The Beanie Bubble Reminds That The Ultimate Childhood Toy for Millennials Was Also the Ultimate Representation of What It Is to Be Millennial
Perhaps what strikes one the most about The Beanie Bubble isn’t pulling back the curtain behind the “Wizard of Beanie Babies,” Ty Warner, and finding [Read More…]
“bad idea right?”: Olivia Rodrigo Asks The Same Question As Forebears Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry (Not To Mention Drunk Women Everywhere)
Giving listeners a taste of something that diverges from the (initially) ballad-y sound of Guts’ lead single, “vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo opts for a more “brutal”-esque [Read More…]
Lana Del Rey Serves Up A Heteronormative Wet Dream By Singing “Stand By Your Man” in Arkansas
Lana Del Rey, who has never been one to shy away from heteronormative, 50s/60s-era themes and iconography in her work (in fact, that is the [Read More…]
When Everyone Wants to Believe A Celebrity Is Andy Kaufman’ing It
Ye, Taylor Swift (because Matty Healy), Lizzo, Doja Cat. When it comes to “wanting to believe” a celebrity is merely “putting you on,” the past [Read More…]
In Case Anyone Needed Additional Evidence That Celebrities Have More Influence Than Politicians, Look No Further Than the Plea to Taylor Swift Amid L.A.’s Hotel Strike
“With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s the Spider-Man platitude so often wielded for those who are actually in offices of power. And yet, it’s [Read More…]
Euphoria Becomes Drenched in Death
The date is January 30, 2022. Not so long ago in some ways, and a lifetime ago in others. For one thing, two particular famous [Read More…]
Lizzo Just Kind of Ruined Barbie
As though Barbie: The Album wasn’t already suffering enough (critically, not commercially), Lizzo had to go and get herself accused of, among other things, sexual [Read More…]
Pee-wee’s Big Capitulation: As “Weird” As Pee-wee Was, He Was Still A Material Boy of the 80s
Perhaps it’s difficult to imagine a world in which “weird” isn’t a sellable commodity. It certainly wasn’t an effortless sell in the Reagan 80s. Not [Read More…]
The Fan/Performer Dynamic Keeps Getting Decidedly More Employer/Employee
It used to seem so glamorous to be an “entertainer.” Yet even that word has connotations of being like a monkey with cymbals, “programmed” to [Read More…]
Stop Calling Barbie “Escapist Fun”
For the most part, Barbie has held fast to its reputation as an old school work of art in the (im)pure studio system sense of [Read More…]
