David Foster Wallace on How Movies Rot Your Brain

How do TV and movies rot your brain? Today, we'll hear from David Foster Wallace about the malignant aspects of television and movies and how money getting involved in art starts to ruin it.
Want to READ Infinite Jest with a group and finally finish it? You will also get access to the Infinite Jest course that this video is a part of. Go here, I will make sure you finish it!
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[@JBreedloaf]

A James Baldwin Baldwin quote comes to mind that I first heard from Dan Carlin on Hardcore History “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who ever had been alive. Only if we face these open wounds in ourselves can we understand them in other people.” That quote really distills the message almost perfectly. Also your plugs have gotten so much better Ian I’m never ready for them, haha

[@isok5221]

David was addicted to Tv and he wrote The infinite Jest. Movies are good.

[@isok5221]

Yesterday I watched Ingmar bergman the seventh seal and now I cant read

[@ypaisley]

I would’ve loved a teacher like you in high school.

[@YOSOYLADISCO]

Im so f-ing tired of reading this exact same comment over and over again...God people, you didnt need better teachers, you need to get books in your hands more often instead of your iphone, then youll make your own good thoughts instead of depending of some random video with the slightest hint of knowledge and common sense...

[@ypaisley]

@@YOSOYLADISCO I’m complimenting him, friend, nothing more. I’m a Random Internet Stranger. Am I worth this expenditure?

[@Dino_Medici]

@@ypaisleyexpenditure 😭

[@YOSOYLADISCO]

@@ypaisley and Im attacking the comment, not you, couldnt care less about you personally: I dont even know you...Again: Im tired of reading the exact same comment.

[@ypaisley]

@@YOSOYLADISCO I only catch a few comments here and there, so it’s hard to avoid being unoriginal, I guess. I still think he’s a pretty cool guy, and I’ll bet his students agree. :) Peace!

[@user-xd1xf9rp5p]

Thanks Ian! Great video

[@mikelpelaez]

1:41 the first thing I thought/hoped after clicking in the video was if Wallace separated mainstream cinema with other kinds of cinema, luckily he does.

[@RJGilman1967]

Good stuff, thank you.

[@D3athL1vin]

shoutout to twin peaks☕️

[@HalideHelix]

Nah, that stuff rots your brain

[@D3athL1vin]

@@HalideHelix lol

[@iuseitToo]

Where are the Vollmann vids?! ♡

[@timmellis5038]

I don't know how old your students are but there's this book: "The Education of Little Tree" which might work perfect for some of your classes. I loved that book. It's a super easy read and good for kids and adults.

[@travisbplank]

I've found myself having a hard time reading pure fiction/literature lately. It feels needlessly obfuscated and indirect. Why hide what you want to say behind literary tricks and posturing? The philosohers and poets (maybe a few essayists) have been my thing for the past decade or so and I'm wondering if I will ever get back to enjoying straight up novels or even short stories. I tend to agree with the Bukowski "bim bim bim" school of writing. Anyone else feel that way? Any suggestions for novels that might get me back into the fold?

[@TheHouseofContemplation]

I agree completely. Fiction is a thin, contrived vision of the human experience and I'd rather use my imagination to deal with greater "worlds" like psychology, philosophy - even biographies contain better material to ponder life. I wish I could enjoy novels again, though...

[@ainslie187]

Same here. Philosophy, history, mythology, psychology/sociology, and “spirituality” (for lack of a better term) are more pure, interesting, and relevant to my life so that’s 95% of what I read. I can suggest a few novels that dip into these realms: - _Stoner_ by John Williams - _Niels Lyhne_ by Jens Peter Jacobsen - _On the Marble Cliffs_ by Ernst Junger - _Back to Methuselah_ by George Bernard Shaw - _Against Nature_ by JK Huysmans - _The Tartar Steppe_ by Dino Buzzati - anything by Herman Hesse, I'd put _Steppenwolf_ and _Siddhartha_ at the top

[@theta426]

