Friday I’m In Love: The OA

Part II drops today.

I’ve been working on a theory about modern television and movies. It probably applies to most art, but it feels especially applicable to the current explosion of auteur-heavy content that we all struggle to keep up with.

The theory is simple: There is now a broad category of movies and tv shows that deserve to be appreciated regardless of whether they’re “good” or I “like” them. What I mean by that is that there is more and more freedom for interesting people to make really interesting stuff—and for lots of people to then see/experience that stuff.

Some recent examples: Sorry To Bother You, A Ghost Story, Mother!, First Reformed, and even something like The End of the ****ing World. I can’t really tell you if those movies/shows are “good,” if I “like” them, or if you should check them out. All I know is that I think about them. A lot. And I admire the people who made them.

I’d also add The OA to that list.

I don’t know if The OA is “good.” I don’t know if The OA is something I really “like.” I don’t know if I’d recommend that you watch The OA.

But I kind of love The OA.

It’s interesting. It’s something I think about all the time. Brit Marling is endlessly magnetic. There’s transformative dancing and maybe time travel and possibly alternate realities and also it might just be imagination.

I think we need shows like this—shows that aren’t trying to reinvent television or earn a championship belt, but shows and movies that reach beyond themselves and strive for goals that might leave us scratching our heads. It’s the type of show where the experience of watching it is far more important than any particular plot point or whether or not it can “stick the landing.” I felt the same way about LOST and Mad Men—I loved those shows because of their ambition and their audacity, not because they were perfectly constructed.

Part II of The OA dropped today. I’m currently at my in-laws with my wife and kids. I’m trying to figure out how to avoid everyone and watch eight episodes of television without finding myself on the wrong end of a legal separation or a custody battle. Maybe I’m developing some flu-like symptoms? I need to rest up and hydrate and everyone should stay far away? Until I figure it out, no spoilers? Or I don’t care about spoilers?

Every Friday I share something I love. Usually, it’s a new infatuation. Occasionally, it’s something else. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks for the theme song, Phoebe Bridgers!