Capitalism, the Musical (the series)
“I'm afraid we need the money up front.”
Crashing in Late Stage C
In our family, we have been talking a lot lately about integrity in art and how late stage Capitalism is destroying it. Let’s start with some humor with this clip from Phoebe Waller Bridge’s first—and truly brilliant—series, Crashing, a story about a group of UK twenty somethings trying to survive by living in a defunct hospital in a Property Guardian scheme. Here’s a bit of dialogue if you chose not to click through.
“I'm afraid we need the money up front.”
“I'm afraid I don't have any money.”
“Well I need the money now there are a lot of people on this waiting list who do have the money.”
The performances in that scene and the show are fantastic and it’s funny because it’s true! This is how people who need money or housing are often treated by people who have money or housing.
I know this first hand but that is a story for another day (or my memoir). Wherever I tell that story, it will never be sold out to Disney. This, I know.
Disney is no longer your mama’s playhouse
My daughter is in graduate school at DePaul University and is taking a class from renowned theater critic Chris Jones who had her class watch Angels in America and Hamilton, among others and discussed how few play by working class playwrights are staged.
Through this class, we also learned that Broadway theaters are all owned by a handful of huge corporations. Disney is one of them. Disney is a media company. Disney owns National Geographic now. Disney whose CEO made $31.6 million last year but recently did a round of layoffs. Disney owns so much at this point that I have to wonder about their intentions beyond just making money. This very long (and worthwhile) piece talks about star casting on Broadway, the differences between film and theater, and how much the bottom line is changing the fabric of the art. Here’s a pull quote:
Unfortunately, Disney has also become a model for producers looking for sure bets, which usually backfire, and for film companies looking to exploit their inventory. If these producers and film companies kept coming up with winners that wouldn’t matter, but their track record is not good; I’d say one out of five movie adaptations is successful financially, and more like one out of ten artistically.
The musical!
My son, Sebastian, created this playlist after I said, “We should write a show called “Capitalism: The Musical”!” I went on to say that it probably wouldn’t do well because people who benefit from that system might be too offended. Of course, the shows that these songs are from do an excellent job of reflecting the problems back to us.
What’s next for storytelling?
This is a question that keeps coming up for us. Not just the stories we tell on our screens and stages but for us as a collective and as individuals. Do we remain bystanders to the destruction of our planet and let corporations continue to knowingly put our children at risk? Can we all live comfortably and enjoy our lives without the onslaught of manipulative media and corporate overlords?
Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams thought so.
Former President of Uruguay, Pepe Mujica thinks so.
I also think so.
It might taking slowing down, sharing more, making soup for our people, paying more attention to ourselves and one another, and shifting our focus. Like I will continue to explore in my work.
Like we see in the film here which is this week’s movie recommendation (and palette cleanse), Here by Belgian filmmaker, Bas Devos, available on The Criterion Channel.
Thanks so much for reading. If you love this Friday Bricolage and want to keep it ad-free and free for all to read, become a paid subscriber or gift a paid subscription to someone you think would love it:
All my love,
Kymberlee
PS, If you want to see what I’ve been up to creatively, I’m creating something every day in October.
PPS, I’m not linking to it, but the reference for the title of this newsletter comes from a Disney creation called “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” which pretty much sums up the extractive absurdity of the system we find ourselves in.
PPPS, Here’s some beauty for you from Loyola Beach in Chicago because, why not?
