Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3kcbvr7

I met him. I talked to him. I saw him more than once.

And he was the absolute best.

It’s hard to imagine, but once upon a time “guitar hero,” “gunslinger,” was not a thing. Beck may have known who Cliff Gallup was, but we certainly did not. I certainly did not. I was born in 1953, Beck in 1944, and it made a world of difference.

I was raised in the ignorant fifties in America. And the technicolor sixties. I remember listening to “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” but 1964 was a dividing line, with the arrival of the Beatles on these shores. Of course there were guitar solos during the British Invasion, but no one seemed to focus on them until Jimi Hendrix and “Purple Haze” and…

That blues revival in the U.K. All those influences from the Mississippi Delta? They had some traction on college campuses, in Boston, but in the U.S. we were enraptured by folk music, the “Hootenanny” scene.

And then came the electric guitar.

Of course George Harrison was our first guitar hero. And then maybe Brian Jones, with that blonde bowl haircut. We knew the credits from the back of the albums, but no one really shined that brightly until Hendrix.

HEART FULL OF SOUL

I first “Heart Full of Soul” on the Gary Lewis & the Playboys album “She’s Just My Style.” I loved that track, had to buy the album, which was filled out with covers, thus my introduction and ultimate love and infatuation with “Heart Full of Soul.”

It was different. The success of records depended upon what market you were in. Like “Gloria.” On the west coast, the Them original predominated, whereas on the east coast it was all about the version by the Shadows of Knight. I’m not saying that the Gary Lewis and the Playboys version was ever a hit, what I’m saying is depending upon where you lived and what time of year it was, you could completely miss a record. If it was during the summer and you were at camp…

It was a completely different era. Sure, there was a war, but life was full of possibilities, the middle class ruled, there were no billionaires, we were all in it together and the youth, the baby boomers, ultimately took over the narrative and ruled.

But when I finally heard the original… Sure, “Heart Full of Soul” is a great Graham Gouldman song with an incredible Keith Relf vocal, but what puts the track over the top, makes it iconic, is Beck’s playing.

Not that we knew it was Beck. Sure, some people did. But this was still the era of singles, and even those of us who bought albums could only afford a few.

And then came the double punch of Hendrix and Cream. Hearing “Purple Haze” for the very first time… It was akin to hearing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” for the first time. It was different from everything else, it instantly announced itself, at first you didn’t get it, and then you loved it! Hendrix percolated in the market slowly, but within a year “Are You Experienced” was huge.

Insiders knew “Fresh Cream,” but it wasn’t until “Disraeli Gears” that Clapton truly became God. When “Sunshine of Your Love” crossed over to AM radio and blew up.

And word ultimately spread that Clapton had started with John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers, you started to see that LP in people’s collections.

But then everything broke apart. Not only did Clapton leave the Yardbirds, but so did Beck, and ultimately Jimmy Page.

Clapton got all the cred, but when the final chapter is written the champion will be Jimmy Page. Led Zeppelin is forever. That’s how you know you’re on the right path, when you’re ahead of the critics. Oh, some liked the first Zeppelin LP, blues-influenced, but thereafter the reviews were vicious, whereas Clapton was continually lauded, for his work with Delaney & Bonnie and ultimately solo, never mind with Derek and the Dominos.

As for Beck…

He recruited Rod Stewart and made “Truth.”

Just like “Good Times Bad Times,” “Shapes of Things” burst out of the speakers as the opening cut of the album, you only had to hear it once.

But, Beck had to share the stage with Rod Stewart. Who was not as controllable as Robert Plant. Ultimately the band fractured.

And Jimi Hendrix died.

And… Guitar heroes became a thing, long before the video game.

Jeff stayed at it. But there was no hit single. so the hoi polloi didn’t know his name. But those who did…

Rod the Mod was replaced by Bobby Tench, and this was before the execrable “American Songbook” albums, when Rod still had cred, no one could compete with him, never mind replace him.

And then we had the misguided power trio with the members of Vanilla Fudge.

But then Beck decided to do it all by himself.

