There is Persistent Consumer Demand to Believe in Magic
April 3, 2023 8:06 AM Subscribe
We have adjectives to describe the insistence on a superior past, and they tend toward the pejorative: vestigial, atavistic, reactionary. Exaltation of lost glory necessarily discounts the present; reimposing the ancien régime requires tossing aside today's players, often with casual recklessness. Audiences embraced "Field of Dreams" because it's a sumptuously shot, well-crafted movie with compelling actors and an Oscar-nominated score, yes, but also because they worried then—and continue to worry now—that something valuable is vanishing, that the best of baseball and the country of its birth is in the rearview mirror. That the only path to redemption is believing, twice as hard this time, in a fairy tale. One that narcissistically absolves our own active role in the decline. from The Expensive, Seductive Nostalgia of Field of Dreams
This is a long rambling article that seems to want to fold a lot of different peeves together. I would say:
1. Read Kinsella's book Shoeless Joe; it's been decades since I read the book or watched the movie but my memory is that the former is much better and less goopy.
2. Camden Yards is an authentically great place to watch a ballgame and is anything but a nostalgia trap.
3. He's probably right that huge public outlays to fund stadiums are in most cases a bad idea.
4. DEFINITELY read Thorn's Baseball in the Garden of Eden, an eye-opening and fascinating and incredibly thoroughly researched account of baseball and proto-baseball.
5. I think on some very basic level he misses the point of what works about this narrative of baseball as part of the past. It is both true that baseball today looks really different and involves lots of people who would have been excluded before. And it's also true that people a hundred years ago were playing and cheering for the same game people were playing and cheering for now. It's the same and it's different. That's what gives it its force.
posted by escabeche at 9:04 AM on April 3, 2023 [15 favorites]
1. Read Kinsella's book Shoeless Joe; it's been decades since I read the book or watched the movie but my memory is that the former is much better and less goopy.
2. Camden Yards is an authentically great place to watch a ballgame and is anything but a nostalgia trap.
3. He's probably right that huge public outlays to fund stadiums are in most cases a bad idea.
4. DEFINITELY read Thorn's Baseball in the Garden of Eden, an eye-opening and fascinating and incredibly thoroughly researched account of baseball and proto-baseball.
5. I think on some very basic level he misses the point of what works about this narrative of baseball as part of the past. It is both true that baseball today looks really different and involves lots of people who would have been excluded before. And it's also true that people a hundred years ago were playing and cheering for the same game people were playing and cheering for now. It's the same and it's different. That's what gives it its force.
posted by escabeche at 9:04 AM on April 3, 2023 [15 favorites]
This is giving me so much insight into my art professor, who generally was very snobby about anything he perceived as cliche, but raved about two separate guys painting a baseball glove for the theme "nostalgia" because "everyone has those American apple pie feelings about baseball, right?" Like, I was aware of the general concept but this is exposing me to a lot of the cultural background that my sheltered upbringing swerved around.
Also explains the recently released Heaven, Iowa by American rock band Fall Out Boy, which gives it entirely new layer of meaning I wasn't aware of, so that's fun.
Thanks for posting!
posted by brook horse at 9:14 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Also explains the recently released Heaven, Iowa by American rock band Fall Out Boy, which gives it entirely new layer of meaning I wasn't aware of, so that's fun.
Thanks for posting!
posted by brook horse at 9:14 AM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Man, if you think Field of Dreams is built on dangerous nostalgia for an imagined past I have some news you’re really not going to like about the shit Costner is starring in now.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:34 AM on April 3, 2023 [24 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:34 AM on April 3, 2023 [24 favorites]
Never underestimate that Field of Dreams score. I bet you can hear the 'portent' chords in your head right now. And James Earl Jones' screen presence.
But it jerked tears through the father/son stuff as much as any magical yearning.
Want to have a catch?
the shit Costner is starring in now
I mean Water Dances with Mailmen should have probably been enough to know.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:23 AM on April 3, 2023 [14 favorites]
But it jerked tears through the father/son stuff as much as any magical yearning.
