Just wanted to take a second to say that if you like these longform videos, maybe think about supporting me on Patreon. I wouldn't be able to do these videos with additional monetary support. Thank you to all my patrons! www.patreon.com/NightmareMasterclass
This video is CRIMINIALLY underrated. Incredibly well written break down of a show worthy of digging into. I now understand more reasons I loved this show which I *felt*, but wasn't conscious of until now. Many of those reasons come from parts of myself I didn't understand when I first watched it, and now have a fresh perspective on. This + your big brain analysis cements this show as one of my favs. A show like this is what happens when the creator follows the path in front of them. Even the concept of the show itself won't shackle Nathan, and he is always willing to pull new threads as they present themselves. It feels to me like he went into the show with one thing in mind and gradually discovered something else, and since this happens over the course of the creation of the show rather than in its inception, we get to go along for the ride.
The thing with Nathan, I don't think he's making fun of these people. He's one of them, he's one of us, and he finds humor in his own life and is inviting us to be in on the joke.
He's totally poking at fun as them in some aspect. Kor, for example, isn't made fun of that much. Angela or the guy who crashed his Scion TC at 100mph are clearly the butt of the joke when theyre on screen. I think he treats it case by case.
@@Ttspzmitch1128 The Scion guy is clearly the butt of the joke. But Angela is more complicated to me. While clearly they focus on her saying some off the wall things at times, she is also given time and space to make some very reasonable and sound points against the things Nathan is doing.
He is making fun of those people in Nathan for You, he is reflective of this in Rehearsal and critiques himself through his own lens, in Curse he is fully critical but most distant from himself
After I saw the Finding Frances episode of Nathan For You, I immediately found Nathan Fielder much more fascinating than I had previously found him. I loved Nathan For You because it was all so silly and strange and absurd, which made viewing Finding Frances so happily surprising to me. I had hopes he’d create more comedic television that was also deep, introspective, and thought-provoking like it. With the Rehearsal and now The Curse, my hopes came true and he has not disappointed me. I love people like Nathan. Those who not only make you think, but who also do it in a way that feels novel and experimental. “Angel Hare,” Jack Stauber’s “Opal,” and honestly all of Ari Aster’s films are more examples of media that feel similar in that way. I’m elated that Nathan has found success and has the ability and motivation to continue challenging audiences. We need more creatives like him, as well as more studios who greenlight projects from people like him. HBO and A24 are at the forefront of that and I hope these works inspires more and more to come. Amazing analysis on this series! Well done :)
Also would like to say I greatly love your channel and the things you talk about/the way you talk about them! Your Disco Elysium and Explaining the Political Unconscious videos put things into a particular perspective that made things a little clearer to me. Plus I can't handle the type of second-hand embarrassment that Fielder operates on and watching a video like this makes it much easier to digest. Your take on the idea of Nathan Fielder being or not being an exploitative figure on his shows and acts is appreciated, and I hope that dialectic can come to a nice and meaningful resoultion. Also being a marxist is why we're here LMFAO
love that ur covering this. the intro was so good. i constantly recommend ur channel to friends who i think would like ur content, and even some i don’t. got my friend who hates horror OBSESSED with alan resnick
Finally done with the video! I know I don't say this often but I'm really happy that you take these deep dives into media and how they affect us. This channel reminds me so much of what I missed most of PBS Idea Channel in that it was like learning how philosophy is important in understanding the world around us from the art that is created from it. I don't think I'll ever get to watch The Rehearsal due to access to art, but I know I'll have more pretext to review the work with and enjoy it on additional levels as well.
