This Week in Pop Culture: January 5, 2024
Rom coms are back, baby! Plus, Priscilla, the first (great) reads of the year, and more in this week's pop culture round-up.
Happy first Friday of the new year, friends! I hope that you had a good (enough) start to the year and that you’re embracing (or at least not wincing at) the seemingly boundless optimism that the culture likes to throw at us during the first week(s) of January. I like to set pop culture goals for myself every year, and this year is no different: read more diversely,1 watch more movies,2 look at more art.3
Before we get into the pop culture I consumed this week, here are a couple of celebrity news things that took up space in my brain this week:
Firstly, in happy news, Survivor alum Parvati Shallow came out as queer and announced that she was in a relationship with comedian Mae Martin. Happy for them, and absolutely loved the “We’re here. We’re queer. Happy New Year” Instagram announcement:
In extremely less happy news, former Bachelorette (and GOAT) Rachel Lindsay’s husband, the chiropractor Bryan Abasolo,4 filed for divorce after more than four years of marriage (six years together). I love Rachel - I think her podcast Higher Learning with Van Lathan Jr. is great and she’s parlayed her traumatizing experience on that cursed franchise into a successful media career - but her relationship with Abasolo has always made me worry, because he’s got the worst vibes. Early reports that indicate the filing may have come as a surprise to Rachel - and the fact that this grown-ass man chiropractor with no children is asking for spousal support - tells me that this might get very messy, but I’m wishing the best for Rachel.
In decidedly silly, palate-cleansing news, these pictures of Jeremy Allen White for Calvin Klein made me literally stop breathing5. Talk about *chef’s kiss*:6
Moving on! Here’s the rest of the pop culture I consumed this week:
What I Read:
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe: Through a series of 248 notes, Christina Sharpe examines profound questions about the experience of Black life in the face of loss and under white supremacy. Weaving together history, literary criticism, memoir, and art, Sharpe creates a portrait of everyday Black life - both the present and the possible future.
I don’t necessarily have the right words to describe the brilliance of Sharpe’s book. Sharpe’s writing is lyrical and firm, and her ability to weave together so many different ideas, genres, forms, and topics is unlike anything I’ve ever seen done before (and it’s done, quite frankly, flawlessly). I learned so much and know that going back to the text again and again would bring more out of it. It’s both extremely academic and compulsively readable - it’s truly a work of staggering genius and I can’t recommend it enough.
Hello, Beautiful by Anne Napolitano: William Waters grew up in a house where tragedy made his parents unable to love him. Throwing himself into basketball as a child earned him a scholarship to college, where he met Julia Padavano, an ambitious woman whose close-knit family, including her three sisters, provided him the family he always wanted. But when his darkness surfaces, it threatens to destroy his life and the lives of those around him.
Heavily inspired by Little Women (and referencing it a lot), this book was on a lot of best of lists for 2023. I found this novel to be very engrossing, even if I definitely knew where it was going the entire time and thought it was overly-long.7 It’s perfect for fans of family dramas and multi-generational fiction - it reminded me, in some ways, of Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane. I don’t think the film rights have been purchased yet but I think it’s only a matter of time - this is begging to be adapted.
Kasher in the Rye by Moshe Kasher: Comedian Moshe Kasher is lucky to still be alive. He started therapy at the age of four, started using drugs at 12, and by the time he was 15, had been institutionalized more than once. Part memoir of his youth growing up in Oakland and part memoir of addiction, Kasher’s story is uniquely his.
Originally published in 2012, this memoir has gained popularity recently due to his success as a (sober) comedian. While reading it, I felt, more than once, that it felt like something that had been written 10+ years ago. Not only does it go hard in on some jokes that are super ableist and homophobic, it just felt like the first draft of Kasher’s later comedy sets. I think Kasher is a funny comedian and a good writer - but this memoir felt half-baked in that it was told completely in the voice of Kasher’s younger self and lacked any of his later insights as he grew and matured. Maybe that was the point, but it didn’t work for me. The most interesting parts were about Kasher’s very early life (both of his parents are Deaf and his dad became Hassidic after splitting from his mom) - I was less interested in hearing story after story about Kasher and his dumbshit friends getting fucked up on drugs and doing stupid things. Your mileage may vary - I found the interview with Kasher at the end more compelling than a lot of the middle stuff.
What I Watched:
Anyone But You (Theaters): After a near-perfect first date after a meet-cute, Bea and Ben’s initial spark turns sour. But when they find themselves at a destination wedding in Australia, they pretend to be together in order to fool their friends and family.
Look, this was not a great movie, but I had an absolute blast seeing it in the theater. Big budget romantic comedies are back, baby, and this proves it, even if the people I dragged with me didn’t fully agree:
Based on Much Ado About Nothing, the movie is full of hijinks and misunderstandings and banter. I’d say the script is about 80% there: there are some moments that are absolutely very funny and some where the jokes don’t land at all. I think the movie fumbles it a bit in the third act, but overall it was very fun and I would definitely rewatch it - everyone looks like they’re having a great time (especially Dermot Mulroney). I love Sydney Sweeney, and while I don’t think she was great here (sorry!), she had good chemistry with Glen Powell, who is so incredibly charming and funny in this that I actually got mad, because now I have no choice not to stan, even if I think about this meme every time I see his face:
Cat Person (Rental/VOD): When a 20-year-old college student named Margaret agrees to go out with Robert, an older man who frequents the movie theater where she works, she thinks him a little strange but kind of endearing. Then she finds herself deeper into a relationship than she wants to be.