Want to have a catch?
the shit Costner is starring in now
I mean Water Dances with Mailmen should have probably been enough to know.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:23 AM on April 3, 2023 [14 favorites]
I came in hot ready to rant about the derision directed toward things like women buying spells on Etsy, and was utterly unprepared for baseball.
But I enjoyed Field of Dreams as a child, taking it at face value as a reasonably well made "sad about my father" film and was perfectly content to not think about it again and certainly to not fold it into broader, more wildly problematic nostalgia for a hazy whitewashed vision of the past. I mean, look, both sides of my family were war refugees so everything from like 1910-1982 is real dodgy.
There are scattered pockets of time I feel inclined to fixate on, beautiful tableaus of peoples coming together to build a better tomorrow before being washed away by the tides of man's gasping fury as he fears his delusions of the past are slipping away and must drown in the momentum forward ... but all fragile, fleeting glimpses of what could be.
But baseball (and all men's professional sport in general) surely has actually become worse?
posted by seraphine at 11:28 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
But I enjoyed Field of Dreams as a child, taking it at face value as a reasonably well made "sad about my father" film and was perfectly content to not think about it again and certainly to not fold it into broader, more wildly problematic nostalgia for a hazy whitewashed vision of the past. I mean, look, both sides of my family were war refugees so everything from like 1910-1982 is real dodgy.
There are scattered pockets of time I feel inclined to fixate on, beautiful tableaus of peoples coming together to build a better tomorrow before being washed away by the tides of man's gasping fury as he fears his delusions of the past are slipping away and must drown in the momentum forward ... but all fragile, fleeting glimpses of what could be.
But baseball (and all men's professional sport in general) surely has actually become worse?
posted by seraphine at 11:28 AM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was an extra in the movie The Natural when I was a kid and they filmed in an old stadium near us. All I really remember is the rain machines and the free hot dogs.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:57 AM on April 3, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:57 AM on April 3, 2023 [12 favorites]
But baseball (and all men's professional sport in general) surely has actually become worse?
Counterpoint: it was always that bad but at the time it was for many the only game in town, available on the radio presenting a single unified story across all the teams and players and so forth. This allowed otherwise othered an opportunity to self-homogenize by joining the dominant storyline and emulating the people who had the power.
The modern capacity to consume and be bombarded with multiple sometimes contradictory storylines that differ not only by regional allegiances but the lived experience of different kinds of people might be the reason we quite literally can't have nice things because they never were - we just didn't have the means to present alternate perspectives (and as those means, evolved chose not to employ them, but there certainly was a real time when a single broadcast of a single storyline was the only story you were going to get. Unless you waited for the papers to print the scores and imagined the story yourself).
Those various groups, often, do not look at the all white teams or heinous racism of past organized sports in the same way that someone who fondly recalls how invested their father was in the drama because they were not questioning those things and enjoyed their own culture being reflected back at them unchallenged.
This is where I would make a joke about the designated hitter rule or something if I knew anything about the controversy and rules of baseball. But in the end, nostalgia is intrinsically untrustworthy - even the kind for a parent or some loved neutral entity - the emotions are real but the idealized and painless environment in which they occur is a fabrication pretty much always.
posted by abulafa at 11:59 AM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
Counterpoint: it was always that bad but at the time it was for many the only game in town, available on the radio presenting a single unified story across all the teams and players and so forth. This allowed otherwise othered an opportunity to self-homogenize by joining the dominant storyline and emulating the people who had the power.
The modern capacity to consume and be bombarded with multiple sometimes contradictory storylines that differ not only by regional allegiances but the lived experience of different kinds of people might be the reason we quite literally can't have nice things because they never were - we just didn't have the means to present alternate perspectives (and as those means, evolved chose not to employ them, but there certainly was a real time when a single broadcast of a single storyline was the only story you were going to get. Unless you waited for the papers to print the scores and imagined the story yourself).
Those various groups, often, do not look at the all white teams or heinous racism of past organized sports in the same way that someone who fondly recalls how invested their father was in the drama because they were not questioning those things and enjoyed their own culture being reflected back at them unchallenged.