I loved your analysis and I feel like the show at its core is a depiction of the ultimately futile endeavor of trying to appeal to different types of people all at once. When you put on different masks for everybody in your life, an increasingly relatable lifestyle especially for younger people, it becomes exhausting and near impossible to keep track of the different identities you display to others, and you also forfeit the ability to have a consistent set of morals and personality traits. I also loved the points you made about the contradictions between religious identities that preach selflessness in an increasingly selfish and individualistic society and how it’s shifted our identities away from religions and into consumerism
Let's be honest there's a little bit of Nathan fielder in all of us. The way he presents different business ideas and concepts is a pretty good and analogy for the way I got through college in 2006 and 7:00 when smartphones were just increasing in popularity and the teachers let us all use them for everything as far as tests and quizzes go because they had calculators in them and they were somehow oblivious to the reality that phones could browse the internet so readily already and I would venture a gas to say that 80 to 90% of the people in my architecture class cheated on every single quiz we ever had. But to be fair it was all pretty basic level shit that the majority of us learned in high school architecture studies and for the most part high School architectural classes are pretty broad and generalized so that ought to tell you something about the importance of the subjects
The farthest I usually get in my conversation trees is that point when you go to leave Walmart and your tree is telling you to say you too when the person at the door tells you a farewell greeting except plot twist, they waved at you and said thank you for coming today and as the phrases halfway out of your mouth you already start to cringe and loosen your arms to flail behind you as you begin sprinting through the security beepers with your arms still behind you like a human ribbon writer
"Orthodox Marxist"! I giggled! Seriously, LeftTube needs you. I'd love to see that bridge... You should (if you don't already) check out The Leftist Cooks, Thought Slime, Little Hoot, James Somerton, and Jessie Gender. They all welcome other leftist CCs, and most are big horror fans. (Except idk about LHoot & TLCooks.) And of course you do more than horror - I'm watching the video, after all, but I'm familiar with your work here on UA-cam: so fantastic, incisive, and underrated! - but they do more than talking politics, and that's where your strengths are the perfect meeting point for a bridge: ARGs, metatext, socialist/[etc.] readings of pop culture, and so on. I'm not trying to be some "smart guy" (I'm not a guy, and I'm not that smart!) and I know you're not actually freaking out about analytics. I just genuinely think it would be great to see you able to reach the audience that would love this but likely has no idea. Most channels like this get lumped together as "horror", or even misattributed _completely_ as "true crime", "Reddit thread readers", or "creepypasta", and hand-waved, ignored, not even given a chance. I personally have no power or stake in this. (And no real channel, prudent to note. It's not about me.) I merely wish to present an idea as a person who appreciates your work and wants it to reach the many people who would love it if they only knew. Truly, I hope I'm not being too bold. Cheers, and fantastic video! As ever. P.S. ᎪСAΒ & defund the police
Wow I had watched Rehearsal and didn’t like the premise of Nathan and his goal in previous series. This mini was brilliant it blew my mind. So I wanted more insight and got your channel. You do a great job of the many levels of this miniseries really good. Glad I found you. Cried episode 6 was amazing and hard to watch. Thanks
Love watching your deep dive analysis videos, I find myself agreeing with your readings far more than any other creators. Fielder's work fascinates me and, as you mentioned, it's unlike anything else I've seen on television. I interpreted a lot of The Rehearsal as an exploration of overthinking and ruminating on situations you can't truly control, which is a fairly shallow view but I find it interesting to consider exactly how much of Nathan's character is acted and how much comes from his real personality and experiences. It's impossible to be certain about any of it. His work reminds me of Charlie Kaufman's writing which also often feels like a veiled depiction of personal dissatisfaction and anxiety. The Rehearsal has a lot of parallels with Synecdoche, New York - except that The Rehearsal ostensibly played out for real.
this video was so fascinating that I went and watched the series! even knowing what's coming, it's absolutely buckwild to watch it unfold, and I'm glad i had this essay to sorta hang my hat on. plus, I appreciate that you approach it with compassion for the folks featured - a compassion i think the series shares, fwiw. anyway, just wanted to say i love your videos, and that this isn't the first time you've turned me on to a cool series I probably wouldn't have ever checked out otherwise! :]
Ahh this is such a good choice to cover! Can't wait to watch EDIT: I'm 3/4 through, I want to say I think his work is exploitative not because he makes fun of people on his show, I think you're right in that it makes fun of fielder himself more and celebrates the people featured frequently. The issue is that he engages with these people on false pretenses. He tells them the show is one thing, when it's actually another, and we never get clear indication if they are ever informed of this, even after the shooting is done. I think especially given how many people on the show are Neuro divergent and autistic specifically, it's kind of cruel to lie to them that way.
I don't know. Is a prank show exploitative? I think that somewhat flattens the meaning of the term exploitation in a way that lessens its general effect.
@@NightmareMasterclass Typically in like a hidden camera show, there's a reveal where the participants are informed "Hey, you're the butt of the joke here," and they have a chance to consent to the portrayal. So to me, whether or not it's unethical lies in them getting that chance to consent or not, and just watching the show it doesn't appear like they got that chance. They might have off camera, it's unclear. However I do think that's fair to say, there's definitely a bit of flattening going on, maybe exploitation is the wrong term. How would you describe this issue then?
Maybe callous is a better word? The Rehearsal (based on how people have described it) sounds like it's layers of disassociation with layer-0 being the "real people" affected and the audience being taking up and down each layer that Nathan is working on. It doesn't seem like he's doing anything out of malice and thus directly exploitative, but rather the exploitation is out of callousness of the people around and under him. (ie. The path to hell being paved in good intentions). All of this though assumes that the people at layer-0 are not actors, but actually real people. Personally, I do not think there was any non-actors on set throughout this production though. The series works better if you assume that everyone Nathan is interacting with are real people in our reality show, but many of the things that comes up between the kids sounds like it is grounds of major ethical issues that anyone on the staff would have shut down instantly. It feels that the way Nathan goes about this series is more akin to a movie that would be regarded as "torture porn". The things that Nathan does especially as we go up the layers of disassociation become even more absurd but unfortunately also has the subtext of the lines he's crossing when he goes back down. Thus, I don't think exportative is the right word here since the attention is usually on Nathan. Rather because the attention is on Nathan, we can see how the cold calculations he does is something that would actually hurt people in real life. When we see those calculations being done and regards with children though, that is when it crosses the line to becoming to callous to be comfortable to continue.
