The Great American U-Turn
America has entered its Hitchcock era. This is how we hold on to hope.
The Route 24 Roadmap
I’m on a mission to help restore public trust. This is where I look closer at moments of global and national significance to show how cycles of misinformation and disinformation disorient communities.
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Start your engines…
In this issue: I often get asked at industry events: “So, what are you watching?” The question is a cliché, but it does give you a crash course in a person’s creative sensibility. In truth, much of what I spend time consuming (when I do have downtime - which is usually quite rare, though I’ve relished in much more it of lately) are classics. I’ve enjoyed relearning the art of suspense from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a format emulated (in part) by another pioneer in Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
America has entered its Hitchcock era caused by The Man Who Didn’t Know Enough. Consider the moral devolution of American leadership, the extent to which America has become a police state ( and specifically, a reproductive police state), the case of Jabari Peoples, and the legal context of birthright citizenship and you realize that the American public is living their daily lives on the edge of their seat.
It’s prime time for a U-turn. Given that today is International Day of Hope and that His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently celebrated 90 trips around the sun amid a time of global overwhelm, it felt prescient to reflect on a conversation I heard back in 2021 between the Dalai Lama and Greta Thunberg. I find the most authentic storytelling to be driven by candid conversations. May it inspire you to proceed from a place of deeper personal inquiry and enlightenment.
Stay the course,
Sam
Sam Reetz, is a filmmaker, performer, and founder at Millennial Ethics, creating narrative solutions to complex issues.
Follow her work on Bluesky, Substack and Instagram.
