Pop Culture Mondays/8.2.21
The “ADAM DRIVER STAN” Edition
Happy MONDAY my darling pop culture junkies. Well, here we are. A society further split on just about everything under the sun, though maybe ALL in agreement that obsessing over BENNIFER is totally acceptable? SO thank you JLO and Ben for unifying a nation. This newsletter is dedicated to you, you gorgeous couple AND to all my ex boyfriends who I WILL NEVER EVER EVER GET BACK TOGETHER WITH…but I digress. We have had a hell of a week. I mean can we just have a dull, carefree week SOON please? Is that too much to ask? Can I have a week where someone I know isn’t coming unhinged and screaming about masks and conspiracies and just being an overall ass? I mean is there ANYTHING anymore that’s not politicized? I got attacked this weekend in Insta DMs for having a French Bulldog and not a rescue which BTW I would like to point out that dog of mine lives a pretty excellent life so in a way I rescued him from whatever Bougie existence he was facing so let’s sit with that for a minute. WE ALL NEED TO BREATHE. Deep breaths…..or do as Kara Swisher CLAIMS she does every night…TAI CHI which is the new trend. Meditating is SO 2020. Tai Chi is all the rage you little hipsters….but seriously whatever it takes for us as a society to fucking chill out with all the anger.
ANYWAY…welcome to my new subscribers. Thank you for being here and I promise this is meant to be a fun escape from all the madness. We basically watch funny TikToks and look at silly memes and IT IS A SAFE place and TRUMP-FREE. So grab those headphones and enjoy….
XOXO…
ADAM DRIVER IS A CENTAUR MAYBE AND I AM HERE FOR IT:
We can all agree there is something wildly captivating about Adam Driver. Back when he first entered my stream of consciousness as the weird and probably smelly boyfriend of several of the girls in “Girls”, I had no idea he would become a bonafide movie star but here we are and I am here for it. That said, he brings up that desire for the bad boy, the intelligent and sexy and dark and probably a Scorpio bad boy (PLEASE NOTE, I GOOGLED HIS BIRTHDAY AFTER WRITING THIS SENTENCE AND HE IS IN FACT….A FUCKING SCORPIO!) and you know this guy would gaslight the hell out of you but that only makes him hotter. OK OK so yes this is a love letter to all things Adam Driver but WOO BOY did my phone blow up this week when this ad dropped. NEVER HAVE I EVER cared more about Burberry or horses or cologne or anything really before now. And funnily enough I have been listening to a LOT of Howard Stern lately…I am telling you, if you are not a Howard listener you should be. He is truly one of the great interviewers and he is off for the summer so the show is just airing his interviews of people but some go back years. And there was an interview of that kid from “Twilight”, Robert Pattinson, and they spoke about how he turned down a Burberry campaign because it felt too on the nose or something for a British actor (he opted for Dior instead but ok) and well THANK YOU ROBERT PATTINSON for turning that down whenever you did because in my brain that is the reason we have Adam Driver. IN CASE YOU MISSED the most important advertisement ever made here you go:
SO apparently we are all fetishing centaurs now. AND IN CASE THERE IS ANY QUESTION:
This is 2021 guys. I mean besides the obvious thing here of Adam Driver and horse as one being highly strange and yet titillating…the irony here is I always think of Adam as a bit stinky like the “I don’t wear deodorant and let my natural smells come out” type so thats number 1. TWO, I take away from this ad the smell of the ocean mixed with the smell of a barn and a wet horse so I am really curious what this cologne smells like tbh. BUT again, it’s not about me….it’s about the socials and how they lost their minds. Some of my faves:
For more Adam…
WTF ARE WE WATCHING?
I am going to make this PCM a bit brief because there are more highlights than anything else…OH and some lowlights FOR sure so those will be below. But I did want to do a round up on some of the shows people are talking about at the moment and my thoughts on all of it because I have watched it all because IT IS MY JOB TO BRING YOU THE TEA….and no not really because NO ONE PAYS ME FOR THIS SHIT (someone please pay me for this….👀👀) but alas, let’s dig in. I am spotlighting 3 shows this week:
- “MY UNORTHODOX LIFE” — Netflix
- “LOVE IS BLIND -After the Altar” — Netflix
- “WHITE LOTUS” — HBO Max or whatever I am supposed to call it.
SO let’s get to it.
