Part of the plan

Chris Shimojima
August 15, 2024

Hey guys,

Some new things:

I did an interview for CanvasRebel
I only recently came across Calls, since I don’t have Apple TV+.

Did this series slip under the radar, or was it just me? Maybe too experimental. Maybe not enough prestige value, without seeing the performers or money on screen.

Calls is basically an audio drama, but they found an efficient way to add a visual component so that they could put it on a more typical streamer, reaching most of us that are accustomed to watching stories rather than solely listening.

Seems like generally speaking, Watching/reading is more associated with Storytelling, whereas Listening is more associated with Information. It’s how social media works, and how we were raised, and how culture has evolved.
Safe Society has some recognition.
It’s been… interesting… digging into the festivals and awards available to scripted podcasts. There are a few bigger ones, surprisingly pricey to enter, because they’re devoted to general audio communication in all its variety — to all the corporations and celeb talkshows and money-spending brands that take part.

There aren’t many fests dedicated solely to fiction podcasts. And while there are Web Fests that have fiction podcast categories, they don’t listen to the entire series. They ask for 1 episode, or 15-30 minutes of compiled material…

I guess this makes sense when it comes to lengthy ongoing series. But what about formats like Safe Society with a finite story meant to be experienced fully, building across all 11 episodes? It’s only 3.5 hours — that’s 2 regular movies, or 1 Scorsese movie. Shouldn't there be a specific category for something like this? One that requires the screeners to listen to the entire thing and not just a random portion? Would film fests only screen an excerpt of a feature-length film? I mean, considering the lackadaisical landscape these days, I guess they might. The entire thing is so arbitrary and doesn’t entice discerning artists.

Safe Society is selected to 2 fests that are set up in this way.

It was also a Finalist in Filmhaus’ New Media category. It specifically came in 3rd Place, according to the festival director — and that’s among all visual and audio media. Why those aren’t separated, I’m not sure either.

If you look at just “limited series” New Media, it was actually 1st Place. Again, there was no separate category for this.
Movies that fit how I feel about the times:
They Live
Born on the Fourth of July
1984
The Manchurian Candidate
JFK
The Parallax View
A Clockwork Orange
Idiocracy
And as a cleansing palette, some rapturous Puccini I often come back to.
And let’s get weird.
Why Nothing Has Felt Real Since 2020.
Interesting to see someone hone in on this. And interesting to read the comments under it.

I was on Joseph Arthur’s radio show recently, and he asked me about the general listlessness in the air. And he mused with me, “How do you find motivation to ‘do’ when it’s too easy to get lost in ‘consuming’?” I wasn’t expecting some of these topics, so it wasn’t my best interview and I don’t remember how exactly I responded.

But I’ve been thinking about it more… My take is that we (collectively, at large) have become hesitant to push ahead, unless our jobs require it or money is dangled. Whenever we try, we’re blocked by a mountain of others not in sync, too hesitant, preoccupied, and secluded into their personal lives. It now takes 2x as long to move the needle 1/2 as far, so everything feels stagnant.

Is life becoming too digital? No, I don’t think that’s the exact issue. Is it the economy? Maybe a bit, or maybe subconsciously.

I do think the world is depressed. The birth-rate of too many countries is dropping too low. (Highlights throughout, but maybe jump to the mouse utopia experiment for why “utopia” can lead to this…)

Few think about what this means in the macro. Instead, they think: “I’m busy here, I’m struggling here, I’m satiated sexually without a family here, I’m worried about climate catastrophe here… so of course I don’t want kids.” Or maybe they just feel the cultural vibe — “It’s just modern life.”

But what if it’s a part of the plan?

Crazy people seek absolute power. And power makes people crazy. What if the ruling class — the 1% — is so irrational that it’s fully convinced the world will end soon? It might do whatever it takes to be the survivor class. It might seize control of the population and cut it down. It might think it’s doing good. It might think it knows best. It might think it’s actually “saving” part of the population - Thanos-style - even if it means nations fall into chaos or servitude.

If that’s the case, well, it would probably promote policies and regulations and wars that make making a living difficult. It would capitalize on the food, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries’ ability to make our minds and physiology more dependent and even obedient. It would saturate culture with messaging about second guessing or forgetting the importance of raising a family. It would want you worrying about climate and overpopulation. It would spin that information for maximum fearmongering.

If they — the ruling class — have you affected by all that… that’s a huge tell that it’s working.

If instead you realize the plan…

… well, what would you do? Would you shrug? Would you accept it? I hope not. I hope you’d be mad as hell and not take it anymore. This is not negativity. This is willpower. Willpower is what we can’t lose.

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Chris