02/11/22
This week: Oscar snubs, a kid-gangster throwback, and the return of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
TRENDS THIS WEEK
☞Youtube Jurassic World Dominion
☞Letterboxd JACKASS FOREVER
☞TikTok #TiktokTailgate
☞Spotify The Joker And The Queen - Ed Sheerhan ft. Taylor Swift
☞Netflix THE TINDER SWINDLER
☞Twitter #LoveIsBlind
Life & Culture
Happy Super Bowl weekend, everyone! Darlene, who normally runs this email, is off celebrating her 25th birthday, but we have a jam-packed edition ahead anyway.
Academy Awards nominations were announced this week, and as always… snubs abound! While the most talked-about one is undeniably Lady Gaga’s all-or-nothing performance as Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s HOUSE OF GUCCI, my frustrations lie elsewhere. Although DUNE secured a whopping ten nominations, I was surprised Best Director wasn’t among them; without Denis Villeneuve’s unbelievably ambitious vision and execution, the film could never have achieved its grand spectacle. Another glaring omission from the list was THE GREEN KNIGHT and Andrew Droz Palermo’s gorgeous cinematography; or David Lowry’s inspired direction, which managed to make a centuries-old legend feel fresh. Lastly, I would have loved to see pretty much anyone from the cast of ZOLA—Colman Domingo in particular—nominated for expertly walking the tonal tightrope between groundedness and absurdity. The Oscars are always a mixed bag though, and there are some unexpected joys among this year’s contenders: I was thrilled to see Jane Campion’s THE POWER OF THE DOG deservedly sweeping the noms, and surprised and delighted for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s DRIVE MY CAR to be recognized among the Best Picture nominees. As incremental as it may be, seeing the Academy widen its scope beyond old-school Hollywood fare feels exciting—and I look forward to the changes to come.
—Alicia Devereaux, Development Assistant
Never in a million years did I think that there would be this much conversation surrounding a former host of FEAR FACTOR, but here we are. I’m of course talking about Joe Rogan. The comedian, who hosts one of the most popular podcasts on Spotify (and probably anywhere), has seen a slew of recent controversy around alleged misinformation about COVID-19—which has led high-profile talent like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, to pull their own catalogs from the platform in protest. India.Arie pulled her catalog as well, and shared a disturbing series of videos of him using the N-word on multiple occasions. Rogan has since apologized and says he is anti-racist, which begs the question: What happens when someone with Joe Rogan’s platform, who says they are anti-racist, is in fact outted for spewing the bigotry they deny? Spotify is dealing with a lot of the backlash, saying they see this as a freedom of speech issue. But the deeper issue here is a question of what platforms like Spotify will do when they ultimately have to choose between their talent and growing segments of their audience.
—Eden Bekele, Digital Associate
And here’s some internet content that made me feel good this week. Da muffin, the small things in life, the way this tiny horse walks, and herds of brontosauruses (courtesy of James McGough).
—Martina Lund, SVP, Brand Marketing
Film
We have a special throwback rec from our fearless leader, Erik, today: BUGSY MALONE (trailer here).
It’s a gangster movie directed by Alan Parker that stars only children (one of whom is Jodie Foster). Their Tommy gun machine guns fire whip cream pies. The songs—yes there are incredible songs—are written by Paul Williams, who also won an Oscar for A STAR IS BORN. If you know BUGSY MALONE, you love it, and thinking about it just puts a smile on your face. If you don’t, watch it right now and prepare to be equal parts “how did this happen??” and “thank god this exists right now.”
—Erik Feig, Founder and CEO
TV
Premiering on Peacock this Super Bowl Sunday is the new drama series, BEL-AIR (trailer here). From the mind of Morgan Cooper comes this reimagining of the iconic ‘90s sitcom FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR. Our jumping-off point mirrors that of its predecessor—after a dangerous situation in West Philadelphia, young Will is sent to the dazzling streets of Bel-Air to live with his Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil. I remember watching the OG sitcom with my older brother and "Fresh Prince" always had so many incredible life lessons on navigating the world (and more specifically navigating the world as a Black person) with the backdrop of these hilarious characters. Just as FRESH PRINCE did not shy away from speaking about racial and economic privilege and prejudice, I'm sure BEL-AIR won’t either.
But one of the things that makes me most excited about this series is how it all came together. Morgan Cooper, who grew up watching the original sitcom, created an original trailer for BEL-AIR in 2019. This piece highlighted the style he wanted to bring to a FRESH PRINCE remake. Westbrook (Will & Jada Pinkett Smith's production company) saw the trailer and decided to partner up—and the rest is history. It's exciting to see new work coming into fruition from the pure passion and hustle of young creators. I am also personally excited to see all of the amazing up-and-coming Black talent on screen, including Jabari Banks as Will and Olly Sholoton (who's a friend of mine from college—Hi Olly!) as Carlton. Definitely excited to watch Will return to his throne as the prince of Bel-Air.
—Erin Harris, Development Assistant
Ever have a friend go on and on about their favorite TV show until you’re finally like, “okay, fine, I’ll watch an episode?” That’s exactly what happened to me with ARCANE (trailer here) and my roommate, who’s been besotted since the show debuted in November. And to her delight and my slight petty dismay, the series is actually pretty fantastic. For someone who’s more of a backseat gamer (read: watching and offering useless commentary), the animated Netflix adaptation of Riot Games' LEAGUE OF LEGENDS, is pretty much the ideal watch, focused on character building as much as world building. Centered on the Utopian Piltover and the undercity of Zion, the show focuses on the relationship between sisters Vi and Jinx along with the political landscape of a seemingly utopian city, exploring the emergence of technological and magical advancement that sheds light on existing social inequality and classism. The traumatic past of the characters parallel that of the two cities, and with each episode I wanted to learn more about each and every character—no one is made out to be ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ but just characters who have their reasons for doing what they do. Plus, the visuals, richly rooted in steampunk art, are just stunning.
–Nimarta Narang, Digital Fellow
Tiny History Lesson
I don’t want to get too far into Black History Month without honoring the late bell hooks.
She was born Gloria Jean Watkins in 1952 in Kentucky, to a Black working class family in a small segregated town. Her mom worked as a domestic worker for white families and her dad as a janitor. Growing up the child of a Black working mother helped to shape her views of feminism, of women’s roles in society, and specifically how Black women should be included in a movement where they were necessary and important—but so often excluded hooks was a powerful writer, a force of literary and intellectual might, and she changed the way we all think about intersectionality—and feminism. hooks dove deep into what race, capitalism, gender and all their accompanying systems meant for people who experienced them simultaneously. Plainly put, she wrote about what it meant to be a black woman in America.
In 1981, she wrote her first of many books, titled AIN’T I A WOMAN, inspired by Sojourner Truth's speech of the same name. In that she writes: “I choose to re-appropriate the term ‘feminism,’ to focus on the fact that to be ‘feminist’ in any authentic sense of the term is to want for all people, female and male, liberation from sexist role patterns, domination, and oppression.”