Pop Culture Mondays/3.4.24
The “Indian Pre-Wedding Edition”
Happy Monday, my darling pop culture junkies! I am telling you right now, prepare yourselves for a chaotic PCM this week. Some weeks I just cannot concentrate and this has been one of those weeks. Like does anyone else feel like we are in the in between moment? Winter to spring? Some days are cold and dark, and then another day is sunny with spring in the air, and it is so confusing - like, do I wear my winter coat or do I wear sandals? This is that “in-between stage” that hits every year. Whether in NYC or in LA…and therefore my equilibrium is off, and I just have to lean into it.
SO hence…THAT is what I am doing.
A little housekeeping to keep you all abreast of…SOON enough, we will be moving off of Medium. It is still being built out, and more to come on that, but if you are not already a subscriber, please sign up by sending an email to:
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If you missed last week’s podcast, check it out here:
Let’s get ON with this thing already!
Xx,
Brooke
A PRE-WEDDING EXTRAVAGANZA:
Unless you have been living under a rock (and IF SO, congrats I am officially jealous), you have seen SOMETHING about this crazy bajillion dollar wedding situation that had the likes of Rihanna, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump AND Bob Iger in attendance.
And it wasn’t even the actual wedding! That will be in July!
India’s richest man’s youngest son is marrying a woman also from an extremely wealthy family. However, tbh, they are paupers in comparison — Radhika Merchant, the bride-to-be’s family, is worth a reported few billion dollars. In contrast, the groom-to-be, Anant’s Ambani, is the son of Asia’s richest person. That family is worth over $113 BILLION. What’s wild to me, is this entire thing has unfolded on TIKTOK and other social media platforms. I have been to fancy (nothing like this) weddings where the phones are LOCKED away in order to have everything kept private. But in this case, they were basically encouraging people to film all the things, including conversations, for example, the Zuckbergs were having with the groom. Can you even? And yeah, the extreme wealth in a country known for its extreme poverty was a lot to take in. LET THEM EAT CAKE and all that. But I will just let the videos show you vs me telling you but I will say this….
People have asked me why I haven’t married (really, people ask this and it’s annoying) but if you must know…it is because I am holding out til I can make enough money to have Rihanna play 17 songs (reportedly) at my wedding. That is my final answer.
Let’s roll tape, as they say…
THIS TikTok has 64 million views. To give you some context.
And there are so many more…
I feel like this commenter said it best:
WE DO DESERVE THIS.
I love Riri hasn’t dropped a new album in YEARS and is like, “What can we do that’s bigger than a new album AND performing at the Super Bowl…?” And she delivered.
And here we here from the groom to be who is clearly very honored by the festivities and grateful to his family, but it is also wild to watch this whole thing. WILD.
OH to be on a fly on the wall…oh but wait, you can be!
HOW BIZARRE IS THIS that this was being filmed and posted. But here I am sharing with you so I am as much part of the problem. I know this!
I was once a guest at a beautiful and extravagant wedding where Zuck was also a guest. I had a couple of these small talk conversations with him (though NOT about a million dollar watch I was sporting because NO) but these conversations were not filmed. I would be mortified had they been.
THIS is the watch btw:
A Richard Mille, natch. And what are those? KOI?
As Mark says, “Watches are cool.” HAHAHA. Billionaires, they’re JUST like US!
Before India, Mark Z was in Japan, where we first saw him in some SHOGUN-like village learning to make KATANAS aka Swords:
But, he soon went back to that relatable Mark we all know and love (hahaha):
He’s getting the HIGH/LOW vibes down, am I right? Let me show the people I am relatable and JUST LIKE THEM by going to a McDonald's in Japan whilst wearing his Meta RayBans that film everything and a very expensive SHEARLING coat and talk Michelin stars. TBH, I do not blame his FB/Meta money for this. He’s a boy from Westchester County, New York. Where I grew up. We are bougie bitches, what can I say.
