If you seek proof of the theory of evolution, consider They Might Be Giants. Over the course of three decades, the duo of John Linnell and John Flansburgh learned how to adapt and thrive in an increasingly hostile musical environment. TMBG diversified early and often, from its Dial-A-Song project and TV theme songs (Malcolm In The Middle) to podcasts and, more recently, a string of successful children’s albums, books and DVDs. TMBG’s latest children’s album, Here Comes Science, is a fun and surprisingly educational foray into the world of elements, planets, photosynthesis, electric cars and, yes, evolution. The duo is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with Linnell.
Linnell: It’s hard to justify but, I think, easy to understand the appeal of the Downward Spiral. From Greek tragedies and the horrors of ordinary folk tales through King Lear and on down to loads of contemporary books and films, stories that end badly have always been compelling. I never get tired of hearing about hapless people who don’t realize until too late that they are on a one-way journey to their own annihilation. Wheee! Here are a few tales that can be grimly enjoyed right through to the inevitable sorry end.
Wise Blood is a great novel by Flannery O’Connor about a zealous preacher with a deformed and hilarious vision of his own “church without Christ.” His earnest belief in his own righteousness leads him, step by terrible step, to his grisly fate.
Miami Blues, despite its drab title, is an engaging film starring Alec Baldwin (pictured) as a sociopathic con man who, eyes twinkling, claws his way to his own doom through a series of impulsive scams. His character’s wackiness and proclivity for random acts of violence underscore his pointless, anti-heroic descent.
Franz Kafka seemed to specialize in various kinds of awful fates. Beyond his popular tale The Metamorphosis (man wakes up to find he’s a cockroach, family isn’t sympathetic, cockroach slowly expires), there is also a wonderful Kafka story called A Hunger Artist that details the predictable demise of a circus performer whose talent is starving to death.
I’m not sure whether to count Mike Figgis‘ excellent film Leaving Las Vegas as exactly meeting my definition, because the protagonist (brought vividly to death by Nicolas Cage) has kind of planned out his own end in advance, so he’s not quite the paradigmatic loser who doesn’t know what’s about to happen.
Likewise The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the best book I’ve read this year, is unbearably sad and ends up in a very bad place. But it starts out that way as well, so there’s not so much downward to go.
Video after the jump.
