#53 Rich people's stories
In the week billionaires flew to space to satisfy their faulty egos, I explored some expressions of another thing billionaires have started doing: tell stories.
Storytelling has always been a wealthy persons’ game, at least for stories that reach a mass audience. The Catholic Church, Disney, Ronaldo. For them, the riches followed the stories. Now, with Apple TV+ and Prime, the stories are possible because of the riches.
First, I watched Greyhound. Within the category of bland, overly simplistic movies, it does not stand out. From a brand that also brought us Pixar, I was surprised by the script’s lack of humor and reflection. A movie like an iPhone, well-produced and without personality.
Then, encouraged by Tenet and ignoring the trailer, I wanted to see the story Bezos wanted to tell with The Tomorrow War. At first, I couldn’t shake the feeling the story was an analogy about our inability to take climate action. But then, I understood that even if it was, it is mainly a story about how we’ll innovate our way out of any crisis. And how ordinary human lives are expendable in the process. It is very much a Bezos story, with some pages from the Apple TV+ book regarding humor and reflection.
What a waste of time and effort. But at least now I’m not curious at all about what sort of movie Musk may make.
Better storytelling comes from Stuff the British Stole. I discovered the podcast through a teaser on 99pi. The episode I listened to focused on the Tiger of Mysore. I knew about this object from the conversation I had with Tristram Hunt at MuseumNext a few years back. (Multiple layers of storytelling by rich people.) I’m sure the podcast will appeal to many of you.
More storytelling you will appreciate is this excellent investigative piece about the heritage of Lorem Ipsum in the Antigone Journal:
“To previous readers of the book, these words were simply section 1.32 of Torquatus’ speech. But to our Legend of Letraset, it was ideal that the page began not just mid-argument or mid-sentence but even mid-word: dolorem had been painfully severed in twain between the two spreads. Overjoyed with what he found, this enterprising employee started scribbling over the words, crossing some out and adding some random letters where he thought they would cause some organised chaos.”
In the end, Lorem Ipsum turns out to be a mangled reminder (by Torquatus, written by Cicero) that “no-one pursues pain because he loves pain. Rather, painful exercises are undertaken in order to attain some greater good: laborious exercise is pursued not for itself but for the beneficial outcomes it brings.”
Cicero, it pays to say, was also a rich person.
After all the rich people’s stories, may I recommend the NYT’s So They Know We Existed? In a news landscape dominated for days and weeks by the collapse of the Surfside condominium building and new the flooding in Belgium and Germany, it is easy to forget the very similar horrors Palestinians suffered in May. Their videos are a reminder that their lives are unique and magical. That they are more than extras in a Bezos movie.
“I started to film. I removed the password from my phone. So that if we didn’t make it out of the building and we were killed, people would know what happened to us.”
Imagine having the presence of mind to unlock your phone under fire. I’d say that outside of real people’s lives, that only happens in a well-scripted rich person’s movie.
Thanks for reading, subscribing, etc. These updates will likely become increasingly irregular in the coming weeks, given the summer and stress of our upcoming festival. Thanks for hanging in here. Until next week, all the best,
— Jasper