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TV Tuesdays Free Talk
Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
In one of the first quotes in Have a Good Trip With Psychedelics (Netflix), Sting says that he doesn't think psychedelics are the answer to everything. The rest of the documentary drives down the opposite view with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
I don't think it should give equal space to an opposing view, but a little bit of dissonance would do wonders to increase its credibility.
Besides the trippy enacted scenes and animation, there's not much change in pace. Its structure feels lazy. Segments obey the same formula: an interesting person talks about the first time they got high and their relationship with psychedelics.
A recurring segment parodies old-school anti-drug propaganda, but, as much in this doc, it's unfunny, contrived, and feels like beating a dead horse.
What I like in this documentary is that they interviewed a set of really awesome people, usually artists. People that would be interesting even if they were not talking about LSD trips. And yes, their LSD trips are interesting, especially the playful ones.
very light spoiler
The one I liked the most was the guy who forgot his own name and was afraid to ask. It was endearing and relatable.
The documentary ends with a quote by millionaire hack Deepak Chopra that ties very nicely all the grandiose nonsense some people get from these experiences, and during credits, they show news stories framing psychedelics in a very positive light.
I'm not saying psychedelics are bad, and I'm aware that there's much evidence to the contrary. But I am wary of cult-like adherence and overly broad extraordinary claims.
Let's say I found the whole thing entertaining enough to finish, but, regarding my own use, I'll wait for more clinical trials (before anyone asks: I have mental health issues and I researched the subject).
Regarding the documentary: I liked it, it was interesting and fun. But maybe it should have avoided the proselytism.
Finished Season 1 of Upload, and it's okay, but it ends on a hook for a second season when it probably could of wrapped it up if it chose to. It pulls the "first season is prologue" trope that I'm super annoyed with, and they codify in dialogue that the BBEG isn't really that b, b, or e, and there has to be a second guy behind the guy.
I also love Community to death, but I must say that this
is what many TV shows have been doing since the 90s. Dan is a gifted writer that does this very well.
I know the Harmon cycle. There are many models that screenwriters use to great effect. Harmon is great, better than most. But he did not invent the wheel.