Just after Taylor Swift announced that the name of her new album would be The Department of Tortured PoetsThere was reportedly an over 500% increase in search interest for Dead Poets Societythe respected 1989 drama with a similar name.
That percentage comes from the type of SEO/trend tracking studies that commission shady websites that then send out press releases in case, if the study is written up, the shady website is named as the source. (Because I don't think any Consequence Readers urgently need the new and exclusive no deposit casino bonus codes offered by this website; I omit the name of said website).
I wanted to mention that fact up front, though, because it speaks to the culture surrounding a massive event like Taylor Swift's new album. Everyone's looking for an angle in the run-up to a release like this, a way to be part of what's left of our monoculture, and so on. any A possible hint at what's to come (and what people will be talking about) seems important.
Thus, the renewed interest in Dead Poets Society It makes a lot of sense. Sure, the album's actual title could have been much more inspired by Swift's ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn having a group text of “Tortured Man Club.” But then Swift leaned into the connection between the two with the release of the video for “Fortnight,” which features dead poets It stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles as mad scientists who experiment on a tied up Taylor Swift in their lab.
Hawke and Charles look great 35 years after the release of Dead Poets Society, and the original film itself holds up remarkably well: a complicated emotional stew of dealing with parental expectations and social demands for conformity and maybe having a little crush on your roommate and laughing when your English teacher does an imitation of John Wayne. playing Shakespeare. (Rest in peace, Robin Williams).
Peter Weir's nuanced direction adds a lot to the story of privileged young people awakening to the power of poetry, but beyond the whole business of maybe being in love with his roommate, there's not much subtext, which perhaps aligns him with Swift's own artistic endeavors this spring.
thanks to our partners at consequence.net
