Pop Culture Mondays/5.11.20
The “ X Æ A-12” Edition
Happy Monday my pop culture junkies! You guys are all over the world from California to London to St. Pete, Florida to Leeds. But all of you know thanks to all of our Instas and tweets, that on Saturday, May 9th, 2020 it snowed on the east coast. IT SNOWED. We have had freak snowstorms in April, but May 9th? I am pretty sure it was more snow that NY saw all winter. It was like the gods have gone totally mad. “What, COVID-19 isn’t enough for you, you terrible terrible people? Well I shall give you murder hornets, and SNOW in May.” It has gotten too much for me hence why I am moving to LA.…I even tried ordering a Peloton so I can be THAT person but they are back ordered until the END of August which means no one is having a better COVID-19 than Peloton it seems…remember Peloton wife? MAN, HAVE TIMES CHANGED.
So it’s been a couple months now since most of us have been locked down, and a lot of people are just over it. I drove by a Starbucks in Westport, CT this weekend and there were maybe 30 cars in line for the drive-thru desperate for their sugar free vanilla frappucino and NOTHING was going to stop them. Elon and Grimes had their baby, who I have named this edition after, even though I have NO IDEA how to pronounce it…the world has gone LOOPY. But I have DEFINITELY traded in my FOMO for FOGO aka - Fear of Going Out and am already having to manage my anxiety about flying in a month to LA so if you see pics of a lady and her dog in hazmat suits running thru JFK…IT ME.
Anyway, welcome to a Trump-free zone where we take a break from the madness for a few minutes and catch up on the pop culture news from the past week. Some of it you may know about but want to learn more, some may new to you and some may be of ZERO interest…either way, enjoy!
LET’S ALL TAKE A DEEP BREATH:
I am guessing MOST of you have seen something about this dramarama that unfolded this weekend but for those few who have not, let me break it down for you. Alison Roman is a Brooklyn-based cook(how she refers to herself) but she writes cookbooks and she writes for the Food section of The New York Times and there is nothing dramatic about that. I WILL say, I try to follow the recipes from the NYT and generally, almost always, they never pan out for me. I am reallllllllly good at following recipes, but for whatever reason, the NYT recipes always throw me…like I don’t want to have to solve a puzzle, I just want to COOK…but anyway, I digress.
Alison gave an interview to Dan Frommer, the writer behind The New Consumer which I recommend EVERYONE SUBSCRIBE TO. Dan launched it just over a year ago and it is SO good and I LOVE IT and it’s generally drama free. Until now. In what was, I am sure, meant to be a delightful and fun and spirited and uplifting interview with a cookbook writer and her brand, has turned into a national crisis on par with Watergate at this point. In a clumsy interview on Alison’s part she opens Pandora’s Box and tries to differentiate her career and choices by putting down the career and choices of other women, specifically Chrissy Teigan and organizational guru Marie Kondo. She appears to take issue with them turning themselves into brands where they sell things which Alison claims she will never do. She refers to Chrissy as being a “content farm” (having a team manage her socials though making it appear it is all her) and being a sell out because she has a brand at Target. There are OBVIOUSLY few problems with the whole thing. 😑
First of all, there is no need to take down others while trying to showcase yourself. We are better than this. But it’s also especially tricky when you’re a white woman insulting two women of color. Alison also in the interview appears to have tried to make fun of the idea of selling your brand in informercials and during the interview she changed her voice (not in an Asian accent I should note but still..) pretending she was an Infomercial saleswoman selling her wares. “For the low, low price of $19.99, please to buy my cutting board!” You can see why this is a problem. The word TO in there suggests she is mocking non English speakers, and it is a throwback to racist Asian stereotypes.
Alison claims it was an obscure reference to an Eastern European cookbook and an inside joke to friends. (NOTE TO EVERYONE: Inside Jokes are not meant to be referenced in interviews UNLESS YOU EXPLAIN SAID INSIDE JOKE. ALSO, side note — sarcasm does not translate in interviews. EVER..ever ever.) Alison saw the dilemma with the line after the story posted and according to an editor’s note from Dan, asked him to remove the line. And he did. But it had posted initially with it and people had gravitated to it and this became an even bigger part of the story so Dan put the word back and wrote an Editor’s Note as to why he removed it initially — noting that, “It’s a good reminder that things don’t actually disappear on the internet.”
