Turning to stories
There is a torrent of news developments coming out of TFP’s transition: Cabinet nominees who are unqualified, corrupt, sexual predators, and authors of Project 2025. The play acting of Ramaswamy and Fuchs and their imaginary department of “Government Efficiency”. The continuing rejection of disclosures and ethical standards.
We are being tested in this moment, in our ability to participate as members of an informed electorate. Because keeping up with all of it is exhausting. (It is intended to be.)
I headed out to an early morning screening of Wicked.
It was as good of an adaptation as I could have hoped for: terrific performances, choreography, production design, costumes, and camera work, with a glorious-sounding 100-piece orchestra. I even think the 2 hour 40 minute run time—for just part one of the story—was fine! (Read Dana Stevens’ review in Slate.)
I am unapologetically pleased that in its opening weekend it has earned twice as much as the Gladiator sequel.
We turn to stories for meaning. For the release of our emotions. What the college-educated set call catharsis.
I feel grateful for how much I cried watching Wicked. (It was kind of a lot!)
Its anti-fascism themes will feel more relevant to many in 2024 than when the show debuted in 2003. But even as we accompany Elphaba on her journey to radicalization, this Broadyway-Hollywood product—this story—will not itself be an instrument of revolutionary social change.
But resistance to authoritarianism takes many forms. Many in TFP’s first administration have since rejected (and continue to reject) him. We can welcome and accept help and partnership from people who voted for TFP in this election. Some may come to realize that what we will get is not what they voted for.
As Glinda sings (at the start of Act II, not part of this year’s film):
There’s a kind of a sort of... cost
There’s a couple of things get... lost
There are bridges you cross
You didn’t know you crossed
Until you’ve crossed
We may choose to make sacrifices in the work that lies ahead of us. But we need not sacrifice everything that makes us human.
In the Star Wars television series Andor (an even more explicitly anti-fascist work), the character of Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) is so committed to sacrificing himself for the cause of revolution that he would never allow himself the pleasure of a Sunday morning movie in a theater with just eight others in it.
“Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts...
“I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost, and by the time I looked down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.” —Luthen Rael, Andor, “One Way Out”
We turn to stories to help us imagine a better world worth fighting for. We turn to stories to help us grieve the better world that we keep failing to build.
One @#$%ing thing
It may be useful to reflect on what we have placed online, and whether it should continue to remain there.
I was reminded recently of a blog I wrote and published in 2005 and 2006. While I employed aliases for my wife and son (“the boy”), I used my own name.
As the boy approaches 21 he deserves to be free of these digital footprints from his toddler years that he himself did not leave.
Tonight I deleted this blog.
All the @#$%ing things
Night 18: Researched nonprofit board opportunities
Night 17: Contributed to Trans Lifeline
Night 16: Spent time together with loved ones
Night 15: Bought from a not-for-profit online store
Night 14: Refined an icon and wordmark
Night 13: Contributed to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
Night 12: Contributed to The Guardian
Night 11: Read, reflected, and rested
Night 10: Sent money to support vaccinations in Nigeria
Night 9: Sent money to a friend in need
Night 8: Gave gifts and spoke words of appreciation aloud
Night 7: Contributed to a California-focused nonprofit newsroom
Night 6: Made homemade donuts for my team
Night 5: Opted into a paid Buttondown tier
Night 4: Reviewed my local election results
Night 3: Deactivated my X account
Night 2: Contributed to my local nonprofit newsroom
Night 1: Started by starting
Words, sorts, thinks, and actions by Chris Ereneta, from Oakland, California. Thanks for reading! Thoughtful feedback and questions are welcomed at that.often@gmail.com