Pop Culture Mondays/4.12.21
The “BODY” Edition
Happy Monday my pop culture junkies! And congrats to ALL my friends across the pond in the UK who are coming out of lockdown today. Pubs are open. Shops are open (go to BELLA FREUD ON CHILTERN STREET IMMEDIATELY) and there might be nothing I enjoy more than seeing my friends in London Instagrams and TikToks today….the joy and the humor. Nothing better.
This was a tough week to put into a newsletter so forgive me for skipping over some things you might be curious about, whether TikTok dramas (there are so many) to the deaths of DMX and Prince Philip…I mean I have NOTHING new to discuss here and showing memes of those who have died just doesn’t do it for me.
SO….this week is just a hodge podge of things with no rhyme or reason. Some weeks just speak to me…and then there are ones like this past one that JUST DO NOT and I want to stay in bed and hide under the covers and say NO NEWSLETTER this week but the guilt that has been in my body since before I was born will not allow this. So alas, welcome to my new subscribers who I am sure will question their life choices after this. And reminder to everyone that we are and always have been Trump-free even when he does something so ridiculous and hilarious, we ignore. SO MUCH EASIER NOW. So, grab a drink or a cocktail or a DIET MOUNTAIN DEW, kick back and enjoy…maybe with headphones….
A DRAMA OF THEIR OWN MAKING:
I know it’s weird I write a pop culture newsletter and I have never seen an entire episode of the Kardashians. It doesn’t make sense really that one of the biggest names and the group of people that have had one of the greatest impacts on modern day pop culture is a family I really don’t pay attention to, but that is MY TRUTH. I mean I appreciate the impact they have had…some of it good, a lot of it not so good. But so much of the influencer culture comes down to them. So many people, whether they are 16 or 60, have spent so much money and energy trying to look like them from their flawless skin to hair to bodies. It is a huge impact on mental health IN MY OPINION. But here is the thing…so much of what they look like is NOT real. I assumed many people knew that…I REALLY assumed they knew that? But maybe everyone, INCLUDING THEM, end up believing the lies and the fake images over the real ones. It changes the brain and even though you KNOW it is fake, you start to believe it is real and then try to attain it at ALL costs. I have seen things with my own eyes in LA I cannot believe people have done to themselves. From massive lips due to fillers to fake butts to girls who somehow believe Kim Kardashian dyes her hair blonde overnight so they go and fry their hair off. (THE KARDASHIANS WEAR WIGS GUYS…WIGS.)
So this brings us to the picture above. What I see is a beautiful woman with a beautiful body who seems sweet and fun and slightly unsure of herself and HUMAN. BUT… what the world saw though, became a trending topic of the week as this is an UNEDITED photo of Khloe Kardashian that somehow got posted without the family’s approval and then the family went into overdrive to get it taken down…but….you know, the INTERNET. I mean if this picture was of ME, I would be delighted. I would be SO proud. But the Kardashians, along with the bajillions of people following them, have created a false sense of reality and every image is edited to the point of absurdity but despite KNOWING this, we all somehow accept it and then applaud it.
So here is the thing…they couldn’t remove it, so Khloe leaned in and decided to comment about the pressures she has felt and being teased and called the fat sister which is terrible for sure BUT to say that society has forced this upon her and others was a lot to take. When really if you want to trace back to this mindset, the Kardashians themselves are responsible for it. Here is her statement:
Look…I encourage you to read it. It is beautiful. And thoughtful. AND correct that the pressures out there and the meanness of people help perpetuate unhealthy standards. BUT. It was a lot for people to have this excuse used by someone who has driven this train!! People had thoughts…
I am not going to post all the responses because they are all the same…many support her and call her brave and courageous…others are like ARE YOU SERIOUS??? YOU DID THIS TO US. But one thing is for sure….the Kardashian lawyers went into overdrive to have the photo taken down like imagine this is how you spend your money?
AND just a side note…some who spend time on Twitter will have seen this last week and this just goes to show you the difference between men and women and OMG I WOULD LOVE THE CONFIDENCE OF A MIDDLE-AGED WHITE DUDE (look I know a lot of you reading this ARE middle aged white dudes…ALL middle aged dudes are MY people and I love them…probably too much but that’s another newsletter…) But my point is, that Scott Galloway (AKA THE DOG and a friend) posted this and then ON HIS podcast, “Pivot” (LINKED HERE), with ICON and my nemesis Kara Swisher, he said if he had been a woman he would have been applauded for posting it.
IN WHAT FUCKING WORLD DO YOU LIVE IN SCOTT?? (I say this with love)
Yes of course there would be the supportive comments like “YASSSS QUEEN” but more than anything those comments would be horrible and critical and dirty and PLEASE PLEASE..middle aged dudes…do not for ONE second think you know what it would be like to be a woman. PUHLEASE. Have a defense..that’s fine…BUT NOT THAT ONE.
For reference here is the photo:
I almost wanted to start a campaign inspired by Khloe and Scott where US LADIES posted bathing suit pics of us untouched and proud but the fact is…why bring the drama and hate which we all know we would get no matter how “perfect” you looked.