CAUSE WE’VE ENDED AS LOVERS

Time rights reputations, reveals truth. I’ll give you a good example. No one ever plays the second Blood, Sweat & Tears album anymore, with all the hits. Everyone knows it’s about the first LP, “Child Is Father to the Man,” with Al Kooper steering the group. And even though “Blow by Blow” was commercially successful upon its release in the mid-seventies, over time its reputation has only grown. And it’s all great. And “Freeway Jam” became iconic as a result of the live take with the Jan Hammer Group a few years later, you actually heard that on the radio, regularly, but everyone knows despite the cover of “She’s a Woman” on “Blow By Blow,” it’s all about the Stevie Wonder song, “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers.”

When I think of the most beautiful tracks of the rock era, I think of Simon & Garfunkel’s “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her,” and Jeff Beck’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers.” You see Jeff didn’t have to dominate, didn’t have to show how fast he was, he could play slow too. But what he did with the strings, you felt like your body was being bent too. Like Gumby. You can only listen and exclaim, WHEW!

Jeff continued his instrumental ways on “Wired” and…

Ultimately he had his hit, once again pairing with Rod Stewart, with a cover of the Impressions’ “People Get Ready.”

But it was on both of their albums. And Rod sang. And even though you saw Jeff playing in the video…

There was a tour scheduled with Rod that was ultimately canceled and Jeff retreated into relative inaction and obscurity, but he was still available for sessions.

SKIN THIEVES

“Moodfood” by “Moodswings” is one of my favorite albums of the nineties. I know, you’ve never heard it. But maybe you have, you might have heard the version of “State of Independence,” the Vangelis song done previously by Donna Summer, in this case sung by Chrissie Hynde. The album was on Arista, I’m not exactly sure why I played it, but it was blasting out of the JBLs while I was on the computer and…suddenly I heard something. I literally stopped working and looked at the stereo. It could only be, had to be, and certainly was, Jeff Beck, wailing.

The album is not on streaming services, but through the magic of YouTube… Hang in there, you’ll know when Jeff comes in:

https://bit.ly/3CJlPNE

BRUSH WITH THE BLUES

Time went on. We had the the Sunset Strip hard rock sound of the eighties, ultimately killed by hair band ballads. But there were new guitar icons, like Slash.

And then came grunge.

And the internet. Suddenly information was available. You could research. But with thirty years in the rearview mirror, there was no context. It was different if you were there. You weren’t only discussing the greatest rock guitarists, you were alive and kicking when the paradigm was being established, before Brian May even put fingers to axe, at least on wax, the first Queen album didn’t come out until 1973 and it was barely heard. It was determined there were only two progenitors, Hendrix and Clapton, and everybody else was superseded.

When Beck came back.

It had been six years since Jeff had graced us with a record, and that had been the Gene Vincent tribute to Cliff Gallup “Crazy Legs.”

I’m not saying the world was waiting for “Who Else!” with bated breath, but some of us were, it was a return to form, and there was this one track, cut live, “Brush With the Blues.”

How to explain “Brush With the Blues”? You can’t, you can only listen to it.

And it’s not like one of today’s productions, with all the air squeezed out, many layers, unable to breathe. And it’s not about machines, a click track, it’s got soul! It’s got the feeling of “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,” but the track is different. You can’t help but move your body, involuntarily, when you hear it, as Jeff starts slow and works himself (and you!) into a frenzy. And you might not know or care, but those who do know. Talk to the players, the aficionados, Jeff was the best. Certainly one step beyond Clapton.

How do I know?

THE A.R.M.S. CONCERT

Yes, a bicoastal affair, well, in London too, to raise money for Ronnie Lane’s cockamamie research into multiple sclerosis, from which he was suffering, and when the outlook is bleak, you grasp at straws. But on the bill were…Clapton, Page and Beck. And everybody who was there saw Beck blow the other two off the stage, just with his guitar, it was enough, everybody knew.

HARVEY GOLDSMITH

Jeff was unmanageable. As many creative people are. And it hurt his career, at least as far as public penetration went. But a little over a decade ago, Jeff hooked up with Harvey Goldsmith and the impresario gave Jeff his victory lap. Everywhere you went, you’d see Jeff in his scarf laying it down, “A Day in the Life” usually, or a Beach Boys song, man, this guy could do anything. People were finally finding out who Jeff Beck was.

But then the relationship ruptured and Jeff went back to his cars and relative obscurity, but you could see him, he did go on tour, and he blew everybody off the stage, I know, because I was there.

