Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

["Plemmons, Gregory" <gregory.plemmons AT vumc.org>]

I don't pay attention to a lot of TV or movies, but occasionally something slips past my social media radar which sounds eerily familiar. Below is a link to a promotional clip for the upcoming second season of a Netflix series starring Ricky Gervais called After Life (which I haven't viewed yet). Gervais was the original creator of  The Office in Great Britain (which was later successfully exported and adaptedhere). You may also recognize the actress Penelope Wilton, probably best known for her role as Mrs. Crawley from Downton Abbey. 

Link:

https://twitter.com/wolfetone98/status/1228995204151234560

Paddy O'Brien on Twitter “After the last 24 hours, this means more than ever. And not just a mantra for today but a message that should be repeated every single day!!!🤗 In a world where you can be anything; #BeKind "Good people do things for other people." #AfterLife #AfterLife2 @rickygervais https://t.co/NOEX9vgy0F” twitter.com

 I have no idea if Gervais has ever read The Moviegoer, but as Lent approaches, this clip sure seems prescient, if not derivative. 

From The Moviegoer: “They all think any minute I'm going to commit suicide. What a joke. The truth of course is the exact opposite: suicide is the only thing that keeps me alive. Whenever everything else fails, all I have to do is consider suicide and in two seconds I'm as cheerful as a nitwit. But if I could not kill myself -- ah then, I would. I can do without nembutal or murder mysteries but not without suicide. ” 

Greg Plemmons