The phone as anti-ritual is fascinating. The only method I read about that could possibly be an antidote to doomscrolling is having not phone free *time*, but phone free *space* in the house. So, if you are not 'allowed' to take your phone into the kitchen, and you have to leave it outside - that's a kind of ritual I think! The idea of also having room-specific screens also seems more ritualistic. You would probably still have the same amount of screen time, but it would seem more deliberate and intentional to say 'now I will pursue my bathroom tiktok. Now time for my garden tiktok'. etc, starting and ending each stage with a physical movement (putting down one phone, taking up another). Still quite disturbing but with a charming aspect imo.
Sorry to hear about Covid With A Vengeance - get well soon!
I was going to say that Melania was an amateur compared to Dagmar Havlova, who filmed a nude scene while First Lady of the Czech Republic, but I checked and it turns out that movie was released five years before she married Vaclav Havel. Still, badass. I'd say it was very Bohemian of them, but it also turns out that she was born in Moravia rather than Bohemia.
“So we shouldn’t be surprised when people get upset at smartphone use in ritualistic settings—concert halls, movie theaters, shrines, etc. They instinctively feel that the phone is the enemy of ritual.”
This feels like overthinking to me - the reason smartphones are annoying in a cinema is because the light from the screen is distracting to other people who are trying to focus on the film? This would be the same for anything that’s “ritualistic” that involves light or noise? I’d also be annoyed if someone started candle gazing when I’m trying to watch a film.
WTF Lolita's mum is thinking is clear in Nabokov's book: she's thinking of herself, wants Humbert for herself, has no idea that he's after her daughter. Lolita is an annoyance for her; she's not selling her daughter, not paying attention to her at all. The climactic scene occurs when she sends Lolita away to summer camp so she can have Humbert for herself.
Nothing to do with what the NYTimes is writing about, but for the record.
V sorry to hear about Covid3. Take convalescence and a full recovery very seriously. However much we look forward to your pieces (and I do) get well first….
So interesting about ritual and phones, and Melania. And yes, the untold story about rock stars and young girls in the Swinging Sixties / Seventies is horrifying when looked at with today’s lens. But paralleled with much of society’s norms then. I remember, I was there! Hope you feel better soon.
I just rewatched Leaving Neverland and those Instagram mothers remind me of the mothers of the boys Jackson abused. They start out thinking it’s totally innocent, and as time goes on they begin to think there’s something not right going on, they know it’s weird, but they are addicted to the attention (of the megastar, in Jackson’s case) and can’t bring themselves to admit that it’s damaging their kids.
The phone as anti-ritual is fascinating. The only method I read about that could possibly be an antidote to doomscrolling is having not phone free *time*, but phone free *space* in the house. So, if you are not 'allowed' to take your phone into the kitchen, and you have to leave it outside - that's a kind of ritual I think! The idea of also having room-specific screens also seems more ritualistic. You would probably still have the same amount of screen time, but it would seem more deliberate and intentional to say 'now I will pursue my bathroom tiktok. Now time for my garden tiktok'. etc, starting and ending each stage with a physical movement (putting down one phone, taking up another). Still quite disturbing but with a charming aspect imo.
Sorry to hear about Covid With A Vengeance - get well soon!
I was going to say that Melania was an amateur compared to Dagmar Havlova, who filmed a nude scene while First Lady of the Czech Republic, but I checked and it turns out that movie was released five years before she married Vaclav Havel. Still, badass. I'd say it was very Bohemian of them, but it also turns out that she was born in Moravia rather than Bohemia.
“So we shouldn’t be surprised when people get upset at smartphone use in ritualistic settings—concert halls, movie theaters, shrines, etc. They instinctively feel that the phone is the enemy of ritual.”
This feels like overthinking to me - the reason smartphones are annoying in a cinema is because the light from the screen is distracting to other people who are trying to focus on the film? This would be the same for anything that’s “ritualistic” that involves light or noise? I’d also be annoyed if someone started candle gazing when I’m trying to watch a film.
WTF Lolita's mum is thinking is clear in Nabokov's book: she's thinking of herself, wants Humbert for herself, has no idea that he's after her daughter. Lolita is an annoyance for her; she's not selling her daughter, not paying attention to her at all. The climactic scene occurs when she sends Lolita away to summer camp so she can have Humbert for herself.
Nothing to do with what the NYTimes is writing about, but for the record.
V sorry to hear about Covid3. Take convalescence and a full recovery very seriously. However much we look forward to your pieces (and I do) get well first….
Get well HL!
Despite 3rd Covid (Sorry to hear that - get better soon.) another excellent weekly.
So interesting about ritual and phones, and Melania. And yes, the untold story about rock stars and young girls in the Swinging Sixties / Seventies is horrifying when looked at with today’s lens. But paralleled with much of society’s norms then. I remember, I was there! Hope you feel better soon.
Get well soon!
I just rewatched Leaving Neverland and those Instagram mothers remind me of the mothers of the boys Jackson abused. They start out thinking it’s totally innocent, and as time goes on they begin to think there’s something not right going on, they know it’s weird, but they are addicted to the attention (of the megastar, in Jackson’s case) and can’t bring themselves to admit that it’s damaging their kids.
Yes. Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Ugh, 3rd covid, poor you. Hope you’re feeling very better very soon 💐🍇