MELVIN VAN PEEBLES, WILLIE GARSON & LIL NAS X LIVING IN HIS TRUTH

Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, widely hailed as the godfather of modern Black cinema, died this week, at the age of 89. If you’re looking to watch some of his work this weekend in memory, start with second film and biggest hit, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Which, by the way, he not only wrote, directed, and starred in—but he also raised the financing to produce.

We’re also mourning the loss of Willie Garson, who lost his battle with cancer this week, at 57. He acted in 75 films over the course of his career—and was beloved for his role as Stanford Blatch in SEX & THE CITY. I’m going to honor him by rewatching Season 3’s “No Ifs, Ands or Butts,” which is one of the best Stanford episodes of all. Because in case you forgot, Stanford is the one who introduced Carrie and Aiden. And he’s also the one who convinced Carrie to go to therapy in Season 2. And is one of the few people who called her out for being so self-obsessed all the freaking time.

And then, a few things I read this week that I wanted to pass on:

Vulture’s review of last week’s Lil Nax X album release makes the case that he deserves a better industry to support him. This part stuck with me: “It is so rare to see Black gay men living in their truth at the top of Billboard charts that we’ve had to run defense throughout what should’ve been a peaceful rollout. Even in triumph, there’s a fight.”

Slate draws parallels between the race to the bottom that was the past 10 years of digital media clickbait—and what’s going on at Netflix right now. The heart of the argument: “Clickbait works—at least when users first encounter it. And once an algorithm sees something working, it’s going hell-for-leather to replicate those results as much as possible.”
—Neha Gandhi, EVP Digital & Strategy

My screen time has been blissfully limited this week, but this dad living his best life made me very happy. And I also found this incredible face actor, Mare Kell on IG, who had me scroll allll the way back in her feed. Here, she’s face acting how different celebrities would meet your dog on the street—enjoy! And know that there are many more treasures to be found in her feed.
—Martina Lund, VP Marketing & Media Design