Story untold (pt. 3)

In the previous posts I mentioned my objections to the idea that storytelling is the best way to understand your own life, one of which is that a story requires a hero and if you're telling the story that hero is likely to be you, regardless of whether that fits the facts. Maybe I invoked something: since I posted that, several depressingly perfect examples of what I'm talking about have arisen in my personal life. Let's just say I'm getting a lot of support for my thesis.

But let's talk about improv, because it's easier.

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Manly, yes, but I like it too

My friend Courtney posted a kickass note on Facebook exhorting female improvisers not to put up with sexist bullshit onstage. I think the implications of this extend beyond her original point, so rather than replicate the problem by further cluttering the comments section of her post, I thought I'd bring it over here.

Her advice to women improvisers is to be loud and aggressive, and I get that, and for some people that will be a hugely liberating moment. I would never argue against it, and I also get that when people are being loud for the first time in their lives it's likely they won't be able to modulate it perfectly. All cool.

But what bugs me about this suggestion is the assumption that improv itself is basically a shouting match to be won. I

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Story untold (pt. 2) (edit)

(This post was heavily edited to clarify some points. I'm pretty sure I didn't change the meaning any.)

In a previous post I mentioned being annoyed at the idea that stories are the best way for people to understand their lives.

First, can we agree that there's a difference between being annoyed by something and saying that it's wrong and should not exist? Good, thanks.

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Van Halen kicks ass

Story untold (pt. 1)

The New York Times ran a piece yesterday piling on the Succumber-in-Chief and trotting out yet again the idea that we understand the world through stories.

To which I reply: yes, of course. And ...

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This is what we do

Altman again: 

I never tell stories. I don't – stories don't interest me. There's only about six stories, seven stories. Basically, I'm more interested in behavior. What it is, simply ... I want to see something onscreen I haven't seen before. 

The debt to bad art

Robert Altman, in A Decade Under the Influence:

The filmmakers that influenced me the most -- I don't know their names. 'Cause I would go see a film and hate it, and I'd say, "I gotta remember never to do anything like that again."