Hello hello! Happy long weekend! Here’s a recap of my week:
Books
Nothing to report here this week, I’m in a bit of a slump! Picking up a rom com this weekend to try to get out of it.
Articles
David Dobrik Was the King of YouTube. Then He Went Too Far.: I’ve been fascinated by David Dobrik for years. He is one of the most successful people on the internet, with millions of Youtube subscribers and billions of views. He posts vlogs, each one only 4 minutes and 20 seconds (eyeroll) where he and his friends do insane things. He also loves to surprise people, sometimes with bad things like wild animals or painting graphic caricatures all over the walls of their house, or sometimes with really good things, like cars or paying for their wedding. I find him very interesting because he is clearly incredibly successful (he just bought a $9.5 million mansion in LA, an upgrade from his previous $3.5 million mansion), but if you watch his videos it’s fairly clear to me that he and his friends….suck? They are vulgar and mean and do incredibly dangerous things in pursuit of virality. This article talks all about how he got popular and the controversy earlier this year that led him to stop posting videos for a couple of months and to step down from the company he created (Content warning for sexual assault). To me this is interesting because it centers on something I think about a lot: teenagers on the internet are given enormous fame and power, with no systems in place for holding them accountable, and no incentives for them to control themselves. Some of them are very obviously, explicitly, terrible (see: the Paul brothers), but a lot of them have good reputations despite really dark things happening behind the scenes. Youtube (and now Tik Tok) have turned a bunch of terrible 22-year-olds into millionaires with insane levels of power and absolutely no system of checks and balances. This cannot possibly be a good thing.
Lori Harvey Speaks—Sort Of: Was very excited to see that Hunter Harris profiled Lori Harvey. Lori is the daughter of Steve Harvey and is dating Michael B. Jordan (!!). Sorry to only discuss who this woman is in relation to the men in her life, but I knew literally nothing else about her before I read this. She is super private and doesn’t do press, and basically only uses her Instagram to promote whatever she is working on. The woman is a mystery! I thought this profile was interesting, I learned more about her, and she said she wants to start doing more interviews, which I will definitely read.
Things I Watched
TV
Too Hot to Handle: Unfortunately I have watched another full season of this garbage. Even by trash dating show standards is really not good, but I watched all of season one last summer when I was feeling desperate for new content. The TLDR here is that 10 attractive people are put in a house, told they cannot engage in any sexual activity, and every time they do they lose money out of the $100,000 pot that will eventually go to the winner(s). This is fun for one episode, and then actually a very stupid and not that entertaining premise. It also ends up being fairly slut shame-y in a way I find kind of annoying. Did I still watch all of season 2? The answer is yes. I actually think it was a little better than season 1, some of the twists and rules played out better this time around. This is dumb and a waste of time… yes, I will watch season 3. On Netflix.
The Mole: This is a reality show from the early 2000s, and they just put two seasons on Netflix. I had heard of this but never seen it. It’s hosted by Anderson Cooper! The premise is that a group of people are sent on different missions and challenges to try to win money to add to the group pot, which one person will win at the end of the game. One person is secretly The Mole, and they are trying to sabotage the group to keep them from completing tasks and winning money. At the end of each episode each person takes a quiz that asks questions about The Mole, and whoever gets the lowest score gets eliminated (they call it execution, which feels dramatic). I watched season 1 this week, and if you overlook all the ways in which is this very outdated and cheesy, I think its pretty good and entertaining. If you like The Amazing Race or Survivor, I’d try this.
The Bold Type: It’s over and I’m sad. The last two seasons weren’t great, and this last one felt so rushed with only six episodes. Overall, I feel good about how everything ended. This show was so good, it’s about three best friends in their twenties who work at a women’s magazine like Teen Vogue. It was bubbly and colorful and fun, and I will miss it. If you liked Younger, watch this. On Hulu.
Movies
A Quiet Place: Part II: This was stressful! I am not a big horror movie person. I don’t enjoy paranormal stuff and I find a lot of horror movies to just be….dumb. I did like the first Quiet Place movie, and while I’m still not convinced it was necessary to make a sequel, I liked this one too. Disney is very clearly franchising this, which I don’t love, but whatever. This is the perfect length (97 minutes) and kept me on the edge of my seat. These movies are particularly great to experience in the theater, which is currently the only place to see this. If you liked the first one, I think you’d like this.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar: God this movie was so stupid. I loved it. This was written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who also wrote Bridesmaids. They play the titular Barb and Star, two middle aged women from the Midwest who decide to go on an adventure…to a resort in Florida. I simply cannot explain any more of the plot. This is ABSURD, so so stupid. It’s like if you combined the vibes of Austin Powers with the humor from Bridesmaids. Just so dumb. It’s also so hilarious, there’s one moment towards the end that made me laugh so hard I had to pause it. Very fun, very dumb. You can rent this on Amazon, it’s only $1!
Things I Bought
Coop pillow: I have wanted to get new pillows for a while, but I felt overwhelmed by the options. I asked around and one of my friends recommended this (so did someone I follow on Instagram), and then I saw it was on sale on Prime Day so I went for it. I only bought one, but I really like it. It’s very soft, and you can add/subtract filling to make it as firm or as soft as you want. You can probably find a cheaper pillow, but again, I only bought one of these and it was on sale, so I have no regrets.
Sun Bum Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50: Everybody calm down, this is not another face sunscreen!! This is a body SPF. I really like it! I wanted something that didn’t feel super greasy and was easy to rub in, and also something not too expensive since I go through so much of it if I’m spending hours outside in a swimsuit. This checked all the boxes, and it also smells really good, which is a nice bonus. You can by Sun Bum in pretty much any drugstore, but its currently BOGO 40% off at Ulta.
One Last Thing…
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I want to once again plug one of my favorite newsletters: Gossip Time. If you care (even a little) about celebrity gossip, I really recommend you subscribe to this. It makes me laugh every week.
That’s it for me! I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily