Before the Dude explores this week’s Wednesday Watch, a shout goes out to Pete Kostelnick, a Lincolnite who won this year’s
Badwater 135 Ultramarathon. The Dude has previously written about Badwater, and wants to acknowledge Pete’s accomplishment. The running world is yours, Pete. The rest of us just live in it.
Now today let’s take a look at two TV series offerings (available on DVD from your local library). The first,
Orphan Black, is from BBC America (via the Canadian Space Channel), and the other,
Black Mirror, is from British Channel 4.
Orphan Black came highly recommended by a number of individuals, and the Dude was hyped up after a few episodes. Toward the end of season 1, his buzz was decimated. And thus, unfortunately,
Orphan Black cannot be recommended. There are, however, some positives, but they don’t really outweigh the negatives. According to WorldCat, 5 public libraries have season 1 of
Orphan Black. The premise of
Orphan Black is this: A woman named Sarah sees another woman (Beth) commit suicide by jumping in front of a train. Just before the act, Sarah eerily notices that Beth looks identical to her. Immediately after the suicide, Sarah steals Beth’s identity and eventually discovers that not only are she and Beth clones, identical in appearance and genetic material, but there are numerous other clones in addition to the two of them. At first, the notion seemed intriguing, and this appeared to be a fresh new go-to show, but the feeling didn’t last. In fact, the Dude had placed a hold on the season 2 DVD’s, but returned them unwatched. Yes, it was that disappointing. Tatiana Maslany, the actress who plays the clones, does do an excellent job. The problem, however, has to do with what would be considered unrealistic script writing, introducing characters that otherwise appear quite reasonable and placing them in situations where they act quite unreasonable. The Dude found it not so much believable. But wait! Perhaps it is somewhat due to budget restraints. The same feeling of un-believability occurred when watching FX’s
Sons of Anarchy. The show was intriguing, or a little above meh, but that’s about it. On the sci-fi front, because it seems like that is the theme here this week, the Dude is anxiously awaiting and has high hopes for HBO’s upcoming
Westworld.
Compared to
Orphan Black, the British Channel 4 series
Black Mirror presents an entirely different level of exoticity. The Dude was disappointed to discover that no Nebraska libraries have season 1 of
Black Mirror, and just 20 libraries in the world have it, according to WorldCat.
Black Mirror would be a great choice to add to your library’s DVD collection. How to describe
Black Mirror? Well, it’s often been said it’s like an updated, technologically marinated version of
the Twilight Zone. That would be a fair assessment, along with the fact that it is often just plain creepy. Like, look over your shoulder if you are watching it late at night or
Twin Peaks-y bad dreams after you watch it type creepy. Like that. And the Dude doesn’t generally like creepy things, because, well, they often result in the Dude feeling creepy, and the Dude doesn’t like that. The series creator,
Charlie Brooker, asks the question: “If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects?”
Black Mirror explores this premise, in the disconnected, dirty, and often hopeless way that technology sometimes leaves us feeling. Like
the Twilight Zone or
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, each episode stands on its own, with different characters in different situations.
One side effect of the show is that it does provoke thought about technology, its use, and its application, and (the Dude won’t sugar coat it), it often isn’t good. To a certain extent fear, loneliness, and disconnection married to technology breed a pessimistic cocktail indeed. At least technology has that potential; to feed the worst parts of our souls. OK, enough with the philosophical pessimism (the Dude has been reading Schopenhauer on and off this month), let’s tie this into libraries somehow.
The defining factor is that both the library of the 21
st Century and even the critic of the 21
st Century library often rely too much on technology as a solution to societal problems or even societal wants. While technology does play an important role (the Dude won’t argue that point), the library of the future should transcend it. It’s not an either/or proposition (as many see it), but rather a Ken Wilber-esque
integral type of theory. We need not double-down on technology, but rather walk away from the casino with some real life human connection. In the age of what Brooker aptly refers to as the
Black Mirror, we are often left with a numbness or certain icky-ness feeling that seems more like an infinite means to an end rather than the technology and human ends in themselves. Libraries may be able to help alleviate those feelings, but it has just as much (or more) to do with us than the library as a modern day institution, facilitator, place, or technology salesman. Outside of the running world (which belongs to Pete), it’s our world (and also the world of the hummingbird, butterfly, flower, sun dried tomato, and other such niceties and even not so niceties), and we all live in it. Shaka.
