In this episode, Dara has an update on the fox situation at Hashtag Blessed and admits he views the surviving chickens differently since last week’s attack. Is it just him, or do they seem to be grieving?
After thinking he was almost out of fuel during an excursion to the mountains, Dara reflects on the benefits of slowing down and lays out a couple of mindfulness exercises to encourage the illusion of stopping time. He looks at the relationship between care and action and acknowledges his own resistance to trying new things. It begs the question – what do you care about enough to take action?
Staying in the area of care, Dara discusses a couple of movies he watched with his daughter over the weekend. The obvious homophobia in one was a stark reminder of how gender politics have evolved since the 90s, when the film was made. Tolerance of homophobic slurs was accepted then in a way it simply isn’t now.
A comment from his daughter raised the issue of the dominance of straight male values in movies in the past. As a corrective, Dara put on a movie with a strong female lead to offer something different, but his daughter didn’t care for it!
Also this week, movies as provocation and social critique. Better than those that moralise?