This is where I would make a joke about the designated hitter rule or something if I knew anything about the controversy and rules of baseball. But in the end, nostalgia is intrinsically untrustworthy - even the kind for a parent or some loved neutral entity - the emotions are real but the idealized and painless environment in which they occur is a fabrication pretty much always.
posted by abulafa at 11:59 AM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
'There's no crying in baseball'
There was also Bull Durham. Also a Costner movie, and one I found incredibly boring as a teenager.
There's also Eight Men Out, on the Black Sox scandal.
And then there's Major League....
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:03 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
There was also Bull Durham. Also a Costner movie, and one I found incredibly boring as a teenager.
There's also Eight Men Out, on the Black Sox scandal.
And then there's Major League....
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:03 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I mean Water Dances with Mailmen should have probably been enough to know.
Come now. Waterworld is a camp classic, and The Postman is both absurd and long enough that by the time you get to the end and there's a callback to a throwaway line in the beginning, it has been so long that the callback doesn't feel expected and is actually impactful. KC struck and struck and struck while that iron was hot! I'm a fan.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:48 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Come now. Waterworld is a camp classic, and The Postman is both absurd and long enough that by the time you get to the end and there's a callback to a throwaway line in the beginning, it has been so long that the callback doesn't feel expected and is actually impactful. KC struck and struck and struck while that iron was hot! I'm a fan.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:48 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
seems to want to fold a lot of different peeves together
Peeve braiding, peeve pleating, peeve plaiting. Plate your beans and plait your peeves.
posted by clew at 1:09 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Peeve braiding, peeve pleating, peeve plaiting. Plate your beans and plait your peeves.
posted by clew at 1:09 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Previously, on Kinsella & the book (Shoeless Joe) as well as the obituary for Kinsella
posted by chavenet at 1:20 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 1:20 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
snuffleupagus: “And then there's Major League....”The movie I reached for on Opening Day because I can't actually watch my team's games without signing up for something when I was already paying $1,000 a year to watch TV was Stealing Home (1988), but it's not streaming and I didn't feel like figuring out how to find a copy that fell off a truck.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:43 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
The "acerbic 2016 Inside the Kraken essay" mentioned, via The Wayback Machine.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:44 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 1:44 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
It was no BASEketball.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:02 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:02 PM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I realize this isn't the point of the article, but I've long thought "If you build it, they will come" was a poisonous pre-meme-era meme. It basically stands on the shoulders of Ayn Rand's nonsense.
I'm with Eric Andre when he forcefully said "I. don't. give. a shit. about. baseball" - but:
I grew up in south-central PA. I loved the adaptive reuse of Oriole Park at Camden Yards down in Baltimore. Is it even still called that? I feel like that's how you had to name it, all five words, whenever you talked about it. I didn't even realize that it became "the single most imitated construction project in MLB history." Wonder how many of the imitations used extant buildings, vs how many made Disneyland style recreations. Bet I can guess.
I was surprised that this article talked about the Camden Riversharks in a paragraph about stadiums standing empty. That $24M stadium, which broke ground in 1999, was demolished in 2018. That's worse than standing empty! I now live in Philadelphia, more or less across the river from where that stadium was. It's hard for me to contemplate how a structure of that scale was completely demolished so quickly after it had been erected. Seems like a huge, huge waste of money - but then a lot about Camden, NJ is screwy, isn't it?
