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Interview with Bob Odenkirk

nytimes.com

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Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#41

Post by lo_zamoyski »

bradhe wrote: post #18
dang wrote: post #144

[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]

When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.

Strictly speaking, meaninglessness is opposed to farce. You can’t have both utter meaninglessness and farce, because meaning is intrinsic to farce.

Comedy presupposes meaning, because comedy hinges on the absurd, but the absurd is a departure from meaning or a deviation from it. Something is absurd when it fails to be meaningful and fails to satisfy the rational in the broader context of rational meaning.

There is no laughter in the utterly meaningless. There cannot be silliness without an overarching context of seriousness.

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#42

Post by thesamethrowawa »

sph wrote: post #37
tipiirai wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misinterpreted. The comment said "When you're suffering...", not "When you're poor..."

"Desire is the root of all suffering" — Buddha You'll have a hard time finding more suffering than in Wall Street. Meanwhile I haven't found more content, relaxed people than when I visited my distant family in sub-Saharan Africa, taking life as it comes. My point still stands.

> Meanwhile I haven't found more content, relaxed people than when I visited my distant family in sub-Saharan Africa, taking life as it comes. My point still stands.

You seem to be arguing against the point "only happy people can be rich". This isn't what the GP comment said. It said only rich people come out with things like "life is a farce". Which I think is true. Are any of your sub saharan african relatives giving interviews to press pontificating on such things? I assume no.

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#43

Post by smugglerFlynn »

sph wrote: post #26
bradhe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.

Your comment is exactly what successful and rich people say. You can find a lot of joy and acceptance among the poorest of people: the mind is remarkably adaptable, yet it's only those that always strive for more that cannot enjoy life's little moments. I truly dislike this recent trend of making people feel bad if they have learned to just slow down and be content with life. "It's privilege being able to take a brea…

Exactly! What a high-profile actor’s life represents to an accountant or a programmer, that accountant’s or programmer’s life similarly represents to a factory worker, and so on.

I've met "too busy for this" people in every line of work, regardless of their pay band. When you get to know people, you will see that pretty much everyone has their own trenches, and slowing down is a matter of priorities, not privilege.

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#44

Post by [deleted] »

bradhe wrote: post #18
dang wrote: post #144

[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]

When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.

[deleted]

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#45

Post by Phemist »

julienmarie wrote: post #36
bradhe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.

On the contrary, read the piece. He's not saying it from comfort, he's saying it after a heart attack, after his kids grew up, after the form he loved became a young man's game. The farce isn't a punchline delivered from above; it's what's left when the registers that used to hold you don't anymore. And his answer isn't despair, it's "we've got to keep trying… there's a breeze beneath my wings." That's not whimsy. Th…

A triple "It's not this... it's that"...

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#46

Post by watwut »

sph wrote: post #37
tipiirai wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misinterpreted. The comment said "When you're suffering...", not "When you're poor..."

"Desire is the root of all suffering" — Buddha You'll have a hard time finding more suffering than in Wall Street. Meanwhile I haven't found more content, relaxed people than when I visited my distant family in sub-Saharan Africa, taking life as it comes. My point still stands.

You know what, no you wont have hard time finding more suffering then in Wall Street. I am not saying they are all happy, but the hell non-Wall Street people suffer as often and a lot.

Only rich people are unhappy and suffering is such a ridiculous point, frankly.

Including in Africa for that matter. In fact, you will find plenty of people there that go to extremes to avoid or minimize suffering ... including making other sub-africans super suffering in the process. That happy take life as it comes sub-Saharan Africa includes Sudan and Congo full of people who are not happy and very active in trying to change thing around them (not necessarily in the positive sense).

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#47

Post by watwut »

saberience wrote: post #27
dang wrote: post #144

[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]

This is the kind of thought that only rich and successful people can have. If you're working every day in a coal mine so you can feed your children otherwise they will go hungry, then you don't have these kind of thoughts. Similarly, if you're fighting in a war so your family isn't raped or murdered then you don't have these kind of thoughts either. Basically, you're lucky if you live in a situation that gives you th…

Miners had elevated suicide rates and alcoholism rates. And when you read stories of families from such environments, similar thoughts were present. Yes, they did had these kind of thoughts. It is not just perfectly possible to be poor hard worker with family and have depression or missing meaning of life, but entirely common.

Re: Interview with Bob Odenkirk

#48

Post by Tade0 »

saberience wrote: post #27
dang wrote: post #144

[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]

This is the kind of thought that only rich and successful people can have. If you're working every day in a coal mine so you can feed your children otherwise they will go hungry, then you don't have these kind of thoughts. Similarly, if you're fighting in a war so your family isn't raped or murdered then you don't have these kind of thoughts either. Basically, you're lucky if you live in a situation that gives you th…

I believe he addresses this point:

> There’s no question that the security that you feel from not being afraid of a health issue or housing is a great comfort and helps you to be more at peace with life. It’s just not as much help as you think it should be.

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