I have so many thoughts on this. So let me first give you the set up. This is a show following the family of Julia Haart, the CEO of Elite World Group (models) and former creative director of luxury brand La Perla. But until 2013 she APPARENTLY was living an ultra Orthodox life with her ultra Orthodox children where she claims her life was filled with prayers and cooking and long dresses and wigs and she had no freedoms. And she claims when she saw how her youngest daughter was being treated, it inspired her to make an escape. WHICH IS ALL FINE AND GOOD but it leaves us with a lot of questions. FIRST of all, her children are the center of the show. Her eldest daughter, Batsheva, is a social media influencer which she has been doing since before the show aired. She married her husband, also part of the Orthodox community, when they were still teens and then days later her mother left the community with them to follow suit. Batsheva’s husband has issues with her wearing pants and needs to process this but then decides he wants to be in fashion and a stylist and designer so OK. The younger daughter is figuring out her sexuality ON A REALITY SHOW which is what everyone does right? She is struggling with her sexuality as she cannot decide if she likes boys or girls but we are watching all these VERY intimate moments unfold ON CAMERA. There is the youngest son who absolutely refuses to conform to mom’s wishes and leans in more to his Orthodox roots which makes for great tv for how he is grossed out by independent women but loves his mom. And the oldest son who tells us he is a virgin and we watch him navigate a whole new world of dating. Then there is mom’s best friend/assistant/COO/ plucked from central casting who likes to dress like Winona Ryder in BeetleJuice and has his own storyline going on around his adoption which is actually heartwarming and I like him the most. AND then you have mom who has a crazy penthouse and her office is something out of a ’90s movie where you imagine the big bad boss lady in fashion would work…basically an empty black office with bright red velvet furniture to match her nails. And mom is making up for lost time and wears the most outrageous outfits or revealing and highest of high heels to hold up her teeny tiny frame. She is also married to a rather suave Italian we learn (I learned by going online and sleuthing but they don’t really address on show) is a billionaire who OWNS La Perla and Elite.
There is a lot to say about this show but the first thing is WHERE THE FUCK DID THIS FAMILY come from? The problem here is Netflix is springing this family on us like they are the new Kardashians and they act like they are the Kardashians like they TRY but we have no idea WHO they are or understanding as to why we care. We are shown the flashy cars and high heels and closest bigger than most NYC apartments but for what? The Kardashians played a LONG game. They played it wisely and slowly so the world got to know them over time and became invested in every move they made. THIS family…we KNOW NOTHING so it feels very forced on us and it is not authentic or interesting to be honest. I mean I watched every second of it but I was like why do we care?
But I also am making a prediction now…something smells wrong here. I fully expect that someone in that world will fall prey to the reality show curse when it comes to some financial shenanigans and we will see arrests and court and all that. Just my cynical prediction but like how does a woman who had no career ten years ago become a titan of fashion seemingly overnight? IT IS ALL SO STRANGE. Check out the trailer:
There has been a lot of responses from the Orthodox community and here is one:
OK moving on…
SO if you are LONG time PCM readers, you will remember my rant on this show. THIS IS PRE-Covid and pre people dressing up like PLUSHIES for dating shows. I mean Love is Blind seems rather quaint at this point. The idea that couples met each other through a screen and never actually saw one another and talked and got to know one another and ONLY could see each other if someone proposed. TRUE story. And there were some real mental health moments that are standard reality show tropes like, “WATCH THIS POOR GIRL HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN AND YAY FUN CANNOT STOP…” so I had complex feelings. But weirdly, I did think about some of these people because you did end up caring about them or having concern. So we are given a reunion show if you will. How did the couples who stayed together fare? And through Covid? Well…it is for the most part a hot mess of people who you want to punch in the face but NO MORE SO THAN THIS MFer:
I cannot believe I am wasting time on this but since everyone seems to be talking about it here you go. This guy was engaged to the darling cutie on the show Giannina but then ON THE ALTAR says he cannot go thru with it which might have been the best thing to ever happen to “G” as fans call her. But the dramas made for great TV and her parents were crying and she ran out of the ceremony cursing the cameras for following her.
GREAT TV.