This movie was one of my most-anticipated films of last year, and to say that I was disappointed is an understatement. I do not remember the last time I saw a movie whose third act went so fully off the rails in the worst way, and I cannot believe the choices the movie made in terms of changes to the short story on which it is based. In addition to being hilariously too long (why is this 2 hours?!), it’s a waste of its largely talented cast.8 This was a deeply unpleasant viewing experience, and not in any of the ways it meant to be.
You can read the short story by Kristen Roupenian on The New Yorker’s website, and that’s my strong recommendation instead of watching this adaptation. Woof.
Priscilla (Rental/VOD): When fourteen-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, he’s already a rock’n’roll superstar. As the two begin to spend time together, she falls for him and finds that he’s not exactly what she expected.
Does anyone else remember how in Baz Luhrmann’s fever-dream Elvis last year, the character of Priscilla had like one line in the entire movie’s runtime? That isn’t the case here, where writer-director Sophia Coppolla re-examines the life of Elvis through the eyes of his wife Priscilla, played to perfection by Cailee Spaeny. I loved this gorgeously shot, beautifully acted, deeply tender movie - everything from the makeup and the costuming to the music is pitch-perfect. I was riveted by the exploration of power dynamics at play in the relationship, and in the ways Priscilla becomes increasingly isolated from everyone as her relationship with Elvis grows. Highly, highly recommended - just a stunner from start to finish.
What I Listened To:
Hang Up: This podcast is kind of like The Bachelor(ette) meets Love is Blind but much more queer and actually funny and very smart. Host Zakiya Gibbons is an utter delight, and I devoured most of the first season’s episodes this week, cackling at the truly unhinged decisions the star, Maxine, made - and being baffled by the callers trying to date her. The show is also expertly produced and made a bunch of best-of lists for podcasts. Highly recommend!
Lewis Capaldi, “Strangers”: Calpadi has been on hiatus from music for the last six months following a Tourette’s diagnosis and struggling with anxiety, and this new song was a happy surprise this week. It sounds very similar to his biggest hit, “Someone You Loved” and I’m okay with that, because I love his voice and I love melancholy shit - and the fact that he name-drops the Oasis song “Wonderwall”9 definitely means that he’s going to end up beefing with the Gallagher brothers again, which will be fun to watch:
What I’m Looking Forward To:
The Regime (Max, March 3): Kate Winslet plays an authoritarian ruler whose grip on power is slipping in this limited series from the same people who brought us Succession. I love Winslet and can’t wait to watch this, though I wish dearly that Hugh Grant wasn’t also starring.10
Death and Other Details (Hulu, January 16): When a woman finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes the suspect in a murder mystery, she has to work with a man she hates in order to prove her innocence - the world’s greatest detective. This looks extremely dumb but I love Mandy Patinkin and also love a locked-room murder mystery (and I’m starved for new content).
That’s it for this week! I’ll be back next week with thoughts about whatever goes down at this weekend’s Golden Globes,11 some more great reads, and possibly some more prestige movies.12 Have a great weekend and thanks, as always, for reading!
This applies to reading more genres and to reading more non-white, non-cis authors.
I’ve mentioned before that I try to see at least 52 movies directed by women, and this year is no different. I’m off to a good start with two of the movies I watched this week fitting the bill.
Goal-setting is actually a hobby of mine so I assure you that my actual goals are much more SMART-aligned than this - but this is a pop culture newsletter and not my diary, so I’m keeping it cute for now!
This m*n literally wrote “many of you know me as a chiropractor” in his Instagram announcement of the split and I have not stopped scream-laughing since reading it. This absolute tool!
Here at Pop Culture Personality, we try not to objectify, but when the pop culture basically does it for us, well…
I’ll show myself out.
What am I if not consistent in my feelings about brevity? Edit, people!
Justice for Geraldine Viswanathan, who is utterly wasted here.
A long-running joke in our house is that when we hear “Wonderwall,” I immediately launch into a (terrible) Gallagher brother impression where I yell, “Look at my brother, he’s a fucker,” an ode to the many times the two brothers have taken time out of fighting with other artists to beef with each other. Fun!
I tried to explain to my husband that these are the equivalent of NFL playoffs before the Superbowl and was treated to a blank stare, but it’s a work in progress over here!
Will this be the week that I finally watch Maestro? Doubtful!
I have three things to say. Jeremy. Allen. White.
Bummer about Cat Person! I think I'll skip it so I appreciate that you took one for the team :-D The more I see Glen Powell's face everywhere the more I think he would make a great Kittredge if ACTA ever becomes a thing.
Also, I LOVE your goals and would like to pursue these myself, too! Reading more diversely is also a goal of mine and my 2022 reads were honestly not that diverse. I love the 52 movies directed by women goal and you know I'm here for art gallery/museum dates!