PS: Have you seen the new Shogun on Hulu/FX? I mean, I am old and remember the OG with Richard Chamberlain and remember being a kid and traumatized by a head being chopped off. But this new one is great. I LOVE it.
OK, back to the wedding…other than the star guest list, this pre-wedding had some remarkable jewelry. Let’s take a look (and many people initially thought this was the wedding because who PRE-GAMES like this for anything??)
Now, let’s take a look at some of the other guests.
I mean, Bill G really has never felt cooler:
But what a crew…
Bollywood’s biggest stars were there as guests and performers:
And the memes are good:
If you want to read more about this…check it out here:
WILLY WONKA, GLASGOW VERSION:
Have you seen this story? You have likely seen the memes, even if you didn’t know the story behind it. But what a story it is!
The people of Glasgow were promised an experience like NO other with ads for the WillY Wonka Chocolate Experience which parents bought up tickets to take their kids to. Here is the ad:
It looks magical, right?
Yeah, thanks AI. For creating amazing ads. If only AI had created the actual experience. But we have it all on video, thanks Internet.
First of all, wtf character is THIS from ANY version of Wonka? Please tell me:
Before we get into the memes, here is the story:
OK, now for the memes.
And the combo of Kate Middleton rumors and The Wonka experience gave meme overload:
I am staying away from the Kate Middleton madness that took over the socials this past eek because I find the situation terribly sad and I cannot partake so that’s as far as I go. We wish you well, Princess.
My fave take:
But before I let you go…let’s here from the stars THEMSELVES.
Here is Felicia, the 16-year-old girl hired to play THE UNKNOWN:
And frankly, the interview scoop of the CENTURY comes from Vulture, who got to interview Sad Oompa Loompa, Kirsty Paterson:
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT:
And a few more things that captivated us this week…
Jon Stewart BROKE out hearts. Full disclosure: I cannot watch this, and I have not watched this in its entirety. But for those who can:
Or watch the whole clip here:
The amazing news is that the No Kill shelter has raised over $50K last I checked, though likely more as a result. They posted this when it was at $35K:
WHY CAN’T DOGS LIVE FOREVER????
RUNNING TO THE THEATRE FOR THIS:
I loved the first Dune…I mean I loved the OG but I mean the first part of the remake. What’s not to love? Timothée and Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem and…..ZENDAYA. But man, it felt like it was just a way to set us up for THIS PART TWO. First, the trailer:
A whole new who’s who cast of characters has joined in the blockbuster. And we have some gifts from the press tour with the various co-stars that are making the rounds:
The Internets has really been trying to solve this puzzle. Right now, the top 3 contenders seem to be:
Michael Fassbender
Hugh Grant
Jake Gyllenhaal
PCM will make sure to keep you abreast of this BREAKING story.
Moving on….
Have you heard about the DUNE POPCORN BUCKET?
Um…
I love that only Dave Bautista is the only one who “gets” it.
Here she is IRL:
Moving on….my fave sandworm take thus far:
Another part of the press tour was Timmy and Austin Butler trying out English foods and causing chaos everywhere. This one kills me because Timmy is meant to be worldy and French and here he is literally like a kid who has never left Calabassas. I can’t….
But tbh…I am a Florence and Zendaya stan…more of them please:
Did you see this?
This truck went off the bridge and dangled above the Ohio river in Kentucky. Everyone watched this happen live as rescuers tried to save the female driver (successfully). It was NUTS.
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
I am sitting here in my kitchen sipping on a Diet Coke still in my PJS and it really IS time to face the day. What will happen this week that goes viral? I mean people will do ANYTHING it seems to get the opportunity for virality, like this:
Though with regards to this dance trend, I am ok with it:
And sometimes, the best times, people go viral for just being who they are. Like this little basketball coach. I LOVE him.
I am off to shower and face the day.
Thanks for joining this wild ride.
And remember, if you aren’t already a subscriber and you want this in your inbox, please send an email to:
subscribe@popculturemondays.com
Have an amazing week.
Xx,
Brooke
