“Loneliness is personal, and it is also political,” Olivia Laing wrote in The Lonely City, one of the finest books of the year. Half a century earlier, Hannah Arendt (October 14, 1906–December 4, 1975) examined those peculiar parallel dimensions of loneliness as a profoundly personal anguish and an indispensable currency of our political life in her intellectual debut, the incisive and astonishingly timely 1951 classic The Origins of Totalitarianism (public library).
Arendt paints loneliness as “the common ground for terror” and explores its function as both the chief weapon and the chief damage of oppressive political regimes. Exactly twenty years before her piercing treatise on lying in politics, she writes:
Just as terror, even in its pre-total, merely tyrannical form ruins all relationships between men, so the self-compulsion of ideological thinking ruins all relationships with reality. The preparation has succeeded when people have lost contact with their fellow men* as well as the reality around them; for together with these contacts, men lose the capacity of both experience and thought. The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.
What perpetuates such tyrannical regimes, Arendt argues, is manipulation by isolation — something most effectively accomplished by the divisiveness of “us vs. them” narratives. She writes:
Terror can rule absolutely only over men who are isolated against each other… Therefore, one of the primary concerns of all tyrannical government is to bring this isolation about. Isolation may be the beginning of terror; it certainly is its most fertile ground; it always is its result. This isolation is, as it were, pretotalitarian; its hallmark is impotence insofar as power always comes from men acting together…; isolated men are powerless by definition.
Although isolation is not necessarily the same as loneliness, Arendt notes that loneliness can become both the seedbed and the perilous consequence of the isolation effected by tyrannical regimes:
In isolation, man remains in contact with the world as the human artifice; only when the most elementary form of human creativity, which is the capacity to add something of one’s own to the common world, is destroyed, isolation becomes altogether unbearable… Isolation then becomes loneliness.
[…]
While isolation concerns only the political realm of life, loneliness concerns human life as a whole. Totalitarian government, like all tyrannies, certainly could not exist without destroying the public realm of life, that is, without destroying, by isolating men, their political capacities. But totalitarian domination as a form of government is new in that it is not content with this isolation and destroys private life as well. It bases itself on loneliness, on the experience of not belonging to the world at all, which is among the most radical and desperate experiences of man.
This is why our insistence on belonging, community, and human connection is one of the greatest acts of courage and resistance in the face of oppression — for, in the words of the beloved Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue, “the ancient and eternal values of human life — truth, unity, goodness, justice, beauty, and love — are all statements of true belonging.”
The Origins of Totalitarianism is a remarkable read in its totality. Complement it with Arendt on the life of the mind, how we humanize each other, the difference between how art and science illuminate human life, and her beautiful love letters.
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"The debate over these overtime rules — in this article, in my head, in my heart, in our boardroom, in a courtroom, in our communities as well as among members, sponsors, and donors, has to include asking whether the only way to balance a budget is by marginalizing those who pour all of their passion, time and talent into their organizations."
There is one cure for the rightful ennui of these troubled times, and that is going out to the nearest movie theater screening The Love Witch and luxuriating in every 35 mm frame of cinema as it unfurls. It is a film about a beautiful young witch named Elaine, escaping her life in a move to northern California, where she casts spells, looking for the perfect man through a combination of love magic and sex magic.
Ever since I saw The Love Witch, I’ve been turning it over in my head, ruminating on why it’s so good. Perhaps it’s fidelity to its inspirations, a sort of exacting obsessiveness, sincerity that becomes hilarious, earnestness that turns into camp. But really, I’m pretty sure that the root of its genius is that it’s a rare pleasure to see a film — arguably a collaborative art — feel so singularly from the consciousness of one mind.
The mind behind The Love Witch, Anna Biller, is the film’s director, screenwriter, producer, composer, editor, production designer, art director, set decorator, and costume designer. She is the sort of talent that should have David Lynch cowering in fear, Lana Del Rey calling her on a vintage princess telephone because they should probably be best friends, and Kathleen Kennedy should just offer her the next Star Wars film, since she’s clearly more talented than Gareth “I made a movie called Monsters on the cheap that you haven’t seen before going big budget” Edwards. Mild internet stalking reveals a fun fact: she’s partners with Robert Greene, who wrote The 48 Laws of Power. I imagine they throw killer parties.
Perhaps the easiest shortcut to explain the fastidiousness of Biller’s vision, the luscious technicolor beauty of it, is that there is a shot in the film featuring a pentagram hook rug. You can’t get a pentagram hook rug in the store — nope, Biller made it herself, looping the rug over the span of six months. It’s in the film for six seconds.
Please ignore the official trailer for The Love Witch: it’s oddly paced, and doesn’t quite get at the film’s woozy, funny rhythm. Rather, check out this clip:
https://medium.com/media/8c98be549d334bc32f6cd99527658af8/hrefIt’s been about ten minutes into the movie, at most, and Elaine is giving her thesis: “What I’m really interested in — is love. You might even say I’m addicted to love.” The acting is unified in its pitch — I don’t know enough about acting to be able to identify what the effect is when actors are purposefully delivering things in a manner that’s arch and stilted, flat and over-dramatic; good bad acting, leading you into a dream within a dream. It’s a style more familiar to the melodramas of the past, used well in the works of David Lynch, and impeccably set out here.
