I am currently in the thick of a bunch of DYI craft projects, so I don’t have a lot of time for Netflix, buuuuut … I did recently binge watch season 1 of The Good Place. It wasn’t just good, it was great! If you’re one of the three people who hasn’t seen it yet, do ittttt! I watched it “spoiled” for the big twist at the end (which happens when you don’t keep up with the pace of pop culture) but I still thought it was brilliant. In fact, it was so good that I stayed up till past midnight one day to finish the second half of the season in one go, and while that decision hurt the next day, I did not regret it. I’m just mad that Netflix doesn’t have season 2 available yet. Bah!
Not surprisingly, the show (together with Spook, which I read around the same time) got me thinking a lot about what happens when we die. My attitude to the “great beyond” has gone through several shifts – alternating between fear and acceptance – at various stages of my life, largely influenced by whatever philosophical concepts I was exploring at the time. I’ve come to realize that I really, really want to believe in heaven (who doesn’t want that bit of comfort as they edge closer to middle age?) but my inner voice is telling me that the more likely destinations are: (1) hell, or (2) nothing. Let’s talk through this, shall we?
First of all, it’s obvious that, objectively speaking, “nothing” is better than hell. The thing is, for a living being, “nothing” is unfathomable and, therefore, in a manner of speaking, just as scary and terrible as hell. There were times when I felt rather Zen about the idea of “nothing” (though, of course, there is nothing actually Buddhist about it, but that’s another story); I think those must have been times when I was depressed – and I say that only half flippantly. I’ve come to realize that I derive my happiness from the sense of meaning that I find in (or assign to) my life; the idea that life can come to an end and that nothing comes after feels like an assault on the meaningfulness of life. Perhaps others can reconcile those two things; I struggle with it.
So, then, let’s move on to hell. Whether “hell is other people” (as The Good Place suggests) or endless, perfect solitude, or fiery pits of eternal damnation, the general consensus is that it’s bad. Who in their right mind wants to end up there? I don’t … but, like, I’m afraid I might? I don’t think I’m a bad person; I have good intentions and I am not consciously unkind. But, as Chidi found out in The Good Place, that may not be enough. Whenever I start thinking about it, I always resolve to be more actively good; and, for a while, I work on it. And then, slowly but surely, I slide back into the “normal” routine. Sigh. If hell is real, then I am probably going to it … even though I don’t have a vanity license plate.
Moving on to less weighty (and happier) topics, I also recently re-watched Clueless for the first time in more than a decade. As for many women of my generation, Paul Rudd is a Forever Crush because of Josh. It doesn’t hurt that he’s, like, a total babe still (obligatory reference to how Paul Rudd does not age, which is a scientific fact at this point, and also hat tip to 90s slang). Anyway, the movie holds up pretty well, all things considered – I guess that’s why it’s a classic. I think it was progressive for its time in many ways, though there are occasional cringe-worthy moments/bits of dialogue. The fashion? Mostly cringe-worthy, at least to me. I know a lot of it is coming back in style now and … nope. Nopety nope, hell naw for me.
Next topic. I was reading this Pajiba article about some new Shazaam movie (which, what? my non-comic geekness is working against me here, I feel lost) and learned all about the Mandela Effect. The really weird thing? The title of the article is “The First Official Photo of Zachary Levi in Shazaam Forewarns of the Coming Mandela Effect”. As I clicked on it, my thoughts were “hmm, is Mandela Effect somehow the new term for white-washing?” Because, I kid you not, I thought they had recast the old Shazaam movie starring Sinbad. This was all before I even read the article, mind you. And then I did read the article and got my mind blown to discover that THERE WAS NO SHAZAAM MOVIE STARRING SINBAD!!! BUT ALSO THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO TOTALLY REMEMBERS THAT NON-EXISTENT MOVIE!!!! WTF?!?!
Ahem. Sorry for shouting, but seriously: W.T.F.
Lastly, the news of Justice Bieber’s engagement to Hailey Baldwin – who, I am advised, is the daughter of the Worst Baldwin (Stephen) not the Angriest Baldwin (Alec) – made me realize that I have some kind of partial face blindness problem. I literally cannot remember what Hailey Baldwin looks like 5 minutes after staring at her photo, and I have confused her with a half dozen other women in the last week. The whole Shazaam situation has me thinking that maybe others also share this problem — holler at me in the comments if you do — although I’m willing to concede that the simpler explanation here might be that I am An Old to whom all young whippersnappers look the same. [Sidenote: I thought Hailey was dating Shawn Mendes, but it turns out this was not the case (I think?) which means that this engagement is a little less inexplicable to me now than before. Hashtag: I’m definitely too old to have an opinion about this but also Shawn Mendes is the better Canadian pop export come at me.]
Shazaam and Sinbad is my Mandela Effect as well. I so clearly remember that movie… a movie that never was made. There’s a few others that blow my mind as well… what does it mean? I don’t know
I’m afraid to look for more examples of the Mandela Effect 😬 I probably have them all.
I only remember Shaq in Kazaam, which I mistakenly thought was called Shazam, until 2 minutes ago. I’m confused.
The Kazaam movie is real. Or so I am told by the internet – I still can’t shake the Shazaam/Sinbad thing 😂
I freakin loved The Good Place. I watched the series in one fell swoop when I was off sick. Soooooo sad the second series is not on Netflix yet. Boo.
I find films and books about the afterlife incredibly interesting. A few years ago, I watched a really disappointing movie called Defending Your Life. Basically, the Good Place was everything I was hoping for when I watched the bad afterlife movie. Funny, thoughtful, thought provoking, with a little ridiculous thrown in.
Another afterlife film I really enjoyed was called After Life. It’s Japanese and it’s been one of the films that has stayed with me over the years. I still think about it.
An afterlife book I really enjoyed was called “Boo” by Neil Smith. It’s YA, which I’m not sure is your interest at all. I enjoy YA and fantasy, so it was a good fit for me.
I also could have sworn there was a Shazaam movie with Sinbad…so weird!
I do have facial blindness and it’s very difficult for me to watch shows. I went through the first two seasons of Walking dead thinking rick and Shawn were the same person and was really baffled by the show. (I guess the actors don’t look alike but they look like the exact samerson to me!). It’s hard to deal with in RL because I can’t remember faces at all and use to end up with a lot of awful interactions because I couldn’t tell people apart or remember their faces. I did get diagnosed finally and it’s wonderful to know I’m not stupid, ugh. Now I use body/face ticks or unusual features to help remember people but it would be a nice thing not to have!
That’s intense! I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been before the diagnosis. I had an experience once where I didn’t remember/recognize the wife of a partner I used to work with and she was, like, “actually, we’ve met before” and it was mortifying. I can’t imagine having that happen all the time.
This is a bit late but I’m also a big Good Place fan.
And I don’t think you’re wrong about the Shawn Mendes-Hailey Baldwin connection. I read a number of articles this spring about how they were a couple!