Pop Culture Mondays/3.28.22
The “WELL, THAT WAS A THING” Edition (UPDATED)
Well, hello you pop culture junkies, and happy Monday. I know, I know you are all wondering how I am going to tackle today. I know we are all thinking about it, talking about it, processing it, sitting with it, and still, there is more to think about, talk about, process, sit with. In case you missed it and have absolutely no idea what I am talking about…let me bring you up to speed…
I am talking about, the LAUNCH OF THE PCM PODCAST, “POP CULTURE MONDAYS…ON THURSDAYS!!” (See what I did there?)
OBVIOUSLY, everyone who is anyone is talking about it. What else are they talking about?? (OK more on that later….) In case you missed it though, in all seriousness, I launched it last Thursday and it is a pod that will evolve. I got amazing feedback and constructive feedback and it will become more of a standalone than a companion pod to the newsletter so if you haven’t read PCM this week, the pod will still be a great listen. And there will be fun and DELIGHTFUL guests. So check it out when you can…
OK ok…so I am done trying to buy time while I, like so many of you, try to process what happened last night. SO let’s get into it, oh and some other things too from the past week…if you are NEW to PCM, please make sure to grab your headphones and some candy and enjoy.
XO…
OSCARS 2022:
No, I am not making the lead pic of this post the slap photo as by now it is on every cover of every newspaper, newsletter, blog, etc. So I want to start with what was GOING to be the only thing that really mattered in my opinion at the start of the Oscars and that was our TIMMY wearing this outfit and I don’t care what haters say, this was my happiest moment of all time maybe. (I need more happy moments perhaps??) but truly, I thought this would be the most talked-about moment from last night’s Oscars and I am going to hold onto this moment as an image from a more innocent time…a time before the SLAP when we just cared about what people were wearing..or in THIS case…not wearing.
Let’s just start with some of the fun stuff before we dive into the other stuff and yes this is me buying time as I think about how to tackle the other stuff because there are a lot of takes and it is steeped in nuance and it is pouring rain here in LA and really all I want to do is go back to bed and hide under the covers in a dark room but alas…here we are.
OK, so let’s just knock some of the fun stuff out of the way.
TikTok loved Timmy’s look. Hell, even the girls I know who ALLEGEDLY got an STI from him LOVED the look (not joking!)…I know some felt it was inappropriate, others feel he looks like a 12-year-old boy. I do not care, I loved it, loved him, loved “DUNE”, love everything about him.
OK, it’s my newsletter so I shall do with it as I wish.
Let’s move on. So, nothing I will write here is anything that hasn’t been said all over the place. But, I have spent the last 12 hours talking to everyone I can to hear different perspectives. From people in Hollywood to women who have survived domestic abuse, to people of color, to someone deeply impacted by alopecia, to people who know both Will and Chris, and everyone in between.
And there is no right answer OTHER than, everyone agrees violence is not the answer. And while many applaud Will for defending his wife in a moment that was very hurtful to her, all the people I have spoken to who have kids were really bummed at the message it sent them. Some talked about how they had to tell their kids this morning that just because someone says something you don’t like does not give you permission to hit them in any way.
Others felt like we were watching a classic abuser in action, not just the slap but then the speech that followed. And others felt this was a culmination of a lot of anger and exhaustion especially from this past week, of Black women being targeted due to the horrific and racist line of questioning directed at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. And frankly, if Chris Rock instead had been Ted Cruz or Tucker Carlson and Will had done that to them…well, I am pretty sure this would be a different discussion and people would be celebrating to some extent. Maybe not, but that’s my thinking as of now.
The fact of the matter is, everyone is processing. I think no one in the room knew what to do both in the moment and then for the rest of the show. I feel bad for Questlove who had his incredible moment taken from him. I feel bad for all the amazing talent who won who will be overshadowed by this moment.
Personally, I am not a fan of humor that mocks people’s looks or anything along those lines. It was cheap and it’s not funny. I also think at this moment we need to be raising each other up, not knocking us down. The joke felt very dated and out of touch. Like I would understand punching him in the face tbh…but behind the scenes. That said, I think Chris Rock handled himself with grace and composure and not sure what I would have done in that situation but likely not that.
I am just left with sadness and well…sadness. As a woman, I cannot help but feel this is a classic toxic masculinity situation…ON both sides. For Chris to make that joke (a man who made a MOVIE ABOUT the importance of hair in Black culture with his film “GOOD HAIR”) to Will’s response. THAT said, I see so many people saying it is because of Jada’s look that made Will do that, and again…that’s bullshit. This is where we get into a pattern around domestic abuse…
“She made me/him do it.”
“Love makes us crazy.”
