#damon lindelof

[ktempestbradford]

There is so much to talk about with this article. So much. In this post I want to focus on a specific part of it: the reactions of Lindelof and Cuse to what the writers and actors experienced. Here are several quotes [emphasis mine].

“What can I say? Other than it breaks my heart that that was Harold [Perrineau's] experience,” replied Lindelof, who said he did not recall “ever” saying that. “And I’ll just cede that the events that you’re describing happened 17 years ago, and I don’t know why anybody would make that up about me.”

Lindelof told me he didn’t remember any negative incident with an editor, adding that he seeks out input from collaborators and that he’s “never threatened anyone’s career.” Lindelof also said he had no recollection of anything Hsu Taylor said about events connected to “Ab Aeterno.” He said she was a “great writer who executed at a high level” and he’s “stricken” that she was made to feel the way she felt at that time.

Regarding the other allegations leveled at him and the show, Lindelof said he had no memory of the incidents and comments I related. He told me he was “shocked and appalled and surprised” by the incidents I described to him, and said more than once that he did not think anyone was making anything up. “I just can’t imagine that Carlton would’ve said something like that, or some of those attributions, some of those comments that you [shared]—I’m telling you, I swear, I have no recollection of those specific things. And that’s not me saying that they didn’t happen. I’m just saying that it’s literally baffling my brain—that they did happen and that I bore witness to them or that I said them. To think that they came out of my mouth or the mouths of people that I still consider friends is just not computing.”

I'm not going to quote Cuse's responses here because they all boil down to: "I don't remember doing/saying that" or "Nuh uh, that didn't happen!" which is... certainly a choice.

You're going to see a bunch of people siding with and empathizing with Lindelof and praising him for saying that what happened was wrong, etc., and I will push back every time I see it because of all those instances of him saying he doesn't recall and doesn't remember. I don't think he's lying. I do think it's indicative of an ongoing problem with him as a writer and showrunner and it needs to be called out.

I'm going to tell you a story that explains my point. Also putting it and my conclusions under a cut as this is long. Please do read.

Many years ago I became friends with a white woman writer in the SFF community who lived in NYC during some of the time I did. She knew many of the writers and editors in our community who also lived in NYC or nearby. At the time, the majority of these editors were white and most were men. She became particularly friendly with some of them.

A couple of years into our relationship we were at ReaderCon together. One day at the hotel bar I was sitting with this woman (we'll call her Karen for the purposes of this story) and two other BIPOC male authors who had both published multiple books at this point and were people that Karen felt were impressive and important. During the conversation someone (probably me?) brought up the online conversations/debates/fights currently happening about representation in the SFF genre and the way certain editors were part of the problem. I want to say this was even before RaceFail happened.

Karen revealed that she'd been talking to important people like Gordon van Gelder about the things I'd been saying online and how, well... the things I was saying were just crazy. Crazy things! I was acting so crazy.

I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I remember the repeated categorizing of me/my words as Crazy.

I also don't remember exactly what I said in response. I do remember how I felt in my body at that moment. I was suddenly flooded with, I think, adrenaline or something and I wanted to run away because otherwise I was going to start throwing things. I couldn't believe this person, who claimed to be my friend, was saying this to me.

I also remember that I felt trapped because I was in a booth and the two other writers were on either side of me so I couldn't just get up and leave. It turned out I didn't need to do that. Because immediately both of them were like: Hold up. Hold the EFF up.

They both pointed out to Karen that the things I brought up in those online discussions were real issues that did need addressing and that I wasn't crazy and the only reason she thought so was because I was a Black woman and when white people or even people perceived as being white said the same thigs I did, people in the community listened, so what the heck was even wrong with her.

I just sat there, pretty quiet, still trying to calm myself down while this all happened and also felt so very grateful for how these two guys (also friends) stood up for me without hesitating, without equivocating, without giving Karen an inch to continue to talk about me in such a way. I don't even know how that conversation ended or if I even talked to Karen again at the con. I did decide right then that I was going to pull back from our friendship because of it.

