As I watched Rust Cohle in True Detective, it occurred to me he reminded me–in some ways–of another character I had found memorable; Johnny in Mike Leigh‘s Naked, . Johnny doesn’t seem to have a quite as philosophically inflected take on life as Cohle, but his dialogue delivery makes his lines epics of rage and dryContinue reading “Rust Cohle and Naked’s Johnny”
Author Archives: Samir Chopra
Jacob Bronowski on the Missing Shakespeare of the Bushmen
Jacob Bronowski–who so entertained and edified many of us with The Ascent of Man–was very often a wise man but he was also Eurocentric, a weakness that produced astonishingly reductive views about the ‘East’, about ‘uncivilized’ and ‘uncultured’ societies. This inclination is noticeably on display in his dialog The Abacus and the Rose,¹ in the courseContinue reading “Jacob Bronowski on the Missing Shakespeare of the Bushmen”
True Detective: Eight Points of Contention
I finished watching True Detective last night. I found the finale deeply disappointing but I can’t say that I was surprised; the show had seemed incapable, over the last few episodes, of sustaining the portentousness it had built up in the first three or so installments. I still think the show was outstanding, but IContinue reading “True Detective: Eight Points of Contention”
The Police Precinct as Augean Stable
Over the past few years, I have met some–very personable and intelligent–young men who seemed possessed by the same passion: they wished to join the police, to “serve their community”, to “give something back”. They knew the police forces they wished to become members of were dysfunctional and corrupt, but that was precisely why theirContinue reading “The Police Precinct as Augean Stable”
Marty Hart Comes Undone
The fourth episode of HBO’s True Detective–“Who Goes There”–is justifiably famous for director Cary Joji Fukunaga‘s epic six-minute tracking take of a gun battle gone spectacularly, violently wrong. There is another scene in the episode that should be just as famous: Marty Hart‘s epic, rage and profanity-filled meltdown on finding out his wife Maggie hasContinue reading “Marty Hart Comes Undone”
Don’t be a “Crabby Patty” About AI
Fredrik DeBoer has written an interesting post on the prospects for artificial intelligence, one that is pessimistic about its prospects and skeptical about some of the claims made for its success. I disagree with some of its implicit premises and claims. AI’s goals can be understood as being two-fold, depending on your understanding of theContinue reading “Don’t be a “Crabby Patty” About AI”
Lord Byron on the Writerly Compulsion
In Oryx and Crake, Crake quotes Lord Byron:¹ What is it Byron said? Who’d write if they could do otherwise? Something like that. Who indeed? Byron’s supposed description² of writerly obsession is by now familiar to us: writers write because they have to, they must, they can do little other; their activity is as much compelledContinue reading “Lord Byron on the Writerly Compulsion”
The Perennial Allure of Utopian Sex
In Margaret Atwood‘s cautionary, speculative tale of a genetic engineering run amuck, Oryx and Crake, the Snowman observes the Crakers are unusually and refreshingly sexually enlightened: Off to the side, from what is probably a glade where the tents and trailers used to be set up, he can hear laughter and singing, and shouts ofContinue reading “The Perennial Allure of Utopian Sex”
Nicholas Kristof is Gullible, Very Gullible
Nicholas Kristof thinks conservatives are–like a broken clock–right at least some of the time. Kristof, unfortunately, is just wrong throughout his latest limp Op-Ed. To borrow a line from Steven Soderbergh‘s plainspoken Limey they are right precisely the ‘square root of sweet FA‘ number of times – a vanishingly small number. What are the conservatives rightContinue reading “Nicholas Kristof is Gullible, Very Gullible”
Traveling With the Right Kind of Passport
Amartya Sen introduces us to his Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny with the following rather well-known little story: Some years ago when I was returning to England from a short trip abroad (I was then Master of Trinity College in Cambridge), the immigration officer at Heathrow, who scrutinized my Indian passport rather thoroughly,Continue reading “Traveling With the Right Kind of Passport”
Samir Chopra 