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Keep going

~ MaryG ~ Leave a comment

What’s a personal mantra or philosophy you live by?

I finally got around to watching Season Three of The Comeback on HBO and it was wonderful. It’s topical (the writer’s strike and AI are big themes) but also I’ve never loved Valerie more. At 63 years old, Lisa Kudrow’s tragicomic Valerie Cherish somehow gives women of a certain age the dignity they deserve.

Here’s the defining scene (copied from Reddit):

Jane: “I’ve watched you for 20 years, Valerie. 20 years, in an industry that offered you nothing but humiliation. I don’t know how you kept going.”

Valerie: “Isn’t that funny? I never felt that. Humiliation? No. No. Well, I felt when people were mean to me or insulting, sure, you know? But that didn’t serve me. I just needed to get where I was going. But humiliation? No. I think you have to agree to be humiliated, and I never signed up. I don’t know. Just did the best with what I was given, right? Isn’t that what being a human being is though? Right? You just make the best of things. Otherwise, you’re just left behind and miserable all the time, you know? Yeah. Things aren’t always going to be the way you want, right? Not always gonna get the perfect job, or whatever, but you have to make the best of it. You have to adapt. Keep going. Anyway, that’s what I tried to do.”

Jane: “I feel like I’m seeing you for the first time.”

Valerie: “Really? Maybe that’s why you haven’t been able to get this doc right. You’ve been telling the wrong story. Now tell the one about Valerie Cherish.”

Along with Hacks, The Comeback is one of the greatest TV shows ever about women in entertainment. And so so funny 😂

Also, cameos galore in Season 3. Actors I love just kept showing up in scenes.

Consider the source

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

These days everyone is encouraged to “look at the source” of information they take in. “Don’t believe everything you hear” is a common refrain.

Well, my husband and I have the same policy with TV and movies. Certain people are in the “respected recommender” category. If Alissa or Ann or Gina tell us we should watch something because we’ll love it, we listen. I even jot it down for future reference.

Other people are in “the grain of salt” category. We’ll listen to their recommendations, but we have to consider the source. They might be someone we like very much personally, but we just don’t share their taste in TV and movies.

Some people who were once under consideration to be respected recommenders have recently been categorized “grain of salt” based on highly touting a pretty stupid show on Netflix. (I’m not going to say the name of the show, because many are finding it delightful.)

Now that Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert retired, I feel a little lost sometimes. If you’re the kind of person that eagerly awaited each new episode of Succession and is sad that both What We do in The Shadows and Somebody Somewhere just ended forever, then I’m listening.

We’re already aware and are excited for new seasons of Severance and White Lotus starting soon. And I went ahead and bought tickets to see A Complete Unknown on New Year’s Eve, because even though it’s getting mixed reviews, Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan. And I like to see all the big rock biopics on a big screen, with that big Hollywood sound.

You feel me?