That's because the primary draw of fiction is entertainment, engagement, following a story that (probably) couldn't happen. The things you're looking for do exist in fiction, and are important to a story's quality, but it's like trying to buy a thousand pounds of apples from the grocery store

[@ilinkthereforeiam]

I heard Denis Villeneuve say that science fiction deals with philosophy in a dynamic way. And I felt good literature can deal with philosophy and other subjects in a dynamic way. I mean each to their own non fiction has to be direct and cogent. Fiction can be amorphous because it's artistic, I feel the like the true point of fiction is expression, it's cathartic to see something expressed simply or beautifully. Fiction is prose which is like making beautiful drawings or films just with words. Lastly as Ian puts it, most fiction deals with suffering so the great works are works of empathy. Totally understand if that's not your thing though. But maybe sometime soon who knows.

[@travisbplank]

@ilinkthereforeiam Certainly my favorite fiction is typically science fiction and usually shorts so they avoid a lot of the bloating I see in novels. Dostoevsky covers some great topics that I love, but MAN he was not succinct or pleasurable to read. I'm sure I'll find something soon. Just have to stumble on the right thing.

[@itsallgoodman4108]

E Unibus Pluram is as relevant as ever. Damn fine essay

[@methylphosphatePOET]

As a lover of books, I have to say that cinema has been acknowledged by some of the greatest writers of the 20th century as one of the truest art forms, to rival even the so-called "high" arts. James Baldwin loved movies, Phillip Roth, Don Delillo, Ezra Pound, Camille Paglia, Susan Sontag... And Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists were accused of rotting the brains of contemporary theater-goers as well. This was the poorest take on movies I've heard in some time. Just say you don't like them and move on; because many people, whose brains were more prestigious than Wallace's ever was, loved movies.

[@user-bj8gh6vq5m]

Kinda misleading title, but I pretty much agree 100% with the content. Also that story about the guy who went full Fake Christian was devastating.

[@blackjack5676]

This guy didnt reconcile his own existence and made grand assumptions about the nature of art. Being submerssed in shallow artistic expression can only lead to rebellion in another direction eventually. Of course, corporate entities are going to be mercenary when it comes to exploiting demographics. The problem Wallace failed to identify is the academic community and its insistence on seperating these demographics into distinct catagories and forming a caste system in service to these corporate entities in effort to protect their jobs and enrich themselves. His virtue signaling and need to be validated was his contribution to this shallow culture. A true rebel in the post Reagan era would never be accepted from the left, or the right due to them being completely subverted by this bureaucratic power structure. This is the true cause of the degredation of media. However it is expectedly ending.

[@radrabbit6946]

omg. agree 100 % about empathy. about tik tok, and a lot of media is trash, but damn, careful treading into feminist (in the critical sense of the word) adjacent waters about art and consumption and who has historically gate kept the whole show. It's not going to be pretty challenging and pulling that down. You might be missing a few things about the appeal of things like Bridgerton, besides its awful reductionism. . 'male thing that we always want to be analyzing'. Maybe thats also a capitalistic thing? Also, Infinite Jest is, a book.

[@jordanramsey5763]

took me until I was 17 to really read anything. my mind turned socrates into a sitcom tragedy and Aristotle into a rambling lunatic. fuckin love reading.

[@jordanramsey5763]

teachers should have their class meditate for like 10 minutes in absolute silence. Dr. K really goes in deep about the psychological degeneration of this generation.

[@jordanramsey5763]

you're vocalizing thoughts ive been unable to articulate holy shit

[@hector00000100]

Damn just yesterday I was telling my wife who also watches bridgeton and I sometimes watch along. That this show is nothing but 100% female fan service fiction. There's nothing challenging or scary or any of any substance. It's just pure fan service.

[@D3athL1vin]

mans just did an astute ass analysis of tony soprano as an aside..

[@ShawnMorey-sx7wm]

I WANNA BE SEDATED. The Ramones.

