Archives for October 2020

Welcome to My Commons Watch. In this section, we will be looking over entertainment in the digital form, be it a Netflix show or viral Youtube video. Of course, once you finish reading up each week’s topic, checking it out for yourself is absolutely mandatory! This week’s edition: Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler is a 2014 crime thriller directed by Dan Gilroy, with an uncomfortably realistic take on modern media culture. And I have to say, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Louis Bloom, gives one of his greatest performances on screen.

Louis Bloom is a sociopath. He lives and operates alone, down on his luck financially, and most certainly not making strides on the social scene. But one night, he stumbles upon the world of stringing, also known as night crawling. Night crawlers celebrate when a building burns. They make vacation plans when a family is killed. Because, when these tragedies happen, night crawlers are on the scene with a camera and a light, angling for the best shot to deliver to news stations. The more shocking the footage, the more bills in their pockets. Naturally, this career appeals to our lovely protagonist, who shows talent early on. As morbid as the job can be at times, Lou manages to take it even further.

SPOILERS!

Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut film had audiences, including myself, at the edge of our seats, and I practically fell off during the movie’s final act. Few films have filled me with so much suspense. So, what makes Nightcrawler so entertaining? Why do we enjoy watching a sociopath with no redeeming qualities or relatable human traits? First, we must learn about Lou’s sociopathy.

Lou’s dialogue is something particularly unique to this film. He rarely speaks about his feelings, and when he does, it is with sinister intentions that chill us to the bone. Every other time, however, Lou is citing facts, teaching other characters, and keeping every thing in concise, logical verbal packages. At no point do we feel frustrated or feel the pace of the movie slow down for Lou do navigate complex emotions. He has none. He continually takes the logical next step, whether it’s morally questionable or not, and he wins every time. As audience members, we take joy in watching Lou do what we wish we could. Emotionlessly knowing exactly what to do and taking what we want, when we want it.

Most importantly, we are shown that society rewards emotionless characters like Lou. The news station boss praises Lou for his gruesome recordings, and pays him handsomely for them. Viewership for the news broadcast even increases. It’s a clear commentary on the media culture we are all guilty of participating in, but it also creates a bridge between us and a sociopath like Lou. Maybe we all are sociopaths in some way, but we just don’t admit it to ourselves. And while entertaining our selfish desires are satisfying to watch at first, Lou eventually takes a dark turn that even we can’t follow.

Lou sits by while a family is shot and records the suspects. Lou captures footage of the bleeding family members without ever calling for help. Lou keeps the footage of the suspects to himself, and waits for the criminals to commit another crime. Even this, we can accept as an audience, even empathize. We all can appreciate an artist dedicated to his work. The moment this empathy stops, however, is when Lou delivers this line to his partner in crime: “What if my problem wasn’t that I don’t understand people, but that I don’t like them?”. Lou holds no emotional attachments to his partner, Rick, who stuck by Lou through his entire journey, and undoubtedly helped him succeed. We value our connections with people we’ve spent significant amounts of time with, and even the evilest movie villains have someone they trust. Lou holds none of these sentiments, and when he intentionally lets Rick get shot, we are woken up to his true emptiness.  

Nightcrawler puts us face to face with our less acknowledged, dark selves. Even now, 7 years after the film’s release, it’s message hits home.

Between phrases such as “squirrel brained” and “he ain’t got the brains God gave a squirrel!” people throw a lot of shade on a squirrel’s intellect. Does the squirrel deserve this reputation, or does it actually deserve an apology??? This week’s installment in the squirrel series looks at how squirrels pick what nuts to cache. Future installments will further examine aspects of a squirrel and its caches.

TO CACHE OR NOT TO CACHE Multiple studies have found that squirrels more often finish eating white oak acorns than red oak acorns. Squirrels typically eat the entirety of the former, while eating closer to half of the latter; they bury the remaining red oak* half.

Many researchers attribute the difference in treatment of white versus red to the concentration of the acorns’ tannin. Tannins are sour proteins that are found in dry wines and in tanning leather. For several reasons, the squirrels prefer white oak acorns, which have lower tannin content. Over time, much of the tannin will have leached out of the red acorns, making for more desirable meals. Once some time has passed, the squirrels will return to their red acorns.

Other research suggests perishability plays a large role in caching, too. A 1996 paper featuring the Perishability Hypothesis attributes the difference in acorn treatment primarily to perishability instead of taste. White acorns are known to germinate soon after their autumn maturations, thus qualifying for a high perishability rating. Red acorns, on the other hand, remain dormant throughout the winter, waiting until spring to germinate. Therefore, they have low perishability. Researchers consistently found that squirrels cached more red than white. When the squirrels did cache white ones, they first chomped away the embryo of the acorn, keeping it from germinating in its time in the ground.

*Identifiers white oak acorn and red oak acorn here are sometimes abbreviated to white acorn or even white. It should be understood that when white acorn is said that does not mean the acorn is actually white.

So that’s that. It goes without saying that no one can be absolutely sure what goes through a squirrel’s mind. However, research so far described is leaning toward the side that the squirrel deserves an apology. Future investigation will provide further insight.

BE SURE TO READ NEXT WEEK’S INSTALLMENT IF YOU WANT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND A SQUIRREL’S CACHING PROCESS.