“She pushed him into it…”
NOPE. No. NO SIR. So with that, I will just try to highlight some of the social media commentaries but there is SO much so only a sampling…
There are also some conspiracies out there suggesting this was ALL staged to get everyone talking because like no one talks about the Oscars really for more than a second. Some believe the slap was over the top fake and this was all crafted by them to get buzz. I definitely cannot imagine anyone choosing this route to go but again, what do I know. But those who believe this point to Will’s TikTok from earlier in the evening…
They are not just highlighting the video but his comment on it:
Me ‘n @jadapinkettsmith got all dressed up to choose chaos
This was hours before the moment. I again think it has nothing to do with the slap BUT it does show perhaps there was emotion already there.
Some were in bad taste:
The varying opinions:
And some now deleted Tweets:
The Memes came:
We had the Academy FINALLY issue a statement what seems like way to long after:
This is kind of an odd one since they clearly DID condone it by keeping Will front and center and letting him have 5 minutes to apologize and cry in his acceptance speech but OK. I mean they really worked HARD on this one. (That’s sarcasm FYI.) And then, the videos of Will dancing to his own music with award in hand at the after-parties. Last night, I imagined what he and his family would do in that situation post-event. I imagined they would want to be private and come together as a family with their advisors and close friends and work on the situation and what to do from it. But that wasn’t the case…and again, I cannot HELP but think about if two women had done that to one another HOW different the response would have been because if they then went on to party, the woman would be described as UNHINGED. FULL STOP.
OK PCM fam…I know there is a lot more to unpack on this but I am done. Is it about gender? Yes. Is it about race? Yes. Is it about Hollywood? Yes. Is it about the patriarchy? Yes. Is it about human emotion? Yes. Is it about assault? Yes. Will it change anything?
Nope.
- UPDATED** WILL SMITH HAS APOLOGIZED VIA INSTA:
With that, I would like to showcase some of my fave moments from the show.
Did you know “What about Bruno?” was NOT nominated for an Oscar even though it was the song performed at the Oscars? Yes in case you are curious about that here is an article on it. And maybe that’s why it wasn't the show opener…BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. It was amazingly electric and Megan Thee Stallion added a modern NSFW version that was NOT very Disney but I was here for it. ALSO…DID YOU CATCH SHEILA E?
LET ME REPEAT…this SHOULD have opened the show. Perhaps had this been the energy from the start we would not be talking about a slap because the slap wouldn't have happened because everyone would be in a VIBE from this. WHO IS TO SAY. But it was amazing. THOUGH some people (ok a lot) felt it was insulting to the OGs of the song and film. So I must state that so people don’t come after me. BUT in other news…
I am so curious how many people are opting to learn sign language today after seeing Troy Kotsur’s speech after winning Best Supporting Actor for CODA. I am crying, you are crying, let’s all learn sign language. THIS was beautiful:
And let me end with really, the woman who can do no wrong in my book. I shall bookend this post with 2 amazing fashion moments…starting it out with Timmy and ending it with Zendaya (Some of you say it was more appropriate for the Grammys and not the Oscars but I loved them)…you can disagree with me (totally acceptable!) but FER ME…she had the look of the night both at the Oscars and at the parties after.
SO with that, I end this post. A lot more to be said by others more qualified. I thought beyond the slap, the whole event felt dated and out of touch and from a different time with a few beautiful moments peppered in.
AND SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (OR SOME DESPICABLE ONES…)
I am not going to lie, this was hard. So let’s try to lighten the mood…
- OLD GAYS ON TIKTOK!!! I have been following these guys for a WHILE but they have just been killing it lately.
- Stand up is HARD. We obviously saw that last night. It is hard…jokes can land badly obviously. It takes courage to be one person to go out there and try to make people laugh. So, that’s the set0up. Last week, this woman went viral as she tried to do a routine at a movie theatre after the projector broke and everyone was sitting around waiting for it to be fixed.
Props to Tiffany King for having the courage…
- Ukraine. It is still very much unfolding on socials. And maybe this heartbreaking trend will change the minds of anyone who had any doubt about Ukraine as a country people loved and are proud to be from. This is a trend of Ukarinaians showing their Ukraine before the war:
- Before last night, all of the social outrage seemed reserved for this creator, Amanda Palmer. Before we get into her, here is the video of her singing a song from “Encanto”…
Amanda has been in the public eye for more than 10 years as a singer and songwriter and creator and a controversial one from the beginning. I don’t really have the fortitude to highlight all that she has done that is not awesome (it’s a lot)but here are some of the TikToks reacting to her intense song but also just her being on TikTok:
- And have been avoiding this one because it’s too fucking sad. But we all know that Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters died a few days ago at the age of 50 in Bogota. It was a heart-related death and it is a tragic one. I had just listened to this wonderful interview with Taylor and Dave Grohl on Stern from just about a month ago:
This broke me:
AS did this:
THAT IS IT my darlings…
I skipped over a lot because my heart is done for the day. I just feel sort of beaten down today, do you? I think that’s ok…we just all need to feel how we feel.
I will talk more about it on the pod this week so we will see how that goes.
ANYWAY…Stay safe and healthy my beauties. Be KIND to yourself and to one another. PLEASE.
Violence is (almost) NEVER the answer.
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