Pop Culture Mondays/4.26.21
The “Fro-Yo” Edition
HI BESTIES!!! And happy MONDAY.
I am changing up my intro as I could NOT fight the “Hi Bestie” trend anymore. If you have a teenager — actually if you have anyone in your family on social media OR if you are a tech bro billionaire SPAC investor, you are very familiar with the HEY BESTIES line. Whether your teen is greeting you when they come into the kitchen or you’re watching a HELLUVA lot of TikToks or you’re following a bunch of rich dudes on Twitter who talk like they are 12…”HEY Besties” is not new to you. If it IS new to you, then that is WHY YOU ARE HERE. I guarantee for absolute CRINGE-WORTHY embarrassment of your kids, say “Hey Bestie” to them later…it will be SO fun.
OK, this is going to be a super quick short but sweet (maybe a little dark) PCM because guys I am in vacation mode starting Wednesday and while my body is currently sitting at my desk in front of my laptop downing coffee and wearing sweatpants and Uggs at 6:30AM….my mind is somewhere in the light blue ocean with a rum drink in my hand. So with that….a quick reminder for those maybe new to my newsletter (WELCOME!!!) or those who may have forgotten. This is just a quick look at SOME of the most topical/talked about/trending moments in pop culture this week. Some of it you may know but not know enough about, some you may have wanted to know and were too embarrassed to ask and SOME of it you may find utterly useless and uninteresting. LITERALLY something for everyone. THAT said, it’s impossible to cover everything so since it’s my newsletter I get to decide. There may be some things you are like WTF why was that not there and it is because either A. I didn’t want to write about it or B. I forgot. I usually forget to do something WHEN I don’t want to do something…it is a realllllly convenient strategy and why I didn’t do great in school because I ALWAYS “forgot” to do things like study for exams or write papers and blah blah blah.
And so with that…enjoy this sugar-free break in your day.
See you later Besties!
FRO-YO GATE:
I am actually breaking my own rule here that I literally JUST stated a second ago. That is I am covering something I care less than zero about BUT it dominated the socials for a while this week so in case you were all wondering what is happening with Demi Lovato and FRO-YO…I am here to tell you. I actually think it is also a great example of how you can be cause célèbre one minute and the darling of social media who everyone rallies around and supports and loves to then taking something a step too far and the fans turn.
Demi is a child star turned singer who has publicly struggled with mental health issues, eating disorders and addiction and has a new documentary out detailing her near death by opioid overdose. There is also a brewing controversy as she HAS been very public about her addiction and VERY near death from it, she is also what people have coined “CALIFORNIA SOBER” which YES GUYS is a thing. And something causing quite a bit of conversation but what CALIFORNIA SOBER IS if you are someone who has struggled with addiction to things like opioids, you are sober but still have weed and alcohol “in moderation.” WOO boy. Try to wrap your head around that one. Call me old fashioned but I am of the mindset that this probably isn’t the best strategy for long term success but ALSO addiction and so forth are very personal so I am not someone who can pass judgement on what others feel is best for them.
And that’s not really the point of the Fry-Yo debacle so let me back up to that. Demi, has been VERY vocal with her struggles and as such she takes to social media to express herself like many do. SO, one night she just wanted to get her fro-yo on and went to a shop called THE BIG CHILL and freaked out when she was confronted with endless amounts of sugar-free options. She believed this was programming people to have eating disorders and a big trigger for her own eating disorder.
The Bigg Chill responded that they carry items for people with diabetes, celiac disease, dairy issues and for vegans. Demi I am sure was not expecting the backlash she got…and she got a lot. All of her fans and people I am sure had supported her openness came out swinging saying she had taken this too far and was selfish and basically it was an example of how OVERLY sensitive we are becoming as a society. Because Demi went on to post an apology but one of those “I am sorry BUT…” apologies where she said she had a really hard time the whole weekend after having to leave the yogurt shop without her fro-y because it had been so triggering. This got the socials even crazier.
So I have compiled just some of the posts from people calling out her hypocisy and narcissism and all I can say is I am glad I am not a young celeb having to live her life on social media in this day and age. I just with there were people to take the phones out of their hands:
Full explanation video here:
And reactions:
There are a lot more. I mean this is what cancel culture x cancel culture makes….it’s literally feeding off of itself. I feel like this will be a lecture in PSYCH 101 classes in a few years. Forget about the lady who gets killed in the apartment building and everyone heard her screams but no one did anything because they thought someone else surely would? YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE KITTY GENOVESE STORY and if not click here BUT I feel like WHEN CANCEL CULTURE CANCELLED ITSELF will be a new addition to this course schedule.
FACE-GATE:
Here I go AGAIN writing about something I don’t REALLY care about but it saves me from writing about the Oscars which I am clearly delaying (I have had two LARGE cups of coffee, an English Muffin because nooks and crannies and butter are really the perfect combo and I am about to dive into a bag of chips all before 9AM BECAUSE I HAVE ALL THIS NERVOUS ENERGY about all this stuff I don’t care about. BUT I digress…)
For those of you who MIGHT not know, this is actor Zac Efron. Adorable child actor who also sings and dances and starred in “High School Musical” AND my TOTAL fave, “The Greatest Showman”. OK sorry, the second I think THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, I need to see a clip so here you are:
I LOVE HIM. YES I generally have a weak spot for men who sing and dance but he is VERY talented and adorable and we can ignore that WHOLE “Baywatch” thing.
BUT…I do love him. Consider this a ZAC EFRON APPRECIATION POST. Because while I need to acknowledge the drama that the above image of him caused this week, I would also like to offer my OWN very professional analysis of what’s happening.
