Tag: severance

by jad

The Really-Real

Another cultural anxiety that Apple’s ‘Severance’ cashes in on is the impermanence of self; are we who we think we are? Will we always be that way? What makes me “me”, anyhow? Is an “innie” a real person or are they merely the really-real person out there ‘under the influence’? Which experience gets to have agency? Which actor is ultimately accountable? In the background of all these questions is the fundamental paradox of individuality: inviolable and sacrosanct, yet conditioned, if not determined. “Individual” literally means that which cannot be divided, and yet, we all know that our human experience contains … Continue reading “The Really-Real” →

by jad

Commitments and Crossings

I decided to throw myself into the fray and deepen my intellectual commitments by actually getting off my ass and doing the work around the same time that many of us felt that same pang in our hearts. That’s when we realized that now is the time for commitments—maybe even extremes. And how that’s playing out looks differently across this city, but a whirlwind has been kicked up, for sure. These are three separate but interconnected rallies that happened on the same day, #IWD2025, representing the broad and messy “fight back” that many of us are participating in. I stood … Continue reading “Commitments and Crossings” →

by jad

The Severance Metaphor

I don’t watch many television series for one of the reasons that make Apple’s ‘Severance’ so resonant with a lot of us; hidden somewhere deep within its serpentine plot is a secret truth we’ve known for a long time—knowing less, feeling less, experiencing less is a great comfort. This truth is heretical to the thrill-seeking extroverts among us, but I suspect that, deep down, they too feel this way; their fear of missing out or need to measure up just happens to drown it out, and so, the comfort of disconnection finds them cold and confused in the dark night … Continue reading “The Severance Metaphor” →