SNL — AN APPRECIATION POST:
Look…SNL has hits and misses….not every week is amazing but there have been SO MANY WEEKS CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE?? It is not the show Gen Z has been running to (though Pete Davidson helps) but this Saturday’s epi was in my opinion PERFECTION. It was hosted by the incredible Carey Mulligan who is nominated for ALL the awards for her role in “Promising Young Woman” which IF you have not seen, you must see it immediately. And KID CUDI was the musical guest and I cannot explain how much I love Kid Cudi though I expect MANY of you (hi my middle age men) might not be familiar with Kid Cudi so hopefully after this you will be and you can surprise your kids with your knowledge and embarrass them AT THE SAME TIME.
SO let’s start there…as Kid Cudi who wore a dress this Saturday on SNL and SOME people could not take it and the socials erupted.
I think I owned this dress at one point. It’s like Laura Ashley meets Gunne Sax dress and I right? I WISH MY ARMS LOOKED LIKE THIS. He wore this dress as an honor to his hero and muse, Kurt Cobain. For reference, here is Kurt in a similarly patterned dress:
Some people did not like this. But I do not wish to give those people any attention and instead I celebrate it as MANY MANY HAVE.
BUT, this was not all this week on SNL which just had some amazing sketches…some totally ON THE NOSE. Some totally weird and out there I could not help but love. Here are my faves:
FIRST OF ALL…WE have a TIMMY cameo (if you are new here please know I am obsessed with Timothée Chalamet and yes I understand that’s probably weird but it is what it is)…BUT this sketch with Pete Davidson and Kid Cudi is so weird and funny:
Then there was this totally bananas sketch that I literally could not stop laughing over. It is so out there I loved it but it also is SO real in terms of today’s celebrity culture:
Then maybe the BEST take on the Derek Chauvin case I have yet to see was this sketch which hits a lot of things in a short period of time in a perfect way.
OK CRAIG…..
And then lastly, this just killed me. LESBIAN HOLLYWOOD DRAMA FTW this is the best thing ever:
TIKTOK TREND OF THE WEEK:
There are usually a few each week and I wish I could write about all of them but it would literally be all I wrote about and as fast as they come, they disappear. So I don’t write about all of them but I try to show you the ones that are REALLY huge or interesting or important so you AGAIN can relate to your kids. And I will say it again, I love TikTok. I am probably addicted to watching TikToks. I am probably a top vehicle for Chinese intelligence and even KNOWING this, I still watch a lot and I mean a LOT of TikToks. I do this with my excuse of…IT IS FOR MY READERS.
THIS week…there was this trend using this sound from rapper Iamdoechii’s “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” and it starts with…“Doechii, why don’t you introduce yourself to the class? Okay?” AND then people show themselves as they used to look like vs NOW aka their “glow up.” Their transformations — whether they are trans or have been injured or just their evolution from gawky teen to now — are all great. It is addictive and soothing and in some cases really moving. Here are some of my faves:
And my girl Tinx, obviously:
AND JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (AND SOME DESPICABLE ONES TOO…)
OK…so please don’t hate me again for not covering DMX or Prince Philip but like WHAT ELSE am I going to say?? But there were some other things this week I wanted to highlight. BUT feel free to LMK if I missed anything…and thank you to all who send me things every week! I LOVE YOU.
- My friend Lauren Goode wrote an incredible piece for WIRED where she is a writer, about how she cancelled her wedding but the Internet doesn’t let you forget. It is really so well done and articulates an issue we are all experiencing whether it is a break up we keep reminded of or loss of some other kind. IT IS BRUTAL. Please read this!
- There is a woman named Rachel Hollis who APPARENTLY is a self-help/lifestyle guru and motivational speaker and blogger and social media person and all I can say is I am SHOCKED she doesn’t go by DR. Rachel (I am looking at you PHIL AND DREW) so for that she should be commended. BUT man did the socials erupt the other week after MISS HOLLIS AKA TONE-DEAF PRIVILEGED WHITE LADY went off on her very own followers in a really hard to explain/get your head around rant which has since been deleted but here is a part of it…it doesn’t show you where she compares herself to Harriet Tubman:
There are a lot of TikToks making fun of her eyebrows AND her words…it went on for days as she kept her video up UNAPOLOGETIC. BUT then…her publicists finally got thru to her and she…SIGH…apologized. And FUN note, if you Google “Rachel Hollis apology” there are a bunch over the years due to many a gaffe. This is just the latest:
- Another TikTok sensation is an English woman named Dawn Farmer who is making/tasting American food and it is really satisfying:
ALSO…where have I been? IS MAYO ON BREAD WHEN MAKING A GRILLED CHEESE AN ACTUAL THING???
- OK, last but not least..another TikTok trend I could not ignore. COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE TIKTOK. Not just kids sitting in front of their computer videoing them in real time opening an admissions email. NOPE, that is SO passé. NOPE..now it is kids showing what their stats were in high school from GPA to test scores to clubs they were in to how many AP classes they took and then which colleges they applied to and go into or rejected from. AS well as what the acceptance rate is for each school. It makes me SO happy I did not have social media when going thru this process also…everyone on TikTok apparently is VERY SMART. Though some kids used TikTok to express that they didn’t get in…it’s all very stressful.
That is IT my darling POP CULTURE JUNKIES. May this be a beautiful and healthy and wonderful week for everyone.
Be safe, be kind.
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