It’s terrifically frustrating to me that anytime I’ve mentioned The Love Witch to friends, they’re not up on it. It played some festivals, it got a good amount of press for its fastidious, beautiful design. Oscilloscope Laboratories (the late Adam Yauch’s film company, whose impeccable taste doesn’t often translate to the mainstream as of late — how much have you seen about the flawed, striking debut The Fits?) is distributing it in the U.S., and while they are getting it into the theaters, it’s not getting the attention that it deserves. (Too silly, too girly?) It should be worshiped and adored, the number one pick of covens worldwide. It’s weird that it already feels like a cult hit even when it’s in release.
The thing is, on the surface Elaine may be a silly witch, not someone to take seriously. She’s a lady buying into all the promises of femininity; and when they come up short, she exacts her revenge. As she searches for love, she kills a lot of dudes, cursing them to feel feelings for the first time, weeping their way to the grim reaper. It’s gleeful misandry, a woman driven mad by our times. It may take place in a fantasy-land dreamscape, but that’s just a smokescreen: the guilty truth of The Love Witch is that we are all Elaine — even if we have no ability with impeccable turquoise eyeshadow.
Elisabeth Donnelly wants to live in a world where Moonlight wins Best Picture at the Oscars.
‘The Love Witch’ Is the Greatest Movie Ever Made was originally published in The Hairpin on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
A Park Ridge family's elaborate Christmas light display is back — this year, with a tribute to a lost pop star.
Thousands of lights, synchronized to music, are up at the Grant-Grusecki home at Engel Boulevard and Belle Plaine Avenue. The light shows can be seen from 5 to 8:55 p.m., Sundays through...
Now that's a cover!
On Tuesday night's episode of The Voice, we sadly had to say goodbye to a couple more contestants as the final eight were revealed -- but not before an AH-Mazingly star-studded performance!
Related: Paisley Park Is Going ALL OUT To Honor Prince With Four-Day Celebration!
You may have heard that Dolly Parton and Pentatonix teamed up earlier this year for a cover of the country star's hit Jolene. Well seeing as how Miley Cyrus has her OWN cover of the jam, the three musical forces decided to team up last night!
Unfortunately, the show wasn't all fun and games as two singers were sent packing. After Monday's show in which Christian Cuevas SLAYED with a Lady GaGa number, Austin Allsup, Courtney Harrell, and Aaron Gibson were all in the bottom three. Right before the Instant Save voting was announced, coach Adam Levine urged voters to save Gibson, saying:
"No disrespect to any other people on the show because they're all wonderful, but I, in my heart, believe that Aaron is the guy that should be moving forward. I believe that he is the one. To see you go, to me, would be a huge loss, too big a loss to deal with."
Luckily, Adam's gushing endorsement was enough to save Aaron -- who has been instantly saved the past three weeks -- as Allsup and Harrell were both sent home. Before Courtney left though, he had some sweet words for his coach Blake Shelton as he shared:
"Blake, I came here to face my biggest fear — of being seen and not being heard and even rejected. Tonight, I am free, and I thank you."
Now that we're down to eight, let's take a look at who's left:
Team Miley: Ali Caldwell and Gibson
Team Adam: Billy Gilman, Brendan Fletcher, and Josh Gallagher
Team Alicia: Christian Cuevas and Wé McDonald
Team Blake: Sundance Head
And don't forget to ch-ch-check out Aaron, Austin, and Courtney's performances (below) and let us know if you think the right artist was saved!
Gibson performs Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right:
Allsup puts his spin on Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whiskey:
Courtney's take on Rascal Flatts' Bless the Broken Road:
Who will you be rooting for as season 11 of The Voice comes to a close?
I'd buy that for a dollar! [ more › ]
Amazing things are happening for Lady GaGa!
Not only did the Joanne songstress have a beautiful night at the American Music Awards over the weekend, but on Monday, she welcomed a new member into the family...
Another French Bulldog puppy!
Related: Anna Faris Faces $5K Fine After Dog Is Found Homeless
The 30-year-old made the announcement on Instagram with the first pic of her little pup (above). She captioned the special shot, writing:
"I'm proud to announce we added a new member to the #JOANNE family 😇 I haven't named him yet but I call him both cowpig and moopig in the meantime!"
Yay!
And in case you didn't know, GaGa is mom to two more fur babies, Asia and Koji.
We wonder what she'll name her spotted new baby! Get a closer look at all his cuteness (below):
He is so precious and the perfect addition to our three little piggies.A photo posted by xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) on Nov 22, 2016 at 4:58am PST
Who could resist??
[Image via Instagram.]
You know the drill; first we feast, then we rest and then we go bargain hunting. We reached out to IKEA to find out about the deals they have in store for shoppers this Black Friday - and beyond. Refreshingly, unlike relying on doorbuster-style loss leaders that are set up to lure you into the store, IKEA is giving you a coupon to spend as you wish and some major percentage-off opportunities on whole departments of items - IKEA Family members can choose the one(s) you want to shop at the discounted amount.
<p><a href='http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ikea-black-friday-sale-2016-238819'><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>
For Trump, good art is an expensive hotel. When he announced his plans for the Donald Trump hotel in Washington DC three years ago he said: “Friends of mine, they spend these ridiculous amounts of money on paintings. I’d rather do [hotel] jobs like this, do something that the world can cherish and the world can see and that everyone can truly be proud of.”
The versatile organist, pianist and synth player, known for his work with Snarky Puppy, performs "Why Don't Cha / Get Up" live at the Woods Stage with his band.
Reflection is due out Jan. 1 on Warp Records. It's a single, 54-minute track similar to Eno's moody, meditative 1985 album Thursday Afternoon.
