The Nostalgia Fuelled Cultural Phenomenons of the Past
Gone Girl and Gossip Girl, the anxiety of influencers, and Susan Sontag
Everything changes, but Gone Girl has had a lasting impact, One Direction fans made the internet, and the Sofia Coppola directed Marie Antoinette movie is better than this article - primarily about the rococo era royal’s wardrobe, and thus worth a read, but with a few cutting remarks about the film - lets on. Speaking of the nostalgia fuelled cultural phenomenons of the past (by which I mean pre… 2015?) Kate Bush is trending because of Stranger Things, as I’m sure you know. Relatedly, music charts are a bit fucked so let this random AI judge your Spotify (or Apple music).
Making for an extraordinarily smooth transition, most of this stuff was really big on Tumblr. You know what else was big on the original hellsite? Sad Girls. This is an interesting, nuanced take on them. Before there was GG as in Gone Girl (literally no one has ever called it that, my apologies) there was GG as in, well, you know. Here is a fantastic and funny critique of the reboot of the show.
I hate reading books about the internet but I’m addicted to critical articles about influences. The overwhelming requirement for working people to have an online brand, the anxiety of influences, and the Kardashians and fashion. Also, on godposting.
Now, harking back to the early days of my foray into the literary world with good ol’ James Patterson. I was young, there was a school library overstuffed with his numerous works, you know what happened. Him being unapologetically rich is funny to me, and so is men naming books that they like by women. Naturally, I do believe it’s important that literature written by women stops being women’s literature. It’s a gender essentialist position, as well as a fucking stupid one. But men naming one or two books they like written by women and talking about discovering writers will never not be funny. Speaking of women writers, Elif Batuman on choosing an aesthetic life, Susan Sontag’s impact, and where to start with Zadie Smith.
With the conclusion of the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp court case, this article about the spectacle of it all and this article about believing victims are important reads. And incredibly well written. Also, this new Substack by Rayne Fisher-Quann on the same topic is really well done. In the vein of politics, the legacy of slavery at Vanderbilt, the evangelical church and political radicalisation, and the right using cringe against trans people.
I haven’t been reading as much lately for the same reason that its been over two weeks since the last post. But, for some reason, all I’ve been able to finish is this 500 page collection of the best of the best of Bukowski. It was fantastic. I loved it so much. I’ve also been reading The Master and the Margarita, which I’m writing a paper on and This Little Art by Katie Briggs.
This article about Clueless was the most popular link from the last post. Also, I made a playlist of all the songs written about Pattie Boyd - perhaps the highest concentration of iconic, amazing songs about one person - and a summer playlist.
I’m a subscriber to your site. We may have some common interest in music and more. If so, I’d appreciate a mutual free subscribe. Thanks
I’d appreciate your mutual subscribing to my Substack “Notes from a Old Drummer”