"Premium mediocre is the finest bottle of wine at Olive Garden. Premium mediocre is cupcakes and froyo. Premium mediocre is “truffle” oil on anything (no actual truffles are harmed in the making of “truffle” oil), and extra-leg-room seats in Economy. Premium mediocre is cruise ships, artisan pizza, Game of Thrones, and The Bellagio... Premium mediocre is food that Instagrams better than it tastes."
I'm not sure I buy his economic explanation, but there's a lot of "take something unchallenging, aimed at children, or otherwise *comforting*, and make it fancy" going around, and the MCU fits pretty neatly in that box.
I was reminded of this comment recently when I attended a friend's wedding where they served macaroni pies (classic Scottish fast food, don't knock it until you've tried it) with truffle oil. Gotta say, they were *damn tasty*.
I love the Malcolm link, thank you. Reminds me of a trend in public speaking: people seem to think they must always speak like a TED talk. ("This thing happened, I tried this, I tried that, nothing was working, but then X happened, or Y said such-and-such, and - ta-da!")
Both trends, I suspect, come out of the move away from authority towards dispersed wisdom - the spread of democracy perhaps?
Whatever the cause, modern life seems to make us reluctant to hear anybody simply assert something without first going out of their way to explain how they come to believe it.
As a languages teacher I was terrified of taking children abroad, being totally responsible for their safety. But on one occasion I had to take a crowd of Yr 11 girls to France. They were the same age as my daughter. We slept in chalets surrounding a courtyard that opened onto a tree-lined country road. There had been the dreadful case of a child murdered on just such a trip years before. I did not sleep for five nights, but stood guard. I imagined myself in the shoes of the teachers who have presided over school trips where random disasters have befallen them. You want to do your best, but what if something goes terribly wrong?
I left my dog in the car and she wasn’t discovered until my husband went to get electricity. Thank god it was a very mild day and she was fine. I wasn’t even dog tired, I’m just a massive daydreamer who doesn’t always exist in reality for long enough to remember basic things. This story has given me the absolute willies and now I will always leave my phone in the back to stop it happening again. (Thank god my babies are now children who can get themselves out of a car).
Gene Weingarten won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for that piece. I remember reading it when it came out and can still recall some of the horrific details. A brilliant and humane piece of writing. Ditto the Jennifer Senior piece you mention.
I think Venkatesh Rao's term "premium mediocre" (https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-millennial/) captures something about the current glut of fantasy and superhero media:
"Premium mediocre is the finest bottle of wine at Olive Garden. Premium mediocre is cupcakes and froyo. Premium mediocre is “truffle” oil on anything (no actual truffles are harmed in the making of “truffle” oil), and extra-leg-room seats in Economy. Premium mediocre is cruise ships, artisan pizza, Game of Thrones, and The Bellagio... Premium mediocre is food that Instagrams better than it tastes."
I'm not sure I buy his economic explanation, but there's a lot of "take something unchallenging, aimed at children, or otherwise *comforting*, and make it fancy" going around, and the MCU fits pretty neatly in that box.
I was reminded of this comment recently when I attended a friend's wedding where they served macaroni pies (classic Scottish fast food, don't knock it until you've tried it) with truffle oil. Gotta say, they were *damn tasty*.
I love the Malcolm link, thank you. Reminds me of a trend in public speaking: people seem to think they must always speak like a TED talk. ("This thing happened, I tried this, I tried that, nothing was working, but then X happened, or Y said such-and-such, and - ta-da!")
Both trends, I suspect, come out of the move away from authority towards dispersed wisdom - the spread of democracy perhaps?
Whatever the cause, modern life seems to make us reluctant to hear anybody simply assert something without first going out of their way to explain how they come to believe it.
Anyway thank you.
Anthony Hopkins is v welsh !
Argh! Yes of course. Sorry.
As a languages teacher I was terrified of taking children abroad, being totally responsible for their safety. But on one occasion I had to take a crowd of Yr 11 girls to France. They were the same age as my daughter. We slept in chalets surrounding a courtyard that opened onto a tree-lined country road. There had been the dreadful case of a child murdered on just such a trip years before. I did not sleep for five nights, but stood guard. I imagined myself in the shoes of the teachers who have presided over school trips where random disasters have befallen them. You want to do your best, but what if something goes terribly wrong?
I'm reminded of the Etonian who was mauled to death by a polar bear on a school trip to Svalbard: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28376733
Also if you're dog-tired, don't leave your dog in the car.
I left my dog in the car and she wasn’t discovered until my husband went to get electricity. Thank god it was a very mild day and she was fine. I wasn’t even dog tired, I’m just a massive daydreamer who doesn’t always exist in reality for long enough to remember basic things. This story has given me the absolute willies and now I will always leave my phone in the back to stop it happening again. (Thank god my babies are now children who can get themselves out of a car).
Oh my god how awful--I'm so glad it turned out okay.
I think this happens a lot, horrifyingly.
That Anthony Hopkins piece made me want to watch silence of the lambs (a thing I didn't think was possible).
Gene Weingarten won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for that piece. I remember reading it when it came out and can still recall some of the horrific details. A brilliant and humane piece of writing. Ditto the Jennifer Senior piece you mention.