But the interview was noticed by a lot of people. And it was noticed by Chrissy who has over 12 million followers on Twitter and is famous not just for her lifestyle brand but for her transparency and her sense of humor especially with herself. And she has very very thick skin as we have all seen in her dealings with trolls across the board. But this one seemingly cut thru her.
Understandably as she had praised Alison in the past and apparently had signed on to be a producer of the show Alison refers to in the interview that she was working on. So she tweeted how much this one hurt her and the socials went wild. Very well known people came to her defense including her husband John Legend, Chef Jose Andres and many other chefs, and a who’s who of celebs and a bajillion fans. Alison was experiencing a backlash that was must have felt like the sky was falling. That can be scary for anyone and it just grew and grew until she tweeted an apology — of sorts. Apologies are straightforward….it is hard to mess up an apology. Ways to do that are, “I am sorry BUT…..” or the way Alison went about it with an “I am sorry I caused you pain with what I said….” which is not really apologizing for what was said.
She refers to it as flippant and careless. She COULD have said she was an idiot and wrong and there was zero excuse for it and she will do whatever she can every day to make up for it…or something of that nature. So then the apology adds more drama and it turns out Alison has made similar comments before in other interviews so the twitter mob reacted.
But then Sunday night things took a turn and it turned out Chrissy herself was now getting attacked by a Twitter mob….apparently many people were making horrible comments to her about her children and I am sure racist and sexist and horrible things so she announced she was taking a break from the socials and made her account private so unless you were already following her you cannot now. And this whole thing is a mess and it sucks that this stuff happens when we are all adults. I remember in high school and the world would seem to be OVER when you had a fight with your friend and nothing else mattered and you couldn’t possibly recover from it or show your face in school again and you mom tells you that this is all very high school and you cannot wait to be an adult where this shit doesn’t exist — but it does. We are fragile beings, especially now guys. ESPECIALLY NOW. Let’s be kind to one another and try prop each other up, or say nothing at all.
THE INSTAGRAM STAR TEKASHI 6IX9INE:
OK, I am going to admit as a 46 year old woman who has an Instagram account for her french bulldog and is bathed in Aviator Nation hoodies and still cries to Cranberries songs from the ’90s, you might wonder how I even know about Tekashi 6ix9ine…and I will say I knew a lot less about him before this weekend when I made it my mission to try understand him and his fame. He made news this past week because he broke Instagram Live records by having over 2 million people tune into his Insta Live story. But now knowing all about him, this makes sense as he was basically born from Instagram. OK, no he was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He had a tough childhood, losing the man who raised him — his step dad — who was murdered when Tekashi, aka Daniel Hernandez, was 13. This apparently set him on a path that he is on today as he lost his mind a bit and then became obsessed with fame and success. He created his brand, 69, before he was remotely known and very much in line with a Madonna and a Gaga, found his signature look. HIS look though is having over 200 “69” tattoos all over his body and face and rainbow dyed long hair. And living his entire life on Instagram. He’s a rapper, but not in the traditional sense. He doesn’t write his raps which — to my understanding is not really how it is done. He performs raps written for him. But yet was accepted by the rap world because he is an incredibly talented performer and showman, as well as brilliant manipulator of social media and GOLD MEDAL shit-stirrer. I could go on but really…one of the most INCREDIBLE podcasts I have heard in a while was Spotify’s “Infamous: The Tekashi 6ix9ine Story”. I mean trust me, regardless of your interest in rap or him personally, you will be riveted. It is THAT good:
The kid is no hero. He celebrates drugs, guns, gangs, sex with children (this is a whole situation that the podcast delves into), and everything in between. He has famous feuds and he also broadcasts his love of his gang. He ended up being charged with federal RICO and firearms charges, including conspiracy to murder and armed robbery and made global news about possibly facing more than 37 years in prison. And then he turned on his people…GENERALLY a big no no in the criminal world and he made a deal in exchange for a MUCH shorter prison sentence and was in prison when he was released under house arrest due to COVID-19. And this is where our story picks up as he seemingly goes right back to living his life fully transparently on Instagram…flaunting his freedom and going after his enemies. He talks about being a rat and the attempts on his life and his family and he just talks to the 2+ million people the way most of us might consider talking to our therapist and maybe that’s what it is for him.
