On Genre’s Surrealist Tendencies
I just finished re-watching Groundhog Day (1993) (the Blu-ray 15th Anniversary edition, if you must know). One of the things that makes this film so fascinating, even upon seeing it more than once, is its remarkably bizarre narrative. You might say it is positively surreal in form, dragging us, and the main character, Phil, into repetitious situations without any way to ground ourselves in the real (pun not intended). There are no fancy explanations for Phil’s “curse,” and in the process of watching him struggle with his identity in this new world order, we get a glimpse into a part of the human spirit that perhaps gets lost in the day-to-day hustle of life, just as Phil does at the start. What may seem monotonous can be changed by human action: we can change what we do,
127. Christopher Barzak (a.k.a. Don Surrealismo) — Birds and Birthdays (An Interview)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShowseasonFourEpisode127–AnInterviewW/Sandf–Episode127–InterviewWChristopherBarzak.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSurrealism, mythology, and fantasy, oh my! Christopher Barzak, acclaimed author of One For Sorrow, The Love That We Share Without Knowing, and the new collection, Birds and Birthdays, joins me to discuss how surrealism has influenced his work, mythic and fairytale narratives, human identity, and much more. It’s definitely worth a listen. We hope you enjoy the episode! (FYI: Some of the audio isn’t as strong as I would like. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt the episode too much.) Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 127 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion (0:00 – 1:12:58) Christopher’s Website Shaun’s Review of Birds and Birthdays Buy Christopher’s book! It’s good stuff. You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
