Hah! Just call me Polonius, because I, too, think brevity is the soul of wit…

And in this 25 point essay, I’m going to explain why:

> It felt like no one could say they were upset about something without going into an extremely long extended monologue.

What is up with that? It’s not just Flanagan, either. I’m afraid it’s a growing trend that is just a reflection of how the generation taking the reins of this stuff actually communicates… or, rather, how they communicate online, because it is reeks of performative artifice.

My wife and I certainly aren’t that old, but we’ve been big Trek fans for ages. Although we watched, and mostly enjoyed the new Trek stuff, both Discovery and, to a lesser extent, Strange New Worlds are guilty of this. People are just emoting to 11, all the time. Everyone seems to be constantly on the verge of tears, either from sorrow or anger, and they’re ready to drop a super-heavy emotional monologue at the drop of a hat. It’s exhausting.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some crusty, macho, the-only-feeling-I-feel-is-anger guy. I cry at Adventure Time, I freely admit this. I get choked up damn near every night when we watch Bluey.

But these shows, this monologue heavy style, seems to have gleefully abandoned the old adages of “show don’t tell” and “less is more” in favor of “tell tell tell” and “more is more.”