There was no one like Jeff. And I’ve seen Clapton multiple times.

I remember talking to him in his Winnebago, after a show at the El Rey, that was his dressing room. I told him how he never missed a note. Jeff was humble, saying he hit a clam here and there, but if he did, you had to be sharper than me to hear it. Never mind him playing without a pick.

And I saw him at the Grammy Museum and…

Jeff was a living legend, without airs. I’m not saying he didn’t feel good about himself, it’s just that he was approachable, assuming you were introduced, never ever talk to a celebrity unless you’re introduced, otherwise they’re reluctant and punch the clock on you, most of the musicians anyway, who oftentimes are shy to begin with, they let their music do the talking.

So now he’s gone.

The records are still here, thank god. It’s not like the legends of the pre-recording era. I remember reading a whole article in the “New York Review of Books” about the biggest Broadway star at the beginning of the last century… I’d never heard of her. But Jeff’s recordings are there for people to sample, to delve into, to study, to marvel at, to enjoy. You don’t have to be a muso to enjoy Jeff Beck’s music, it’s not esoteric, it’s for everybody.

And his death was so sudden. At 78. May sound old to you, but then you’re probably not a baby boomer. I mean the end is always looming, but you always believe it’s at some distant point in the future, when in truth it’s closer than you think.

But it’s even weirder than that. The giants are falling. The building blocks of not only the British Invasion, but classic rock, are passing. The icons and the secondary players. But they were all major players to us, music was everything. Not only was it soul-fulfilling, it told you which way the wind blew. And the hits were not all the same and new ones popped up all the time, it was a veritable smorgasbord of greatness.

But those days are gone. There are no giants left. Even Bad Bunny. Forget the ticket sales and Spotify streams, fewer people know his songs than those of Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas back in the sixties. Radio was bigger than Facebook or Instagram or TikTok. Combine them all, have only fifteen or twenty viewable profiles at a time and you’ll get an idea.

But you had to be there. And we were, but as years have passed most weren’t. And it’s just strange. They talk about a looming recession… The kids in college don’t even know the effects of the 2008 crash.

I mean the fact that classic rock is remembered at all is amazing. Quick, name the famous painters from the sixties and seventies! More can name the famous movies, but… As for the stars, movies when done right are larger than life, music when done right is life itself!

Yes, there’s humanity, the whole range of human expression in Jeff Beck’s guitar work. Ask his contemporaries, he was their hero. Others were stylists, Jeff was a master of the instrument, he could do it all and make it look effortless.

So another one bites the dust. Time will go by and I will be able to listen to his music again without being stopped in my tracks by the pain of his loss, but it’s going to take a while.

I mean who’s next?

A lot of the legends are pushing eighty, or have tipped over that mark. 

No one lives forever. But, if Jeff Beck can die, if Jeff Beck is mortal, what about you and me?

These were our heroes. They were not objects of derision. Oh, of course we compared and contrasted, but musicians sat above not only actors, but athletes. Music was the highest calling. The most expressive artistic medium. There was enough money involved just by doing it, you didn’t need to become a brand. You wanted to play, not retire and make clothing.

But everything changes.

But I lived through this. I lived through the advent of the internet. I’ve seen so much. And I must say at this point I’m a bit numb, because in so many walks of life we appear to be going backward. But then I play one of the tracks above and it all comes into focus, it all comes clear, my priorities are set straight. Scratch a doctor or a financier and they want to be a musician. People from stock boys to doctors live to go to the show. What else can draw that many people? Anybody in line for the iPhone 7 these days?

And about the most you could say about it is it had a good beat and you could dance to it. Most of those who made the records can’t read music. They were channeling the gods. Ask ’em, they’ll all tell you, they were just minding their own business and a bolt of lightning hit ’em and they transcribed it. I’m not saying they didn’t pay a lot of dues to get to that space, they most certainly did, in a world where there were no shortcuts, you couldn’t promote yourself for free on social media. But they were dedicated, and rose above.

Don’t confuse Jeff Beck with the people uploading 100,000 tracks a day to Spotify. We’re talking something different here. Michael Jordan. Pele. Those who transcend their field.

It’s the end of an era, but the train keeps a-rollin’, all night long.