A year or so later I ended up having to have a conversation with Karen because of some nonsense she pulled at WisCon. In that conversation I mentioned the discussion we had at ReaderCon and how that truly affected my view of her, a person who was supposedly my friend and who constantly tried to say she was an ally to BIPOC. And that's when she said: What discussion?

At first I wasn't sure if she was feigning ignorance or not. The more we talked, the more I realized she wasn't. She didn't remember the incident. And in that talk I realized why: It didn't have that big of an impact on her.

Even with her being essentially told off by the other two, for her, having conversations where she casually parroted some white, male editor's racist and misogynistic view of me was of little note because she and the other people she spent a majority of time with were doing it all the time. It was just a Tuesday for her. And so after ReaderCon when she continually asked if I wanted to hang out or go on writing dates, she did so as if she had not said some absolutely egregious stuff to me weeks before. Again, to her: a Tuesday.

Having had more experience in life with certain kinds of racists, sexists, ableists, and bigots in general, I can say that this phenomenon was not specific to Karen. It is endemic with a certain kind of person who is devoted to the status quo/dominant paradigm.

So when Lindelof says that he doesn't remember doing and saying these things, he's probably not lying. Because for him, it was business as usual, a Tuesday. Normalized on a number of levels. He was a fish in water and the water was composed of racist, sexist a-holes doing whatever they wanted because no one above them put a stop to it. And that is a problem even 20ish years later.

That Lindelof had to be told he did these things and that he, in all this time, has not reflected on them, not realized on his own that what he did was terrible, apologized, and worked his butt off to not only ensure the shows he runs do not have this atmosphere but to also throw every bit of work that he can to those writers (not necessarily on his shows, but others) is proof that it continues to be a problem. And that he has a lot of work to do to atone for all these things he can't remember--starting by doing a real deep dive into why he can't.

Cuse can't be saved. I suggest we introduce him to a nice oubliette.

[lets-steal-an-archive]

Lost Illusions: The Untold Story of the Hit Show's Poisonous Culture

"The show was a groundbreaking smash, but behind the scenes it devolved into such toxicity that even co-showrunner Damon Lindelof now says of his leadership: 'I failed.' A powerful excerpt from the new book Burn It Down" by Maureen Ryan."

→ http://okbjgm.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/5/0/31506003/final_statement.pdf

[fatherramiro]

Hey it’s rather important that Lost fans read this so please do - and keep your defenses of the show/writers off this post, thanks

[vertigoartgore]

Promotional still of the cast of The Leftovers's season 2 (2015).

[brokehorrorfan]

Lost's first season soundtrack is available on vinyl for the first time via Varese Sarabande. Due out on February 2, the score is composed by Michael Giacchino (Jurassic World, Star Trek, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story).

The 2xLP album is pressed on "Oceanic Black Smoke" colored ($40; limited to 500) and black ($38) vinyl. It's housed in a slver foil gatefold jacket with liner notes by Giacchino and creators J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof.

[scaryhaven]

did you hear mate, Kylo Ren's coming back for the new Star Wars movie thats set after the rise of skywalker, and yeah, not even as a force ghost or some dumb cameo, and actually hes happily married to Rey and they have kids together, in fact the whole runtime is just about the two of them-- What do you mean am i taking my medicine? I really dont see what that has to do with anything--

[amazingfuckingamy]

You Were Never Really Here (2017) dir. Lynne Ramsay // The Leftovers "The Book of Kevin" (2017) dir. Mimi Leder

[flintsdragon]

I finished the leftovers and I had the idea for this Hozier work song edit the entire time so here it is in all of its insanity!!!

[theerased]

I wrote an extremely deep analysis of one of my favorite episodes of television, “International Assassin” from HBO’s The Leftovers, published over on TV Obsessive. Friend, it’s more real than its ever been… read it here.

[abnerkrill]

This is a heavy read, but if you're at all interested in how television works, or have ever wondered how bad a TV working environment can possibly get, or are a fan of Lost or modern genre TV at all...

