Comments on: Chris Ware + This American Life

Chris Ware + This American Life

ijoshua — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:23:37 -0800

Chris Ware animates a segment of an episode of the new This American Life television show. [previously: Chris Ware, This American Life on TV, Chris Ware on This American Life's radio program]

By: ijoshua

ijoshua — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:27:31 -0800

via

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:34:39 -0800

awesome.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:36:05 -0800

The camera really changed the way we behaved. Errr...what? Have kids not always clustered around a fight? I don't get the "take the cameras away" response at all. The stuff about the fake cameras was funny, though, and the animation worked very well.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:39:37 -0800

That was delightful, thank you.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:44:25 -0800

Can we have an FPP about this show each time an episode of it airs? Sorry. The animation is cool.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:49:37 -0800

I love Chris Ware! Thank you for posting this.

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:54:04 -0800

Default Viral Title Player: Totally 100% Trend! This is praise. Seriously!

By: maryh

maryh — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:54:14 -0800

The animation and story complement each other beautifully. If the rest of the show holds together this well, I might even start to feel bad about dumping Showtime.

By: Lady Penelope

Lady Penelope — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:11:14 -0800

My hope is that the DVD will be available on netflix.

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:18:47 -0800

Errr...what? Have kids not always clustered around a fight? I don't get the "take the cameras away" response at all. Seconded. Grade school kids will always watch, and never intervene in, a fight, even if it's fifteen on one.

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:21:23 -0800

...I think the point was the further layer of abstraction from the actual events which was added by the fake cameras and microphones, y'all. While there were plenty of playground fights in my youth, none had "live" journalistic narration to go along with them.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:24:47 -0800

Finally! A reason to change the channel to Showtime!

By: clockworkjoe

clockworkjoe — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:42:34 -0800

It was entertaining, but they made much ado about nothing. K-12 kids almost never intervene in fights, but just circle around to watch the spectacle.

By: subtle_squid

subtle_squid — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:44:55 -0800

seems to me the props changed the teachers' perceptions of what , as others have said, is normal school kid behavior. The props made the kids look like vulturous adults and that adult behavior is what the teachers where truly appalled by.

By: clockworkjoe

clockworkjoe — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:45:01 -0800

However, now that I think of it, there is a lesson, but I'm not sure what it is. Think of how the adults (both the teachers and the american life commentators) became unnerved and blamed the cardboard media for the fight, when the kids' behavior during the fight was not changed. It seems we're still very uncomfortable with the media and blame it for things it is not responsible for.

By: davejay

davejay — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:04:14 -0800

All I remember thinking when I watched a fight in grade school was "Glad I'm not in there" and "I wonder what's going to happen next?" Relief and curiosity, essentially. Nothing sinister or vulturous.

By: RokkitNite

RokkitNite — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:09:46 -0800

Aww... totally boss. I'd never heard or seen TAL 48 hours ago - now 2 mefi posts have me agog. Thanks.

By: painquale

painquale — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:14:25 -0800

Awww. That was great.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:53:26 -0800

Huh. I'm suddenly getting annoyed with myself for not having cable. Sigh.

By: gnutron

gnutron — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:25:21 -0800

i demand more Chris Ware animation!!

By: DanielDManiel

DanielDManiel — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:15:12 -0800

This American Life? Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are? But seriously, I want Showtime.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:22:24 -0800

The cameras took away your humanity? Anyone who's ever taken a psych class that mentions Kitty Genovese knows that that's simple human behavior. What was missing was the lofty ideal of "humanity" as some sort of noble savage, bereft of animal impulses. I bet if only they'd banned toy cameras in Kew Gardens, no one would know who the fuck Kitty Genovese was.

By: jewzilla

jewzilla — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:00:28 -0800

Taking away humanity? These are children...you can't lose what you never had!

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:14:07 -0800

Argh. "Default Viral Title Player".. I feel so used.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:17:31 -0800

This American Life? Is that that show by those hipster know-it-alls who talk about how fascinating ordinary people are? My wife and I saw one of the live tapings of TAL in Boston and Ira Glass actually talked about this quote (from The OC, Summer Roberts to Seth Cohen, shutupmyfreetimeismyown). He apparently watched the show religiously as well and his reaction, wondering if each house had its own version of The OC piped in, targeted at their own unique demographic. Then the Mates of State played the theme song to The OC and I felt that three years of my life spent grudgingly, then willingly, on the couch at 9pm on Thursdays was suddenly validated by another hipster know-it-all. We saw the Chris Ware animation too. It made me feel like I wasted my childhood digging holes and getting Andy Crumb to eat worms instead of doing something meaningful, yanno? Something that could change the world. Like TV.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:21:18 -0800

Kids are monsters, film at 11.

By: DanielDManiel

DanielDManiel — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:50:27 -0800

My wife and I saw one of the live tapings of TAL in Boston Lucky bastard. and Ira Glass actually talked about this quote (from The OC, Summer Roberts to Seth Cohen, shutupmyfreetimeismyown) Yeah, it was on this week's radio show which I just heard yesterday (blessed be the podcast). Also (I notice upon review) mentioned in context in the other TAL thread from earlier today.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:56:52 -0800

I've said before what bugs me about TAL. I'm definitely fearing that the visual component will scrap any semblance of objectivity, and make it a freak show.

By: Hubajube

Hubajube — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 04:41:03 -0800

I think the real message here is that the TAL team is feeling a little uncomfortable about being behind the camera themselves.

By: Blue Stone

Blue Stone — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:00:12 -0800

Cameras caused us to lose our humanity my arse. What kind of a nirvana were these people growing up in where kids didn't stand around encouraging two kids to knock the stuffing out of each other? Maybe spurious thinking like this is why people continue to shout 'TV IS TO BLAME!'

By: Blip

Blip — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:32:52 -0800

*stops and takes a photo*

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:59:09 -0800

Does anyone actually believe this little parable took place? I sometimes wonder if some of the stories aren't either jazzed up for the sake of storytelling, if not fabricated outright. Nevertheless, I plan on tuning in. (Curse you, Default Viral Title Player!)