Pop Culture Mondays/9.25.23
The “Nothing Else Matters” Edition
Happy Monday, my darling pop culture junkies. It’s a wild one this week, and being that it’s Yom Kippur, basically, it means LA and NY are ghost towns. Plus, the WGA strike has ended (a Yom Kippur miracle), and frankly, that is all everyone might have been talking about had it not been for a SUNDAY SHOCKER, which has shook the earth to its core….yes OBVIOUSLY, I am talking about Taylor Swift and NFL superstar tight end Travis Kelce. We will GET TO THAT in no time…but a little info for those who may not be in the US or not that bright like ME because I never ever grokked this….KANSAS CITY is NOT IN KANSAS. Shame on us for assuming that, and I know a lot of you are reading this thinking I am a moron, and I am not disputing this. But I am also guessing a fair amount of people are learning this information for the first time. There is a Kansas City IN Kansas, but it is a small town and not the home of the football team. The football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, who won the last Super Bowl with our queen Riri, is from Kansas City, MISSOURI. Yep. Missouri. We are tricksters here in America. Like, we have Houston, Texas, pronounced HEW-ston…and then we have Houston Street in NYC, and it is pronounced HOW-ston, and if you pronounce it the other way, basically you are IMMEDIATELY kicked out of NYC and never allowed back. Kansas City is Missouri’s largest city, with a population of 508,000, which is ADORABLE. I will admit as I get older, the appeal of smaller towns is very much there. BUT I digress.
In other news, how are we feeling about Usher as the halftime artist for the Super Bowl? Send me your thoughts. I have thoughts.
So this is a quick PCM because we are HUNGRY (for those fasting) and frankly, there is not much else to discuss other than TSwift SHAKING US UP. Grab some headphones and enjoy….
OH and if you missed last week’s pod, please check out my convo with writer and podcaster Vanessa Grigoriadis:
AMERICA NEEDS THIS:
Hear me out. This is something we need to celebrate. BEYOND the social media bonanza this has set off. But let’s break this down. Taylor Swift is one of the most influential voices in the world at the moment. I am not here to debate whether that should or should not be the case. It just IS. Just a few days ago, Taylor posted THIS to her Instagram story…not the grid but a story, so it is only up for 24 hours:
More than 35,000 NEW voters registered from that one Instagram story.
That is incredible.
Let’s go back in time to this fabulous moment, and I KNOW we don't talk Trump here, but for the sake of making my point, let’s break that rule:
That’s our girl. Some artists avoid politics, understandably, as they don't want to alienate fans who might have different opinions. But Taylor has made her thoughts clear, and while she didn't use her tour to be political, she used it to achieve power. A massive amount of power.
And then, on Sunday, the Earth stood still for a moment. The rumors about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift were confirmed true when she was spotted next to his mom in the box at the Chiefs game while wearing his jersey. I will share some of the billion or so TikToks and so forth that are out as a result, but hear me on my theory.
The Kelce brothers are BELOVED at the moment. They compete against one another, good NFL boys who love their mama. Jason plays for the Eagles and is less of a fashion ICON than his brother, but their bond is adorable. They have a successful podcast, and they had many ad campaigns, including a VACCINE CAMPAIGN (for Pfizer) that Travis is currently doing. And he HAD to know this would get some blowback from fans who disagree with vaccines and, you know…science…but that didn't stop him:
See where I am going….?
First, I cannot explain how much I love these two brothers, and I HAVE said this here before. I mean, I love them. I absolutely adore them. I wish they were my brothers. I wish I had grown up in that house. I love them, and I hope this stays forever and they don't disappoint…
OK, so here is my theory.
As a couple, Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift are the WORST THING EVER for the Trump Campaign. This scares Trump MORE than all the indictments rolled up into one. This is what keeps him and the little Trump children up at night. This destroys them.
And I am here for it.
The power these two hold as a couple is insane. I mean, I am not pulling data, but one HAS to imagine a good part of the fanbase for the Chiefs and for the NFL in general is a little Trumpy. I am not saying everyone is obvs. But they go together a bit more than they don’t. But a tide is turning. I mean, we had this glorious moment from an Iowa football game a few weeks ago:
And the NFL, while MAYBE not taking sides politically…sure did make their allegiance known yesterday when they changed their TikTok bio to THIS:
And in case you think this was doctored…I captured it directly from their profile:
That social media team for the NFL is AMAZING.