[@ainslie187]

I like to consume media that is challenging or even unpleasant as long as it provides some kind of insight or beauty. Stuff that is just miserable or violent for the sake of being miserable or violent I have no interest in. For instance (since you mentioned it) I don’t like the _No Country For Old Men_ movie because it is just bleak without any accompanying wisdom or beauty, a hitman is marauding around blasting people with his shotgun. I understand there is something being communicated about the hollowing out of moral principles and obsession with money but it’s a very thin concept that doesn’t flesh out a two hour long campaign of violence IMO. The violence isn’t even cinematically compelling like it can be in a big Hollywood action movie. Contrast that movie with one I really like that came out the same year: _There Will Be Blood_ . This movie is also somewhat bleak but it is thematically rich, touching on capitalism, religion, the industrialization of America, family, lust for wealth, violence, etc. It is also beautiful to look at. I know _NCFOM_ is highly regarded by a lot of people, never understood why though, I’m sure there is more to the book.

[@user-cq5sg9cb4t]

Completely agree. What TWBB also understood and No Country didn't is that this kind of story requires of a film to look a certain way. It cannot have the glossy, clean, pristine Hollywood cinematography, it has to look rawer, grittier, and also preferably have as little of the recognizable Hollywood faces as possible. Deakins and The Coens are great and all that, but I don't think they got it with the film. Hell, even the academy, while throwing every possible Oscar their way that year, could not afford to not give best cinematography to TWBB.

[@AleksandarBloom]

I disagree with you guys. I see There Will Be Blood as an epitome of a totally vapid film. PTA has nothing to say never did so. There is plenty of 'wisdom and beauty' in Country, but, I think, that focus is more on the wrong choice, bad decisions and useles hindsights. Utter bleaknes is exactly the thing that makes 'wisdom and beauty' more than the disgusting kitsch.

[@ainslie187]

@@AleksandarBloom Vapid? Kitschy? Agree to disagree I guess.

[@ainslie187]

@@user-cq5sg9cb4t I forgot to add that _TWBB_ has something else that _NCFOM_ doesn't- a dash of dark humor. No Country is uninteresting, bleak, and humorless.

[@jakfan09]

I wonder what DFW would think of Tik Tok lol. A lot of gen z and gen alpha don’t even have the attention span for a movie anymore.

[@GaiatheSage]

it's not even a generational thing anymore my gen x and boomer family members have a hard time even sitting down and talking for ten minutes without interrupting every 30 seconds about an unrelated tangent.

[@jakfan09]

@@GaiatheSage Yeah, it's pretty sad.

[@MicahMicahel]

he would be MAGA and hate modernity like MAGA types

[@MicahMicahel]

@@GaiatheSage people got to get off of their devices , especially because it deranges kids. adults too but it really destroys kids.

[@jakfan09]

@@MicahMicahel Big doubt that Wallace would like Trump or Biden but okay.

[@user-ub1dz8js7s]

I look at my life at the 100's of thousands of hours that I've watched TV and movies and I would say that there are only 0.01% out of all those hours of great stand out and memorable moments. What a waste of time.

[@alanmcbride6658]

Nicely said. Born to be entertained. Fun fun fun.

[@HelenEscobarConspiracyTheorist]

ARE U MEXICAN I have to know

[@fanaticist]

film is low art, it was never good. I don't mean animation, which is actually good.

[@biskit8050]

You have to be joking. Have you even heard of the films of Tarkovsky or the films like Mulholland Drive, the 400 Blows, Barry Lyndon, etc

[@jakfan09]

@@biskit8050He probably hasn’t and probably doesn’t even understand visual storytelling and needs everything explained through words.

[@PEGGLORE]

Watch Skywhales. That's the best animation. I watched that obsessively as a child which was recorded on a VHS. Probably messed me up a bit then. It was off KZbin for ages which really pissed me off, but good to see it's back now, actually uploaded by the guy who made it, 7 months ago. Must've done it as a 40th anniversary tribute thing then. The animation played in cinemas before the film 1984 in the UK, I found out later on, which was interesting.

[@HalideHelix]

​@biskit8050 that natural lighting in Barry Lyndon though....👌