Episode 166: Make Believe: On the Power of Pretentiousness

In culture and the arts, labeling something you don't like (or don't understand) "pretentious" is the easy way out. It's a conversation killer, implying that any dialogue is pointless, and those who disagree are merely duped by what you've cleverly discerned as a charade. It's akin to cynically revealing that a magic show is all smoke and mirrors—as if creative vision doesn't necessitate a leap of faith. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the nuances of pretentiousness, distinguishing between its fruitful and hollow forms. They argue that the real gamble, and inherent value, of daring to pretend lies in recognizing that imagination is an active contributor to, rather than a detractor from, reality. Pierre-Yves Martel's EPHEMERA project It isn't too late to join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, which goes until the end of April, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Brian Eno, A Year with Swollen Appendices Dan Fox, Pretentiousness: Why it Matters Ramsay Dukes, How to See Fairies Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Weird Studies, Episode 49 on Nietzsche’s idea of “untimely” Sokal Affair, scholarly hoax Weird Studies, Episode 75 on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Stanley Kubrick, “Notes on Film” Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Uses and Abuses of History Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak Mary Shelley, “Introduction to Frankenstein” Matt Cardin, A Course in Demonic Creativity Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick