WATCHING people mourn Chandler Bing when Matthew Perry died hurt me a little, if not more. And I was already unable to mourn the news of his death in the middle of the ongoing genocides and watching large portions of humanity becoming less and less human. I even made a dark joke about Yahweh asking Azrael to bring him a watermelon sundae with a Perry on top this last weekend, and sent different versions to friends. You probably don't know this about me, but dark jokes are not my thing.
I checked out of all the ongoing tragedies in the world for a little while. I returned to them in bits and bobs On Perry, the first bit that I ran into that moved me was a musician friend writing about how the Chandler brand of dry wit and sarcasm was warmer and kinder than its predecessors in (white people) sitcoms, which is to say it wasn't really that dry. I had to send that friend my favourite quote about writing comedy; it comes from Aaron Sorkin and is spoken about Perry's autobiographical-ish character Matt Albie in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
"Hey, why does Matt write (comedy)?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You said the others were writing (comedy) to be mean so why does Matt write?"
"Matt writes (comedy) to get people to like him."
This, about writing, is one of the few things that I relate to deeply as well as aspire to constantly as a writer, as an artist.
Being anxious about social media mores, I posted a promotional picture of Perry from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and the above four lines of dialogue as a story on my Instagram. That was it. That was going to be my RIP Matthew Perry post. I was still upset. And the Chandler fans did not deserve to see my grief for they wouldn't get it for they hadn't known enough.
Denne historien er fra November 21, 2023-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 21, 2023-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Trump's White House 'Waapsi'
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election may very well mean an end to democracy in the near future
IMT Ghaziabad hosted its Annual Convocation Ceremony for the Class of 2024
Shri Suresh Narayanan, Chairman Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited, congratulated and motivated graduates at IMT Ghaziabad's Convocation 2024
Identity and 'Infiltrators'
The Jharkhand Assembly election has emerged as a high-stakes political contest, with the battle for power intensifying between key players in the state.
Beyond Deadlines
Bibek Debroy could engage with even those who were not aligned with his politics or economics
Portraying Absence
Exhibits at a group art show in Kolkata examine existence in the absence
Of Rivers, Jungles and Mountains
In Adivasi poetry, everything breathes, everything is alive and nothing is inferior to humans
Hemant Versus Himanta
Himanta Biswa Sarma brings his hate bandwagon to Jharkhand to rattle Hemant Soren’s tribal identity politics
A Smouldering Wasteland
As Jharkhand goes to the polls, people living in and around Jharia coalfield have just one request for the administration—a life free from smoke, fear and danger for their children
Search for a Narrative
By demanding a separate Sarna Code for the tribals, Hemant Soren has offered the larger issue of tribal identity before the voters
The Historic Bonhomie
While the BJP Is trying to invoke the trope of Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the ground reality paints a different picture pertaining to the historical significance of Muslim-Adivasi camaraderie