@@morganlak4337 There's a scene in The Rehearsal that sort of lays bare the process, and tbf it is presented in a critical light. Although the veracity of the scene may be distorted for the sake of dramatic tension. Basically, they get the subjects to sign what I assume to be a very broad release form during filming. It is implied in the show that people tend not to read them in full. A cynical observation: They're not reading the fine print because, you know, they really want to be on TV! That is a recurring theme on Nathan for You (one guy even signs away his genetic code without a second thought). Anyway, to answer your question, I guess I'm wondering why this moralistic lens always seems to pervade the broader culture when it comes to interpreting art in the first place. I don't think it actually produces the intended results, i.e. making the world a better place. And while I think you are articulating yourself quite well, sometimes this view of art tends to promote poor media literacy. For example, I just saw someone claim that Bones and All (a new horror movie about cannibals) is somehow "romaticizing" cannibalism. Not exactly related, but I think you get my point.
@@NightmareMasterclass Yeah I definitely feel its a common issue online to exclusively talk about whether a work is "moral" or not. I think it's just because it makes people feel like their critique is important. As far as I'm concerned, it's only important to acknowledge problematic aspects of a work so that they aren't uncritically absorbed by people. Acknowledging that Fielder plays in sketchy territory ala the Alec Robbins tweet is about as far as I feel the conversation should go really. I love Fielders work, and it wouldn't exist without pushing certain boundaries
I wanted to give my thoughts before watching your analysis. My analysis of the rehearsal after watching the series was that it's a complex deconstruction of social interactions, which displays how breaking social interactions down to a scientific process can cause relationships to lose actual emotional connection because you are interpreting situations through the lens of good and bad responses. This is displayed in the show through how Nathan handles his rehearsal to meet Kor vs. him rehearsing a conflict with Angela. Nathan, within the Kor episode, actually gives a massive criticism to his method. Nathan, despite rehearsing his confession to Kor, doesn't go through with confessing his lies to him. This is reflective of a major flaw of the rehearsal, and that's its lack of emotional transparency. In a real situation, there is more social pressure to act in a certain way vs. a controlled environment. Nathan later, despite rehearsing the situation more seriously and more thoroughly than any before, he goes completely off script for his confrontation with Angela. And, because of what she wants out of the show, she immediately quits when her image is threatened. The rehearsal he staged was more for Nathan to process the emotions of Angela leaving than for him to prevent it, pointing to a key functional change in the rehearsal. Nathan is using the rehearsal to get the emotional responses he wants from people, even without their inclusion. Ultimately, I think a key theme is Nathan becoming more and more infatuated and secure within this rehearsal scenario he has created. This idealized scenario of the rehearsal begins to take the forefront of nathan's emotions. He begins to take the rehearsal more seriously than the production of the show (signified by Angela leaving the show and Nathan continuing the rehearsal). I think there's a lot more to this show than just a basic comedy. That was my thoughts, though. I'm gonna watch the video now.
This video made me realize that everything Nathan does in this show feels like how it feels to dread the future, and believing there's some perfect way of arranging everything to prevent any pain.
this reminds me of experiences buying low-dollar items on craigslist and then staying to listen to the seller just talk about random stuff that makes a person feel real awkward. 10/10 would buy that popcorn popper again. :)
god damn this is a good video and The Rehearsal was a damn good show. one point of criticism i have towards this video is that at the end you talk about the show really showing how authenticity is still real despite the layers of hyperreality we live in yet you didn't do as much discussion on how it was explored in the show. i feel like the relationship between angela and nathan is so critical in that reading, especially with how dysfunctional the relationship was. tho i realize that would be a very meaty topic in an already long video. i'm just glad people are talking about it lol with this show, i think nathan is my favorite comedian and i can't wait for if he continues to make comedy
Even though I am subscribed, it’s stopped recommending your work! I will make sure to go out if my way to look for new uploads. Hope it helps the algorithm.
After Super Eyepatch Wolf's fantastic video on this subject, I was looking forward to Night Mind covering it sometime (still am) but I'm also really glad you have.
Just a small side note: The opposite concept of 'rehearsed' is 'spontaneous', not 'sincere'. It's a meaningful distinction. Rehearsed sincerity and insincere spontaneity are a thing.
I believe COVID made Nathan pivot his original idea as the first rehearsal I clearly before any lockdowns. As for the final result I get the itching Nathan had an idea but didn't execute it to his full desire. It feels like he wanted to take a dive but chickend out last second only to still fall off the diving board
Its kind of clear to me that the only thing real is that HBO gave him money. Everything else is of no relevance as they clearly are faking it. The twist of him being the rehearsal and rehersee is the setting he was setting all along.
Ho Ho Ho! Hah hah hah hah! What a knee slapper of comedy! Oh, Mr. Felder, I'm going to have you arrested for assault because you broke my Funny bone! YEEEEE hee heee heee!
hmm, so "The Rehearsal" could be an un-fiction project? And actually, this reminds me of an idea. If an individual is autistic, or otherwise neural divergent, or social cognitive deficit, rehearsing regular occurring scenarios could be a tactic to obscure the disorder to function in society. I wonder if this has anything to do with anything.
I don't think "the human condition" was intended to be a single quality. It's just an overall term for the pool of foibles, flaws, quirks, and traits that people have.
The real question is how much, if anything, in this show is real. Are Angela and Robin and Skeet real or actors? (If Angela is real, I really hope she never has a child).
@Nighmare Masterclass I normally like your content. This one is just a miss for me. I think it's that I don't have HBO,so I have no idea who Nathan is. Never even heard of him before this very video. Unlike other things you have covered this one requires prerequisite knowledge of the subject, i.e., Nathan. I just can't get into it. Keep the good work though. I have enjoyed your other work. Just not this one.
Nathan doesn’t call himself a comedian. He fancies himself a magician. And the show isn’t about him…it’s about this illusion we call reality. Your summaries of these episodes, particularly the religious aspects, are reductive, insufficient and ultimately misleading.
I daresay "it's about this illusion we call reality" is more reductive than anything I've said about the show. Sounds like an intro level philosophy student after a bong rip.
@@NightmareMasterclass what a joker you are. Tell your handler to get a better script writer cuz your videos are trash and I’m sick of you company jerks clogging everything up with your nonsense.
Okay rehearsing interactions isn't rooted in "an extreme form of neurosis" it's called "being autistic" my guy lmao. Autism isn't extreme neurosis. Neurotypicals are the weird ones. Why wouldn't you rehearse an important conversation?
It's a gigantic microcosm or should I say macrocosm of the thematic element of the thing in and of itself: a giant facade / mask that this person puts on to elaborate lengths in order to attempt to learn about how other people think and live and most importantly interact, it explores what it takes to be noticed in some cases while simultaneously showing a series of things that our protagonist does in order to be noticed or in some cases get the job or promotion etc only to find out in the end that the people he was studying were the teachers all along yet unfortunately like life it has a rather gloomy and melancholy type of lesson learned when Nathan gets to the end and realizes that in his attempts to try to conform after extensive and elaborate experiments designed to hone in his skills that none of it really matters and in the midst of all the perpetual toil, he lost sight of who he really was so long ago that he can't pinpoint the moment in which it happens. And at some point the overly elaborate mask that he dons to feel presentable suddenly became more of who he really is on paper and in real life then who we was to begin with. And almost a comedically cruel way, all his studying about potential conversation flow charts and the same kind of social interaction troubleshooting charts ended up essentially being nothing more than a reflection of what's in his mind which to his unaware thinking actually proved that he was probably more normal incapable than he thought he was for the simple fact that he proposed and authored all these elaborate hypotheticals and the only reason he would be able to do that is if he had a more than sufficient grasp on interaction and social cues and whatever. However because he's lost himself trying to fit in, he doesn't know what to do with the knowledge he's gained from his research nor does he know which version of himself to apply it to if any or if it's already been done and this is all an elaborate results of that. Coupled with the inherent equivalent of man's fear of death and the realization that you didn't do anything substantial with your time other than selfish and self-centered decisions while leaving an unlimited amount of regrets and what ifs as you wonder what the purpose of it all was and then you realize you missed the purpose trying to find it. And instead of trying to always be the chameleon so we can find our place in the puzzle pieces of society, we lose our self and before we know it the puzzle piece is all look the same and we don't know which one we are or what the picture is supposed to be or if we're going to ever see it completed or if someone's going to find our peace and position it into place or if we're just going to sit in a box mixed up with a load of other pieces all curious about what their piece means in the grand scheme of things and what part of the bigger pictures they represent, feeling overwhelmed with all the thoughts contained therein... Instead of being content and finding the peace of only having to know that you're a puzzle piece and there's a big puzzle but you don't have to know everything about the puzzle to get started and you haven't been disqualified if you try to place a piece and it doesn't fit even if you rotate it four times. I don't know it's hard for me to put it to words but it's a pretty deep show honestly especially if you're autistic
Just wanted to take a second to say that if you like these longform videos, maybe think about supporting me on Patreon. I wouldn't be able to do these videos with additional monetary support. Thank you to all my patrons!
www.patreon.com/NightmareMasterclass
Patreon, huh? Doesn’t the cia pay you shills? Get a real job
This video is CRIMINIALLY underrated. Incredibly well written break down of a show worthy of digging into. I now understand more reasons I loved this show which I *felt*, but wasn't conscious of until now. Many of those reasons come from parts of myself I didn't understand when I first watched it, and now have a fresh perspective on. This + your big brain analysis cements this show as one of my favs.
A show like this is what happens when the creator follows the path in front of them. Even the concept of the show itself won't shackle Nathan, and he is always willing to pull new threads as they present themselves.
It feels to me like he went into the show with one thing in mind and gradually discovered something else, and since this happens over the course of the creation of the show rather than in its inception, we get to go along for the ride.
The thing with Nathan, I don't think he's making fun of these people. He's one of them, he's one of us, and he finds humor in his own life and is inviting us to be in on the joke.
He's totally poking at fun as them in some aspect. Kor, for example, isn't made fun of that much. Angela or the guy who crashed his Scion TC at 100mph are clearly the butt of the joke when theyre on screen. I think he treats it case by case.
Abso - lutely!
That’s not what’s it’s about
@@Ttspzmitch1128 The Scion guy is clearly the butt of the joke. But Angela is more complicated to me. While clearly they focus on her saying some off the wall things at times, she is also given time and space to make some very reasonable and sound points against the things Nathan is doing.
He is making fun of those people in Nathan for You, he is reflective of this in Rehearsal and critiques himself through his own lens, in Curse he is fully critical but most distant from himself
After I saw the Finding Frances episode of Nathan For You, I immediately found Nathan Fielder much more fascinating than I had previously found him. I loved Nathan For You because it was all so silly and strange and absurd, which made viewing Finding Frances so happily surprising to me. I had hopes he’d create more comedic television that was also deep, introspective, and thought-provoking like it. With the Rehearsal and now The Curse, my hopes came true and he has not disappointed me. I love people like Nathan. Those who not only make you think, but who also do it in a way that feels novel and experimental. “Angel Hare,” Jack Stauber’s “Opal,” and honestly all of Ari Aster’s films are more examples of media that feel similar in that way. I’m elated that Nathan has found success and has the ability and motivation to continue challenging audiences. We need more creatives like him, as well as more studios who greenlight projects from people like him. HBO and A24 are at the forefront of that and I hope these works inspires more and more to come.
Amazing analysis on this series! Well done :)
Definitely stealing all these suggestions 👏
Also would like to say I greatly love your channel and the things you talk about/the way you talk about them! Your Disco Elysium and Explaining the Political Unconscious videos put things into a particular perspective that made things a little clearer to me. Plus I can't handle the type of second-hand embarrassment that Fielder operates on and watching a video like this makes it much easier to digest. Your take on the idea of Nathan Fielder being or not being an exploitative figure on his shows and acts is appreciated, and I hope that dialectic can come to a nice and meaningful resoultion.
Also being a marxist is why we're here LMFAO
love that ur covering this. the intro was so good. i constantly recommend ur channel to friends who i think would like ur content, and even some i don’t. got my friend who hates horror OBSESSED with alan resnick
Finally done with the video! I know I don't say this often but I'm really happy that you take these deep dives into media and how they affect us. This channel reminds me so much of what I missed most of PBS Idea Channel in that it was like learning how philosophy is important in understanding the world around us from the art that is created from it.
I don't think I'll ever get to watch The Rehearsal due to access to art, but I know I'll have more pretext to review the work with and enjoy it on additional levels as well.
"It says here you're a Marxist?" DAVID THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE BRO
lol
perfect timing i binged the rehearsal yesterday ✊✊ lets gooo
I loved your analysis and I feel like the show at its core is a depiction of the ultimately futile endeavor of trying to appeal to different types of people all at once. When you put on different masks for everybody in your life, an increasingly relatable lifestyle especially for younger people, it becomes exhausting and near impossible to keep track of the different identities you display to others, and you also forfeit the ability to have a consistent set of morals and personality traits.
I also loved the points you made about the contradictions between religious identities that preach selflessness in an increasingly selfish and individualistic society and how it’s shifted our identities away from religions and into consumerism
Let's be honest there's a little bit of Nathan fielder in all of us. The way he presents different business ideas and concepts is a pretty good and analogy for the way I got through college in 2006 and 7:00 when smartphones were just increasing in popularity and the teachers let us all use them for everything as far as tests and quizzes go because they had calculators in them and they were somehow oblivious to the reality that phones could browse the internet so readily already and I would venture a gas to say that 80 to 90% of the people in my architecture class cheated on every single quiz we ever had. But to be fair it was all pretty basic level shit that the majority of us learned in high school architecture studies and for the most part high School architectural classes are pretty broad and generalized so that ought to tell you something about the importance of the subjects
The farthest I usually get in my conversation trees is that point when you go to leave Walmart and your tree is telling you to say you too when the person at the door tells you a farewell greeting except plot twist, they waved at you and said thank you for coming today and as the phrases halfway out of your mouth you already start to cringe and loosen your arms to flail behind you as you begin sprinting through the security beepers with your arms still behind you like a human ribbon writer
"Orthodox Marxist"! I giggled!
Seriously, LeftTube needs you. I'd love to see that bridge... You should (if you don't already) check out The Leftist Cooks, Thought Slime, Little Hoot, James Somerton, and Jessie Gender. They all welcome other leftist CCs, and most are big horror fans. (Except idk about LHoot & TLCooks.) And of course you do more than horror - I'm watching the video, after all, but I'm familiar with your work here on UA-cam: so fantastic, incisive, and underrated! - but they do more than talking politics, and that's where your strengths are the perfect meeting point for a bridge: ARGs, metatext, socialist/[etc.] readings of pop culture, and so on.
