Spider-Man, Obsession, Backrooms, and the depiction of loneliness on screen

Welcome to the Grief Support Group 🪩💌🍒. This is the show where I examine how pop culture helps us cope with love, life, death, and grief. On today’s episode, I was joined by Jack Molmud, who you may also recognize as husband of GRIEF AND MEDIA! We did a ~thematic analysis~ on the movies we saw this summer (is this what y’all talk about when your partners drive you to Caltrain too?) and noticed a pattern: All of this summer’s box office hits commented on and depicted loneliness in some way. And loneliness is grief, whether it’s longing for something you once had and lost, or longing for something you never had in the first place. We discuss Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Backrooms, and Obsession, and how each of the films’ main characters cope with loneliness. For better or for worse! We also discuss romanticizing life, my psychic hit that brought us together in the first place, and answer the following advice questions: ★ why hyper specific actions can bring back feelings or things you haven't thought about in a long time. (e.g making a grilled cheese for the first time since a breakup) ★ I (gay man mid/late 20s) have a crush on a guy I’ve never met, but we run in the same professional circles. We matched on Hinge last month and have scheduled 4 first dates. Every time it comes down to it, he ghosts me the day of and then the next day has what seems to be a legit excuse (i.e family health emergency, death in the family). I’m conflicted because it definitely feels like this might be a sign he’s not into me the same way I am into him. But I also get mixed signals. What’s your take on the situation? Should I keep pursuing a date or chalk it up to bad timing and move on? Ask your advice questions anonymously for a future episode here: bit.ly/askgriefandmedia (http://bit.ly/askgriefandmedia) I’ll be back with a new episode every Friday. 🪩 Thank you for being part of the Grief Support Group. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit griefandmedia.com (https://griefandmedia.com?utm_medium=...)