsworth does a Charles Manson thing, Jeff Bridges does his grumbly man thing, and it features many nepotism babies (Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Lewis Pullman) that could feature in “Wealthy Parents”, which is later on the list.
Blank Check, episode: “Halloween” (podcast, 2021)
Blank Check is a podcast about director’s filmographies. The idea is to look at directors who achieve a certain amount of critical and commercial success at some point in their career that allows them to cash a “blank check” on a passion project movie. To quote co-host Griffin Newman, sometimes those checks clear, and sometimes they bounce…baby. Their most recent season was on John Carpenter, the Master of Horror himself. If you’re invested in the horror genre at all, you must listen to guest Alex Ross Perry’s explainer on American horror films from 1968-1978, which takes up more than half of the episode before they even get into Michael Myers.
Cold Case (television series, 2003-2010)
There are two caveats to this entry on the list. One: this is a police procedural, which is copaganda. Two: I didn’t watch this for the first time in 2021, but rather I was re-watching a show I grew up with. Cold Case has long eluded streaming services because the show’s central conceit—solving cold cases from decades ago—involved licensing wall-to-wall hit music from the era, which is expensive to rebroadcast. You can finally find the show with music intact on HBO Max. The reason Cold Case is the copaganda I most yearn to let slide is because it’s much more victim-focused than other crime shows. Each episode is its own one-act play about the victim of the week, with a cast of characters in period costumes and an episode-closing musical montage that will wrench tears from even the most cynical eyes.
Driveways (film, 2019)
This is a lovely little film about an intergenerational friendship, the power of found family vs. the obligations of blood family, and how hard it is to be an outsider.
Ear Hustle, episode: “Home For Me is Really a Memory” (podcast, 2021)
In Bad Nights at the El Royale (scroll back up on the list), Chris Hemsworth plays a Charles Manson type. Much as I did like that movie, it falls into the trap much of Manson media does when it comes to making the Manson Girls soulless. In this episode of Ear Hustle, we get to know Leslie Van Houten, a Manson “Girl” who is now a 72-year-old woman who has spent more than 50 years in prison and certainly has a soul. Ear Hustle is a podcast about life during and after incarceration and will hopefully make anyone who listens to it a prison abolitionist.
Hacks (television series, 2021-present)
I feel like pitching this show as about Old Comedy vs. New Comedy is a boring way to talk about it. Even if comedy is not your thing, anyone who has been driven by their work to the detriment of personal health and happiness will get something cathartic out of this story. Originally, I was worried it was a little too obviously Boomer vs. Gen Z but if you hang in there either Deborah or Ava’s story will grab you (Ava’s for me). We do have another nepotism baby (Hannah Einbinder) for “Wealthy Parents”, which is later on the list.
iCarly (television series, 2007-2012)
I have not seen the new iCarly, this is strictly about the original Nickelodeon run. I never watched this show in its prime, probably because I was little out of the age range. And because I continue to not have Paramount+, I’ve only seen the episodes currently available on Netflix. A show that was weirdly prescient about the YouTuber/Twitch Streamer era, it holds up as being pretty funny to a fully online adult. Jerry Trainor, who I remember from Drake & Josh, is the MVP.
Imogen Poots’ performance in Black Christmas (film, 2019)
I am not here to re-hash the Black Christmas franchise wars—Google it if you want to be miserable. TLDR: the original seventies movie is a classic, the 2019 loose remake is down the middle fine. However, Imogen Poots as Final Girl Riley goes above and beyond and does a lot to make me forgive the movie’s flaws.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s current season (television series, Season 15)
I think this is the longest running live action sitcom for a reason. This season was very abbreviated, but a four-episode long arc involving Ireland, COVID, Epstein’s Island and a haunted house kind of works as its own IASIP movie.
Jamie Loftus’ two 2021 podcast projects: Lolita Podcast and Aack-Cast
Somewhat different in tone and subject matter, but united by creator Jamie Loftus’ unique mixture of humor, critique and journalism. The former is a deep dive into the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov but an even deeper dive into a culture that inspired the book and exploits the book. The latter is a primer on the Cathy comic strip and the many sides of white Boomer women the strip spoke to.
