EPISODE 802: SOME REAL THEY/THEM ENERGY
...and the Larry Davids
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
Hi! Welcome back to Pop Culture Spirit Wow, where we put the wow in…
hmm…
*googles*
the wow in pop in Pope!
(Why are there no words that begin “wow”????)
Let’s get into it, shall we?
THE WOW-ND UP (BECAUSE POP WOWS SOUNDS LIKE A CHILDREN’S CEREAL)
Much of California spent last week either in the middle of a storm or waiting for the next one. Meanwhile the LA police killed an unarmed Black man after he approached them seeking help because he had been in a traffic accident. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders nee Trump, issued an executive order banning critical race theory in schools “to protect the students in our state.” She also, I am not kidding, banned the term “Latinx,” I’m guessing because she took one look at that x and thought it had some crooked connotations, if you know what I mean, some real they/them energy. (It’s actually a preferred term among many Americans of Latin American descent, because ‘Latino’ literally only refers to men.)
Arch-conservative Australian Cardinal George Pell died, and in a move to try and cement his place early as 2023’s Catholic GOAT, had an article published posthumously that described Pope Francis’ papacy as a train wreck. He was especially concerned about the idea of asking normal people about their own life experiences, which surprises no one who knew him, least of all Australian victims of clergy abuse and their families.
Meanwhile the Pentagon reported that it got hundreds of reports of UFO sightings in 2022, but it turns out about half of them were “just that neighbor kid.” And the sun is having unexpected, massive solar flares, because what we need in 2023 is a new villain.
Finally in Hollywood, apparently all the networks have now decided it’s sexy to not air series of shows that they have finished making, which I guess if you’re into sadism, suuurre? But otherwise, huh? TNT just announced it will not air the final season of Snowpiercer, though it has already filmed it; AMC did the same with animated show Pantheon and 61st Street’s second and final season (the show had apparently even been initially pitched as a two season show). HBO Max did the same midway through the second season of Minx; its mothership Discovery got the whole “burning our money is fun” train going by cancelling the feature film Batgirl.
Network executives at a recent gathering.
Kali Ma, I guess?
(I know I used this same joke last year to describe the Supreme Court. What can I say, some people lately really seem to be into ripping the hearts out of things.)
THIS IS YOUR WEEKLY REMINDER THAT PRINCE HARRY’S MEMOIR IS GREAT
I was a little horrified by Prince Harry’s book tour in recent weeks. I’m sure I’m not the only one. The quotes and the questions that the press asked both made the book seem bonkers and sad and super cringe.
All of which, it turns out, it absolutely is not. Ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer, Spare is lyrical and elegiac. It’s the story of a child who had his heart broken early and in a sense was never able to get past it, because he remained in a world that was predicated on the same relationship with the press that killed his mom in the first place.
(Moehringer has gotten some attention in recent weeks about the book. And CNBC found a great quote from him after he did the ghostwriting on Andre Agassi’s memoir Open. He apparently insists that his name not be put on the cover or title page of the books he ghostwrites. “The midwife doesn’t go home with the baby,” he said. Love that.)
By the way, just how baller do you have to be to write a book and say, For my name let’s just say “Prince Harry”?
And also is that seriously all he goes by? Like, on his American driver’s license is it just “Harry?” He must have a last name, right?
When you Google it, this is what comes up.
And then I’m like, Wait, is he related to the Larry Davids? And now I can’t stop thinking about Prince Harry on the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
WOW NOW
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
I was working on a piece this week about upcoming Marvel movies and TV show and came across this trailer for their next show, which is about a Black kid from the Lower East Side who happens to be the smartest person in the world and has a T-Rex in her super secret underground lab. The joy of it is just infectious.
The Last of Us
This long-anticipated video game spinoff show begins tonight. It’s an open question whether Walking Dead has already used up the universe’s zombie apocalypse good will or not. I will say the two main characters—a teenage girl and the man who has to take her across the country—both have really compelling points of view that seem fresh and relatable. Also the girl is played by Bella Ramsey, who was Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones, and if you don’t know who that is let me show you.
I BET IT’S GOOD THOUGH
Okay, so I actually have read this, but I definitely want to recommend it, it’s an opinion piece for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day about King’s very last Sunday sermon, which I had never heard about, and it’s really eye opening.
And speaking of…
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
That’s by Boris Chaliapin. It hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Rest in power!