Oh so pretty. . .: Announcing the Deeply Superficial Blog-a-Thon, Feb. 1-8

Hey there. How you been? I just realized that there was a new Friday Night Lights last night and that I should probably write it up, eh?

But I come here to tell you about something else. I enjoy Friday Night Lights for its substantive scripts, for its attempts to portray small town life realistically and fruitfully and for its excellent acting and directing. But I also enjoy just how pretty everyone in it is. I mean, is there a better-looking cast on television? I highly doubt it!

Writing the top 100 list (and, yes, I'll get to the comments, hopefully tomorrow) caused me to realize that we watch TV or movies or listen to music or read books for a variety of reasons, and sometimes those reasons are deeply shallow. Sometimes, we just want to stare at pretty people or gorgeous production design or just hear some funny lines that don't have deeper social concerns or anything. There are many works that can be appreciated on BOTH levels -- you can view Days of Heaven and enjoy its subtle themes about corruption of innocence and paradises lost and various literary allusions and. . .OH WOW. THAT SHOT SURE IS PRETTY!

See?

This is not to say that there's no value in the deeply superficial. Many of the best filmmakers or novelists use purely beautiful shots or prose to put over their deeper meanings, but these are the sorts of works that use that beautifulness to worm their way into your brain.

Also, sometimes, you just want to look at attractive people doing witty things. I mean, we're all human!

So here's hoping you'll join us for the Deeply Superficial Blog-a-Thon, running from February 1-8. You could write an extended treatise on a work where the superficial pleasures led you to a deeper understanding of the piece as a whole. Or you could make a list of people you find attractive. Or you could just post pretty pictures. So long as it has to do with something in the arts or pop culture and it's something you enjoy on some sort of shallow level, it's fair game. Obviously, the subject lends itself to more humorous writing and/or personal reflection, so if you feel up to either, feel free to go ahead with that. It's as scholarly as you want it to be.

We'll link to everyone that writes a Blog-a-Thon post at their own blogs. Don't have one? Well, type something up in a .RTF file and e-mail it to me by January 31, and I'll publish it here with your byline and everything.

What am I writing about? I don't know yet, but it's sure to be a thing of beauty.

And here's a YouTube clip!