It's not news to praise "Fleabag." Everyone loves this show. It has been called "a perfect show."
It's also not news to praise the writer's eccentricity. She's Phoebe Waller-Bridge; she seems to have come from nowhere; she can write, act, be tragic, be funny, be weird. She is like Lena Dunham--fearless and astonishingly talented. A huge inspiration.
All that said, I just have to add to the heap of adulation. It's rare for me to feel I'm seeing "myself" in a story. But, for whatever reason, I feel that Ms. Waller-Bridge has a direct line to my heart.
Though I do not sit listlessly in a rat-infested empty cafe everyday, I nevertheless feel my work life is somehow symbolically *linked* to sitting in a rat-infested cafe.
Though I do not have a passive-aggressive artist stepmother working on a "Sexhibition," I nevertheless know what it's like to be in a conversation, un-moored, constantly wondering if the remark I've just heard has secret "barbs."
Though I've never had someone accidentally reveal that my nose is weird, I *have* had someone begin an indelicate sentence, stop, rewind, then try, frantically, to paper over the half-stated indelicacy--thus making the indelicacy much, much worse.
It's such a treat to see these universal phenomena documented on camera, because (a) it makes the viewer feel less alone and (b) it reminds the viewer that basically *anything* is up for grabs if you want to tell a story. You can make art about *anything* ....if the desire is there.
Thank God for this show. Do watch if you haven't yet--already.
It's also not news to praise the writer's eccentricity. She's Phoebe Waller-Bridge; she seems to have come from nowhere; she can write, act, be tragic, be funny, be weird. She is like Lena Dunham--fearless and astonishingly talented. A huge inspiration.
All that said, I just have to add to the heap of adulation. It's rare for me to feel I'm seeing "myself" in a story. But, for whatever reason, I feel that Ms. Waller-Bridge has a direct line to my heart.
Though I do not sit listlessly in a rat-infested empty cafe everyday, I nevertheless feel my work life is somehow symbolically *linked* to sitting in a rat-infested cafe.
Though I do not have a passive-aggressive artist stepmother working on a "Sexhibition," I nevertheless know what it's like to be in a conversation, un-moored, constantly wondering if the remark I've just heard has secret "barbs."
Though I've never had someone accidentally reveal that my nose is weird, I *have* had someone begin an indelicate sentence, stop, rewind, then try, frantically, to paper over the half-stated indelicacy--thus making the indelicacy much, much worse.
It's such a treat to see these universal phenomena documented on camera, because (a) it makes the viewer feel less alone and (b) it reminds the viewer that basically *anything* is up for grabs if you want to tell a story. You can make art about *anything* ....if the desire is there.
Thank God for this show. Do watch if you haven't yet--already.
Lovely piece, Dan. Welcome the desire :-)
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