En artikelserie. HOBNOB JOURNAL 2023

Is the broader audience finally ready for a new perspective? Three portrayals to add to your watchlist

 

Finally, breaking norms are paying off. At least in dramas, cinemas and on stage recently. But hey, that’s always start right? The audience and critics, including me, are loving the stories being told on screen, showing new perspectives. It’s possible to reflect and feel with the person, unattached to the norm. Which means, it allows writers, producers, and actors to portray a personality, without having the weight of using a token women or man, but just a person. 

 

This has, of course, taken years of struggling, trying to get more perspectives into an industry being dominated by the norm. (And there’s still a long way to go.) But we’re slowly coming closer to understanding, first and foremost, every emotion behind the struggle or the success, not the person you’re representing. Portraying real stories as natural as possible, no matter the gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or dysfunction, and it’s finally paying off.

 

Here are three acknowledged works lately, to keep an eye on if you ever want to be thrilled, touched or overwhelmed.

 

Arv / The Inheratage: The Inheritance is a play by Matthew Lopez inspired by the 1910 novel Howards End by E. M. Forster. The play been displayed in London and Broadway in 2019. Now the play has gotten a Swedish adaption and is currently taking place at Dramaten, Stockholm, being complately sold out. The play is giving the audience an unforgettable experience while binding a beautiful, yet heartbreaking, queer community together throughout history. The play is almost 8 h long and keeps you completely spellbound all the way through. The actors display a palette of emotions, and the play is set up with remarkable lines preformed with innovation and brilliance.

 

Last of Us: The good old computer game, with storytelling at its best, has turned into a television series on HBO Max. A near time dystopia, with fungus and dead walking people aside, with some pretty good stories to be told. The series puts desperation and love at a new perspective. This time, episode 3, (I promise, no spoilers) as we speak, is being voted as one of the best episodes made. Ever. In history. Press play and watch it yourself. But I promise you a beautiful, unexpected story, probably found in many places, yet never displayed like this before.

 

The Banshees of Inisherin – “Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.” Obviously putting to men in a broken emotional relationship in the darker parts of Northern Ireland is a winner. Or at least that’s what the jury of the Oscars are thinking. Nominated in 9 categories during the 2023s annual Oscars gala.

 

So, what do the three of these have in common? Breaking patterns of what’s expected with stories beyond traditional relationships. And the audience are approving and ready for more.

Noodles, the modern meditation.

Noodles were the last thing I expected on my Instagram feed in January 2023. But when I think about it. Maybe it’s not that strange. Noodles are easy. Kind of cheap. Few ingredients. And the most important thing. Drum roll, please.

 

The sticks.

 

And why, you might wonder? Well, you keep your hands busy, which means you literary can’t use your thumbs scrolling while eating. And, it takes time to finish your dish – the modern way of meditation for many.

 

So, now it’s no longer just the art of cooking and the time chopping things in the kitchen, that’s keeps your mind at peace. With noodles, it’s also when you eat it.

 

Well, there’s some good ASMR in there. Even though you can’t get invested with others while eating, you can obviously film yourself when cooking and eating these amazing carbs. (thank you very much for keeping me busy before bedtime) Look it up. Boiling noodles, the sound of kimchi sizzling when being fermented. The intriguing sound of slurping. YES. I’m guessing it is as pleasing cooking as being on the other side of the screen.

 

And it’s not just me who’s loving it. Obviously, people are making money of it, with millions of followers on Instagram and Tiktok. The foodies have finally found a community, with its platforms, posting food and getting liked. Food is no longer just a meal, it’ also seen as art. But that’s a story for another time.

 

So, as a pasta loving HOBNOB, Im asking myself. Are noodles the new pasta? Well, it’s not a giant step for the pasta mankind have feelings for noodles. They’re basically the same ingredients.

Boiled delicious shaped carbs. So, I guess, it’s more which ingredients and toppings you crave on your plate. No rules, but if you say cheese, butter and black pepper I would go for pasta. While, soy, sesame paste and Sichuan pepper – noodles.

 

And besides, the noodles don’t really brake or bother my feed. It fits perfectly in between inspirational restaurant meals, interior decorating and colorful styles. Sometimes the algorithms do know you.

 

So, end of January, with instant noodles in my hand, this is what I’m telling myself. I’m not a tired poor student but a creative peaceful soul, with every possibility to take over the world.

 

Whatever floats your boat. You know.