Once an archetype has been constructed, it's really difficult to dismantle it. And one of the prevailing archetypes of the 20th century was that of the American Hero. From World War II to the genre of the Western, the idea of the Great American as someone principled but reluctant to intervene, with a complicated past but a good heart, and setting right a problem not of his own doing is firmly ingrained in our culture. But what is more worthwhile: tearing down the idea of "greatness" in a complicated figure like Abraham Lincoln or doing away with heroes altogether? Jessa and Nico discuss how difficult it is to critique an archetype and why propaganda works.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

In the new book Motherland, Julia Ioffe discusses how the Soviet feminist revolution was state sponsored. During and after 1917, the government mandated several rights that the women hadn't even gotten around really to demanding yet. The result was a kind of trickle down feminism, the opportunity and demand to be equal. It led to advances in women's careers in medicine and the sciences, but entrenched rather regressive gender roles in relationships and society. Because you can't dictate progress from above. Jessa and Nico discuss whether MeToo was another moment of Trickle Down Morality, and how a stupid movie like After the Hunt looks nuanced after such a stilted movement.

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com

Nico's got that funny feeling again, that the program the United States ran in South America for decades has come home. We talk about the uncanny feeling that has taken over the United States and how it has manifested itself in films, from John Frankenheimer's Seven Days in May to Alan Pakula's Parallax View to Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. When the mirror is reflected only distortion, where does one go?

Shownotes and references:

http://theculturewedeserve.substack.com