John Carroll Lynch’s performance in American Horror Story: 1984 (television series, 2019)
I praise the showrunners of this season of American Horror Story for tapping into the great duality of character actor John Carroll Lynch. He is both the lovable husband of Fargo and the (probably not actually) Zodiac Killer in Zodiac. As the character Mr. Jingles, he gets to be both.
John Proctor is the Villain (play, 2018)
This is the The Crucible answer play that I’ve been waiting for2, so thank you Kimberly Belflower. Definitely in conversation with Lolita Podcast. Definitely one of the greatest uses of a stage direction to re-contextualize casual violence.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (film, 2019)
The secret sauce of this movie is the friendship between Jimmie and Mont, and the thematic heartbreak of this movie is that their friendship isn’t a salve for the crush of gentrification
The Librarian/The Librarians (made-for-tv movies, 2004, 2006, 2008; television series, 2014-2018)
Here’s a question: do you think that Kanopy, the streaming service that partners with libraries, was contractually bound to include these somewhat obscure TNT original movies (and subsequent TV spinoff) on their platform? Regardless of the motivation, I am so glad they did. As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter where I gave the first movie a small shout-out, the movies are in the same wheelhouse as National Treasure and are fun, silly and self-contained. The tv show, which I have almost finished watching, creates a deeper mythology that gives everything more heart and actual stakes, but without sacrificing the occasional silliness. With a mixture of monster-of-the-week plots and an overarching Big Bad each season, it’s a show that has all the good parts of Buffy without any of the lingering Joss Whedon of it all.
Madeline’s Madeline (film, 2018)
I sort of just want to repeat my original quippy review of this: “A movie that reminds you never to trust theatre people.” But in all seriousness, it’s a movie that explores how art can be exploitative, how authoritarian behavior can be justified as artistic genius….in short, it’s a movie that reminds you to never trust theatre people.
Midnight Mass (miniseries, 2021)
You’re going to have to wait for next month for this one, suckers! For now, let me just show you this Tweet that I very much agree with:
The NBA (professional sports league, 1946-present)
Basketball was the one team sport I liked playing as a kid. I think it’s because I was a good defensive player and did okay at free throws. I never got into the NBA as a kid/teen, probably because my franchise was the Washington Wizards. Moving to the Bay Area when I did (2015), it was hard not to get caught up in the Golden State Warriors. Then I met my NBA-loving boyfriend, who really opened me up to the NBA as a storytelling franchise.3 As you all may or may not remember, sports were kind of cancelled for half of 2020. In 2021, we finally got to watch a “normal” season of basketball again and were finally able to go to a game in person again.
Nick DiRamio’s Clip Breakdown episodes about the High School Musical franchise (2020)
Nick DiRamio is a YouTuber who specializes in videos about cringey niche pop culture things—Lifetime movies, Christian films, and of course, Disney Channel Originals. What makes DiRamio’s Clip Breakdown series special is that it’s not just ragging on a bad movie or nitpicking a bad movie. He will offer insightful story analysis and script notes that could improve the source material, because he appreciates these oft-looked-down-on subgenres (well, probably not the Christian stuff). Their series on the High School Musical trilogy is a perfect encapsulation of this.
The Other Side of Darkness (podcast, 2021-present)
What’s the deal with dreams? What if the infamous Show About Nothing was a show about liminal spaces, mysteries, and dreams within dreams? If you fit into the Venn Diagram of Seinfeld fans and Twin Peaks fans, then this might be the podcast for you.
PEN15 (television series, 2019-2021)
I did not start watching this brilliant tv show in 2021, but it came to its traumedic conclusion this year and for that reason I must give it a proper send-off. PEN15 began as a custom swirl of cringe comedy, nostalgia, and a tribute to the friendships that endure through the fire that is being a Middle School Girl in the late 90s/early aughts. It continued as an increasingly emotional portrait of adolescence whose laughs came in between truly painful moments. I will never know exactly how creators and stars Maya Erksine and Anna Konkle perfectly emulated the behavior of 7th graders (from raising the volume of their speech suddenly to the hand gestures) but the spell they cast will stay with me forever.