Before the Dude explores this week’s Wednesday Watch, a shout goes out to Pete Kostelnick, a Lincolnite who won this year’s Badwater 135 Ultramarathon. The Dude has previously written about Badwater, and wants to acknowledge Pete’s accomplishment. The running world is yours, Pete. The rest of us just live in it.
Now today let’s take a look at two TV series offerings (available on DVD from your local library). The first, Orphan Black, is from BBC America (via the Canadian Space Channel), and the other, Black Mirror, is from British Channel 4. Orphan Black came highly recommended by a number of individuals, and the Dude was hyped up after a few episodes. Toward the end of season 1, his buzz was decimated. And thus, unfortunately, Orphan Black cannot be recommended. There are, however, some positives, but they don’t really outweigh the negatives. According to WorldCat, 5 public libraries have season 1 of Orphan Black. The premise of Orphan Black is this: A woman named Sarah sees another woman (Beth) commit suicide by jumping in front of a train. Just before the act, Sarah eerily notices that Beth looks identical to her. Immediately after the suicide, Sarah steals Beth’s identity and eventually discovers that not only are she and Beth clones, identical in appearance and genetic material, but there are numerous other clones in addition to the two of them. At first, the notion seemed intriguing, and this appeared to be a fresh new go-to show, but the feeling didn’t last. In fact, the Dude had placed a hold on the season 2 DVD’s, but returned them unwatched. Yes, it was that disappointing. Tatiana Maslany, the actress who plays the clones, does do an excellent job. The problem, however, has to do with what would be considered unrealistic script writing, introducing characters that otherwise appear quite reasonable and placing them in situations where they act quite unreasonable. The Dude found it not so much believable. But wait! Perhaps it is somewhat due to budget restraints. The same feeling of un-believability occurred when watching FX’s Sons of Anarchy. The show was intriguing, or a little above meh, but that’s about it. On the sci-fi front, because it seems like that is the theme here this week, the Dude is anxiously awaiting and has high hopes for HBO’s upcoming Westworld.
Compared to Orphan Black, the British Channel 4 series Black Mirror presents an entirely different level of exoticity. The Dude was disappointed to discover that no Nebraska libraries have season 1 of Black Mirror, and just 20 libraries in the world have it, according to WorldCat. Black Mirror would be a great choice to add to your library’s DVD collection. How to describe Black Mirror? Well, it’s often been said it’s like an updated, technologically marinated version of the Twilight Zone. That would be a fair assessment, along with the fact that it is often just plain creepy. Like, look over your shoulder if you are watching it late at night or Twin Peaks-y bad dreams after you watch it type creepy. Like that. And the Dude doesn’t generally like creepy things, because, well, they often result in the Dude feeling creepy, and the Dude doesn’t like that. The series creator, Charlie Brooker, asks the question: “If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects?” Black Mirror explores this premise, in the disconnected, dirty, and often hopeless way that technology sometimes leaves us feeling. Like the Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents, each episode stands on its own, with different characters in different situations.
One side effect of the show is that it does provoke thought about technology, its use, and its application, and (the Dude won’t sugar coat it), it often isn’t good. To a certain extent fear, loneliness, and disconnection married to technology breed a pessimistic cocktail indeed. At least technology has that potential; to feed the worst parts of our souls. OK, enough with the philosophical pessimism (the Dude has been reading Schopenhauer on and off this month), let’s tie this into libraries somehow.
The defining factor is that both the library of the 21st Century and even the critic of the 21st Century library often rely too much on technology as a solution to societal problems or even societal wants. While technology does play an important role (the Dude won’t argue that point), the library of the future should transcend it. It’s not an either/or proposition (as many see it), but rather a Ken Wilber-esque integral type of theory. We need not double-down on technology, but rather walk away from the casino with some real life human connection. In the age of what Brooker aptly refers to as the Black Mirror, we are often left with a numbness or certain icky-ness feeling that seems more like an infinite means to an end rather than the technology and human ends in themselves. Libraries may be able to help alleviate those feelings, but it has just as much (or more) to do with us than the library as a modern day institution, facilitator, place, or technology salesman. Outside of the running world (which belongs to Pete), it’s our world (and also the world of the hummingbird, butterfly, flower, sun dried tomato, and other such niceties and even not so niceties), and we all live in it. Shaka. 
