NY Times Advocates to STOP Treating Psychotic Disorders, Yellowstone Shut Out of Awards, The 2008 Album Shaping Pop Music Today (The Five for 07/15/22)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
Recently, the NY Times ran an article (which is paywalled) questioning whether people who experience psychotic episodes should be medicated if they can just “live with the voices.”
This is part of a larger movement to “normalize” psychotic disorders, which is most obvious in Gen Z influencers on TikTok “explaining” their multiple personalities within Disassociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder)…check it out for yourself:
A video response from writer Daniel Bergner went viral in which he admits he would have murdered his ex-girlfriend during a psychotic episode because he believed she was putting glass and poison in his food (the two had not seen each other for years and didn’t live close to one another when he believed this.
Bergner’s video is worth a watch…but if you don’t have time, the core of his message is that people experiencing psychotic episodes need help to get on (and stay on) a treatment plan…and acceptance of their disorder as “just a part of them” could result in the harm or death of the patient or others.
I’m not going to reward the NY Times for their poor journalism by paying for the article, but from what I can gather on Bair Weiss’ interview with Bergner, the NYT doesn’t even interview sources that question whether it’s a good idea to stop treating people with psychotic disorders in favor of “radical acceptance.”
This is a terrible, unscientific line of thinking on how to treat mental illness. And an idea that will almost certainly lead to the loss of human life.
We should not value people’s emotions over their wellbeing and survival, but that’s exactly what the NYT is arguing for.
[two]
An update on the uncertain, and poorly reported story of a 10-year-old rape victim traveling from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion (covered in the previous issue of The Five), the story has taken an even more bizarre turn…as the mother is now defending her child’s alleged rapist.
The mother of a 10-year-old rape victim told Telemundo on Thursday that her daughter is “fine,” suggesting that the media are lying about her daughter’s alleged rapist, 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes.
Fuentes was arrested and charged with first-degree rape on Tuesday after allegedly confessing to raping the Ohio minor, who reportedly became pregnant and obtained an abortion out-of-state.
“Everything they are saying against him is a lie,” a woman claiming to be the victim’s mother said, according to translated reporting from Telemundo.
The reporter was at the home of Fuentes when the victim’s mother answered the door. She did not give her name, nor did she want to be on camera.
The mother added that her 10-year-old daughter “is fine,” said Jorge Bonilla, who serves as Media Research Center’s director of MRC Latino.
Despite the portrayal of the alleged rapist as a minor, Fuentes is indeed a 27-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala.
Even more gut-wrenching than one 10-year-old rape victim (with a mother who’s defending her alleged rapist) is the fact that this is just one of FIFTY crimes against girls younger than 16 in Columbus Ohio…in the last two month, according to CNN:
An analysis of Columbus police reports filed since May 9 found 50 reports of rape or sexual abuse involving girls 15 years or younger.
Hat Tip: Matt
[three]
Despite being the most popular show on TV (with audiences and critics alike), Yellowstone was completely shut out of the Emmy nominations.
The Paramount series is arguably the most popular show on cable, drawing an average audience of 11 million total viewers during its fourth season, per the Los Angeles Times. This is mainly due to the incredible performance of lead actor Kevin Costner, along with a solid supporting cast.
“Yellowstone” is so popular it spurred multiple spinoffs, including the critically acclaimed prequel “1883,” which did receive nominations for cinematography and music. But the two Westerns aren’t in the running for major awards like Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Drama Series.
“Yellowstone” has been popular for all four seasons, yet the series earned just one Emmy nomination previously for production design for a narrative contemporary program. It lost.
The fact on Rotten Tomatoes, while the most recent season boasts a 90% rating.
From an op-ed in The Daily Mail:
We live in an era where what is considered a critical hit often ends up on one cover after another, winning Hollywood awards many times over, while at the same time barely breaking over a few million viewers.”
“The show isn’t woke, it isn’t trying to lecture anyone about everything that is wrong with our culture,” she continued. “It doesn’t portray the elitist perspective of coastal television writers and where they think America should be going.”
Skipping over shows people actually like…does little to hurt Yellowstone, but it can’t help the Emmy’s, which experience lower ratings every year.
Hat Tip: Craig at Second Drafts
[four]
When The Five started 2.5 years ago, I planned to include more curated lists, but that feature “fell off” as this publication grew. After the success of the mid-year culture report, I’m bringing it back.
Here are my top five songs that deal with real historical figures and events.
Tim Barry: “Prosser’s Gabriel”
Gabriel Prosser was a literate slave who worked off-plantation and learned of the Haitian slave rebellion. A blacksmith, he orchestrated a complex plan for slaves to overthrow their masters and hammered out nearly 150 swords, a slew of musket balls and several spears to do it.
