Blue Origin and Black Mirror
All signs point to dystopia
I'm just gonna start with a warning that I am on one today!
I know the news is devastating lately, so I'm gonna not talk about it much, but especially this week when taxes were due and we know the evil things our taxes are contributing to, plus it's been really cloudy and overcast in LA, so y'all know in my mood is absolute shit. I had to watch an early season ep of RHONY to make myself feel better this week if that’s any indication.
I'm going to take a minute to hate on the women going to space but then I'm gonna try to really say positive and the rest of this newsletter. So bear with me.
What I’m Hating On
Blue Origin
A group of women dressed like The Incredibles but blue went to “space” this week. On the day of the launch, I posted on my Instagram that I hate hate hate everything about this and it seems like the consensus from my followers was that everybody else hates this, too. I've seen some good TikToks about it, like this one, this one, and this one. It was an 11-minute trip that took them right to the barrier of space and back. What a fucking slap in the face this is to the astronauts who were stuck in space for nine months. HOW DARE THEY??!
It was supposed to be empowering to women, a huge moment for feminism, but the fact that they spent more time in glam than they did on the whole trip says it all. I'm much more inspired by the feminist moment of the female astronaut who wore a diaper to drive across the country and stalk her ex. That woman was a real astronaut who had been on real space missions, was trained in STEM, and actually went on a long-term trip with a real purpose.
Ultimately, this is just such a clear indicator of the dystopian times that we live in. A billionaire, who has consistently been accused of inhumane working practices, sent his fiancé and a group of random ass women on a trip to space. Katy Perry came back to the earth and kissed the ground and talked about how nobody is aware of how much love they have inside of them until they go to space. Like yeah, honey, we learned that when the REAL astronaut wore the diaper and stalked her boyfriend. Clearly she had more love than any human should contain! We didn't need Russell Brand's ex-wife to take a fucking daisy1 to space and tell us that unless we spend $150K on a ticket to space will never know what love really feels like. Thanks girl, but we have shrooms for that and they grow out of cow shit right here in earth.
They keep saying they were highlighting “Women in STEM”, despite the fact that absolutely no research or STEM advancement was made with this pointless trip to space and back. The whole point of this mission was essentially to be seen, to show women going to space for the first time since the ‘60s- an “all-female crew” but they weren't a crew, they were just passengers. I don't say I'm part of the airplane crew when I'm flying on Delta. They didn't orbit, they didn't have the specific training to be considered astronauts, they were just space tourists. It was essentially one of those things at the state fair that you go up to the sky and back down.
Obviously I’m so disgusted by the use of this expensive photo-op. I really could go on and on and tell y'all about the studded UFO Judith Lieber bag that the Kardashian-Jenners gifted Lauren Sanchez, I could go into a whole rant about the Marie-Antoinette let-them-eat-cake moment our society seems to be in, but honestly I don't wanna rage like that right now- I have an episode of Summer House to catch up on.
Coachella
One more thing that’s not nice- I simply do not care about Coachella. I enjoyed some of the videos I saw, obviously Lady Gaga had an amazing performance, my beloved Sonic Boom played, but I simply don't care about the festival as a whole. So yes there are pop culture things that happened, Kylie and Timotheé were there, etc. but I don't really have much of an update for y'all on that.
What I’m Loving on TikTok
Okay, since I had such a negative little moment there I'm gonna share videos that have brightened my days recently.
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Morgan Roos
I'm obsessed with this woman. I feel like all of the Internet is kind of right now, but she is what Wendy Williams would call “a best friend in my head”, even though we could not be more different.
Morgan lives in Denver and parties her ass off every weekend then hops on TikTok to recount stories of seeking out “slam pieces” at a place she calls “the rat shack”, chain smoking, negging her toxic ex, and getting drunk on tall boys and Twisted Teas with characters like “B-Dog”.
It sort of reminds me of my mid ‘20s when I was spending every weekend night downing shots at this local dive called Sam's Lounge, which was attached to a seedy motel and reeked of cigarettes in a way that I'm sure has taken years off of my life (if you knew me back then- no you didn’t!!). I almost look at her videos like I’m reliving my glory days, despite the fact that they were not days and they were not glorious. Either way, her stories are so fun and I feel like this is a thing that won't last forever- she’ll get too famous for it to be this real- so tune in while you can.
Protective Elephants
I originally saw this on TikTok, but there was an earthquake in San Diego and these elephants instinctively circled the babies to protect them. Warmed my heart!
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Working at Knott’s Berry Farm
This guy took these men who were looking for work outside of Home Depot to Knott’s Berry Farm.2
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Hey Arnold!
Loved this insight into of some of the inspiration behind the aesthetics of one of the coolest looking shows of my childhood (of all time, really), Hey Arnold!
What I’m Watching
Black Mirror
I watched the first episode of the new season of Black Mirror. I really love seeing Chris O'Dowd, if you guys remember when I wrote about how incredible he is in the Get Shorty TV show, I was happy to see him on my screen again. It was ya know, really good, but a huge bummer that left me having bad dreams and feeling sad about the state of the world so I don't know that I necessarily suggest it. This season seems a lot better than the last one though!
The Valley
The Valley season two premiered this week and I of course watched it. The first episode was a little bit boring I think just because they've done so much press and are so active on social media that nothing really seemed to be a reveal because they've talked about everything so much. But it was still entertaining and I'm excited to see where it goes. And I hope Kristen Doute is never off TV.
Mid-Century Modern
I threw on the first episode of this show to watch kind of in the background and I almost immediately googled if it had the same writers from Will and Grace because it has the exact same tone. The answer was yes! If you want like a nice little cheesy simple sitcom funny background show, (or something brainless after Black Mirror!) this isn't a bad choice. I feel like it will be doomed to not get another season, but it's really fun and I love the cast.
Got to Get Out
Of course I gave this reality show a chance. Spencer Pratt, Omarosa, and Kim Zolciak- it seemed like it had the ingredients to make an entertaining show. The concept is a bunch of regular people and former reality stars competing to escape a big house. Unfortunately, it's not worth the watch. The “game” element of it takes too much focus, it could be anybody playing so it doesn't really make a difference that they have these good reality TV villains on. I'd say skip it.
The Thin Blue Line/Documentary Now
If you follow me on Instagram you know that I pretty obsessively attend American Cinematheque screenings. This past week I saw a Q&A with one of my favorite documentary filmmakers, Errol Morris, who was speaking on his film The Thin Blue Line. I had never seen this doc before so I was really excited about it and I was not disappointed. It's so so good and really set the precedent for true crime as we know it today. If you're a true crime girly or just a fan of crime docs it's a must see- sort of the OG of the genre. The next day I saw a Q&A with the creators and stars of Documentary Now. It's a show where they sort of parody various documentaries. Bill Hader and Fred Armisen were hilarious in the show, but also at the Q&A. They did a screening of two episodes and then I went home and watched the parody they did of The Thin Blue Line to really tie everything together. Highly suggest all!
Okay that’s all for this week! I promise less angry ranting less week…probably!!
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Yes, I know it was because her daughter is named Daisy.
I feel like content creators like this always turn out to be evil but idk this one seems legit and nice?!