There’s a throughline in Kate Berlant’s new HBO special “Parmesan,” and it’s not cheese.
\n\n“My addiction? My phone,” the comedian says at the beginning of the hour.
\n\nWith slapstick style and performative haughtiness, Berlant yearns for a time before cellphones in the special, out Oct. 16. Chronicling the hyper-niche behaviors that define our online existence, Berlant describes the seemingly inescapable embarrassment of wasting one’s life away in an endless scroll. She delivers verdicts on the great issues of our time, like whether to cover a baby’s face with an emoji or comment “PARMESAN” to receive a link to a pasta recipe. In one of the funniest bits, she talks about watching videos of “unspeakable violence” to “unwind,” like “gorillas fistfighting zookeepers, tourists being eaten by sharks.”
\n\n“It makes me long for the past, when maybe you’d numb yourself at the local watering hole,” Berlant tells Variety. “That suddenly feels so quaint. You’d be with your community, and some people would be abusing alcohol in terrifying ways, but at least you’d be together, and you’d be forced to interact with other people.”
\n\nShe’s in an Airbnb in San Diego, ripping the “Home Sweet Home” pillows off the bed and couch because…
Original source: https://variety.com/v/tv/