Taylor and Travis, I mean, they could run for President and First Gentleman and have a real chance, I swear to you. So for now, I stand by this pairing wholeheartedly…for the sake of our sanity and safety.
But Travis, if you hurt her, godspeed. GODSPEED. Nothing more terrifying than Swifties. Or her next album.
Now let’s see how the internets reacted…
And please note that these are from ESPN, not creators!
And another gem from ESPN:
And we wonder…is this where it all started?
And then we finally got our money shot…the two of them leaving together….
And there was a LOT of talk about Travis's outfit…some saying this was a giant easter egg and actually inspired by her 1989 album (And Travis was born in 1989…
But that SEEMS to have been debunked by the brand itself, KIDSUPER, which renamed the outfit from “BEDROOM PAINTING” to “1989 Bedroom Painting” to capitalize on the moment:
Respect to KidSuper tbh:
And I am not going to lie…this was VERY MUCH ME last night:
But let’s back up for a moment. Because before Sunday, Taylor was still very much going to be a big part of PCM. Because she was out on the town more than one night with SOPHIE TURNER, who is embroiled in a NOW ugly divorce and custody battle with Joe Jonas, who also happens to have once dated TSwift. And everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing here:
And from a PR mind…this one kills me:
And there is always a lyric…
Ok, so there we have it. I could sit here all freaking day and write more on this topic of Taylor and get you a million more TikToks…but we will leave it there.
FOR now.
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT:
Is there anything else really? I just want to crawl back into bed and watch old ’90s ROMCOMS and call it a day. But let’s just look at a few other things that broke out this week:
- The OLDS aka US, got their own viral moment this week in a reaction to this tweet/x from David Brooks, the conservative writer from The New York Times:
I am not going to lie….those fries look DELICIOUS. But Brooks got roasted for this… because it was his DRINK that everyone instantly knew was the cause for the big bill. Is that a double Scotch? The reactions were AMAZING:
The reaction from the restaurant was flawless. First, they clarified what his bill really was, via Facebook:
And then they took FULL advantage of the attention. Good for them:
And then the memes:
Again, there are a million of them. Just all so great. Brooks later apologized and admitted he should probably not tweet. Maybe not say anything is more like it. This gem that became a meme back in 2017 was unearthed after this Newark debacle…from a column he wrote about the divide of America:
Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.
HAHAHAHAHA. The reaction to this back in 2017…priceless:
Thank you, Internet.
- This Gymnastics official is no longer working for the gymnastics committee in Ireland. You can understand why:
From Simone Biles:
“When this video was circulating, her parents reached out,” Biles said on X, formerly Twitter. “It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video. There is no room for racism in any sport or at all.”
- And this American creator set off a culture war on TikTok. Granted, she is correct about the US…we do not refer to people as “Colored” as that is racist and not acceptable. HOWEVER, American Culture is not the ONLY culture. And in South Africa, Coloured is an ethnic group many identify with, which is people of mixed ethnicities. And I will admit, it is jarring when you first hear it in South Africa…but it is important…CRUCIAL to learn about other cultures, especially before you try a slapdown on someone:
And an amazing explainer:
And this…
- The Super Models….everyone is talking about it, but I have not yet watched it, but I plan to. So go check it out on Apple+:
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
A short and sweet one this week. And again, apologies to those of you who have not been receiving my newsletter in their email. A problem I hope ONCE and for all is resolved. And this week is a busy one with the Code Conference in Laguna Beach and U2 Opening the Sphere in Vegas…if any of you will be at either, please come find me! And for more on the Sphere, please read this article by Katie Rosman, which was in this Sunday’s New York Times (for free):
And if you are not getting this in your inbox and SHOULD be, LMK!!!
If you aren’t already a subscriber (PLEASE PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!!! to MEDIUM) and please do SHARE this with all your friends as I am trying to grow this little thing…BUT IF you want this in your inbox for NOW, please send an email to:
subscribe@popculturemondays.com
Xx,
Brooke
