(Includes spoilers for the John Wick-franchise) “The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” -Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus The rule of action-movies is that immediate incentive trumps general motivation. When action star number 63 flails towards his goal in a boorish ballet ofContinue reading “John Wick, Our 21st Century Sisyphus”
Category Archives: Arthur Mulder
Analogies of Otherness
Few of us face our feelings head on. Polite euphemisms and humor are draped over that which stings us as habitually as tablecloth over tabletop. I am not here to argue we should all stare at the naked timber, tracing the growth-ring grooves in the wood without fear or shame. Few of us want toContinue reading “Analogies of Otherness”
The ‘then leave’-Mentality and the Death of American Optimism
America, like any place on earth, is problem-riddled, and has been from the start. No matter where we claim that beginning to be; whether it’s the moment Pangea split open and the world unfurled into its current shape, ravenous magma regurgitating up out of cracked tectonic plates; or when the first homo sapiens crossed theContinue reading “The ‘then leave’-Mentality and the Death of American Optimism”
The Art of Categorizing Creation
Diagrams from Laurence Sterne representing “the lines I moved in through my first, second, third, and fourth volumes.” Part 1: Theory Section I, or Why This Article Has Two Parts, Four Sections, and an Intermission We have been dividing stories into chewable bites for as long as we’ve been telling them. Perhaps most famously withContinue reading “The Art of Categorizing Creation”
The Post-Covid Action Hero
It is a little presumptuous to say we are in the post-covid period. New variants still sprout up quicker than we can weed them out; we are not out of the woods yet, but I naively hope we can see the forest’s edge emerging from between the distant dark-leaved birches. Culturally, what covid’s lasting effectsContinue reading “The Post-Covid Action Hero”
The Beauty and the Bland of Robin Hood
In the realm of pop culture analysis, like with most things, a lot of attention is given to few, and little attention is given to most. There are countless analyses of The Shining, ranging from ruminations on cinematography and set-design to theories about its depiction of Native Americans and its links to the moon landing,Continue reading “The Beauty and the Bland of Robin Hood”
Series of essays on art and laziness as a form of rebellion
Wabi sabi and the picturesque The classic Japanese concept of Wabi-sabi is the beauty of the imperfect, impermanent, incomplete and broken. This concept is reflected in the west through the work of the William Gilpin. His writing responded to the grandfather of aesthetic-theory, Edmund Burke, who claimed that the key elements of beauty are smoothnessContinue reading “Series of essays on art and laziness as a form of rebellion”
Olivia Rodrigo and the Beauty of Teen Music
Despite how personal some popular music may feel, it is almost always a group effort. Large record labels have much invested in artists and won’t let them fumble around creating whatever they please. True, untouched, individual music, with a few exceptions, can only really be found on the fringes of the music industry’s fiscal scale.Continue reading “Olivia Rodrigo and the Beauty of Teen Music”
Roland Barthes, Kanye West and the Rebirth of the Author
In 1967 Roland Barthes announced the death of the author in his essay of the same name, like Nietzsche had once announced the death of God. Barthes believed that the moment a work of art is sent out into the world, leaving the caring hands of its author, meaning springs from its interaction with theContinue reading “Roland Barthes, Kanye West and the Rebirth of the Author”
Writer's Block Magazine 