April Culture Catch-Up
Everything I watched, read, listened to, and thought about last month in scrapbook form
This is the start of something new—a new series! Going forward, each month, I’ll give you a little culture catch-up of everything I’ve been consuming over the month with a few short comments and reflections. And by “comments and reflections,” I mean uninsightful thoughts but still very pure reactions :)
Movies: Where Sex Positivity and Christianity Collide
I started the month with a rewatch of Magic Mike’s Last Dance with some friends who were watching the entire franchise for the first time. As a scholar of the Magic Mike universe, I was so happy to join them on this journey, but I cannot say I was excited for this rewatch.
If you haven’t seen this last installment, I can’t say I recommend it. However, there is a ten-minute sequence in the film's first act when Channing Tatum gives Salma Hayek a lap dance that I can recommend not only watching but committing to memory. It’s outrageous in the best way possible. It’s high art and not art at all.
I also watched Saved!, A Walk to Remember, and Crossroads. Two deal explicitly with Christianity, and one that feels Christian-coded because it has Britney Spears and is set in the South. I wrote about Saved! for my Best High School Movie Boyfriend Bracket, so I’ll just say something brief about these other two movies.
Personally, I was not emotionally affected by either, which I am bummed about. If you read the newsletter last week, you know I don’t like it when everybody likes something, and I don’t. In the case of A Walk to Remember, I think I was, quite frankly, put off by the entire premise. I hated the mean prank it started with. I hated the personality of the male lead, Dean. I hated that Mandy Moore decided to speak in a breathy, almost childlike voice. A younger me might have swooned at all of it, but the older me is too cynical to be charmed by this Christian propaganda. I did enjoy Crossroads considerably more. Even though it feels very Christian-Girl-Spring, a friend reminded me it’s quite progressive in that it is pro-premarital sex, anti-early marriage, and delves into sexual assault and abortion. (Only Shonda Rhimes could so elegantly weave these themes together) Being reminded of these details made me like the movie quite a bit in retrospect.
Lastly, I ended the month by watching Challengers twice in one week. The only way I can properly articulate how good this movie is is by screaming WoooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooo and jumping eight feet into the air.
It feels impossible to talk about Challengers and ignore how sexy this movie is. Aside from the overtly sexual themes and motifs, it is a signature of Luca Guadagnino to call attention to bodies, inviting us to luxuriate in their beauty, their capacity for consumption, and the visceral feelings other bodies can elicit from our own. Challengers is interested in all of it but especially delights in showing us sweat, thighs, and the debauchery our mouths commit when we eat, say, a churro, for example. If I had the strength, I would write a series of books just on the way sexuality is working in this movie.
TV: It is with great pride that I announce that I am a sports fan
Roughly four years ago, I told a close friend that I wanted to become a woman who loves sports. Then, I did literally nothing to achieve that goal. But last year, I recommitted, asked people to help me, and now I am fully and properly a sports fan.
That said, I spent a lot of last month watching basketball. I was following women’s March Madness and had so much fun watching this tournament and even more fun talking to everyone about it. I wanted to become a sports fan for the community (and to have a space where it is appropriate to be loud and a hater), and I have not been let down. It’s been great. I’m so happy to be here!
I also watched the Lakers lose in the first round of the NBA Finals. I knew from the beginning this was not going to end well. The Lakers were playing the Denver Nuggets who beat them last year in the Western final conference. Last year, I thought the general energy of the nuggies was smug and mean. I think winning the 2023 championship only made them worse, with the exception of Nikola Jovkić, who I now can say I respect because he just keeps his head down and plays and seemingly really loves his family. (and also because of this.) But damn, this was a rough series to watch. On an episode of Six Trophies, Jason Conception said something like, “It feels like the Nuggets are just thinking of what’s the meanest thing we could do to the Lakers.” I agree. I don’t know why the Nuggies feel the need to be so mean. And if I’m being honest, it makes this team ugly. Like, their spirit is just ugly. I don’t like it.
I also watched Ramy Youssef’s new HBO special, More Feelings. On first watch, I didn’t love it as much, which I can now say is because I was in a terrible mood, which is to say, not in the mood to chuckle. On the second watch, I realized it was very good. This one joke, specifically about wanting to read more so you’re prepared for arguments, has been playing on a loop in my mind (see below). Mostly because part of the reason I decided to go to grad school – a job where my primary function is reading – was so that way I would be a credentialed opinion haver because going “off vibes” wasn’t enough for me to be taken seriously as a woman. :/ ….such is life!
Speaking of reading -
All month, I was very leisurely reading this phenomenal book, Monsters by Claire Dederer. It’s a book of essays approaching the question: What do we do with the art of monstrous men? What I like most about it is that Dederer is not prescriptive but puts forth a really thoughtful and nuanced set of ideas around fandom, morality, and gender that I found really generative. It’s a book that I know I will come back to again and again as a fan of pop culture and a writer. Please read it so we can talk about it.
Music: According to my spring playlist, I’m Baby
Listen, I am at a time in my life where I want to be tenderly held and taken care of. I’m centering softness in a way I never have before. I want – perhaps even need – to experience comfort at all times and in every way possible. As such, I’ve been listening to Deeper Well a lot, and I recently purchased Cat Stevens's Greatest Hits Album on vinyl because that was one of my favorite albums as a child (it went triple platinum on the “CD that plays in my mom’s car” chart).
But two other tracks I think I listen to roughly eight times a day each are Father John Misty’s “Real Love Baby” and the Beach Boys' “Don’t Worry Baby.” …. I think that says everything that needs to be said.
One idea I’ve been chewing on:
I also spent a lot of April thinking about J.Lo, as I am wont to do, and watching those TikToks where people deny her Bronx identity. I thought it was an interesting moment for Latinx identity discourse and tried pitching this article for a few weeks, but I think I missed the relevancy window. I still think it’s a good thought experiment, so I’m sharing my pitch below. :)
J.Lo and the Problem of Latinx Legibility and Authenticity
Jennifer Lopez has been the target of very public hate since the February release of her album (This Is Me…Now), film (This Is Me…Now), and documentary (The Greatest Love Story Never Told). While some of the critiques have centered on the creative integrity of these projects, over the past few weeks, TikTok users have also been calling into question J.Lo’s authenticity as a “regular degular” Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx. Specifically, users have responded to clips of Lopez where she references her upbringing and have argued that her stories and memories do not align with the lived realities, perspectives, or tastes of current and lifelong Bronx residents. Ironically, when her identity is under such close examination, scrutiny, and debate, she is the most relatable as a Latina who is struggling to be understood and accepted, making her a valuable figure in understanding the Latinx experience. In this essay, I outline the criticisms Jennifer Lopez has recently received to show how the tensions between her and the public are emblematic of a larger issue of Latinx legibility in the United States. Despite being viewed as inauthentic, her public struggle to be fully accepted as a hometown hero and a serious Hollywood mogul very much reflects the struggles of U.S.-born Latinos who are similarly challenged to prove their cultural authenticity while still being American. I suggest that the ambiguous “Entertainer” space Jennifer Lopez occupies as a celebrity mirrors the precarious way Latinx folks fit in the U.S. racial landscape, often resulting in a misunderstanding of our talents, concerns, and motivations and impacting our sense of belonging.