Welcome to episode 78, in which we discuss Polarity by Max Bemis, the lyricist and vocalist for Say Anything, one of the major bands of our adolescence. We’re talking about catharsis, about audience, and about hypocrisy, because Polarity is a lot to digest while simultaneously being very little.
To get right to the Polarity talk, skip to 00:27:00.
Warnings: This episode is uncensored, but we only decided that midway through. There are also some frank discussions of mental health concerns, if that’s a distressing area for you. Also, as a “still thinking about this episode several years later” note, Missy has never really been all that happy with the conversation in this episode about whether Polarity should have been made. Though she might be uncomfortable with it and what kind of messages it’s sending, she’d take a different approach now—it’s less that it shouldn’t exist like this (or whatever she suggested) and more that it should have received more care from editors than it seems to have had.
What Missy’s Been Up To:
Reading:
Dangerous Books for Girls by Maya Rodale
Watching:
The Shape of Water
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Listening To:
Dames and Dragons
What Merri’s Been Up To:
Listening To:
Mabel
Watching:
The Crown
Bright
Some Links You Might Find Interesting:
Patterns and Panels: How comics portray psychological illness by Katy Waldman
COMMENTARY TRACK: “Polarity”#1 With Max Bemis by Ryan Ingram
Say Anything singer debuts ‘Polarity’ comic in April by Brian Truitt
Say Anything Frontman Max Bemis on POLARITY by Paul Montgomery
Mental Health and the Media: its role, responsibilities and the key challenges by Emma Wilson