Will anybody blow up and challenge Jeff Beck’s exalted position atop the guitar hero pyramid? I don’t know, but as long as his records continue to be available, we can hope.

Enjoy every sandwich.

Bob

“Blow Up”: https://bit.ly/3ir8rqx

You can go back to your normally scheduled programming.

Our six year national nightmare might not be completely over, but you can safely quit your addiction to the news, you can rejuggle your priorities, you can go back to regular life.

Donald Trump will never be president again. Oh, he could possibly win the nomination, although I doubt it, but he could never win. You see America saw the movie and didn’t like it, didn’t like much of what Trump touched. And the slow drip of truth being revealed is leaving a stink on a man who might be indicted and even go to jail.

As for last week’s shenanigans in the House…

The headlines were enough. Insanity on parade. Nitwits. These are the people we have to be afraid of? Sure, they can get elected in their right wing red gerrymandered districts, but the rest of America wants nothing to do with them. Sure, nothing will get accomplished for two years, and they’ll investigate Hunter Biden and his laptop, but this isn’t going to rivet the public, they just can’t see how Trump’s kids and his son-in-law can skate completely, having all been involved in their father’s business, never mind administration, and Hunter’s activities were supervised by his father and therefore a penalty should be paid. As for trading on the fame and power of their father, can you say Ivanka and her clothing line?

Case closed. Oh, not for the Trumpers. It’s just that that constituency is nowhere near the majority, its power has been neutered. D.C. might be a source of headlines for the next two years, but you don’t have to focus on the stories, go in-depth beyond the headlines. Actually, you can laugh, because happy days are here again!

Not really. There’s a looming recession, and the economists can’t agree whether it’s coming or not. And rampant income inequality. And homelessness. But…

You can have a life. You don’t have to worry about politics coming up and dividing friends and family. It’s on the back burner. Democracy has been saved, at least for now. And it’s a great relief. (And if you live in an oppressive red state I can only give you Sam Kinison’s advice to the starving in Africa…MOVE!)

What does this mean?

Plenty.

Culture becomes king once again. And what will that culture be?

We’ve done mindless for nearly two decades, but now we’re older and wiser. It’s not like we learned nothing in the past six years. We learned if we’re somnambulant, not paying attention, rust never sleeps and our entire society can be corroded. Thinking people got a boost. The put-down of intellectualism did not triumph. As for Elon Musk and Twitter… It’s now even left the news, all we’ve got is the shell of a social media network and a declining Tesla. Not only did Musk bring down his car company, he put a dent in the image of techies everywhere. It’s kind of like lawyers after Watergate, they still have not recovered their status in society, they’re not hated as much as the cable company, but most people have no faith in lawyers, they look down upon them. Same deal hereafter with tech. Just because you’re rich and successful in one vertical…that does not mean you know anything about anything else.

However, the last six years have taught us that we all live in our own niche, our own vertical, and this will not change. Politics brought us together, it was the one thing we could all talk about. Now…

Be into your band, your streaming TV show, just don’t assume everybody’s heard it or seen it. Sure, there will be national news items now and again, like school shootings, but we’ve already seen them fall off the front page quickly. Everything top-line lasts shorter than ever before. If you want to appeal to everybody, you’re going to find that you don’t last. And if you’re appealing to the top, to the media, oftentimes your core abandons you, if there was a core at all to begin with.

What we’ve learned from TikTok is humanity sells. And everybody is playing. And if you want to win…

Check out the comedians. There’s a plethora on TikTok. They all can’t earn a living. Multiply by a zillion when it comes to music. The competition is stiffer than ever before. And if you’re not great, the surfer skips and the algorithm never shows your face again. Funny how we’ve heard about the power of the algorithm forever, but it’s really only triumphed now, with TikTok, the computer is in control of what we see, and ultimately our culture.

The movie business is dying. Theatre chains are going bankrupt. You see movies are like tech, what you did yesterday does not count. Oh, to a degree you can build on a franchise, but if you don’t come up with something new…

This is like the smartphone killing computer manufacturers. Do you even need a computer anymore? Many people survive without one, or use a tablet, which is just a giant smartphone.

As for the two-dimensional reality stars… That’s so last decade. Famous for nothing, even TikTok stars have a greater identity, and more creativity.

