#7 Read-Watch-Listen
Read
What Your T-Shirt Says About You: How merch became a staple of the pandemic
by Amanda Mull, The Atlantic
The read for this week is about the items and articles that we buy and keep just because. Just because we want them in our life. The sorts of items we buy but never use, or the ones we use once and then sit on your shelf but you can’t imagine not having it and you’d put up a fight with any roommate or spouse that tries to throw that item away.
Antoni Porowski is the mascot for why you should own t-shirts with words on them For so long I raged at T-Shirts with words or phrases on them (non brands). The t-shirts that I imagine suburban moms who drink chardonnay at 4pm on a Tuesday - the “kinda want to go for a run, kinda want to stay in bed” sort of t-shirts. It took me too long to realise that my stupid concert t-shirts were exactly the same goddamn thing. That me walking around with my Alexisonfire t-shirt with holes in it didn’t say anything about me with the guarantee that it said everything about me. My breaking point/epiphany to finally owning a shirt with words on it? “[Chalamet and Chill.](https://www.vogue.com/article/timothee-chalamet-merchandise-zoe-lister-jones-andrew-mania” I blame Sufjan Stevens. And my sister. I didn’t change, I just got older and stopped going to concerts and indulged in my love of pop culture and podcasts. I totally identified with this article. Amanda talks about how these purchases feel totally out of character but you feel compelled to be aligned with an idea or to support the artists who make them. And slowly you turn into Antoni “every episode will have a themed t-shirt” Porowski.
Antoni Porowski - here for it
The article ends with Amanda talking to the hosts of my new favourite podcast You’re Wrong About about the pandemic and how people really shouldn’t have to cultivate a loyal audience over several years and convince them to buy a t-shirt just to get through a pandemic - that shouldn’t be the reason people buy t-shirts. I think there is also a bit of an undercurrent with people not wanting to buy big brand names anymore and the fact that it is very difficult to find a comfy plain well made t-shirt that isn’t $50 or doesn’t have a massive logo on the front. They make a good point that the people who had disposable income and the impulse to buy clothing in the last year were people who typically work in an office - which also makes me think that the last year has given them the freedom to buy and wear t-shirts with words on ‘em. aka Me.
It turns out “It was capitalism all along” is You’re Wrong About’s highest selling t-shirt. No surprises here, because I bought that shirt and I wear it every day.
Watch
Promising Young Woman
By Emerald Fennell
I can’t stop thinking about this movie. It’s vibrant, dark, and punchy and you still get a sense that there is nuance to the topic without that nuance feeling forced. Two weeks ago a woman named Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered by a Met police officer Clapham (about a 30 minute cycle from my house in London). After there were whispers of “well she shouldn’t have been walking home alone at night” there has been fury, disgust, disappointment, and rage that the onus is still put on women to keep themselves safe rather than getting to the root of the problem. And the root of that problem is that men, specifically men in power, still feel that they have the right to treat women as objects. I watched this move about a month ago, but I started thinking more about it again as violence against women came to the forefront of British politics and media attention - as it should - in the past two weeks.
Women shouldn’t be in a position where they are holding their keys in their hands like Wolverine just to get home safe. There should be more women in positions of power and more women in positions where they have the freedom to make more choices about how they live their life. The best thing about more women in work and in seats at the table is that they get to make decisions - and that the output is just so. much. better. I’m biased because I am a woman in my 30s and think that equality is fundamental to progress. And while I’ve been lucky to have many great women influencers in my life or women to look up to, it’s only recently that I’ve seen that feeling and perspective be reflected more broadly in pop culture. There is just so much more out there that gives a better perspective of the world because women are writing, creating, and building things. Take note of Emerald Fennell, Olivia Wilde, Michaela Cole, Sandra Oh, Greta Gerwig, Regina King, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Listen
Fine Line
by Harry Styles
Unsure what Fine Line is a reference to - maybe Harry’s sexuality? His gender bending? Or possibly that fine line between infatuation and love. I’ve watched a couple of interviews and it sounds like the ladder - the euphoric fun involved in figuring that out. This album is FUN and was made as a soundtrack to drive along the California Coast. I gotta say, it makes me want to do exactly that, or ya know, dance around my flat while I clean up on a Saturday morning before my partner wakes up.
The first time I really listened to Harry Styles wasn’t via One Direction, but his first single Sign of the Times. I think it was reviewed as unexpected coming from the boy band turned solo artist. Sign of the Times is a good carrot, as it makes you wonder what the rest of the album is like… And then you do, and the rest of it is good. Plus, the music videos are just as fun as the songs. Surprisingly, Harry’s second album reminds me a lot of Gotye’s album Like Drawing Blood and Smoke and Mirrors, albeit a bit happier. And after listening to them both I just go and listen to the OG Peter Gabriel and call it a day (listen to all three and you’ll know why).
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