The BumbleRabbit Archives

Good morning, Erin. I have this writing exercise I like to do, where I take a show or movie that is completed and self-contained and neither has nor in any way calls for a sequel…and then I come up with a pitch for its sequel. The point, more than anything else, is a bit of mental calisthenics, something to keep my imagination limber. Consider it practice at creative problem solving: how do you come up with an answer to a question that you know doesn’t need an answer because it shouldn’t be asked? I can’t say that every scenario I’ve come up with has been a solid-gold idea, but I think I generally do a pretty good job of presenting stories that, for lack of a better way of expressing it, work. Really, it’s just a matter of considering what a sequel can be—not what it has to be. That is, it does not need to pick up directly where the previous story left off, nor does it have to be about the main character from the original story…nor does it have to be the same kind of story. Once you...

Good morning, Erin. Surprise! But also not a surprise, when you think about it (however unexpected it might be to appear right now), because I’ve talked about wanting to rewatch Start-Up for a long time—and, of course, Suzy is very much a pop star, which makes right now the perfect time to do it.  But, believe it or not, neither of these is the reason why I chose right now to do this re-watch. Or, more specifically, neither of these is primarily the reason for it.  No, the reason I decided now was the time to re-watch Start-Up was because of the conversation you and I had about the show on the day you came to visit me after winter break in 2022. (I don’t know that you remember anything about this conversation (or even that you came to visit me on your first day back from winter break), but it’s fine either way—because I remember all of it!) Obviously, the topic of the ending came up, and I made a point of saying that, though I disagreed with it, the choice of Nam Do-san ov...