I’m not saying we’re returning to an age of gravitas, but that we are not just going back to 2016, or even 2020. We’ve seen that there are bigger things than money, like democracy. And if you let the blowhards talk long enough they’ll indict themselves, show their flaws.

ChatGPT? Very interesting, but it has nowhere near the impact and footprint of MySpace, never mind Facebook. We expect technological breakthroughs. College graduates have not only never known an era without the internet, they’ve never known an era without broadband. They don’t e-mail, they text. The ship has sailed, the world has been wired, everybody has been connected and if you’re worried about your privacy, you must live off the grid and never go online, but even then your house will show up in Google Maps. The battle between the boomers and the younger generations is over. The younger generations won. Anti-internet screeds are laughable. Stop telling us about the deleterious effects of something so fulfilling. You can’t even ban football, never mind Coke (of either variety!), yet you think you can stop the internet train? Give me a break.

And the boomers have shifted into low gear anyway. They’ve retired, or soon will. They’re all about going to bed early and managing their investments, playing it safe, and we all know progress is made via risk.

Magazines? Like the movies, the pandemic put a dent in them too. So much was wiped away in the past two years. We are not going back to the mall. We are continuing to get our food delivered. Sure, we’re still in the middle of a wrenching transition, but we are absolutely not going back to the way it was.

So where does this leave you?

Well, if you’re working for the man, you’re going to take a haircut. Salaries are being kept flat, they are not keeping up with inflation, because if they do, inflation never dies. So unless you’re rich, you’re going to have to budget, watch your pennies. Not that you’re not going to spend them.

That’s one thing about millennials, they love to have experiences, not only concerts, but travel. Millennials travel in a way their parents never did. Credit the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, marketed directly to them and incentivizing them to go. Millennials want those perks and they want to use them. So if you’re marketing to them… Give them something, make it interesting.

Only the pubescent and those younger than them are ignorant. These are the online armies. Ignore them. They might be a mile deep, but they’re not a mile wide. The noise far exceeds the impact, like the Republican Congresspeople. There’s something there, but you can ignore it and not much will change.

Online hate, blowback? It’s here to stay. Grow a thicker skin. We’re all in it together, and the main reason people attack you is because they’re angry they’re not where you are, and if they can’t be, you’ve got to pay a price.

So what’s new on the horizon?

Once again, culture.

Food and restaurants are as big as they ever were, America’s number one form of entertainment.

As for streaming content, despite what the financial pages say, there’s still going to be a ton of it, there has to be, otherwise people won’t subscribe. And it will be a smorgasbord, of not only lowbrow, but highbrow too. Because it’s not about getting everybody to watch the same thing, but delivering shows for individuals so they keep paying. Sure, there will be consolidation amongst the streamers, but it’s akin to sports trades, unless you’re really into inside baseball, you can ignore them.

As for music… The brand phenomenon will continue. And will for as long as we have billionaires, musicians want that money.

But there will be a new cadre, not playing to the back row, who realize the power of music is…to speak truth to power. Who won’t fight for every last dollar. Who will be in bed with their audience, not mobilizing them to fight anybody, but to be fulfilled in the symbiotic relationship.

This is the turning point. Don’t expect radical change tomorrow. But there will be an evolution, because most Americans are breathing a sigh of relief, they don’t have to be on guard 24/7 to save our nation. They’ve got bandwidth for other things now.

And don’t expect tech to fill the vacuum. That’s done. We had multiple decades of innovation, but we’re rarely wowed by new products, hardware or software, today. If anything, we expect them.

It’s just like music, which squandered its power after the classic rock and MTV eras.

Really, it’s the age of the individual, which is contrary to the millennial ethos, which is all about keeping your head down and being a member of the group. We’ve seen the power of one individual, especially with Trump. He’s a beacon that way. If you believe and you want something, you may be able to do it. Take a stand.

Breathe a sigh of relief.

Get back to your life.

Trailer: https://bit.ly/3itskNr

Aubrey Plaza is wicked good.

Just a couple of hours ago, I was thinking how the movies are over. Except for the superhero flicks, because really they’re like series, you know, the Marvel Universe is like a multi-season extravaganza on Netflix.

