Sunday, 19 June 2016

Singing Detective
(1986)


A tv series about death and decay that tries hard not to be as iatrogenically-depressing as Librium.

The acting is first-rate and particularly well presents human pleasures - in often-humorous terms. Medical professionals offer patronising advice while sucking the fun out of life; making us wonder if the soulless longevity they tacitly promise is actually worth it.

Well written and thematically interesting, yet indicating its author has run out of plot gimmicks since he just reprises the musical style of his earlier Pennies from Heaven. The song & dance numbers merely tell us how characters feel rather than offering insights into how they got that way.

Ultimately, this detective seeks only himself and why he distrusts women. Without a love story, there is only morbid sex obsession as thin material stretches to repetitious length.

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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.