I follow G on Insta because she is adorable and I was just glad to have her be done with that dude but then I learned they were not done and had rekindled and were together THOUGH me thinks this MIGHT actually be BS and just done for the show but needless to say they are all terrible actors. SO while Damian and G are apparently together, he brings another reality show star from a competing series as his DATE to the anniversary/reunion event of the show while he is still dating G and ladies and gents the newest reality show villain has been created and he has 4 brain cells so it makes it all sort of sad. I am sorry for killing a million braincells with this post but just because the kids are talking about it!
For reference and apologies:
Trailer for the “PodSquad” as they call themselves:
OK and LAST BUT NOT LEAST, “White Lotus”…
Here is the trailer:
I have never had more complicated feelings for anything in my life. First of all, the cast is BANANAS. I am obsessed with each and every one of them. I have met a few of them socially and they are the loveliest of people so it is just makes it even cooler to think of them all living in the Four Seasons Maui in the midst of Covid filming this together. Like that would have been a FUN pod. The premise is that we are following a group of privileged white peeps at a luxury Hawaiian resort and the various degrees of dysfunction that plagues each and every one of them including the hotel staff. But there are a few issues I cannot get over and the biggest one and I am dead serious here and was pointed out to me by many on the Twitter…what luxury resort has these beach chairs?? NONE I ASSURE YOU.
And secondly, the uber uber rich tech entrepreneur Connie Britton aka Tami Taylor aka Coach Taylor’s wife from “Friday Night Lights” and don’t at me that who she will always be in my heart….but I digress. She is on holiday with her husband and two teen kids and her daughter’s bestie and she is painted to be a Gwyneth Paltrow Goop sort of person…would in NO way be on a luxury holiday in a one bedroom suite with 3 freaking teens. NO CHANCE.
But the show is stressful and at times I feel like they were like hell yeah lets get to Hawaii for covid and do this show but act like it’s not weird and covid and that only us are in the show. It’s a little Fantasy Island meets Big Little Lies meets Euphoria. Most of my very intelligent friends (looking at you Peter Kafka and Casey Newton and Jason Hirschhorn) love it…whereas I hate watch it. But it still amuses me. And my fave character is that of PCM fave Lukas Gage and here is the best headline ever as a result:
You’re welcome.
AND JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS (AND SOME DESPICABLE ONES TOO…)
God this week was tough…sorry sometimes I have good weeks and others are fiascos. Like a train wreck you cannot stop from staring at. But here’s a run down of some of the best and worst viral things of the week:
- Olympics had some amazing moments.
WE ARE ALL ABOUT HORSES THIS WEEK. And for good reason. Other than Adam Driver of course there was this Dressage champion getting his freak on.
And then if you are not watching Kevin Hart and Snoop on Peacock then what are you even doing…
AND HOW IS THIS REAL THESE LADIES ARE AMAZE:
And god I love New Zealand.
And who is Tom Daley? The gorgeous British diver who knits when not diving:
And my fave…this is relationship goals right here with the Detroit Lions QB watching his wife compete…
- OK so you guys know who Palmer Luckey is right? Hes the guy who started Occulus and then had some crazy right wing beliefs and he’s now very rich but not at Facebook anymore and there is lots of speculation as to why but he was like VANQUISHED for some sort of issues. ANWAY, NOT shocking is that his SISTER is Eddie Munster aka Matt Gaetz’s fiancée - that poor girl. What a family. BUT THEN wait…the other Luckey sister does a TIKTOK drop and the world stopped and she is a new hero and HAVE FUN AT THANKSGIVING YOU GUYS!
- DA BABY. I guess a little explainer on who Da Baby is even though he has been cancelled and is gone. Look he has like over 19 million followers on Insta, formerly known as Baby Jesus, DaBaby is a very very popular rapper who made some crazy anti-gay comments and is now fully being cancelled and has been pulled from festivals including Lollapalooza and Governors Ball. His comments were horrible and vile. I debated whether to post them here but I think important to see what he said on stage:
“If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two, three weeks, put your cellphone light up,” DaBaby told the crowd.
And the world reacted from QuestLove to Madonna to Elton John who tweeted:
- And to end things on an uplifting note (though I am so disappointed in the shortcomings of my dog 🥔 after seeing this..) here you go:
THAT IS IT. Have a beautiful week my lovely readers and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get the vaccine. PLEASE wear masks inside even if you’re vaccinated. It will not be forever.
I am going opn holiday next week and I have not decided if I will be writing while away but I am going to try…It just may be in Italian!
Be safe, be kind.
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