2024 Pop Culture Yearbook: From Chappell Roan to J.Lo’s Gilded Age Madness
The Era’s End, Wicked Press Drama, and Olympic Queer Culture Highlights
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I am scared for 2025, so excuse this one last look back at 2024. If this year were a yearbook, I’d be writing “Please don’t keep in touch,” but here are the pop culture moments I would like to remember.
Chappell Roan
I could not be more thrilled by the rise of Chappell Roan. Though the speed of her ascent has been a tough transition for her (about which she has been admirably candid), seeing drone shots of thousands of fans dance to Hot to Go or Pink Pony Club still fills my heart with joy.
The Era’s Tour finally ends
ON THAT NOTE, could Miss Swift have stopped her unrelenting re-release of Tortured Poets with fresh bonus content for ONE WEEK to let Chappell be number 1 on the charts for the first time in her career? No. That’s what imperialism is like. I’m happy for all the community and joy this tour has created, but I’m very happy to move on. The end-of-year lists that are re-assessing Tortured Poets in particular and praising “But Daddy I Love Him” have me feeling insane. The Era’s Tour film (the closest I got to attending) highlights the power of her songwriting and the breadth of her work, and I will be happy for her to take a beat and re-emerge with a new era.
Brat Summer
What isn’t Brat Summer in these times? This album continues to have a hold over me, and the aesthetic is officially mainstream. Did Kamala’s co-opting of it demonstrate its power, or its end? I can’t say. I just know I’m very here for Charlie and her well-deserved success.
I lived for this explainer in particular
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Martha doc and rollout
SPEAKING OF, Martha should be Secretary of Education because she taught us all a lot this year. Like, you can call out your ex for cheating while casually dismissing your own cheating in the same conversation. You can call out the government, media, and broader society for castigating you for white-collar crimes for which few men are imprisoned and not mince words. And, unlike Marie Antoinette who flaunted her tastes and lifestyle, her public persona has not led to her vilification, but instead to a real “let me make cake” empowerment that makes me want to follow her anywhere. Let. her. Cook.
You can read more of my thoughts on it here.
Tiny Desk Concerts
NPR is really delivering with their tiny desk concerts. It’s filling a real “unplugged”-shaped hole in my heart. I am going to share some of my favorite concerts in a curated Sidebar this week, but here is Billie Eilish from a recent concert that was very good.
Olympic shooters (for gay culture)
I am not pro-gun and nationalism makes me nervous, but I am pro-Olympic competitors serving queer culture. We did not deserve this.
Jools Lebron (Very demure, very mindful)
I am also deeply distrustful of Human Resources as a concept, but I would support making this iconic Jools Lebron advice mandatory for everyone.
Lookalike Contests
What did we do to ask for this? Why is this the year that many decided the best this year could offer them was the chance to be lined up in a murderer’s row and assessed by strangers for the degree of resemblance to the real Timothée Chalamet, Jake Schlossberg, etc. Imagine how the lesbians who lost the Timothee Chalamet contest felt. I hope empowered. It feels like its a fun distraction from the existential dread of life in 2024 to cosplay as a notable figure for one afternoon in the park. I love this trend and find it a fun community-building exercise. But can we please get one that speaks to my interests, like “Nicole Kidman in the AMC ad?”
The Wicked Press Tour, and specifically, holding space for “Defying Gravity”
I will be brave and admit I still have not seen Wicked. I am very invested and am hopefully watching it as you read this. However, I am already feeling pre-emptive disappointment for the film because nothing can compare to the gravitas, pomp, and pure brain-melting insanity of the press rollout. First, Ariana and Spongebob are rolling out their relationship at a *checks notes* hockey game (?) Then, Cynthia and Ariana have been performing supportive female friendship at a level that reminds me of the old Rosie O’Donnell and Penny Marshall KMart ads (don’t ask me why, but this is praise). Lastly, the fact that this press tour has gone on long enough to parody itself. Specifically, a reporter asked Cynthia and Ariana if they were aware of the way people were “holding space” for “Defying Gravity” post-election (a moment in which Cynthia and Ariana responded immediately with level 10 emotion and Ariana holding Cynthia’s finger in support). When asked at a later interview if they could explain that moment, they admitted they had no clue what it meant. True thespians for our times.
Last, but not least, This is Me. . . Now.
Someday when my grandchildren’s grandchildren unfreeze my head and ask me to tell them about my life and times, I will open with four simple words, “ This is me. . . now.” I don’t know what possessed J Lo to do this apart from love and madness. Many say we now live in a new Gilded Age with the rich wasting money while the bridge between rich and poor grows wider. Perhaps this is evidence of the way the rich have more money than sense. Alternately, a fellow Leo sent me a TikTok around the release date of her album/ movie/ documentary trilogy and basically said if any Leo had $20 million, we’d do this too. I don’t think the title track is even that bad. The documentary is a fascinating meditation on a celebrity who refuses to practice self-reflection even when Jane Fonda is on the phone telling you to think about seemingly every step you’re about to take. The story between the edits suggests that Ben Affleck looks at the crew filming his talking head interviews and thinks, “What have I done?” Not long after its less-than-positive critical reception, Ben and Jen split. With her tour canceled, Jen shifted to the best summer ever and the bleakest Bridgerton-themed party these eyes have seen. I don’t know what any of this means or where it’s going, but I am seated and ready for whatever further stories she’d like to share.
What will 2025 bring?
Call Me! (or not!)
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Thanks for reading!
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