Dark Matter 2.4: "There's no entrance to the diner"

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942

So I'll tell you my favorite scene in Dark Matter 2.4: Charlie and Daniela looking at Edward Hopper's 1942 painting "Nighthawks", hanging in an art gallery in Chicago (it hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago in our reality).   Charlie tells her we're not supposed to connect to the people in the diner, because "there's no entrance to the diner".

Science fiction is supposed to be about science, not art.  But Ray Bradbury's celebrated The Illustrated Man, an anthology in which each story tells the tale of a different one of the 18 different tattoos on William the Illustrated Man's arm, is a notable exception, and there are others.  So the first thing that grabbed me and stayed with me about this scene is: good for Blake Crouch for including it in this episode of Dark Matter.

But disconnection, the difficulty of people to connect and relate, is a hallmark of this series, and the transcendent watermark of this episode.  Everyone is cut off from people they care about -- not because they're far away physically, but far away emotionally, separated in some cases by the chasms of alternate realities.

The Dessens are the most affected and afflicted.  Daniela still can't get over shooting the version of Jason she shot to death, and who can blame her.  I mean, the guy looked and sounded like Jason, because he was a Jason, and in shooting him Daniela inevitably killed something of the man she loved -- who, as far as we know, also loved her.

So the people in Hopper's painting capture the predominant disconnection of the people in Dark Matter.  But maybe that painting holds a ray of hope for the people in this streaming series.  The viewers of the painting, anyone outside of the diner in the painting -- we don't see any in the painting --can't connect to the people in the diner.  But ... the people sitting in the diner, the couple, the man sitting alone, the counter man behind the counter -- there's no reason they can't connect, right?  And if that's possible, maybe the same is true for the characters in Dark Matter, especially the characters who come from the same reality.

I wish there was some way to get this message to Daniela.  But, as far as I know, there is no way to directly communicate with characters on the other side of the streaming screen.  Though, come to think of it, in a way, maybe there is ...

See also Dark Matter 2.1: Who's Who in the Infinite Bucket ... 2.2: Sam Spade Back in Action ... 2.3: Can Two Couples Be in Two Different Places at the Same Time?

And see also Dark Matter 1.1-1.2: Break-Neck Action and Philosophic Contemplation ... 1.3 Missing Fingers ... 1.4 The Multiverse Unveiled ... 1.5: The Lesson ... 1.6 "A Bunch of Chicagos" ... 1.7: Obama Tower ... 1.8: A Bevy Of Jasons ... 1.9: Science Fiction and Horror

Paul Levinson interviews Paul Kaplan about The Thingy That's Stringy

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 422, in which I interview Paul Kaplan about his book of poetry for people of all ages, The Thingy That's Stringy. 

Relevant links:

• get The Thingy That's Stringy here
• my review of The Thingy That's Stringy here or here

Check out this episode!

Fauda 5: Powerful, Necessary, Unforgettable

I binged the fifth season of Fauda on Netflix the past two nights.  As is well-known, the script for this season was substantially re-written after the savage Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.  The result was the story of an increasingly desperate attempt to stop a new terrorist attack -- an attempt by three members of the original Fauda team, Doron, Eli, and Steve -- each of them with a direct involvement in the Israeli attempt to stem the Hamas slaughter of unarmed Israelis in 2023.

In fact, the most effective two episodes in this 11-part season -- episodes 7 and 8 -- tell the harrowing stories of Doron, Eli, and Steve on that October day, an emotionally explosive account that made a highly effective, two-part movie in itself.  With all the anti-semitism rising around the world, it's more important than ever for the terrible story of October 7 to get out to the world.

This explicit connection to and depiction of such a vile real life event makes this fifth season of Fauda in significant part a docu-drama, an evocative, unforgettable depiction of fictitious characters in an all-too-real situation.  That reason alone makes this fifth season uniquely important and memorable.

But the fiction was significant, too.  Mélanie Laurent's Anne, the wife of someone who may be a Hamas operative in Marseilles, is an excellent addition to the story and cast, and plays a crucial part in the narrative.  Lior Raz as Doron (co-creator of the series with Avi Issacharoff), Yaakov Zada-Daniel as Eli, Doron Ben-David as Steve, and Itzik Cohen as Gabi are always welcome on the screen -- Gabi frequently has the best lines, like "I'm getting too old for this" -- and as always, the Yiddishkeit is good to hear and see.

Indeed, last night was the final night of Rosh Hashanah, so seeing Fauda over the past two nights felt especially right.  But its story, especially the story this season, is especially appropriate, any time, and any year.

Wars always have unforeseen wretched consequences.  World War I spawned fighting from the sky, World War II gave us nuclear weapons, the October 7 Hamas attack led to the decimation of Gaza.  Fauda 5 doesn't tell us that story, but it vividly reminds us why it happened.  It will be an essential marker of an unspeakably inhuman part of history.

See also Fauda: Beyond Homeland ... Fauda 2: Another Unforgettable Visit ... Fauda 3: Blood, Tears, Humanity ... Fauda 4: Very Much Alive and Wounded ... 

Dark Matter 2.3: Can Two Couples Be in Two Different Places at the Same Time?

That question -- can two couples be in two places at the same time -- is posted fairly early in the latest episode of Dark Matter, 2.3.  Let's look at that question more carefully.

The obvious answer is of course not, unless you're a world in which alternate realities exist.  But, actually ...

We've been in such a world ever since mass media were invented.  I mean, a photograph printed in a newspaper can be in as many realities or worlds simultaneously as the number of newspapers printed. If people are careful with their newspapers, or were talking about books, photos of people can also travel forward in time without aging too much.