Pleasure Machine (podcast, 2021)
Produced by Colt Coeur, a theatre company based in Brooklyn, New York, and co-written by one of my favorite people in the world, Phaedra Michelle Scott, Pleasure Machine is a nine-episode audio drama about a BIPOC artist’s attempt to provide pleasure, joy, and compassion in a world ground down by capitalism. The audio format is not just to get around in-person theatre—it’s integral to the story, as the protagonist H (played by Starr Busby) is a sound artist whose work is about creating an aural experience. Jaylen Taylor has written a great feature on Pleasure Machine for CultureBot that I suggest you read. The podcast is only available through January 15, 2022, so buy your pass to listen now!
Pokémon (entire franchise, 1996-present)
I know, I’ve already talked about Pokémon, the game and the anime, multiple times in this newsletter. I just want to emphasize that it is truly one of the highlights of my year.
Subnormality, issue #230, “Count To Ten” (webcomic, 2021)
You just have to look at this one for yourself.4
Tales: Choose Your Own Story (mobile game app, 2018-present)
As mentioned ad nauseum in this newsletter, I did not grow up with video games. The type of video game that I have usually been drawn to has therefore been low on skill and high on story. This means that I play a lot of visual novels and mobile apps that are called things like “Choices”, “Stories”, “Chapters”, etc. But the best one that I have found in this mold is an app called Tales: Choose Your Own Story. Part of what makes Tales so good is that the types of stories are varied. You can infiltrate a cult to find your long-lost sister, you can survive a zombie apocalypse while fighting your own infection, and you can time travel to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The Testaments (book, 2019)
While author Margaret Atwood may have recently and rightfully been criticized for falling for certain anti-trans feminist talking points, her past denouncement of the anti-trans feminist movement means I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt unless she goes full J.K. Rowling. In which case I happily recommend The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. More YA and action-oriented than its groundbreaking predecessor, this book is surprisingly cathartic and hopeful.
tick, tick...BOOM! (musical, 2001; film, 2021)
Based on a solo show by the late musical theatre composer Jonathan Larson, this musical and this movie adaptation are about what it feels like to turn 30 and be measuring yourself up against the successes you might have imagined you’d achieve. When those successes include success in The Arts, which never dovetails into success in Financial Stability, it feels like an even more impossible game. This musical and Larson’s story has been important to me ever since I was a young theatre fan. Rent got me into musicals, tick, tick…BOOM! got me through the beginning of my arts career, and tick, tick…BOOM! the movie, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, has given me some kind of reckoning as an ex-theatre professional. It’s not the most comfortable thing for me to watch right now, but the film adaptation does a better job than the stage musical of depicting just how gatekeepy and grueling it is to try and do that thing professionally.
“Wealthy Parents” by Twotreehill (song, 2021)
I’ve foreshadowed it, and now its time is here:
I want a full version of this song. I want it to go on forever, like Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song”. There is no shortage of nepotism babies!
Wine in the Wilderness (play, 1969)
What I really love about Alice Childress’ play is the way it crafts a believable love story between two characters with serious conflict. It’s not an Enemies to Lovers situation as much as it’s a Strangers to Comrades situation.
You Are Good (podcast, 2020-present)
You Are Good is a feelings podcast about movies. And if you have to ask why that’s something that might be up my alley, then perhaps you have not read this newsletter before. You Are Good also has original music, which is also something up my alley.
Thank you all for making it through 2021 with me. See you all in 2022!
Okay, in alphabetical order. I do like structure of some kind!
I was sound board operator for a production of Abigail/1702. And that’s all I’m going to say about that!
Game of Zones, a parodic series of animated videos produced by Bleacher Report, is the pinnacle of this.