Last point: As someone who almost never goes to sports things (although I did see Rammstein at Lincoln Financial Field), I've always loathed the fact that humongous amounts of tax money finance stadiums for multi-billion-dollar teams. I mentioned I lived in south-central Pennsylvania - specifically, York County. By 2006, I had moved to Harrisburg, but having worked at the York Daily Record, still had my ear to the ground about things going on down in York, and they had broken ground on a baseball stadium that the city had been lobbying for for yeeeears, probably for the reasons this article goes on about. Wikipedia even says it resembles Camden Yards, so there you go. I rolled my eyes about it, it seemed out of scale, a decade too late, and kind of forced - but it turns out 20-something-me was way off about it. It actually became a relevant, regular attraction, and seems like a much-needed source of community pride. I shed some of my "sportsball" cynicism with the recognition of the success of that project. The local team is the York Revolution (there's a local line of thinking that York was the birthplace of the Articles of Confederation and it was here that the words “The United States of America” were first spoken, ergo it is the "first capital of the United States" - arguably the fourth capital of the US, but it's good that they get fired up about it regardless, IMO), and they fire a miniature cannon when the team scores a home run. Fuck you Reason magazine, that's wonderful.
posted by Leviathant at 2:04 PM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
I'm with Eric Andre when he forcefully said "I. don't. give. a shit. about. baseball" - but:
I grew up in south-central PA. I loved the adaptive reuse of Oriole Park at Camden Yards down in Baltimore. Is it even still called that? I feel like that's how you had to name it, all five words, whenever you talked about it. I didn't even realize that it became "the single most imitated construction project in MLB history." Wonder how many of the imitations used extant buildings, vs how many made Disneyland style recreations. Bet I can guess.
I was surprised that this article talked about the Camden Riversharks in a paragraph about stadiums standing empty. That $24M stadium, which broke ground in 1999, was demolished in 2018. That's worse than standing empty! I now live in Philadelphia, more or less across the river from where that stadium was. It's hard for me to contemplate how a structure of that scale was completely demolished so quickly after it had been erected. Seems like a huge, huge waste of money - but then a lot about Camden, NJ is screwy, isn't it?
Last point: As someone who almost never goes to sports things (although I did see Rammstein at Lincoln Financial Field), I've always loathed the fact that humongous amounts of tax money finance stadiums for multi-billion-dollar teams. I mentioned I lived in south-central Pennsylvania - specifically, York County. By 2006, I had moved to Harrisburg, but having worked at the York Daily Record, still had my ear to the ground about things going on down in York, and they had broken ground on a baseball stadium that the city had been lobbying for for yeeeears, probably for the reasons this article goes on about. Wikipedia even says it resembles Camden Yards, so there you go. I rolled my eyes about it, it seemed out of scale, a decade too late, and kind of forced - but it turns out 20-something-me was way off about it. It actually became a relevant, regular attraction, and seems like a much-needed source of community pride. I shed some of my "sportsball" cynicism with the recognition of the success of that project. The local team is the York Revolution (there's a local line of thinking that York was the birthplace of the Articles of Confederation and it was here that the words “The United States of America” were first spoken, ergo it is the "first capital of the United States" - arguably the fourth capital of the US, but it's good that they get fired up about it regardless, IMO), and they fire a miniature cannon when the team scores a home run. Fuck you Reason magazine, that's wonderful.
posted by Leviathant at 2:04 PM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
...things like women buying spells on Etsy
What?
posted by SoberHighland at 4:00 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
What?
posted by SoberHighland at 4:00 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Irregular Outfields of Baseball
Three Movements in New Retro Ballpark Construction
Jewel Box ballparks are defined by their odd shapes and unique quirks. Stuffed in wherever they could fit, these parks were inserted amongst busy transportation networks, commercial districts, and residential areas. Each plot of land was different and the fields had to fit, meaning outfields like Fenway’s were left with odd, though iconic, features like the Green Monster.(The article has cool illustrations of the dimensions of all MLB ballparks.)
...
Two years after the Orioles' new home opened in Baltimore, the second school of retro design was born. Retro-modern ballparks followed closely in the footsteps of Camden Yards, with purposefully asymmetrical dimensions and bleachers designed for an intimate fan experience.
