The Distancer: Wednesday, March 18, 2020
DAY 6: The Darjeeling Limited
Happy hump day, friends!
Starting off with this share of how we can effectively shift our mindset to deal with these turbulent times. Maybe you'll find it helpful. I certainly did! Take a second to think these over if you need a moment to adjust. We can't change the cards we're dealt in life, but we can control the way we play them.
Now, let's get off to the races, shall we?!
You know how Mr. Rogers said to "look for the helpers?" Well, here's one chance for you to be a helper yourself: the "COVID-19 messengers" are a group of volunteers providing free deliveries for community members in the most need. It's still coming together, but I think the opportunity sounds worthwhile enough to share while they're working it all out.
A friend in my company's Slack pointed me to a Chrome browser extension called Netflix Party where you can watch videos with friends! Seems like something interesting - heck, maybe I'll even set something up for this group if there's interest? More info either way here.
For all those braving out coronavirus in NYC, please consider ordering takeout/delivery from a Chinese restaurant. Due to early media coverage that consistently associated the virus with Chinese people (and now exacerbated by 45 trying to label it that on Twitter), these businesses are feeling an extra big pinch in these tough times. I found this helpful chart that can point you in the direction of such vital institutions of our city's social fabric:
I got some feedback that this newsletter could stand to benefit from more resources for children/parents, so I'm happy to say that today I have quite a few things to recommend…
My queen Amy Adams joined Instagram to participate in the Save with Stories initiative to benefit No Kid Hungry/Save the Children. She and other celebrities like Jennifer Garner are reading bedtime stories for children who might want to hear from someone other than their parents! Here's Amy's inaugural 'gram.
I was also pointed to this helpful resource of free coloring pages available for kids (or adults, again, who am I to judge).
And here's a list of online classes for the youngsters, some free and others paid! Keep 'em busy while keeping 'em learning.
Now, onto the helping part of this...
A number of freelance culture writers like myself are really hurting from the closure of so many institutions and the postponing of events like SXSW. A number of them are posting their PayPal/Venmo accounts here, and the smallest gesture would go a long way to helping their finances and their spirits:
A college friend/former coworker works at an organization called Wilmer Hall Children's Home in Mobile, AL that's in need of donations right now. They provide education and transitional housing for those in need. Existing problems in our society do not disappear because of COVID-19; if anything, they are going to be exacerbated. Their goal is to provide a safe home and haven through it all, and your donation helps make that possible. They're taking donations through Facebook and their website.
Finally, if you're a little overwhelmed by all the places that need your help and support, the team at Crooked Media has compiled a Coronavirus Relief Fund that allocates your support amongst a number of great organizations. You can choose to have it divide evenly, or you can adjust the amount you want allocated to each group. It's a nice one-stop shop if you'd rather donate all in one fell swoop rather than in a piecemeal fashion.
Any people or resources you'd like to plug or share here are always welcome!
Now, for some whiplash, a movie recommendation! (Click HERE for past recommendations.)
DAY 6: The Darjeeling Limited (available to stream on HBO GO)
Wes Anderson is as much a brand and a party theme as he is a filmmaker now - may any of us be so fortunate as to become the victims of our own success - but right before he got a little too twee and dollhouse-like for my tastes, the man made a straight masterpiece. The Darjeeling Limited deserves much more love, and it's high time this underrated gem gets its due. (Also, if you don't know who Wes Anderson is - totally fine! I promise you don't have to know to enjoy this movie.)
The biggest thing I love about this movie is that it totally gets how men, particularly brothers and family members, interact with each other. As a gender, we tend to be particularly tough to portray with any kind of emotional depth on screen. Undergirding most fraternal relationships is a strong non-verbal, unspoken component. Guys don't work things out quite so obviously with words; there are all sort of power dynamics that deal with how people assert control of a situation or dominance of a space that Wes Anderson captures so perfectly.
But The Darjeeling Limited is not just men and people under a microscope. It's about men on a spectacular journey, not through India but deeper into themselves. The estranged Whitman boys (played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman) embark upon this brothers' trip with the expectation that the grandeur of their surroundings will spark some change within them. Spoiler alert: it doesn't. It's only by confronting the way their past traumas lead to present anxieties that they can finally connect once again.
I find The Darjeeling Limited tremendously moving, an attribute I would not normally attribute to a Wes Anderson movie. There's such naked, raw emotionality layered on top of a genuine profundity here. His lesson that it is we who change ourselves, not our settings and circumstances that change us, is definitely something to keep in mind as we settle in for a long period of isolation and distance.
It's certainly OK, and often times necessary, to escape into a movie. (I will do it plenty during social distancing!) But try seeking out something like The Darjeeling Limited that might guide you towards introspection and self-enlightenment, too.
Be good to yourself and to others,
Marshall
(P.S. - If you want the spicy version of my thoughts on The Darjeeling Limited, read my hot take on why I think it's the best Wes Anderson movie here.)