So the socials lost their mind on what appears to be a different looking Zac Efron captured in an interview this past week. His face looks different. One might say “fuller”. The InterWebs spoke:
And like this type of thing went everywhere. People in my life who I cannot even imagine know anything about him were like OMG DID YOU SEE HIS FACE. There was comparisons to Mickey Rourke and others who have gone to the point of no return.
And I was like…I DO NOT GET IT. He still looks gorgeous to me. Some say he had way too much filler or botox or surgery. But I saw SOME people in the medical world ponder that he might have had recent dental surgery. I mean this is the craziest controversy I have ever witnessed. HOT GUY…STILL HOT! OH NO!
Exactly.
So I was delighted to see the reactions change from shock and awe to trying to protect out little ZAC from the mean internets.
And leave it to one of the most popular Doctor’s on TikTok to break it down:
OK…that’s it. SHORT and sweet about Zac because…STILL HOT.
OK I have delayed the inevitable as long as I could….
OSCARS CAME AND WENT, SO THEY TELL ME:
I will admit I watched 15 minutes of this. So I am not able to give a play by play because I cannot because I gave up. Not for lack of effort. I loved some of the fashion I did…I loved hating some of the fashion for sure and my girl ItsMeTinx said it perfectly here:
I am actually HERE for Labia Couture I am not sure about you…but this was at least INTERESTING. But look, I am not here to go thru what countless of reviewers and others have gone thru about the tediousness of this year’s Oscars. The good news is how diverse it was. THAT WAS AMAZING and as it should be always. But I really am not sure what else to say. It’s a pandemic (PLEASE STOP SAYING GLOBAL PANDEMIC BECAUSE A PANDEMIC BY DEFINITION IS GLOBAL). OK…so the Oscars were held months later than normal and in a different location and they were trying to be toned down which I GET but like either have them or don’t have them. But this was morose and SO EARNEST. It was the most earnest thing ever and let’s be clear…you guys are actors and film makers and I think it’s amazing and you’re talented but LET’S CUT THE EARNEST CRAP. Truly. You are entertainers…so entertain. This was the opposite. I have gone back and now admittedly watched a lot of it and it was dark and weird and boring AND SO EARNEST. Ok I wills top saying it. NO I do not think the highlight was Glen Close shaking her ass. Sorry. And yes I think it was an OUTRAGE that Lucille Bluth aka Jessica Walter was left out of the IN MEMORIAM part that was SUPER rushed thru and yes I think they could have at LEAST cut some of the show a lot and instead included best songs because that would have broken it up a bit no? Tyler Perry DESERVED the Humanitarian Award because he’s one of the only people in that crowd who ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING TO HELP PEOPLE this year. Worth watching his speech:
Maybe the funniest moment was when the star of “Minari”, Yuh-Jung Youn, won for Best Actress and many people thought she was flirting with Brad Pitt. I DON’T THINK SHE WAS FLIRTING. She literally said, “Mr. Pitt FINALLY. Nice to meet you. Where were you when we were filming?” WHICH seems to me (and really WTF do I know) a diss on Brad who was Executive Producer of the movie but clearly never set foot on set. THIS IS THE TEA I LIVE FOR. Of course he took it in stride and they seemed to have a love fest backstage but still…I LOVED IT.
But the show was boring. AND maybe the funniest description of it was from a friend who said it looked like the MIDWEST PHARMACEUTICAL SALES AWARDS GALA which summed it up perfectly. AND then they changed the whole flow of the awards….like yes it makes sense BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST FILM ARE THE LAST ONES…but this year they changed it to close with BEST Actor assuming it would be the incredible Chadwick Boseman which would have been heartfelt and moving but HE DIDN’T WIN!! HANNIBAL LECTER did and was smart enough to be like this is a LOSE LOSE for me so I will stay put in Wales thanks so much so the whole thing just ended like a BAD BAD TRIP and I mean the drug induced kind.
Look, I am all for innovation and it is so tricky to do this kind of thing during the craziest year…but the Grammys did it. It’s not impossible.
Some of the best tweets from the night:
Daniel Kaluuya thanked his parents for having sex and having him and mom was like WTF DID HE JUST SAY? I feel like she had WORDS with him later.
THIS WAS THE BEST THING THE WHOLE FREAKING NIGHT I DIE FOR THIS.
Questlove wore Gold Crocs. The socials spoke.
AND JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (AND SOME DESPICABLE ONES TOO…)
- ELON MUSK announced as host of SNL on May 8th. AND NOT WITH GRIMES the blasphemy but with Miley. I mean Lorne Michaels knows what he’s doing. YES I am sure Elon will come out with a joint for his monologue and make 420 and BitCoin jokes throughout. WE KNOW HOW THIS GOES. The socials responded:
- Keith McNally is learning how being a troll works. I guess that’s one approach. It’s a no from me. And I will say something controversial and all my friends will come at me…I didn’t love Balthazar so kill me. Sorry but there it is. He’s gross. Eater wrote about it more than a month ago. He has since posted a pic of Woody and Soon-Yi and then proceeded to call women who made critical comments to the post “fucking idiots.” Go see his Insta. He’s terrible.
- LIQUID CHLOROPHYLL. If you’re a parent of a teen you might have been asked about getting this. If not, here’s the latest TikTok trend:
That is IT my darling POP CULTURE JUNKIES. May this be a beautiful and healthy and wonderful week for everyone.
Be safe, be kind. Don’t be Keith McNally.
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