Just Culture #9: The Bear in Review
Just Culture brings you reviews and thoughts from all spectrums of culture in a timely and untimely fashion.
These reviews of The Bear found on Disney+ first appeared in Just Thoughts #23 - Being an Adult, Startups, and Leadership, and Just Thoughts #24 - Why Your Kids NEED to Watch the Olympics and Unlock the Secrets to Leadership Development!
At the time of writing, The Bear has a 96% Tomatometer and a 76% popcomenter rating, with an 8.6/10 on IMDB, meaning many audiences accept it.
The Bear is bingable, unique, and moving. It's well-cut because you can watch any episode in isolation and still be on board with a one-minute explanation. I've covered the first two seasons, but I'd watch episode seven from season two first before anything else. That's a minimal movie in itself.
Then I'd watch episode eight of season two for leadership lessons. Only after these two episodes would I go into season one, episode one. The team had their reasons to build the series in some other way, but that would've made for better storytelling. The end of season one leaves you wanting more, but the end of season two falls a bit flat, and I already know how this will pan out without watching the final season.
Nonetheless, I am trying to remember a piece of entertainment that has been able to convey emotion at large with only cinematography and no words that require some skill. It also made me reflect on how you create teams under extreme pressure while finding ways to communicate effectively.
What also struck me is that the Bears have a very diverse team, and regardless of the profanities and jabs they take at each other, their racial differences are never brought up. It's simply not a factor, and that's precisely how it should be. Finally, I love the little heart rub they do when they’ve failed to regulate their emotions as adults.
To continue, I binged season three only to realize I didn’t guess what would happen, maybe in the next season. In season three, every episode was short, as it was building up the characters more than following the main storyline. Anyone going into labor soon should watch episode eight without fearing getting any critical spoilers if you want to watch the rest of the series.
The last episode encapsulates the “purpose” behind the restaurant industry and, maybe, more specifically, the fine dining industry. Food connects people and brings them together. At best, you get to celebrate significant occasions and sometimes even be a part of family celebrations. I think that is why I like cooking. In addition, when you cook someone a meal, you have invested time in creating something concrete and done right for the right reasons; it’s a demonstration of love. Try substituting that with AI.
Without AI-generated pictures, here’s one for this post, which I drew inspired by “By the Bear.”
What do you think? Is art still art if you’re using a computer to create it? Can one substitute the art of cooking with AI?
Intrigued? Share with someone who might also like to watch Slow Horses!
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