Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
The world’s only one man media empire
Released in 1941, Citizen Kane is widely regarded as the greatest film ever made despite my falling asleep twice during it in film school, ranked so by the British Film Institute’s poll of critics while also topping the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Movie’s list, but what does that really mean? I’ll confess: I fell… Continue reading Citizen Kane and the greatest movie ever made
It’s the year 1600 and I am already an accomplished playwright, having written plays and created characters like Romeo and Juliet that would be revered for centuries. This might have been enough for any other artist, but I am not any artist by any means. I am William Shakespeare about to write Hamlet. It’s the… Continue reading I am William Shakespeare about to write Hamlet
The entire aside is unnecessary purely in terms of the plot, but Hamlet remains about far more than that. Perhaps, it is best seen as a vessel for ideas, where they come from, how they evolve, and where they go, and the beings that carry them. The eminent literary critic and scholar Harold Bloom once… Continue reading “We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots,” how Shakespeare captures both the circle of life and the futility of existence in a single sentence
Jaques, As You Like It’s “melancholy fellow,” is not likely to appear on any list of Shakespeare’s greatest characters, nor is his speech on the nature of his melancholy, but we see in him a sort of proto-Hamlet without the need to wound, opinion unrestrained, as he fancies himself said, claims it is better to… Continue reading Shakespeare’s most underrated character and speech, perhaps
It’s difficult to overstate the radical rewiring of humanity and our role in the world that occurred in Shakespeare’s era, fundamentally altering the nature of our relationship with ourselves, others, and reality itself. A rewriting that might be breaking down today... The late, great literary critic and legendary scholar Harold Bloom once claimed that William… Continue reading Shakespeare and the end of humanity as we know it
In one sense, Hamlet spins out the statement in a play of words, not intended to have any logical meaning, but to confuse his audience, hiding his real thoughts beneath the mask of insanity. In another, it contains the meaning of the entire play and Macbeth besides. O God, I could be bounded in a… Continue reading I could be bounded in a nutshell, Shakespeare’s genius in three cryptic phrases
Hamlet’s lessons for a happy holiday season and a successful life in general. Who knew Shakespeare’s tragic Danish Prince could offer such good advice on positive mental health while careening towards a bloody end for him and his entire family? “There is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so.” Hamlet speaks these few… Continue reading This Christmas let thinking make it so and be merry from the inside out
The Boss’ new album will be composed of entirely culturally appropriated songs, a collection of “soul music” covers, but that is inherently a good thing. Harold Bloom’s seminal The Anxiety of Influence reveals why all art, if not all ideas entirely, can be seen as the product of cultural appropriation. Bruce Springsteen is just the… Continue reading Bruce Springsteen and the artistic necessity of cultural appropriation
I was twelve years old when Queensryche released their rock opera, combining hair metal essentials with a subversive storyline about a heroin addicted assassin working for an underground revolution. For me, it radically changed my perspective on what a genre could be, introducing concepts I’d learn more about and fully embrace in the years to… Continue reading Operation: Mindcrime: How Queensryche’s masterful concept album changed my life
It’s past time to admit the stewards of these legendary works don’t really like the source material all that much, so they insist on tearing it down in the name of diversity until it becomes unrecognizable. Sadly, it’s the same impulse driving the progressive left and Critical Race Theory. This week D.C. Comics announced that… Continue reading Superman is gay, or at least bisexual, James Bond should be a woman, minority, or gay, and Tolkien needs a woke makeover
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 