I'm not trying to be some "smart guy" (I'm not a guy, and I'm not that smart!) and I know you're not actually freaking out about analytics. I just genuinely think it would be great to see you able to reach the audience that would love this but likely has no idea. Most channels like this get lumped together as "horror", or even misattributed _completely_ as "true crime", "Reddit thread readers", or "creepypasta", and hand-waved, ignored, not even given a chance. I personally have no power or stake in this. (And no real channel, prudent to note. It's not about me.) I merely wish to present an idea as a person who appreciates your work and wants it to reach the many people who would love it if they only knew. Truly, I hope I'm not being too bold.
Cheers, and fantastic video! As ever.
P.S. ᎪСAΒ & defund the police
I second all of this comment
@@arich20 Thank you, and cheers! Wouldn't a collab (or even guest spot) be great?
Above and beyond on the sensitive commentary on this one, really love your framing device too
Wow I had watched Rehearsal and didn’t like the premise of Nathan and his goal in previous series. This mini was brilliant it blew my mind. So I wanted more insight and got your channel. You do a great job of the many levels of this miniseries really good. Glad I found you. Cried episode 6 was amazing and hard to watch. Thanks
Love watching your deep dive analysis videos, I find myself agreeing with your readings far more than any other creators.
Fielder's work fascinates me and, as you mentioned, it's unlike anything else I've seen on television. I interpreted a lot of The Rehearsal as an exploration of overthinking and ruminating on situations you can't truly control, which is a fairly shallow view but I find it interesting to consider exactly how much of Nathan's character is acted and how much comes from his real personality and experiences. It's impossible to be certain about any of it.
His work reminds me of Charlie Kaufman's writing which also often feels like a veiled depiction of personal dissatisfaction and anxiety. The Rehearsal has a lot of parallels with Synecdoche, New York - except that The Rehearsal ostensibly played out for real.
this video was so fascinating that I went and watched the series! even knowing what's coming, it's absolutely buckwild to watch it unfold, and I'm glad i had this essay to sorta hang my hat on. plus, I appreciate that you approach it with compassion for the folks featured - a compassion i think the series shares, fwiw.
anyway, just wanted to say i love your videos, and that this isn't the first time you've turned me on to a cool series I probably wouldn't have ever checked out otherwise! :]
2:50 WOW! That "Hello!" I can tell you've used the Davey Knows Best™ UA-camr Jump-Start Tips!©
The intro was perfect. Well done.
Generally this is some great stuff and you’ve found another single audience member. Cheers man.
Ahh this is such a good choice to cover! Can't wait to watch
EDIT: I'm 3/4 through, I want to say I think his work is exploitative not because he makes fun of people on his show, I think you're right in that it makes fun of fielder himself more and celebrates the people featured frequently. The issue is that he engages with these people on false pretenses. He tells them the show is one thing, when it's actually another, and we never get clear indication if they are ever informed of this, even after the shooting is done. I think especially given how many people on the show are Neuro divergent and autistic specifically, it's kind of cruel to lie to them that way.
I don't know. Is a prank show exploitative? I think that somewhat flattens the meaning of the term exploitation in a way that lessens its general effect.
@@NightmareMasterclass Typically in like a hidden camera show, there's a reveal where the participants are informed "Hey, you're the butt of the joke here," and they have a chance to consent to the portrayal. So to me, whether or not it's unethical lies in them getting that chance to consent or not, and just watching the show it doesn't appear like they got that chance. They might have off camera, it's unclear.
However I do think that's fair to say, there's definitely a bit of flattening going on, maybe exploitation is the wrong term. How would you describe this issue then?
Maybe callous is a better word?
The Rehearsal (based on how people have described it) sounds like it's layers of disassociation with layer-0 being the "real people" affected and the audience being taking up and down each layer that Nathan is working on.
It doesn't seem like he's doing anything out of malice and thus directly exploitative, but rather the exploitation is out of callousness of the people around and under him. (ie. The path to hell being paved in good intentions). All of this though assumes that the people at layer-0 are not actors, but actually real people.
Personally, I do not think there was any non-actors on set throughout this production though. The series works better if you assume that everyone Nathan is interacting with are real people in our reality show, but many of the things that comes up between the kids sounds like it is grounds of major ethical issues that anyone on the staff would have shut down instantly.
It feels that the way Nathan goes about this series is more akin to a movie that would be regarded as "torture porn". The things that Nathan does especially as we go up the layers of disassociation become even more absurd but unfortunately also has the subtext of the lines he's crossing when he goes back down.
Thus, I don't think exportative is the right word here since the attention is usually on Nathan. Rather because the attention is on Nathan, we can see how the cold calculations he does is something that would actually hurt people in real life. When we see those calculations being done and regards with children though, that is when it crosses the line to becoming to callous to be comfortable to continue.
@@morganlak4337 There's a scene in The Rehearsal that sort of lays bare the process, and tbf it is presented in a critical light. Although the veracity of the scene may be distorted for the sake of dramatic tension. Basically, they get the subjects to sign what I assume to be a very broad release form during filming. It is implied in the show that people tend not to read them in full. A cynical observation: They're not reading the fine print because, you know, they really want to be on TV! That is a recurring theme on Nathan for You (one guy even signs away his genetic code without a second thought).