Three Movements in New Retro Ballpark Construction
When I look at the 20-plus new ballparks constructed since the opening of Camden Yards, I see three distinct strands. Each strand represents the general sentiments of ballpark architects at the time. From my analysis, when comparing each movement, I see the architectural merits gradually worsen. Of course, this is balanced out by the amenities/functionality getting better.The New Generation of Ballparks Is Pushing Us Away
1) First Wave of Retro-Modern/Classic Ballparks: “Authenticity of the Retro Movement” (1992-1996)
I often view Jacobs Field as the crowning jewel of this movement for recognizing the so called “retro parks,” a term that was rejected by Janet Marie Smith and Camden architects, has nothing to do with red brick, but building a park that fits with the city. These parks were authentic and contextual.
2) Second Wave of Retro-Modern/Classic Ballparks: “Retro Gone to Far” (1997-2004)
During this period, owners felt pressure to distinguish their new pads: the novelty of just being “retro” wasn’t enough. They knew that all new ballparks were being built in the same fashion: how were they going to be different? They felt they had to push the envelope.
3) Third Wave of Retro-Modern/Classic Ballparks: “The Backlash” and “We’re out of Ideas!” (2006-2011)Recently, we’ve seen ballparks deviate from the busy look with gimmicks that muddle the overall design. But that doesn’t necessarily make them good structures...As a general theme, I see these 3rd-era retro ballparks as the worst in terms of aesthetics and architecture.
...nearly every new park shares the same design issues. First, too many seats are too far removed from the playing surface. Second, too many parks aren’t situated where they should be — and that is, preferably, not just in a city but in a neighborhood...the most affordable seats, the places where many have their first experiences as fans at a major-league game, are far removed from the action and the sensory experiences of the game: the sound of ball meeting bat, the chatter on the field, and all the other incidental noises that accompany the game. Each new stadium has been noted for its lack of obstructed seats, but it’s the absence of obstructed seating and the increase in luxury suites that has devalued the experience for all those unable to sit in the lower bowl...I have the cross sections and diagrams of stadiums to prove it...At Municipal Stadium the first row of the upper deck was about 40 feet above the playing surface, and the majority of seating was below 90 feet above the field. At Progressive Field, the majority of the upper deck is above 90 feet above the playing surface — and pushed further back due to the lack of supports that create obstructed views.posted by kirkaracha at 4:01 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
METAFILTER: All I really remember is the rain machines and the free hot dogs.
posted by philip-random at 5:03 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 5:03 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
the best part of Field of Dreams is when James Earl Jones says "You kidnapped me! You told me your finger was a gun!"
posted by taquito sunrise at 5:09 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by taquito sunrise at 5:09 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've never really understood the appeal of baseball; I kind of thought of it as an excuse to have lots of beer and soft pretzels and sit in the sun, more than anything to actually watch.
But I once went to a baseball game with a bunch of statisticians from work and it was WILD. Those guys were all fucking OBSESSED with baseball stats. It was constant chatter, on the drive over, all through the game, and all the way home, with real numbers to multiple significant digits that they all seemed to have memorized and statistics I'd never even heard of. They were REALLY arguing, but obviously all just having a great time, speaking a language that was certainly English but was utterly meaningless to me. I've never witnessed another conversation like it. Absolutely delightful to just let batting averages wash over me all night as I enjoyed my multiple beers and soft pretzels, highly recommended.
So now I guess I too am nostalgic about baseball, as it's the natural habitat of some of the most precious statistics dweebs on this green earth and must be preserved at all costs.
posted by potrzebie at 5:22 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
But I once went to a baseball game with a bunch of statisticians from work and it was WILD. Those guys were all fucking OBSESSED with baseball stats. It was constant chatter, on the drive over, all through the game, and all the way home, with real numbers to multiple significant digits that they all seemed to have memorized and statistics I'd never even heard of. They were REALLY arguing, but obviously all just having a great time, speaking a language that was certainly English but was utterly meaningless to me. I've never witnessed another conversation like it. Absolutely delightful to just let batting averages wash over me all night as I enjoyed my multiple beers and soft pretzels, highly recommended.