Instagram made him a star and he’s maybe more comfortable in that environment. But it is clearly his method of therapy and god bless. But it is a hard story to follow no matter how talented he is. Nevertheless, Instagram doesn’t care because… ALL THE EYEBALLS.
TIKTOK TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET:
SO, Timothée (pronounced TIMO-TAY) is the same age as Tekashi 6ix9ine and that is 24. Which is still creepy that I LOVE him and if we had gone to high school together I would have been THAT girl who had plastered her bedrooms walls with every picture of him cut out from every year book and I would have doodled on every surface Mrs. Brooke Chalamet in big bubbly cursive. But I digress. He is an incredible actor whether breaking our hearts in Little Women or in the movie that I am still totally undone from, Call Me By Your Name. When I first saw the movie, it was in the nicest home theatre I have ever been in, perfectly located in the most perfect home in the Cotswolds (remember I LOVE ENGLAND 🇬🇧) And it started with a good-sized group of us watching the movie, but as time went by, the dudes in the room started falling by the wayside until we hit the infamous peach scene (SORRY NOT SORRY!!!) and then it was just a couple of us brave souls. I honestly felt like I was hallucinating during this movie and even accused someone of spiking my drinks because the movie really undid me (IN THE BEST OF WAYS)…and look, to be fair I HAD had a lot to drink and just being in the Cotswolds was a heady amaze experience for me so everything was already heightened. But this movie, in my opinion, was transcendent.
If you haven’t seen this movie (or read the book), I don’t even know who you are really. But IN CASE you have a very good reason, it’s a beautiful COMING OF AGE film, if you will, set in the summer 1983 in Italy. TIMO-TAY plays a 17 year old Elio who is Jewish and American but family has European roots and they spend summers in this perfect paradise in this perfect Italian house and dad is an Archaeology professor who has a 24 year old graduate student come live with them to help him with his work. The student, Armie Hammer AKA the Winklevii, is a tall and strapping all-American guy and our TIMO-TAY FEELS THINGS. OK, I am not a movie reviewer or a spoiler, but let me just say I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH IT HURTS. And one of those incredibly real scenes that transplanted me back to the ’80s was a dancing scene where TIMO-TAY actually seems happy and loses himself and he is in a mood and he’s wearing a collared Polo and Armie Hammer is dancing like no one is watching and like EVERY BOY danced at every Bar-Mitzvah I ever went to in the ’80s to “Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs.
I mean this scene is a FUCKING WORK OF ART in and of itself. Every second of it. And when our TIMO-TAY jumps into the shot and does that shoulder thing well my friends…TIME STOOD STILL FOR ME.
And apparently the same for the TikTok peeps because NOW this is a trend on the TikTok and I have never watched so many TikToks in all my life (you now have seen my entire weekend which was Tekashi podcast and TIMO-TAY TikToks AND BOSCH, which I am addicted to but more on that later). FIRST, someone turned this dance scene into a perfect Tik Tok - they slowed it down, they added sparkly affect and Melanie Martinez’s song “Play Date” and it is MESMERIZING.
And this is now become a thing on TikTok that people have made into their own. Either themselves dancing or editing other stars…I mean it’s a whole situation which you can lose hours of your life to (trust me)…it’s called the Timothée Chalamet Challenge OR the Timmy Trend or the Timmy Challenge or whatever you want to call it….have fun. But the kids these days are TALENTED AF!
And just for fun, these 2 explaining the movie themselves:
ADELE LOSES WEIGHT, INTERNET LOSES ITS MIND:
We have not really come that far you guys. Whether it is the 1980s or the 2020s, we are all still for the most part, predictable. And when it comes to women and their weight…it just is exactly the same as when I was a kid. I was a scrawny scrawny little kid. My parents let me put maple syrup on EVERYTHING just so I would eat and hopefully fatten up as I was just too small my first 7 years. And then my body caught up with me and that maple syrup and the genie was out of the bottle and a lifetime of fad diets, of totally scrutinizing photos, of taking to bed after seeing bad photos, of celebrating when I went down a dress size to celebrating when low waisted jeans went out of style (please for the love of GOD don’t ever come back)…I have always had weight ON my mind. I literally don’t go a day where I don’t think about it. And I am not alone. It’s why I have been really outspoken on all the attention put to intermittent fasting and this crazy trend that Silicon Valley bros have taken too like Transcendental Meditation. It’s trendy and if I hear one more dude praise their fasting rituals I will lose it on them (consider this your advance warning). Not because I don’t believe in people being healthy, but because young, impressionable minds can grab a hold of something and take it to a dangerous place ie: not eating. We are a world that celebrates thinness…we seemingly feel that being overweight is a failure — especially women. I know women who would rather be called any name in the book but fat. IMAGINE that.
