Pointless Man

There is only one story: 'The Hero's Journey' . Or there are seven stories . Or three. Or twenty. Or thirtysix. Or this is stupid, reductive nonsense produced for (and reproduced by) people who have trouble telling stories. I am tired of hearing about these theories and bored of seeing them implemented by people who fancy themselves 'creatives'. As Roger Ebert used to say, "It's not what you're about. It's how you're about it."

Those words open an American Apparel add with a picture of an attractive, young lady in (you guessed it) a black dress, posed with her right arm dangling down to her parted thighs, and her shadowed left hand partially sticking out from behind her matching hair (styled in what is almost a flopper's short page-boy).  Her breasts are mashed to her body behind a sheer lining (also black), allowing her to have a medium neckline and a low cut front at the same time.  Her expression is inscrutable, and not far from blank. What's interesting in this add is the very small text beneath the gigantic declaration, " Little Black Dress ": "Meet Lea. "She's a French tomboy and actress hailing from a family full of boys.  She's a French tomboy, tennis player and actress from a family of all boys." If it had stopped there, or continued on in that pattern, I would have been impressed.  She's a French tomboy, short order cook, tennis player, and actress...

In an interesting but spottily researched article , Ewan Morrison argues that authors, booksellers, and publishers are all about to lose the revenues they have become accustomed to because of a new business model, one in which content (with a price trending toward zero) is simply a means to attract consumers whose interests and information are then sold.  He tells us this new approach, driven by both pirates and online publishers, is destroying the current industry; it will leave creative sources underfunded and unrewarded.  His analysis focuses on 'the market'.  Morrison finds his worries and (small) hope in business and models thereof. However, there are other approaches which might yield different concerns and answers.  Historically, the arts have been buoyed by patrons.  20th century American and British authors had businesses as patrons, in a (hopefully) mutually beneficial relationship.  Morrison suggests those businesses are dying, and encourages ...