But the real movies, the soul of the industry, the stories, based in real life… They can’t open anymore. Oh, they can promote ’em, put ’em in theatres, but people just won’t go. They posit the audience, mostly oldsters, who support these flicks are afraid to go because of Covid…but in truth, they got out of the habit. Never mind it’s so much more convenient at home.

My mother, bless her soul, gone just over two years now, was addicted to the movies. That was her go-to. If there were a few hours, some empty time, which she hated, she’d pick out a flick. It was a religion.

It was also art. Something to believe in and live for. She went to the Judith Crist weekends…

Fewer people today know Judith Crist than Johnny Carson. I’ll bet no one under thirty, maybe forty, has a clue who she was. But she was the film critic for “New York” magazine, amongst other periodicals. Back in the heyday of film criticism, the late sixties and seventies, when movies still counted, before “Jaws” and “Star Wars” ruined the paradigm.

You see there was too much money in blockbusters. Just like there’s too much money in finance and tech. And there are some who can resist, but not many.

I was introduced to a friend’s friend in Two Elk, the day lodge atop Vail. He too was from Connecticut, but the relative boonies.

So I asked him how he got out of there, ultimately he coughed up that he went to Harvard.

So what did he do after that?

He went into “investments.”

What a waste. He could have changed the world, but he just wanted to get rich.

Sad.

You need enough money to live, but how much is that?

And that’s just the point of “Emily the Criminal,” she needs the money.

They set it up pretty well. How she got into this hole.

And then she makes choices…

I guess that’s got to do with your background too. If you grew up in a middle class family, your values are such that…

The middle class has evaporated. And the truth is those on the bottom will do anything to survive. Desperate people do desperate things, and Emily is desperate.

Is it wholly believable?

What we needed was a few hours to set up a slow transition. But you don’t have that time in a movie. So when Emily makes certain choices, they don’t ring true.

But that’s the script, the plot. The film’s execution is great, as is Aubrey’s performance.

I know Aubrey Plaza’s name, but prior to tonight I couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. Ever hear the host of SNL and wonder who it is? Impossible in the seventies, de rigueur today. At least I knew Aubrey Plaza’s name.

And she impressed me by being real. Sans plastic surgery. A regular person. The kind you’d meet, maybe not on the street, and would be intrigued by. Then again, Emily’s so down and out she doesn’t say much. Until…

Ultimately this movie is about standing up for yourself. It’s very well articulated. I tell friends this all the time. If you don’t stand up to bullies, they’re going to push and marginalize you. That’s how they became successful, by making you feel you’re inferior, taking advantage of you.

Emily says you must make your own rules.

Wow, that resonated. You’re either the boss or the employee. And if you’re the employee you haven’t got much power. Sure, there are nascent unions. Then again, everybody agrees to arbitration and the company always wins and…

Life is hard. Friends can be two-faced, they don’t want to take a risk for you.

And all of this is in “Emily the Criminal.”

I was aware of it, I caught the buzz when it was released in theatres, but I had no intention of seeing it. Until two people e-mailed me about it, I checked the RottenTomatoes numbers and the critics’ number was 94. Sure, the audience number was only 79, but I trust the critics first. And my cutoff number is 80, and 79 is close enough.

You’ll enjoy “Emily the Criminal.”

But it would have been better as a streaming series.

P.S. “Emily the Criminal” is a Sundance movie, as in it premiered at the festival and was acquired based on the buzz. But it stiffed in theatres, it only grossed $2.2 million in North America, which barely exceeds its budget. And since theatre owners take half the gross…

P.P.S. The festival model if not dead, is dying. You know, where distributors show up to skim the cream. Now that the films don’t do well, the glow is off. “The Los Angeles Times,” the industry newspaper of record, said this. Furthermore, the paper said that it doesn’t make sense to travel to Utah, when insiders can just screen the movies at home. You can go to the film festival as a punter, just don’t think you’re on the cutting edge, the festival circuit is now niche.

P.P.P.S. “Emily the Criminal” is on Netflix. 

You won’t know where this is going at first. But by the end of the first episode, you’ll say “wow,” and look forward to watching the other five.

Yes, there are only six episodes. A couple forty five minutes, but the rest an hour or so.