So, Adele…who broke barriers down for being in an industry that celebrates thinness and youth and beauty and becoming one of the most famous singers in the world because she is one of the most incredible singers in the world. She was not the body type people imagine pop stars to be, and she didn't care. People fat shamed her. tabloids would post the most unflattering photos they could. And she seemingly didn’t care though I am sure she cared.
Then Adele loses weight. A great deal of weight. Pics starting to come out showcasing her weight loss it and it’s all anyone talks about. Then this past week a pic of a triumphant Adele emerges and the Internet breaks. GRANTED, it is very hard to see the Adele we have grown to recognize over the years — in this particular pic. SHE has transformed herself from head to toe. And why shouldn’t she? I could tell people when they ask me about my skin that it is just purely based on genetics and SO much water and sleep when in reality I have to remind myself to drink water and Diet Coke IS NOT water and I usually never sleep more than 5 -6 hours but I have AMAZE dermatologists and facialists and I spend a lot of money on lotions and potions and serums and treatments. But everyone speculates on Adele and whether she had help in her the weight loss and what procedures she had or did not have and every plastic surgeon has weighed in (pun intended) with what they are CONVINCED SHE HAS DONE and now instead of people mocking her for her weight they are angry at her for her weight loss and saying she’s a bad example. I mean I guess you cannot win. I mean even I am conflicted because it IS easier to transform your body in a healthy fashion if you have all the money in the world for trainers and chefs and for those who don’t and maybe don’t know how to get healthy, it can cause a spiral. BUT at the same time, it is a very personal journey and one that should always be a personal journey. The point is, I am a product of this twisted conflicted weight journey that consumes your brain on a daily basis and I just don’t have an answer. But I LOVED this story by Rachel Greenspan, a writer for Insider. She puts it way way better than I ever could.
IF IT’S ON AMAZON, DOES IT REALLY EXIST?
One of the great gifts lockdown has given me is the time to consume ALL the content. And it will be shocking to some to learn I had never ever seen The Wire before lockdown. And thanks to my lockdown Wifey, Deborah, I am deeply entrenched in The Wire (what was Season 2 though??). I LOVE ME a procedural crime drama. So I was convinced the only one I had missed was The Wire. ONLY to learn there was this incredible show, based on this best selling series of books called “Bosch”, on Amazon Prime. SIX SEASONS. SIX. I had not heard of it and I couldn’t understand. Then the great Bob Lefsetz who is a helluva writer (I say this even after he spent an entire newsletter 11 years or so ago trashing me personally) and his newsletter is AMAZING so SUBSCRIBE HERE. EVEN WHEN TRASHING ME. I deserved it tbh. BUT I digress. This show is great. The star is great…THAT VOICE. It takes place in Hollywood…my soon to be new home. It has serial killers, and naughtiness and rule breaking and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. But Lefsetz is right when he talks about the discrepancy in attention to content on certain platforms.
But truth be told, I am glad I am discovering this now so I can binge this show all week…if it even takes me that long!
SO, this is definitely one of the most all over the places PCM I have ever written. There is really something for everyone here! Because I have to get back to my real job, that’s it for now but here is a look at some other things that happened this week in a nutshell:
- 5 Year Old Steals Parents’ Car to Go Buy a Lamborghini
- WTF IS THIS??? Ms. MONOPOLY??? STOP.
PS. Here is the ad that came out last year and seriously WTF:
- A wild and intense profile on Val Kilmer:
Until next week my Pop Culture Junkies….PLEASE stay safe everyone — Go watch Bosch, Call me By Your Name, and listen to the Tekashi podcast. And DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING.
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…and PLEASE do send me things you want to see in next week’s edition. Also please feel free to share this with anyone you know who could use some PCM right now.