This is an incredibly well-reported piece about the racism & abuse in the writer's room of Lost. (TW for abuse, racism, misogyny, and a decent amount of gaslighting.) Anyone working in the entertainment industry will tell you that these people are still working today & get credit for making "great TV" while all their past behavior is completely excused—and that these attitudes are not uncommon in Hollywood at all.

The article is an excerpt from from a forthcoming book: BURN IT DOWN: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood by Maureen Ryan.

For further reading on the same subject, writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach released his full 7-page final statement, including his complete remarks to Maureen Ryan.

[laserpinksteam]

Bingeing, microdosed: The Leftovers, s03e08, "The Book of Nora" (dir. Mimi Leder, 2015)

[vertigoartgore]

Justin Theroux as Kevin Garvey and Carrie Coon as Nora Durst in the great HBO show The Leftovers.

[randomrichards]

NEVER SURRENDER: A GALAXY QUEST DOCUMENTARY

The cult following

For a Star Trek parody

A surprise success

[revolutionaryjackelving]

Elving’s Musings Tumblr Roundup #10

Starting #2024 with a Stack of Old Asks on Tumblr.

(Detail from ASM#700 Festive Variant Cover by Marcos Martin)Previous Tumblr Roundups: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5) (#6) (#7) (#8)(#9) My last Tumblr Roundup was January 2023. So let’s ring in the new year with a stack of old asks. I have explained my situation in my End of Year 2023 Post, so I won’t explain anything beyond that today. JUNE 01, 2023: Thoughts on the “Death” of Kamala…

[denimbex1986]

'...53. Six Feet Under

HBO 2001-05

The difficulty in looking at the legacy of “Six Feet Under”? Five seasons of exceptional television are inevitably overshadowed by 10 minutes of perfect television. Creator Alan Ball’s series follows the lives of the funeral home-operating Fisher family and those in their orbit, while exploring both the profound and the mundane in death. The final moments of “Six Feet Under,” a succession of emotional jolts underscored by a soulful Sia ballad, felt in the moment surprisingly daring. But, looking at a series that for its entire run had been keenly observed but startlingly openhearted, one might say that the show died the way it lived.

50. My So-Called Life

ABC 1994-95

It’s rare for art made by adults to perfectly nail the angst, anguish and hope of being a teen. While series like “Beverly Hills, 90210” were giving high schoolers a glossy, sexy view of adolescent life, Winnie Holzman’s “My So-Called Life,” which starred Claire Danes as 15-year-old Angela Chase in lovelorn pursuit of her crush, Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto), offered something more grounded and tangible. The show’s sole season is distinctly of its time, but “My So-Called Life” has something for teens (and former teens) today too. It’s a series about thrilling and heart-wrenching experiences — first love, coming to understand your parents and trying to understand your own frenzied emotions.

32. Lost

ABC 2004-10

What’s in the hatch? Who are the Others? Where did that polar bear come from? Yes, “Lost” hooked tens of millions with tantalizing mystery box questions like these. And yes, many of the answers showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse ultimately provide don’t quite live up to that fervor. But what made the show was its vibrantly rendered characters, dozens upon dozens of them — Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), Locke (Terry O’Quinn) and Ben (Michael Emerson) — all striving to make sense of their upside-down circumstances within an expansive, rip-roaring, fabulously weird adventure. It was a flawed show, sometimes deeply so, but between its characters and, yes, those damned questions, “Lost” engaged its audience like no other, precipitating the online ecosystem of fevered fan theorizing that dominates how so many of us experience our favorite shows today.

21. Game of Thrones

HBO 2011-19

There was no bigger television show in the 2010s than HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy novels. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the fantasy epic pulled viewers into the cutthroat world of Westeros, a land rife with myths, legends, warring families and magical dragons. It was an enormous undertaking and a feat: Despite its relatively humdrum ending, “Game of Thrones” redefined television with its depictions of violence, sex and gore, and with its frank assessment of what it takes to rule. The series examined the universal lust for power, and within its spectacle drew complex portraits of the people who would tear the world apart for their chance to sit atop the coveted Iron Throne...'