So now I guess I too am nostalgic about baseball, as it's the natural habitat of some of the most precious statistics dweebs on this green earth and must be preserved at all costs.
posted by potrzebie at 5:22 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Oh man. I'm pretty sure this is exactly not the point of this article, but my dad (also a Boomer, less of a committed baseball fan, more of a "See, buddy, Baltimore is cool"guy ) and I went to Orioles games at Camden Yards and those were some great times, and that was a great stadium and those trips also involved crab legs, so bonus. To date, the only piece of sports affiliated anything I own is an Orioles cap because of all that.
posted by thivaia at 5:34 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by thivaia at 5:34 PM on April 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
[..] I've long thought "If you build it, they will come" was a poisonous pre-meme-era meme.
I enjoyed the movie when I watched it, but never cared to watch it again. I don't think "you should do what the voices in your head tell you to do" is a message we want to encourage.
posted by rochrobbb at 6:43 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
I enjoyed the movie when I watched it, but never cared to watch it again. I don't think "you should do what the voices in your head tell you to do" is a message we want to encourage.
posted by rochrobbb at 6:43 PM on April 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
"You kidnapped me! You told me your finger was a gun!"
One of my favorite things about Field of Dreams is that we get to hear James Earl Jones' full range. It's not just the (obviously incredibly lucrative) "I am James Earl Jones, you will flock to the gravitas of my voice" baritone. Every once in a while, we get the sort of indignant squawk that pops up in that line. See also "Tahiti is not in Europe!"
Not exactly Major League, but one thing I've enjoyed about my local team (the glorious Chiba Lotte Marines) is their recent willingness to put even more seating in along the edges of the field. The space between the stands and the first and third base lines was always extraordinarily wide, and they've created a slightly sunken section (with fencing, of course) in some of that space. Sadly, those seats are a bit out of our range outside of preseason, but we're usually in the upper deck anyway.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:20 PM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
One of my favorite things about Field of Dreams is that we get to hear James Earl Jones' full range. It's not just the (obviously incredibly lucrative) "I am James Earl Jones, you will flock to the gravitas of my voice" baritone. Every once in a while, we get the sort of indignant squawk that pops up in that line. See also "Tahiti is not in Europe!"
Not exactly Major League, but one thing I've enjoyed about my local team (the glorious Chiba Lotte Marines) is their recent willingness to put even more seating in along the edges of the field. The space between the stands and the first and third base lines was always extraordinarily wide, and they've created a slightly sunken section (with fencing, of course) in some of that space. Sadly, those seats are a bit out of our range outside of preseason, but we're usually in the upper deck anyway.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:20 PM on April 3, 2023 [7 favorites]
I came in hot ready to rant about the derision directed toward things like women buying spells on Etsy, and was utterly unprepared for baseball.
Same also! Though there are interestingly a lot of similar dynamics there regarding a lot of modern witchcraft, e.g. regarding the Wheel of the Year and various practices that are claimed to be rooted in an idyllic past that, equally, did not exist. There's a whole lot of the idealized (but ultimately fictional) Pastoral in magic communities today, though that push was started long before any of us were born--I have an interesting video lecture on the romanticization of the pastoral past and how the industrial revolution influenced representations of faerie that I should post, hmm...
posted by brook horse at 7:58 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
Same also! Though there are interestingly a lot of similar dynamics there regarding a lot of modern witchcraft, e.g. regarding the Wheel of the Year and various practices that are claimed to be rooted in an idyllic past that, equally, did not exist. There's a whole lot of the idealized (but ultimately fictional) Pastoral in magic communities today, though that push was started long before any of us were born--I have an interesting video lecture on the romanticization of the pastoral past and how the industrial revolution influenced representations of faerie that I should post, hmm...
posted by brook horse at 7:58 PM on April 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
For W.P. Kinsella's obit post here, I snarked about his cultural appropriation, and was asked not to harsh the glow of nostalgia that was felt. I could have phrased it better then: aside from baseball, he was the white guy interpreting first nations experiences in popular culture in the 90s, well-meaning of course.
posted by ovvl at 6:20 PM on April 5, 2023
posted by ovvl at 6:20 PM on April 5, 2023
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I think I saw "Field of Dreams" once and thought it was meh.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:42 AM on April 3, 2023 [2 favorites]