Friday, March 22, 2013

Cry, Bitch


HBO canceled its critically acclaimed dramedy “Enlightened” Tuesday evening. The show, which chronicled the cringe-inducing “recovery” of a business executive scrambling to put her life back together after an office meltdown, offered a searing critique of both the self-help industry and the corporate workplace.
Damn it - I was afraid of this: 

 Trying to make a NewAger a hero - even in her own mind - isn't going to cut it as "a searing critique". 

   
 Just as the great cult film Martha Marcy May Marlene unfortunately left out the most important information for deciphering the issue (my same criticism about the "Will & Grace" debate surrounding gays) the half-assed dramedy approach to exploring NewAge - instead of going for the jugular - just doesn't carry us deep enough into their delusions to ring true.

   
 “Enlightened” was a start, for television, though:

When I began this blog it was almost impossible to find any criticism of NewAge from the world of entertainment, but not anymore.

   
In “Enlightened” we saw NewAgers for what they are:

Troubled - and trouble - for all around them. 

Through Amy Jellicoe's parents, lovers, co-workers - and anyone else who doesn't buy into the vapid evangelical's empty belief system's insane promises - we finally explored (and this is a big one to me) a NewAger acting as a Nazi, committing multiple acts of revenge on those around her - usually in secret - for their heresy. It's laughable, sure, but how that translates into a comedy - or even a "dramedy" - I'm not sure. I told you, reality is settling in again, so it's really not funny. There are, literally, billions of these people out there, turning life into a horror show for everybody else - get real:


It's time for angry tears,...
 

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