Generically Atypical
All visitors are asked to don a ceremonial blindfold, often of the finest materials
I was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder and ADHD towards the end of 2019. As I immersed myself in reading and listening to as much related media as I could, I found that the most useful resources were the podcasts and social media feeds from the people who were working to manage their own atypical brains. I picked up a ton of helpful tools, tactics, and approaches that have made a big difference, especially in the way I approach work. One of the first podcasts I stated listening to was ADHD reWired, and this week I got to talk to host Eric Tivers about how getting the diagnosis changed the way I approached writing Novel Advice.
On of the big things we discussed was resisting the temptation to mythologize the times when it’s difficult to write productively. It turns out that writing is simply hard, takes an enormous amount of focus and energy, and it’s even more challenging when you struggle with ADHD-related challenges like task activation and context switching. I’ve also come to realize that I historically have relied on a time-honored ADHD strategy to get my work done — using crushing deadline pressure to motivate intense work sprints. I’ve been working to train myself out of this habit. It’s been a challenge.
As I was beginning work on the book, I looked for some help in managing these tendencies, and I joined a workshop where we had to post a small piece of writing every day. The emphasis on small, incremental progress was exactly the kind of support I needed to help overcome ADHD-related procrastination. My workshop group watched me slowly plod through the creation process, seeing every false start, hitch, and blind alley. For someone who struggles with perfectionism, it was terrifying to work in such an exposed manner, but it was a huge factor in allowing me to get it finished under adverse circumstances. This week, one of my cohort wrote a lovely response to the book, for which I’m terrifically grateful.
Next Time on “Tak Talk”
No, we’re not starting a podcast all about our Danish media blitz. But if we were, it would be called “Tak Talk.”
I mentioned last time that we’d begun watching the big-budget miniseries, 1864.
I’ll be honest — at the beginning, we approached this show with a certain level of mirth. There’s a wide variety of tones that clash with each other, a modern-day framing story that seemed to be wholly unconnected, some out-of-left filed magical realism, and a self-seriousness that can make historical epics easy to poke fun at. But at some point midway through, 1864 became irresistible. This is large scale, romantic, epic storytelling, and maybe it’s easier to connect with exactly because I have no prior knowledge or relationship to the actual history. It’s also become clear that any time you have a chance to put Søren Malling and Pilou Asbæk on screen together, it’s a great idea. (I’m this close to printing up some “Juul & Friis” coffee mugs ot have in time for Borgen S4.)
Next, we finally moved on to Bron/Broen aka The Bridge, the other huge international hit from the Nordic Noir boom. And it’s easy to see why this show was an international sensation — it’s beautifully shot, expertly written, an all-around exceptionally crafted piece of tv entertainment. It’s also anchored by two killer performances in the lead roles. In the U.S., Kim Bodnia is probably best known for his role in Killing Eve as Villanelle’s handler Konstantin. In Broen, he is playing a well-worn cop trope — the detective who cares too much, who is willing to break rules in order to get things done. But Bodnia infuses him with seemingly-unlimited reserves of soul, charisma and vulnerability; the way he registers surprise and delight is endlessly charming.
I’ve just been reminded that Kim Bodnia is joining The Witcher for its next season, and now I can’t wait to see that. I’m also struck by how much his face and his expressions resemble Matthew Macfadyen — is it too much to hope he could show up as a Wambsgans brother on a future season of Succession?
I’ve trying to avoid reading too much about Broen to avoid spoilers, but I can only imagine there are barrels of internet ink about Sofia Helin’s portrayal of Saga Norén, Länskrim Malmö. I think this one is pretty spoiler free. It’s a star-making performance, carefully observed and calibrated, and expertly deployed. And yet, I can help feeling a little bit uncomfortable about it.
Saga is portrayed as Generically Atypical — she exhibits a lot of characteristics of someone on the autism spectrum, but the show goes out of its way to avoid giving her a concrete diagnosis (at least midway through the second season where I’m up to.) There is a lot of mileage mined from Saga’s inability to understand tone or context, and a lot of comic and emotional weight given to the ways she tries to compensate so others feel more comfortable, or to do things the “right” way. Dramatically, this mostly works, but there’s something about it that I don’t quite believe. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what feels off, and I think it’s that Saga is played not only as someone who doesn’t understand social cues, but as someone mostly oblivious to their existence or their consequences.
I can’t help comparing Saga to another Generically Atypical investigator character from recent TV, Cynthia Erivo’s Holly Gibney from The Outsider.
Holly is Generically Atypical as well, and The Outsider sometimes verges towards the iffy trope of defining that as a superpower. But something I really responded to, and what Erivo brings to the performance, is a recognition of Holly’s trauma. You can see the outlines of Holly’s grief — not at being who she is, but from a lifetime of trying to navigate a world that makes her feel like an other. Saga barely notices, and when she does, it’s mostly played for comedy. And it diminishes the show a bit. Perhaps that will change over the rest of the show. Either way, I look forward to diving into what I assume is a trove of writing about this…after I finish the final season.
It’s too early to do a Forbrydelsen vs Broen comparison, but at this point, I might give the edge to Forbrydelsen — for as slick and well-oiled as Broen Season 1 was, it does suffer a bit from fridge logic once you start thinking about how complex the bad guy’s plan had to be in order to make it all work. We’ll keep re-evaluating as we go.
I also don’t want you to think that just because we’re watching all this Danish tv, that we’re neglecting the other kind of media: Danish movies! Another Round is currently in the middle of an award show push, and it’s well deserved. This movie has an incredible ending that I’m still thinking about.
There’s a cliche about liking an actor so much you’d watch them read the phone book; Mads Mikkelsen is so good, I’d watch him think about the phone book.
A Beginning Is A Very Delicate Time
A lot of the projects I work on require a large amount of worldbuilding. Often, this work doesn’t make it directly into the final product but helps inform how the final product is made. It’s a tricky balance to strike — you want to make the world feel real and lived in, but without requiring reams of exposition for it to make sense.
Michael Chabon just shared what I can only assume is an excerpt from a worldbuilding document he wrote for Star Trek: Picard which delves deeply into Romulan culture, and it’s absolutely fascinating:
I mostly enjoyed Picard. One of my favorite parts was the way the show detailed Romulan culture. I think my single favorite moment of the season was when they said the line about how “Romulan houses are always entered from the rear” — it’s a single fact about the culture which implies the existence of so much of the detail in Chabon’s document, but without having to explain it all on screen. It’s a great tiny detail that allows the audience to intuit the depth of thinking that went into it.
But hey, let’s be honest: I think I enjoy exposition more than most people. One of the things that made me fall in love with David Lynch’s batshit crazy adaptation of Dune is the way that it begins with four! consecutive! exposition! scenes! It’s so clunky, it works its way around to becoming beautiful.
Hey, what are the odds we’ll actually get to see the new version of Dune in a theater later this year?
Can You Hear Me?
I’ve been relying on my AirPod Pros (AirPods Pros?) for much of the past year’s Zoom call extravaganza. But something’s gone awry in the past few weeks and now, whenever I try to use them on a call, after about 10 minutes nobody can hear me, or they say I’m causing a terrible echo. I haven’t been able to find the source of the problem, so I’m on to looking for alternative solutions. If you have recommendations for headphones that have served you well on remote calls, please let me know.
‘Til next time, may your vaccination appointment come swiftly and with clarity.
Thanks,
Jay