All Forms of Art

I can actually do a quicker review on this one show: sorry, I didn’t like it. But let’s slow down and try to think about it for a moment. The show itself has a simple premise. A bullied fat teenage girl (Debby Ryan) becomes beautiful. She wants revenge, so she starts participating in beauty pageants with the help of her lawyer (Dallas Roberts, from Big Sky ), who is also a coach for these events and a very… let’s say, confused man. Sorry, but this is just not for me, yet I gave it a try anyway. It’s a Netflix show, and they’re usually pretty good, so… I'm actually a little sad that it turned out to be disappointing.  Not Fun at All It’s supposed to be a comedy, but it’s empty. The characters are supposed to be deeper than they really are; they have their own background story with some possibly interesting facts, but they’re just… flat. Generally, the comedy genre should make you laugh. Insatiable doesn’t. It’s actually quite boring at some points, tur...

A book about parenting, sort of… When you become a parent, inevitably, you’ll probably read about it. You’ll say you don’t care about these books, and you’ll be filled with fear that you’re somehow doing something wrong. The way I interpreted it, at least, this one basically tells you to “Get over it!” Shaping or Letting Them Flower? Its title might seem odd, but it’s actually a pretty interesting theory about two ways of being a parent and caring for your children. The Gardener The gardener is the person who cares for their flowers, provides the best they can, and lets them flourish.  They do the best they can, but there are many factors interfering with their garden. They know they can’t control everything and do not expect a precise result or outcome at the end of their task. The Carpenter The  carpenter  is the new parenting model that most parents try to adopt when caring for their children, and Gopnik compares it to a carpenter who selects ...

I decided to loosely translate this book’s title myself because it’s an interesting novel by the Portuguese author João Ricardo Pedro and hasn’t been translated into English. It definitely should be, though. The Context Much of Portuguese literature is marked by the oppressive government, the so-called “New State,” and this is one more such book.  The difference is that it isn’t about that time period, but rather about the following decades and how the political police and the lack of development the dictatorship gave the Portuguese people influenced the next generations. 3 Generations The book is about a family, telling us stories from 3 different generations, all of whom are somehow marked by the dictatorship and the colonial war.  The ones who lived it as adults, the ones who lived it as children, and the ones who just heard stories about it. All of them had their lives shaped by this reality. An Average Portuguese Family We have Chronicles about a t...

After all the scandal surrounding the first season of the show, we’re offered an introduction where the actors talk about the issues the show might raise and advise the viewers about the fact that the show might not be adequate for them, as well as cover how they should ask for help if any of these issues have crossed their mind.  I liked that part, but then the story begins to unfold, and I felt like the production team was just brushing off any potential future consequences that might land on their feet… That's the Wrong Way to Go Shockingly, in this season, Hanna Baker (Katherine Lanford, Savage River ) became a heroine. No matter how many times other characters would say that suicide was never a valid way out of any problems, the whole story is about the girl whose death was what it took to get everyone to step forward with their own troubles.  She had to die for others to begin addressing violence, to stop and think about the consequences of their actions...

A strangely captivating novel I didn’t expect to love so much Picking Up a Book I Knew Nothing About I found The Book of Illusions completely by accident—pulled it off my parents-in-law’s shelf because the title looked mysterious enough. Honestly, I didn’t expect much.  The first pages were interesting and well written, sure, but I didn’t think it would be the sort of novel that hijacks your entire afternoon. Spoiler: it absolutely did. A Tragedy So Heavy You Almost Want to Look Away Auster opens the book with a heartbreak so intense that it almost feels unfair to read about it. Your first reaction might be exactly that: This isn’t fair. David Zimmer, the protagonist, has been shattered by loss. And then, in a way only Auster can pull off, Zimmer begins to crawl out of his despair through the oddest possible gateway: a sudden obsession with a forgotten silent-film comedian named Hector Mann. It’s such a strange setup—but somehow it works. Falling Down the Ra...

An Australian show about maternity. As well as that stage of life itself, The Let Down is often hilarious, dramatic, and chaotic.  We follow a recent mom through the day-to-day of her new life and all her problems. The doubts, the fears, and the constant state of exhaustion. A Feel-Good Story, Perfect Personal Timing As a mother of a young child, I particularly enjoyed this show because I can relate to it fully.  Dealing with the baby is actually easy, but dealing with the rest of our lives while taking care of the baby, that's the hard part. I think the show is really well done. If you have children, you’ll most likely immediately empathize with Audrey (Alison Bell - The Leftovers ) and the other women in her parenting group. If you’re not, you’ll probably laugh regardless, as it is a very hilarious time in people’s lives (especially for those who can sleep). What Let US Down Unfortunately, the show only has 7 episodes, but I'm already anxiously awa...

I had mixed feelings about  The Alienist . It’s a good one, can’t really deny that, but, for me, it’s also a bit too slow.  The Interest in Mind The first few episodes were somehow boring, and I merely didn’t stop watching because I was too curious about who the killer was. A bit like The Mindhunter , the production team focuses mainly on creating a high level of psychological intensity, but in The Alienist , I felt it lacked something.  I’m a psychologist, I love criminal psychology, and even I found myself bored at some points. They focused mostly on the occult side of the mind, showing the alienist far outside practical reality. Maybe it was like that in the 19th century, but it makes the show too slow, which might tire you.  Slowly Getting Into you After a couple of episodes, I finally started to feel immersed in the 19th-century atmosphere.  As the events unfolded, and the empathy with some of the characters grew, I could finally start fe...