Pop Culture Mondays/2.13.23
The “ALIENS ARE PROBABLY HERE NBD” Edition
Happy Monday my darling pop culture junkies. I hope everyone has recovered from your Super Bowl shenanigans. And my love to all the Eagles fans reading this…I mean it was a good game! I don’t even watch football and I was like, “this is EXCITING!” So really, everyone was a winner. But more on the SB in a minute…LOTS more. This edition HOWEVER, is dedicated to the aliens that are zipping around Montana and all over North America AND WERE CLEARLY SEARCHING to get a good view of Rihanna’s halftime performance. ANYWAY, I dedicate this PCM to them. BUT what a week…I mean we had the STATE OF THE UNION just a few days ago like WHAT a week. And here we are in a place where I have to say AGAIN — as this was a newsletter born in the Trump years — WE ARE TRUMP-FREE here at PCM. For my mental health AND yours, trust me. So regardless of whatever shenanigans that toad is up to, we will not cover it here.
AND let me say this…we welcome Democrats AND Republicans here. PCM is equal opportunity…but let’s not kid…being Trump-free is not about a party my darlings…it is a state of mind, so join me. It’s fun.
Grab some sour strips (legit my FAVORITE candy of all time) and actually put those suckers in the freezer overnight for a remarkly delightful experience and a big TikTok extravaganza at the moment:
And in case you missed last week’s pod, I just break down some of the Grammy stuff. Check it out:
OK, buckle up. We have Super Bowl. We have Aliens. We have SOTU. We have some ridiculous fashion trends you need to know about if you’re a parent or just someone curious why everyone is wearing the same thing at your office or at the market. I got you….
Xx,
Brooke
WE ARE READY FOR THIS:
You think I would lead with the world’s biggest baby announcement right? We will get to that. Think of this as an amuse bouche, a tasty little treat to get you prepared for the next post. But really, first we must address the aliens. I again am reminded of a nation divided…I have one group of friends who can speak of nothing else but these unidentifed flying objects being found and shot down all over the place. Then a whole other group who are SO blasé about it, my mind explodes. They are VERY aware of the news, and even some are like, “Sure, they COULD be aliens,” but then they move onto other things like it isn’t the biggest deal ever. The friends who are like, “yeah yeah aliens but OMG RIRI IS PREGNANT!” You know who you are. And then another group who are blissfully unaware of the entire situation. It’s NO wonder why I spend my days dreaming of when I can have a glass of wine and go to bed because my friends CONFUSE ME. But I digress. I would like to say there is no question that if we did get cofirmation they are spaceships and they began hovering over a building, I would likely be this lady with the sign:
Let’s be clear, INDEPENDENCE DAY is one of my all time favorite movies. I have seen it 735 times and counting. The premise is that unidentifiable flying objects hover over cities. We know how this ends. And of course these UFOs are LIKELY more spy machines gathering data like giant TikTok devices flying over us…but like why all of a sudden? A MYSTERY.
But here are some of my fave memes and Tweets and so forth:
THERE ARE JUST SO MANY and I love all of them. And now lets segue into the next big story with a few crossover memes:
AND finally…this woman nailed it:
SUPER BOWL LVII:
Woo boy now THAT was some game. I mean I have not watched a football game since LAST Super Bowl so that should give you a good indiction about my football knowledge. I am always there for the ads and the halftime show (unless it was Maroon 5 which was a NO from me but I digress…) but THIS game had me for so many reasons. Let’s bullet them out and then go through them one by one:
- Brothers were competing against one another. Daddy Kelce and Cool Uncle Kelce. HERE FOR IT.
- Patrick Mahones brother, Jackson, who the Internets really have it in for.
- NFL FASHUN BABY.
- Elon, Rupert and Rupe’s new Flat Earther girlfriend. OBVIOUSLY.
- JESUS has a hell of an ad budget. 🫣
- ALL things Rihanna
OK, so let’s DIG in.
Let’s start with the Kelce brothers. I don’t live in the NFL world so the first I heard about them was on TikTok. One plays for the Eagles, one for the Chiefs. And they host a podcast called “New Heights” and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I literally love them. Listen to their pod FOR SURE:
PS: EVERYONE is a brand.
Let’s break down the characters first so we know who everyone is:
THIS is Jason Kelce who plays for the Eagles as a CENTER which I don’t know what that really means but some of you do.
This is his younger brother Travis who plays for the Chiefs as a TIGHT END (I of course know this position):
And this is their adoring mom, Donna:
And this is Daddy Ed:
And going around for fun is this so called older brother, Shawn. Now, I MIGHT be wrong but my extensiove research shows this is IN FACT A JOKE and there is no Shawn Kelce but in case you wanted a giggle:
Ok so let’s talk the brotherly love they have for one another:
It brings me all the feels.
NOW, let’s talk about their FASHUN:
And their childhood:
And then the momma of all mommas, Donna:
I MEAN, really. This is a GOAL FAMILY right here. What a story. And the Internets LOVE them.
Moving onto another brother story, and that is Patrick and Jackson Mahones. Patrick is the 27 year old quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. His family comes up a lot on the TikTok but for this week, we are focused on the his baby brother, Jackson, who is a 22 year old social media creator I guess you can say? His platforms are TikTok and Insta and he has been heavily critisized for, at times, behaving poorly. Like recording a TikTok dance on an area of the field roped off being dedicated to a player who passed away:
And another one where he lost his temper at an opposing team’s fans:
He flaunts money and his lifestyle which people assume is due to his brother and not his “influencer” career but it’s annoying I won’t lie:
And he was caught filming his little dancy dances behind his brother:
It is what the kids call “CRINGE”.