On the day of the would-be rebellion, torrential rain delayed the plans, and Gabriel was sold out by a co-conspirator, who alerted slaveowner Mosby Shepherd. Prosser escaped downriver to Norfolk, but was again betrayed by a slave who turned him in.
At the trial, it was revealed that Gabriel Prosser had written the words of Patrick Henry on a silk flag, “Give me liberty or give me death.” When questioned, one of Gabriel’s fellow slaves, facing execution, refused to give an account of the rebellion…and instead compared himself to George Washington, who also fought for the freedom of his people.
Prosser’s legacy was more or less ignored until 2002, when the city of Richmond formally recognized his story and legacy. Today, Prosser is regularly celebrated in Richmond and the surrounding area in Virginia.
Granville Automatic: “Grancer Harrison”
A mini-biography of a curious wealthy southerner who built a dancehall on his property and hosted horse races many Thursday afternoons. As his health began to fail in old age, William “Grancer” Harrison gave very specific instructions on his burial, including to bury him in a brick tomb constructed within earshot of his beloved dancehall, feet shod in his famous dancing clogs and his prized fiddle tucked into his hands.
The Thursday night dances continued after Harrison’s death (per his wishes), but eventually faded out without the charismatic host.
An abundance of ghost stories sprung up around Grancer’s tomb, with locals claiming to see a dancing figure in the moonlight and hearing fiddle music…but the real life story is more than enough to capture my imagination (and inspire this excellent song).
Granville Automatic: “Commanche”
The true tale of the lone survivor of Little BigHorn (Custer’s Last Stand)…not a person, but a war horse from the slaughtered Seventh Calvary, who fell to the Lakota Souix forces. Badly wounded, Commanche was recovered by U.S. forces two days after the battle.
He is one of only four horses in the nation’s history to receive a formal Military Funeral.
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster: “Just Wanted to Make Mother Proud”
Former Underoath vocalist Taylor Dallas Taylor got kicked out of the Florida hardcore outfit just before they ascended to the top of the Billboard charts, but he had a heck of a second act. Maylene and the Sons of Disaster was named after the notorious Ma Barker and her sons, the most notorious bank robbers of the Great Depression era
The gang ended when Ma and her son Fred died in a four hour shootout with the police in Florida in 1935. The song takes some liberty with the facts, going with the (unconfirmed) narrative that Fred committed suicide after Ma fell to gunfire.
Memories of my brothers/racing through my mind
And soon I know/we’ll all be together again
I reach down and reload my ticket home
The taste of cold steel on my lipsThen a second later, silence fills the January air
And they carried us off and let the city see our defeat
But we live on
Years may pass /But the story will be told
Of Mother Maylene and us, her Sons of Disaster
Some surviving members of the gang wound up in Alcatraz, which brings us to…
Capital Lights: “Frank Morris”
If this song is playing in the background, you might label it as yet another mid—00’s pop punk outfit singing about heartbreak or whatever 20somethings worry about…and miss the real message here.
Capital Lights never quite took off, and it’s a shame “Frank Morris” found an audience. There’s some seriously good songwriting chops on display here as the verses weave through the infamous attempted (successful?) escape from the notorious Alcatraz prison.
[five]
As always, let’s head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup:
Where the Crawdad’s Sing, a hybrid romance/murder-mystery hits theaters this weekend…but is getting really bad reviews. The source novel was hyped by Reese Witherspoon, who produces here, but can’t repeat on the critical success of Big Little Lies or Little Fires Everywhere (two hits that Reese’s company adapted from page to screen and became massive hits).
And speaking of novel-to-movie adaptations tanking with critics, The Gray Man, a Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land) and Chris Evans (Captain America, Avengers) spy/action thriller is getting trashed in the reviews. Catch it in theaters this weekend or on Netflix starting next week.
For the record, I don’t trust the critics’ take on either of these movies and plan to check both out.
A new teaser dropped for the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show on Amazon…despite my initial hesitations, I think this one looks really solid.
Streaming September 1st.
Season two of Only Murders in the Building, the quirky true crime comedy/mystery is turning into one of the summer’s biggest hits and currently boasts a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I haven’t started season 2 yet, but season 1 was good enough for me to officially recommend adding it to your queue.NEW MUSIC:
Two months after dropping a 34 song album, indie country artist Zach Bryan returns with…a new nine song EP. And it’s great.
Absent from streaming services until today, Kid Cudi re-released his 2008 debut mixtape, which is still influencing the direction of pop music.
Learn more about the story of the legendary mixtape here:
Until the next one,
-sth