Anyway, to answer your question, I guess I'm wondering why this moralistic lens always seems to pervade the broader culture when it comes to interpreting art in the first place. I don't think it actually produces the intended results, i.e. making the world a better place. And while I think you are articulating yourself quite well, sometimes this view of art tends to promote poor media literacy. For example, I just saw someone claim that Bones and All (a new horror movie about cannibals) is somehow "romaticizing" cannibalism. Not exactly related, but I think you get my point.
@@NightmareMasterclass Yeah I definitely feel its a common issue online to exclusively talk about whether a work is "moral" or not. I think it's just because it makes people feel like their critique is important.
As far as I'm concerned, it's only important to acknowledge problematic aspects of a work so that they aren't uncritically absorbed by people. Acknowledging that Fielder plays in sketchy territory ala the Alec Robbins tweet is about as far as I feel the conversation should go really. I love Fielders work, and it wouldn't exist without pushing certain boundaries
I wanted to give my thoughts before watching your analysis. My analysis of the rehearsal after watching the series was that it's a complex deconstruction of social interactions, which displays how breaking social interactions down to a scientific process can cause relationships to lose actual emotional connection because you are interpreting situations through the lens of good and bad responses. This is displayed in the show through how Nathan handles his rehearsal to meet Kor vs. him rehearsing a conflict with Angela. Nathan, within the Kor episode, actually gives a massive criticism to his method. Nathan, despite rehearsing his confession to Kor, doesn't go through with confessing his lies to him. This is reflective of a major flaw of the rehearsal, and that's its lack of emotional transparency. In a real situation, there is more social pressure to act in a certain way vs. a controlled environment. Nathan later, despite rehearsing the situation more seriously and more thoroughly than any before, he goes completely off script for his confrontation with Angela. And, because of what she wants out of the show, she immediately quits when her image is threatened. The rehearsal he staged was more for Nathan to process the emotions of Angela leaving than for him to prevent it, pointing to a key functional change in the rehearsal. Nathan is using the rehearsal to get the emotional responses he wants from people, even without their inclusion. Ultimately, I think a key theme is Nathan becoming more and more infatuated and secure within this rehearsal scenario he has created. This idealized scenario of the rehearsal begins to take the forefront of nathan's emotions. He begins to take the rehearsal more seriously than the production of the show (signified by Angela leaving the show and Nathan continuing the rehearsal). I think there's a lot more to this show than just a basic comedy. That was my thoughts, though. I'm gonna watch the video now.
This video made me realize that everything Nathan does in this show feels like how it feels to dread the future, and believing there's some perfect way of arranging everything to prevent any pain.
One of the best theory and analysis channels on yt. Hands down.
this reminds me of experiences buying low-dollar items on craigslist and then staying to listen to the seller just talk about random stuff that makes a person feel real awkward. 10/10 would buy that popcorn popper again. :)
god damn this is a good video and The Rehearsal was a damn good show.
one point of criticism i have towards this video is that at the end you talk about the show really showing how authenticity is still real despite the layers of hyperreality we live in yet you didn't do as much discussion on how it was explored in the show. i feel like the relationship between angela and nathan is so critical in that reading, especially with how dysfunctional the relationship was. tho i realize that would be a very meaty topic in an already long video. i'm just glad people are talking about it lol with this show, i think nathan is my favorite comedian and i can't wait for if he continues to make comedy
also the intro was hilarious and genius
I love this intro lol
Ah glorious! another class! soon i shall attain mastery of nightmares! *prolonged cackling*
Even though I am subscribed, it’s stopped recommending your work!
I will make sure to go out if my way to look for new uploads. Hope it helps the algorithm.
love the intro lol
Wonderful work, so dense, very much enjoyed the whole video.
Bonkers this only has 720 likes. Incredible work here.
Thanks! It's one of my favorite videos.
After Super Eyepatch Wolf's fantastic video on this subject, I was looking forward to Night Mind covering it sometime (still am) but I'm also really glad you have.
Just a small side note: The opposite concept of 'rehearsed' is 'spontaneous', not 'sincere'. It's a meaningful distinction. Rehearsed sincerity and insincere spontaneity are a thing.
I believe COVID made Nathan pivot his original idea as the first rehearsal I clearly before any lockdowns. As for the final result I get the itching Nathan had an idea but didn't execute it to his full desire. It feels like he wanted to take a dive but chickend out last second only to still fall off the diving board
Great analysis, loved the inclusion of Baudrillard.
Hey bro good video. The show is on a meta reality level few achieve
Its kind of clear to me that the only thing real is that HBO gave him money. Everything else is of no relevance as they clearly are faking it. The twist of him being the rehearsal and rehersee is the setting he was setting all along.
It's So Meta Even This Acronym
Ho Ho Ho! Hah hah hah hah! What a knee slapper of comedy! Oh, Mr. Felder, I'm going to have you arrested for assault because you broke my Funny bone! YEEEEE hee heee heee!
