I think the thing that makes me so annoyed about Barbie is that, like... why isn't this film for kids? Do Gerwig and Baumbach think a kids' movie has to be shit? Have they not watched the Toy Stories? Shit, why not go to the multiplex right now and watch Spiderverse 2? Do they not know you can make a genuinely good, emotionally affecting, artistically innovative movie that's also high-key a toy commercial meant for five-year-olds? To tailor the film so strongly to the 35+ demo is to concede defeat before the first frame IMHO.
So I guess I share your linked article's frustration with children's books - I don't know where kids are supposed to turn these days for stuff in the vein of Gorey or The Phantom Tollbooth or even Goosebumps, the sort of stuff I just devoured as a child. And I like you have thought about writing books for kids - except I have your opposite problem, where I have some modicum of artistic talent but no ideas, LOL. (Perhaps this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship? Does Substack have DMs? :P)
Appreciated the link about children's books. As a father I can attest to my own kids' not caring one bit about the sentimental, "In Grandma's Garden" / "The Giving Tree" type of picture books. Instead they will go to the library and check out every book they can find on, for example, unicorns, or apples, or excavators. It's almost like they are doing research of some kind.
They've written books of their own; usually these books have absolutely no plot and are indescribably silly. So that is one data point in favor of the author's conclusion that kids should be allowed to look at things their own way.
Further anecdata: my 6-year-old nephew's favorite movie is "Jeepers Creepers 2." Sometimes I entertain him by drawing T-rexes fighting xenomorphs (he has seen the first four Alienses and loves them - even Resurrection, so I guess that movie has ONE fan)
Only about 100 pages. I also know nothing about Chaucer so it's quite interesting. More than simply a biography of him, it's sort of a biography of the 14th century, which makes me wish I had read Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror more recently, though maybe I should just read it again.
Ooh, I love biographies that are also history. I think the best ones are like that. If you can keep me posted via Notes as you're progressing along, I will be happy to read 'em! I may dive in on this one; it's in my wheelhouse for sure.
Yeah, this is also my preferred style of biography. I think I've mentioned here before how a very tight focus on the subject often obscures them, since we all exist in a context. Not understanding that makes a figure difficult to place
I think the thing that makes me so annoyed about Barbie is that, like... why isn't this film for kids? Do Gerwig and Baumbach think a kids' movie has to be shit? Have they not watched the Toy Stories? Shit, why not go to the multiplex right now and watch Spiderverse 2? Do they not know you can make a genuinely good, emotionally affecting, artistically innovative movie that's also high-key a toy commercial meant for five-year-olds? To tailor the film so strongly to the 35+ demo is to concede defeat before the first frame IMHO.
So I guess I share your linked article's frustration with children's books - I don't know where kids are supposed to turn these days for stuff in the vein of Gorey or The Phantom Tollbooth or even Goosebumps, the sort of stuff I just devoured as a child. And I like you have thought about writing books for kids - except I have your opposite problem, where I have some modicum of artistic talent but no ideas, LOL. (Perhaps this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship? Does Substack have DMs? :P)
Ha, it does not have DMs, sadly! But you can respond to this in your email and it sends me an email!
Appreciated the link about children's books. As a father I can attest to my own kids' not caring one bit about the sentimental, "In Grandma's Garden" / "The Giving Tree" type of picture books. Instead they will go to the library and check out every book they can find on, for example, unicorns, or apples, or excavators. It's almost like they are doing research of some kind.
They've written books of their own; usually these books have absolutely no plot and are indescribably silly. So that is one data point in favor of the author's conclusion that kids should be allowed to look at things their own way.
Yeah,my eldest is four and he mostly just finds monster books at the library
Further anecdata: my 6-year-old nephew's favorite movie is "Jeepers Creepers 2." Sometimes I entertain him by drawing T-rexes fighting xenomorphs (he has seen the first four Alienses and loves them - even Resurrection, so I guess that movie has ONE fan)
I know, like, nothing about Chaucer. How far along in that bio are you so far?
Only about 100 pages. I also know nothing about Chaucer so it's quite interesting. More than simply a biography of him, it's sort of a biography of the 14th century, which makes me wish I had read Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror more recently, though maybe I should just read it again.
Ooh, I love biographies that are also history. I think the best ones are like that. If you can keep me posted via Notes as you're progressing along, I will be happy to read 'em! I may dive in on this one; it's in my wheelhouse for sure.
Yeah, this is also my preferred style of biography. I think I've mentioned here before how a very tight focus on the subject often obscures them, since we all exist in a context. Not understanding that makes a figure difficult to place
Also, like: the further back you go, the more context you need. I *kind of* know what it was like in 14th century England, but not really.
Definitely