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• 1 2022-05-12T05:39:30-07:00 Dispatches from Elsewhere 4 description of TV Show plain 2022-05-16T21:08:03-07:00 Get ready to harness the power of your divine nonchalance and go Elsewhere..
  
  Dispatches from Elsewhere (2020) was created by Jason Segel and for the AMC network. Set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the anthology series follows a group of regular people who happen upon a puzzle hidden in plain view. Their adventure soon enlightens their perspective to a world of magic and possibility.
  
  While watching Dispatches from Elsewhere, I learned that the show was inspired by Spencer McCall’s 2013 documentary The Institute. My curiosity compelled me to watch the documentary to better understand the meaning behind Dispatches from Elsewhere. The Institute tells the story of an alternate reality game set in San Francisco and centered on the Jejune Institute, where over 10,000 players were inducted into a society they knew little about. McCall’s positive reception of the Urban Playground Movement, which envisions expanded urban spaces for recreation, was influential to the game he created. In the documentary, McCall questions why the playful decorations of amusement parks are limited within borders. Furthermore, he points out the absurdity of society condoning corporate advertisements near their places of residence while having an attitude of disgust when murals are created near their homes. McCall also mentioned his work on essays about a theory he called “threads” in which all types of media can intertwine to tell a story. This theory of threads would eventually develop into “nonchalance” as used in his game and the show Dispatches from Elsewhere. In both The Institute and Dispatches from Elsewhere, “nonchalance” is described by a cartoon analogy in which characters unaware of dangers around them travel carefree throughout spaces and are led by good luck.
  
  In Dispatches from Elsewhere, Peter (Jason Segel) has become numb to his feelings after his mundane routines have taken away his sense of personal meaning. It is not until he meets Simone (Eve Lindley) and his other teammates while playing the game that he regains excitement for living and asserts agency over his life. His group learns about Clara (Cecilia Balagot), a brave and creative girl who establishes the Elsewhere Society with her friends. Peter becomes inspired by Clara’s use of “nonchalance” and eventually takes a fun risk at work, which provides others in his town with fun. He then decides to leave his unfulfilling life in pursuit of something he will have more passion for.
  
  Dispatches from Elsewhere is a prime example of the effects of media convergence and globalization. Globalization is used to indicate a world where activity and human lives are less limited by geography (Herbert et al., 120). The events of The Institute take place in San Francisco, California. However, Dispatches from Elsewhere is set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In speaking on his choice to film in Philadelphia Jason Segel states:
  
  
  
  Philly seemed like the perfect metaphor for what the show is trying to explore. It’s sort of identified for that blue-gray, undersaturated, Rocky-movie grit. But it’s got more murals than any other city in the country. And if you turn down any given alley, you might find a tiled mosaic. And that felt to me exactly what we’re exploring in the show — this idea that there is beauty all around you if you just put on a new pair of glasses. (Gray)
  
  Throughout Dispatches from Elsewhere, there are distinct Philly urban designs. As simple as the alleys, to shots of Pat's King of Steaks restaurant, and importantly the buildings of Fish Town where Clara and her friends lived. Clara followed her divine nonchalance and turned her boring poverty-stricken neighborhood into an oasis of magical creativity by producing street murals and other playful designs around the city. Media convergence points to “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences, who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want (Herbert et. al, 122). This convergence is present within and between The Institute and Dispatches from Elsewhere. For the project associated with The Institute, posters, graffiti, radio messages, telephone calls and text messages, and video all culminated in the goals of the game and then the production of the documentary. Similarly, Dispatches from Elsewhere recreated aspects of the game and involved its participants by including video footage of them in the season 1 finale of the show. The characters and ideas of The Institute were reimagined in Dispatches of Elsewhere and would likely attract past participants of the game as well as fans of the documentary.
  
  The Philadelphia cityscape proved to be a suitable choice to explore the idea of elsewhere, which is a place of possibility and imagination. Media convergence paired with globalization can take an idea from the West Coast and transfer it to the East Coast in a way that can engage both communities, and which can be applied to locations across the world. With enough will and imagination, anyone can travel Elsewhere.
  
  - Damion DeShield