Love this
hmm, so "The Rehearsal" could be an un-fiction project?
And actually, this reminds me of an idea. If an individual is autistic, or otherwise neural divergent, or social cognitive deficit, rehearsing regular occurring scenarios could be a tactic to obscure the disorder to function in society. I wonder if this has anything to do with anything.
I like the illustrations
How tf did I miss this
I love Nathan
Stop what was the kids show they were watching at 32:23 I remember watching as a kid SOMEONE TELL ME
Jk I found it, it’s Hermie and friends
lmao I did not know that
@@NightmareMasterclass its a Christian show for kids, I grew up religious and watched a lot of Christian media lol
This is meta as hell.
I don't think "the human condition" was intended to be a single quality. It's just an overall term for the pool of foibles, flaws, quirks, and traits that people have.
is that a jeff rosenstock flag i spot in your room?!?!
I assume you are shaved now and filmed bearded first?
Correct.
My decision tree says to like and comment on this video
Who's that handsome chad that sounds like David Stockdale but is amusingly young looking?
I love your work but I’m nine minutes in and there have been three ad breaks. Idk an ad break every three minutes just throws me a bit
Dave Grohl, is that you?
YOOOO!
The real question is how much, if anything, in this show is real. Are Angela and Robin and Skeet real or actors? (If Angela is real, I really hope she never has a child).
Ok
@Nighmare Masterclass
I normally like your content. This one is just a miss for me. I think it's that I don't have HBO,so I have no idea who Nathan is. Never even heard of him before this very video. Unlike other things you have covered this one requires prerequisite knowledge of the subject, i.e., Nathan. I just can't get into it.
Keep the good work though. I have enjoyed your other work. Just not this one.
Nathan doesn’t call himself a comedian. He fancies himself a magician. And the show isn’t about him…it’s about this illusion we call reality. Your summaries of these episodes, particularly the religious aspects, are reductive, insufficient and ultimately misleading.
I daresay "it's about this illusion we call reality" is more reductive than anything I've said about the show. Sounds like an intro level philosophy student after a bong rip.
@@NightmareMasterclass what a joker you are. Tell your handler to get a better script writer cuz your videos are trash and I’m sick of you company jerks clogging everything up with your nonsense.
Okay rehearsing interactions isn't rooted in "an extreme form of neurosis" it's called "being autistic" my guy lmao. Autism isn't extreme neurosis. Neurotypicals are the weird ones. Why wouldn't you rehearse an important conversation?
This entire series is just.....autism.
It's a gigantic microcosm or should I say macrocosm of the thematic element of the thing in and of itself: a giant facade / mask that this person puts on to elaborate lengths in order to attempt to learn about how other people think and live and most importantly interact, it explores what it takes to be noticed in some cases while simultaneously showing a series of things that our protagonist does in order to be noticed or in some cases get the job or promotion etc only to find out in the end that the people he was studying were the teachers all along yet unfortunately like life it has a rather gloomy and melancholy type of lesson learned when Nathan gets to the end and realizes that in his attempts to try to conform after extensive and elaborate experiments designed to hone in his skills that none of it really matters and in the midst of all the perpetual toil, he lost sight of who he really was so long ago that he can't pinpoint the moment in which it happens. And at some point the overly elaborate mask that he dons to feel presentable suddenly became more of who he really is on paper and in real life then who we was to begin with. And almost a comedically cruel way, all his studying about potential conversation flow charts and the same kind of social interaction troubleshooting charts ended up essentially being nothing more than a reflection of what's in his mind which to his unaware thinking actually proved that he was probably more normal incapable than he thought he was for the simple fact that he proposed and authored all these elaborate hypotheticals and the only reason he would be able to do that is if he had a more than sufficient grasp on interaction and social cues and whatever. However because he's lost himself trying to fit in, he doesn't know what to do with the knowledge he's gained from his research nor does he know which version of himself to apply it to if any or if it's already been done and this is all an elaborate results of that. Coupled with the inherent equivalent of man's fear of death and the realization that you didn't do anything substantial with your time other than selfish and self-centered decisions while leaving an unlimited amount of regrets and what ifs as you wonder what the purpose of it all was and then you realize you missed the purpose trying to find it. And instead of trying to always be the chameleon so we can find our place in the puzzle pieces of society, we lose our self and before we know it the puzzle piece is all look the same and we don't know which one we are or what the picture is supposed to be or if we're going to ever see it completed or if someone's going to find our peace and position it into place or if we're just going to sit in a box mixed up with a load of other pieces all curious about what their piece means in the grand scheme of things and what part of the bigger pictures they represent, feeling overwhelmed with all the thoughts contained therein... Instead of being content and finding the peace of only having to know that you're a puzzle piece and there's a big puzzle but you don't have to know everything about the puzzle to get started and you haven't been disqualified if you try to place a piece and it doesn't fit even if you rotate it four times. I don't know it's hard for me to put it to words but it's a pretty deep show honestly especially if you're autistic
All right Nathan Felder is back with autism part 2
wait how am I this early
We needed to talk about Nathan, indeed...