Intellect vs Emotion

[Harrison Sherwood]

Joyce's _Ulysses_ never fails to get me Right Here.

And oddly, the section that most reliably elicits the trembling lower lip
and the misting of the eye is the catechistic "Ithaca" episode, which is
probably the least obviously emotionally manipulative. Something about
Bloom and Steven, reunited for the first time, peeing on a wall together as
the stars wheel spectacularly overhead, makes me just want to go hug
somebody.

The average episode of "ER" is a good example of how low art is calculated
to appeal to the emotions. I never used to watch the show, but every
Thursday, regular as clockwork, my wife would emerge from the den, her
pallid face awash with tears, requesting a hug. I finally watched last year
sometime, and halfway through, realized, This is the most manipulative crap
I've ever seen! That's why it succeeds: every string is pulled, every
sentimental association is invoked. If a puppy or an orphan is introduced
in Scene Two, odds are Real Good that those big brown eyes will be
precancerous by the 10:30 stop set, and off to the knacker's yard by the
Eleven O'Clock News.

I seem to vaguely recall Dickens tickling this particular ganglion a time
or two.

Harrison