So it’s not a huge commitment. But if I were honest, I’d tell you to watch it all in one sitting. Because when a night or more goes by you have trouble keeping track of some of the plot lines. A week by week drip would be an utter disaster. “Black Butterflies” is really one long movie. And it’s French. And it plays that way.

“Black Butterflies” would not have the same impact if it were American. You see in America the stars dominate the story, cinematography is key, and the end result is something fake. You don’t get wholly engrossed, you don’t wholly believe it. And even though a couple of plot twists in the fourth episode might make you wince, “Black Butterflies” feels strangely real.

So if you’re a fan of French film…

I’m not talking “Mr. Hulot” here. I’m talking about something grittier, more cerebral. That reflects the human condition, and makes you think.

Adrien is a writer. Past his peak. Although married, he doesn’t really fit in. Then again, a writer does not have regular hours, unlike Adrien’s scientist wife Nora.

I don’t want to put all the pieces together, but let’s just say Albert, the old man, is very believable. Someone who has lived his life, and is now just biding time until it is over. He looks experienced, he’s lumpy, got lines in his face, but he’s still sharp.

As for Catherine… She was a babe once, but she’s not desperately holding on to her youth like so many Americans, she’s not trying to compete with the twenty-year-olds. She’s not caking on makeup, but she’s also not let herself go. This is a French archetype, and you’re drawn to it.

So when the series gets going, they flash back to the past. And the strange thing is you lived through it. At least me. And you reflect back on what you were doing then, and compare (and contrast!) yourself to the characters.

And there are multiple characters and multiple plot lines and you know they’ll converge, but you’re not exactly sure how. Which keeps you watching.

Not that “Black Butterflies” is a hard watch. It’s all there, what happens is easily digested, but what does happen is constantly unanticipated. I won’t say it’s a thrill ride, because unlike an American production it’s not screamingly fast-paced. Not that it’s slow, it moves at the pace of life. There’s an intellectual element. Life is being left alone with your thoughts. It’s the essence, it’s what we do most. But that’s not what we tend to see in American art. Unless it has that “look-at-me!” quality, begging for attention. Most of us don’t get attention, we’re flying solo, as many friends or relations we might possess. We want to feel integrated, but it’s a constant challenge, and the isolation can kill you. Never mind that you can be alone together.

“Black Butterflies” is not a comedy. I hear that from people all the time, they want something light, to take them away from the detritus of everyday life.

Now I’m not inherently against light, but I will say it’s hard to do right. I will also say I prefer gritty, edgy, that’s what I want from my entertainment. I don’t want to be taken away, I want to see myself, question my behavior, go inside. I want insight into the human condition, I don’t want to feel so alone.

Not that I could connect with the characters. That’s another cliché that drives me wild, when people say there was no one they could root for, no one they could identify with, that they dislike all the characters. Well, that’s how life is, why should art be any different!

Life is about making choices. And you’re constantly searching for information and also constantly finding out you don’t know much, or you’re surprised by something key. You want to grab hold, you want to eliminate the risk, plan it all out, but no life is like this, and the more you try to attempt this the more you squeeze the life out of life. What I mean is placidity yields little. It’s when you’re a pinball, when you’re the main character in an evolving movie, that life gets interesting.

I don’t want to overhype “Black Butterflies.” It’s not “The Bureau,” or “Happy Valley,” or even “Broadchurch.” But it’s well worth your time.

If you’re watching French shows I’d start with “A French Village.” Forget “Call My Agent,” that’s light fodder akin to “Mr. Hulot.” The French can do that, but it’s earthy and human they specialize in. And, of course, watch the police show “Spiral.”

But as French as “Spiral” is it’s akin to an American series, “Black Butterflies” is not. It’s got the essence of the country in the pacing, the plot twists, the characterizations, it’s the other, and therefore much more the real thing, as in the characters are real people, whose choices…you can evaluate them as opposed to laughing and discarding them, wondering what you’d do in the situations.

Will you be satisfied when it starts to all play out?

Well, maybe not as much as you were in the first half of the series.

Just one warning, really a tip, stay to the very end of the last episode, don’t turn the show off during the credits, which is de rigueur in streaming, hang in there.

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Subject: Trust me on this

We have the exact same taste in shows. Here’s one for you:

Black Butterflies.  Netflix.

Judie Gregg Rosenman