Ok so moving on to the Super Bowl players fashion and I would like to propose we start doing RED CARPETS at Championship games. Because I AM HERE FOR IT. They DELIVER:
🔥🔥🔥
And this was def one of my faves:
And the most memable guests of the game were:
I am saying nothing due to personal connections BUT the big thing here for me is the official outing of Rupe’s new lady love who is a flat-earther from what people tell me so I hope she and Elon had a lovely talk about SPACE. SPACE AND JESUS.
Which brings usto the next WTF Super Bowl moment.
The JESUS ad. Now I could go through all the ads here but look, so many others have done that. We had celeb filled ads with Serena and Bradley Cooper and Will Ferrell and John Hamm and Brie Larson and Pete Davidson and Ben Affleck and Jlo to name a few. But no bigger celeb came out than JESUS Himself raised from the dead…AGAIN…to do an ad. This is an ongoing campaign of hate with the hashtag, #HeGetsUs to promote Jesus and Chrisitianity. Hate because they are VERY much anti LGTBQ+ and have a whole agenda around it. This org had 2 ads and a $100 million media budget. YEAH, godspeed. I am not linking to the ads but you can read more here:
AND now…my darlings….we have all things RIHANNA.
Look, it was probably the same at every party:
Wait, is Riri pregnant??
Only to be met with someone saying:
Stop body shaming. She is a few months post-partum. That is extra baby weight…
To:
NO no she is def pregnant like this is the craziest baby announcement EVER.
AND it was confirmed post-show…she’s preggers!
If you missed the show, search “Halftime show Rihanna” on YouTube and you can watch it all there. They do not allow you to share the video because NFL. But a taste:
Or watch it all on TikTok:
We have come to expect surprise guests at halftime shows. I mean my money was on Tom Holland coming to do his dance for “Umbrella”. NEVER FORGET:
But alas, the surprise guest was….BABY.
I mean I could sit here all day and talk about this performace. It was perfect. It was SO Rihanna. She didn’t need special guests or crazy dancing…she is RIHANNA. The dancing was done by the ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter who is everything:
I mean…
And speaking of being a brand…
RIHANNA IS a BRAND. She has also built incredible brands and is really one of the savviest entrepreneurs out there right now. All you wondering where her new music is…she is out there building FENTY Beauty and Savage X Fenty and they are killing it.
If you are not familiar with Fenty Beauty, please check it out here…the makeup is beloved and it is inclusive and just incredible:
And boy oh boy did she make it known at the biggest ad for a make-up brand ever:
And her INCLUSIVE lingerie brand is amazing as well:
No wonder the former President we shall not name gets his panties in such a twist over her. HE CANNOT HANDLE HER. She is an ACTUAL successful entrepreneur like REAL money and real brand.
And as always the socials were on fire:
There are so many more….all I can say is, Rihanna you and baby SLAYED:
A LITTLE THIS, A LITTLE THAT:
And some highlights (and lowlights) of some OTHER pop culture-y things that have gone down this week. I cannot cover everything because there is a LOT — there is ALWAYS a lot, but here are some of my chosen ones.
- State of the Union: It was like a lifetime ago, but the socials had FUN:
(A play on the new Netflix RomCom starring Reese and Ashton which was fine.)
- The app/tool winning the Internet right now is called CAPCUT:
Here is a video explaining some of the thigns it can do:
Now basically anyone can be an expert filmmaker. CapCut is the top video editing app people use to make TikToks and its why youa re seeing more and more sophisticated videos:
- And lastly, we shall end on some fashion trends taking the pop culture world by storm. First, let’s talk ZARA:
All the kids are going crazy for this very boring and basic ZARA bomber. It is everywhere. You will now see it on the subway or at Starbicks or walking down the street. I love this creator though who breaks it down:
Another trend you might be seeing a lot of? Silver or metallic pants. Like they are everywhere. I remember in 1987 I left Catholic school and went to a co-ed middle school where there was NO uniform and I was desperate to have cool clothes…when I had lived my 13 years in uniforms prior to that. I BEGGED my parents for the silver flats that EVERYONE was wearing. My mom thought they were TACKY and refused to let me wear silver shoes. I cried. I pleaded. I begged. To no avail.
But I was a Daddy’s girl and my dad secretly bought me a pair and insisted I hide them before leaving for school or coming home. Not sure when my mom found out or how, but those shoes gave me LIFE.
So I obvs will get a pair of these silver pants.
And of course, there is a dupe from Zara that is all the rage. FAST FASHION, kids.
AND lastly…we have come to THIS you guys. It has really come to this.
If you haven’t seen these viral boots on your socials yet, you will. They come to us from the brand MSCHF:
And these are their BRB aka BIG RED BOOT:
Yep, these are the ASTRO BOY BOOTS obvs:
And they are launching on FEBRUARY 16th.
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
I hope you have a lovely week.
We will have a break NEXT WEEK as I will be on holiday in my favorite place, JAMAICA. Enjoy the long weekend next week (and for those not in the US and if you don;t have a long weekend next weekend, I am giving oyu permission to make it one! #OneLove
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Xx,
Brooke
