Act Four: What all those hospital dramas didn’t teach me

As regular readers of this newsletter in particular and Act...

Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics   House (Hugh Laurie) runs tests in an episode of the show "House." (Adam Taylor/FOX) As regular readers of this newsletter in particular and Act Four in general know, I grew up without much exposure to pop culture. Though that means there are holes in my knowledge, it also has one advantage for my work as a critic: Because I don’t know that things have always been a certain way, I don’t take for granted that they are normal, or the only way to do things. Whether it’s screaming inequities in who gets interesting roles in television or movies, or the sight of fictional cops firing their guns willy-nilly, I didn’t go into my work desensitized: a lot of things seemed strange to me when I started consuming pop culture as an adult, and they still do. But at the same time, I’ve been mainlining movies and television for 11 years now and to a certain extent, they have gotten to me, especially in areas of life where I don’t have personal experience to draw on. That happened this weekend, when I had to take a member of my family to the emergency room and get them checked into the hospital. (I am fine, and that person will be fine, but blogging may be a little light this week.) When we got to the ER, I realized that for all the episodes of “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” I’ve watched in re-runs since I first got cable, I knew nothing about the things that actually mattered to us: How long was it normal to wait to be seen? How much time should it take to process the various tests that were going on? How long does it take for a hospital to find someone in an emergency room a bed and then to get them checked in? Obviously, it’s not a revelation to me that television is not the same thing as real life. Just as pop culture presents as normal things that are actually wildly abnormal and even dangerous, it’s valuable to remember how much of life never makes in on screen in the first place. As the narrator tells us in “Stranger Than Fiction,” “all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties which we assume only accessorize our days, are in fact here for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives.” What to watch and read this July 4 if you want to feel good about America again Fifteen books, movies and television shows to keep you entertained, and remind you of what makes America truly great. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •   Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT ‘The Trump Show,’ Season 1, Week 23, reviewed The president of the United States has been accused of blackmailing two cable news hosts via a supermarket tabloid. This show is a soap opera. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •   Read more »   Why I’m grateful every time President Trump insults a woman When the president of the United States calls women ugly as his go-to insult, you can't pretend sexism doesn't exist. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •   Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT Star Wars needs stewards, not auteurs — and that’s why Ron Howard is a great fit Franchises keep hiring directors with distinct visions, when really they want someone who can execute on an existing template. By Sonny Bunch  •   Read more »   From ‘Shaun of the Dead’ to ‘Baby Driver,’ Edgar Wright shatters Hollywood’s formulas At a moment when Hollywood's gone timid, Wright is wholly committed to being an original. By Sonny Bunch  •   Read more »   Recommended for you     Get The Intersect newsletter The corner of the Internet and interesting, in your inbox weekly. Sign Up  »         Share Act Four:    Twitter     Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Act Four or because it is included in your subscription. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071