But wait, a photograph of a person isn't really a person, right?  People can move and talk.  Ok, well, what about a person talking on the radio, or talking on television, or talking on a streaming service like Apple TV?   Edmund Carpenter, someone who worked with Marshall McLuhan, said when people are on television, they're like angels, which in some interpretations can be omnipresent, much like a deity.

So we can add angels to alternate realities as places where people or humanlike entities can be in more than one place, indeed an infinite number of places, at the same time.  But there's an important difference between angels and the characters we see in Dark Matter.  Those folks are certainly not angels, and some of them do some very bad things.  After all, Dark Matter is a life-and-death got-you-by-the-throat science fiction drama in just about every scene.

But angels and Dark Matter and alternate realities do have one thing common:  they're all modes of fiction, as far as we know.  See you back here next week, after we find out what happens next to the devils and angels on our screen.

See also Dark Matter 2.1: Who's Who in the Infinite Bucket ... 2.2: Sam Spade Back in Action

And see also Dark Matter 1.1-1.2: Break-Neck Action and Philosophic Contemplation ... 1.3 Missing Fingers ... 1.4 The Multiverse Unveiled ... 1.5: The Lesson ... 1.6 "A Bunch of Chicagos" ... 1.7: Obama Tower ... 1.8: A Bevy Of Jasons ... 1.9: Science Fiction and Horror

In-Depth Two-Part Interview about Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan

Here's the two-part interview Andrey Mir recently did with me about Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan.  I was Postman's student, and I wrote two books about McLuhan, as well as organized the one and only conference about the Tetrad.   

Dark Matter 2.2: Sam Spade Back in Action

Dark Matter 2.2 starts off with a nice piece of alternate history, as Jason, Daniela, and Charlie seek "A Perfect World" (title of the episode), actually a world in which they can find some relief from the chaos.  And they find a world with no Internet, smart phones, home computers, or social media -- all because Nixon beat Kennedy, and defunded NASA, and we never got to the Moon -- the race to get there in our reality having sharpened science and invention.

[More slight spoilers ahead .... ]

And the ending had a nice piece of a different kind, as we see Jason and Daniela unknowingly just across the hall of the hotel from Ryan and Amanda, one of the other couples and people making their way through the maze of alternate realities in this so-far not only exciting but conceptually rich second season.

But my favorite part of this episode is private detective (listed in the IMDb credits as "agent", though I thought I saw "Private Investigation" on his door) Mitchel MacNamara, whom Jason goes to for help, but we see at the end investigating the box that is the conduit to alternate realities.  MacNamara (played by Chris Diamantopoulos, an actor with a dossier of many roles) has a Sam Spade played by Humphrey Bogart kind of vibe, which is always welcome, but an especially good addition to this story of alternate realities with omnipresent life-and-death implications and consequences. 

And come to think of it, Sam Spade is a logical inhabitant of the technologically stifled world that Jason finds himself in -- The Maltese Falcon movie adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1929-1930 novel in which Bogart's Spade appeared hit theaters in 1941, a world just slightly less advanced than the place that Jason and family are hoping is a refuge.  

I really like that world in movies made at the time, and in streaming series and movies that harken back to that early media world (by our current standards).  But you know what?  I streamed Dark Matter 2.2 on my Mac Airbook last night, and I'm writing this review on that same laptop computer, and posting it on my blogs, and I like that world just fine, thank you. :)

See also Dark Matter 2.1: Who's Who in the Infinite Bucket

And see also Dark Matter 1.1-1.2: Break-Neck Action and Philosophic Contemplation ... 1.3 Missing Fingers ... 1.4 The Multiverse Unveiled ... 1.5: The Lesson ... 1.6 "A Bunch of Chicagos" ... 1.7: Obama Tower ... 1.8: A Bevy Of Jasons ... 1.9: Science Fiction and Horror

Review of Paul Kaplan's The Thingy That's Stringy: Be Careful, You Might Laugh Your Head Off

I rarely review poetry, and I don't think I've ever reviewed a book of poetry intended to be read by kids.  But Paul Kaplan was my student in Fordham University's Masters program in Media back in 2002-2004, just a few years after I got there, and I knew he was brilliant and funny, so ...

It turns out The Thingy That's Stringy is not only very wise and hilarious, it can be equally enjoyed -- immensely, if you ask me -- by adults as well as children. (It also has funny drawings done the author.) Kaplan is a master of taking metaphors literally, and this collection explores someone who wants to borrow a nap someone else is taking, a fish that has an underbite because it lives under water, dogs that walk people, a really lost sole, a kitten that catches colds not mice, hens that sit on eggplants, someone who looks for a giraffe after being told that his calf is behind his shin, someone who wonders why we call it a funny bone when it hurts so much after we hit it, someone who balks when someone asks him to give a hand because he only has two, someone who wonders exactly where the skin of their teeth is, a frustrated hummingbird who yearns to actually sing, a lazy eye that won't do any work, a student who asks the teacher can I go to the bathroom and gets an answer "I don't know -- can you?", and, well, you get the picture.

My copy of The Thingy That's Stringy is now plastered with post-it notes, in case I want to get a poem that will make me chuckle or laugh my head off in a hurry.  "A man's reach must exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for," the poet Robert Browning advised in the middle of the 19th century.   A century later, Marshall McLuhan upped the ante by replacing the word "heaven" with "metaphor".   And poet Paul Kaplan has now done it again with a deconstruction of metaphor that will keep your mind in stitches (ouch)  :)

And to be clear, kids will laugh with this book of poetry, too.  My wife sent a copy of the book to our two grandsons, then aged six and ten.   The first loved it, and the second was laughing too.  Whatever your age, I predict that you will be too.