Content Consumed: White Lotus, Julia Fox’s masterpiece, and Club Q
Hey folks! Happy Tuesday. I hope you’re all having a good one.
In today’s edition of Content Consumed, we’re chatting about…
⚡️ A White Lotus episode of biblical proportions
🎨 What I expect of Julia Fox’s masterpiece
🎬 How Pitch Perfect is still, somehow, going
📝 JP Brammer’s essay on Club Q and gay bars
This week’s biblical White Lotus episode
Okay, a day late, but I watched it!
Not quite as wild as last week’s ep, but still very good, very character-driven, and very intriguing. A quick recap and review of my thoughts:
- The religious undertones were less-than-subtle in this episode, but still well done—Mia and the piano player (attempting to) have sex in the deconsecrated church, Lucia’s foreshadowing “all whores are punished” comment, Harper questioning Ethan three times about what happened the night before (like Peter’s denial of Christ in the Bible).
- Two questions about Cameron: did he leave the condom in the couch on purpose and does he genuinely wanna *be inside* Ethan like he literally told Ethan? What’s this guy’s end game? And are he and Daphne broke? Because we keep getting hints about that and he badly wanted Ethan to invest in his company.
- Tanya’s about to get scammed big time. And I think Greg could be in on it, that Essex lad could be another paid prostitute, and Portia’s accidentally along for the ride. It could explain why (1) Greg got to Sicily before Tanya, (2) Greg had to leave to set up the gay-BFFs-taking-Tanya-to-get-scammed-in-Palermo, (3) Greg was mad Portia was there because now Tanya has an ally (sort of).
- I love Lucia and Mia as a messy dynamic duo. You can tell the actresses were friends before the show even started filming (I highly recommend reading this double interview they did with W Mag); their chemistry is insanely natural.
- I need Harper to go OFF. It’s killing me that she stayed silent the entire episode. I was begging for an explosion before the credits rolled.
- Hilarious that (assuming the theory about the Essex lad being a hooker is correct) Albie and Portia both hooked up with prostitutes without knowing it while trying to screw over each other.
- No chance Guiseppe survives that. Also, did Mia purposely screw up the pills? Hmmm.
- Valentina’s gotta stop harassing Isabella with the gift and such. I don’t think she understands how hypocritical she’s being.
What I expect from Julia Fox’s “masterpiece” book
You know Julia Fox. Actress, former dominatrix, model, socialite, fashion icon, and media star. A multi-hyphenate, to say the least.
Well, she’s working on her masterpiece book right now, so don’t bother her. It’s not a memoir, it’s not a novel: it’s a masterpiece.
Really, I’m expecting a combination of everything.
- At least part memoir. There will be tidbits about her life pre-fame, in sex dungeons and in the small-time modeling world. Then we’ll get little stories about her superstar rise post-Uncut Gems, more about her brief relationship with Kanye, and things she’s been up to since then.
- A bit of novelization. Some short stories, perhaps.
- Gossip. Sordid stories from the peak of her fame (maybe that Madonna dinner at Carbone?) about folks she no longer really associates with since the Kanye breakup.
- A love letter to her son. She really, really loves little Valentino and clearly he’s priority #1 in her life. I expect him to get a lengthy shoutout in her masterpiece.
- Passionate essays about causes she cares about, like childcare, women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community.
How is ‘Pitch Perfect’ still going?
So, a capella is a thing? Still? In 2022? We’re still doing this?
Apparently!
The Peacock spinoff series Bumper in Berlin, starring Adam Devine of the original Pitch Perfect, hits streaming this week.
I think the first sentence of Variety’s review nails it: “If anyone came away from Pitch Perfect with a burning desire to know what happens to male a cappella diva Bumper Allen (Adam Devine), I’d like to meet and study them for science.”
It’s a classic case in our era of wringing an IP for everything it’s worth: movies, TV shows, merch, tours, etc. Not much original about it. Adam Devine was in search of work, executive producers like Elizabeth Banks saw the money in it, and bing-bang-boom we’ve got a low-qual TV show for Peacock streaming that also managed to get Sarah Hyland as a love interest (nostalgic for Modern Family fans who enjoyed the Devine-Hyland relationship on that show). Jameela Jamil looks really bad in it, if you were wondering.
Anyways, I can’t imagine anyone I know watching it. Maybe late millennials? I dunno. Who’s the audience here?
If you want to explore more of the Pitch Perfect legacy, I liked this piece from The Ringer.
An essay on a spot, a gay bar, and Club Q
On Saturday, a gunman entered a gay bar in Colorado Springs and killed 5 people. It’s another devastating act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community. This essay from JP Brammer, author of Hola Papi and talented graphic artist, is a terribly sad and important piece of writing about the event, the space in which it occurred, and its impacts.
One of the most profound lines of this reflection:
The rest of the world doesn’t disappear in the gay bar. It laps at the front door like waves against the ribs of a ship.
Read the essay here. Take your time with it and sit with it.
And that’s it for today. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Lots of love,
Casey
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