Hello!
On this week’s episode of Criticism Is Dead, we discuss Barry and The Northman, a TV series and a film about the perils of vengeance.
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02:47 HBO’s Barry is a darkly funny exploration of the duality of comedy and violence.
If season 1 was about the potential of wholly remaking your life, and season 2 about the messy aftermath of that impossibility, then season 3 of Barry—as compelling as ever—is about forgiveness and retribution. Still rocking a tone unlike anything else on television right now, the show continues to traverse the question: Can people ever really change who they are? If we had to hazard a guess, we would say no (at least in TV-land), but who knows! We still have this season and the next to figure it out.
P.S. This is the New Yorker profile of Hader that we mention.
21:43 The Northman, available in theaters and VOD, is primordial, strange, and fastidiously amoral in its bloody telling of a revenge story with a twist.
To be candid, Pelin had a great time watching this, while my reaction was more mixed. But, at the very least, there are some really interesting elements to this movie, including its painstaking research and accuracy (although here’s what Richard Brody has to say about that), the gravity with which it approaches this ancient core and spirituality, and the excellent subversion of the vengeance tale (that perfect, pivotal, Oedipal scene between mother and son!). Few Viking movies, if any, will go as hardcore as The Northman ever again. For that, it’s a feat.
43:24 Plus, raise a glass to Ray Liotta.
Bonus links
This has to be the most interesting low-stakes revelation/discussion on social media in a while:
Every so often I think of this piece: “The Joe Manchin Trolley Problem.”
Really late to this essay about the Korean concept of “han,” but as someone who has bought into aspects of essentialism with regards to being a people, a group, a culture, it’s very good to be reminded of the dangers of that.
That’s it for now. We’ll be off next week; take care in the meantime. Bye!
— Jenny
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Some credits:
Music: REEKAH
Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu