Reading during the collapse of civilization
Lots and lots of links
After the initial boom of bread baking and that one Shakespeare fact, this past year hasn’t been great for hobbies. I work from home and the boundaries between work life and home life dissolved very quickly in Spring 2020, so I ended up with less non-work free time. The only remaining hobby that I haven’t fully monetized yet is reading, so if course that went by the wayside in the past year.
Now that the panoramic anniversary has passed and a new version of normalcy seems on the horizon, I’m recommitting to actually reading books. This newsletter has actually been great to keep me updated with articles, but that type of reading is still very work-related. I’m going to return to reading books as a hobby, for the purpose of enjoyment and self-care (or for no purpose! Not everything needs a purpose!). I miss books and novel-length storytelling so much. Also, I just got three library e-books that I’ve been really looking forward to, so next week begins a concerted effort to convert some of my YouTube time to reading time.
In addition to reading-as-a-hobby, I’ve been thinking a lot about the purpose of content and my place in it this week. As more opportunities to write come up in my freelance career, I want to make sure that I actually enjoy what I’m writing about, and that my output actually contributes to the conversation rather than adding another voice saying the same thing. I think that’s also the reason that I do pure re-tweets instead of quote-tweeting so damn much: I’d rather amplify a voice saying a really important thing than take it and put my own spin on it to be heard. If I have a different take or an addition to the take, sure, but I don’t need to add to the general speech bubble.
In that vein, this week will be a long link roundup. Really excellent writing has already come out this week on a number of topics that I could write about (Meghan and Harry on Oprah, the Grammys, Delroy Lindo’s Oscar chances, the panasonic anniversary), and I would rather elevate these pieces that did an amazing job either taking a different approach than I would take, or including access that is outside of my range. (I’ve listened to five interviews of Lindo this week and would listen to 50 more.)
I’ll be back with a full blog next week.
Also as the newsletter is growing I want to hear from you all! Please comment below! I’d love to hear about either pieces you’ve deeply enjoyed or your un-monetized hobbies.
These are So Good!
Black Artists Are Fed Up With Grammy Snubs, But Don’t Always Respect the Alternatives // @JusAire
“Media strategist Karen Civil worked with BET for the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards and remembers the rehearsals, organization, and effort that went into the show. For her, perception overtakes reality when it comes to artists valuing the Grammys over Blacker award shows like the BET Awards. ‘I don’t want to hear that,’ she says. ‘BET Awards give you the same production. BET Awards give you the same love and budget. You don’t just go on stage like it’s a regular performance with your homies. You really put thought and effort into it. It’s just that mentality of thinking, “this is better than others so I have to put more effort into it.”’”
The Rigorous Empathy of “Oprah with Meghan and Harry // @dstfelix
“This instantly iconic artifact of pop culture could not have been without Oprah, a truly singular examiner. Is what she does simply interviewing? She certainly asks questions, difficult ones, and doggedly follows up on hedges or evasive responses. But she is also something of an emissary, a reactive translator of emotion, a master weaver, pulling disparate revelations into a collective portrait that colonizes the mind. The question is never just a question; the subject is helpless to her storytelling, a rigorous empathy that was like refuge to the Duke and Duchess, who have long been prostrate to the narratives of the tabloids. “Were you silent,” Oprah asked Markle, “or were you silenced?” When she does this, it is like opening a door. And Markle walked right in.”
Misogynoir Nearly Killed Meghan Markle // @moyazb
“The survival and mutation of the tired Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire tropes had me wanting to name the pernicious and synergistically adroit anti-Black racist misogyny that dominated the public sphere. I landed on the portmanteau “misogynoir,” a word that many Black women have found useful because it succinctly articulates the degrading representations and the resulting disparate treatment they engender for us in society. Meghan and Harry’s highly-anticipated sit-down with Oprah is only the most recent reminder that misogynoir comes for all Black women, regardless of skin color and class privilege. Even Meghan, with skin so light her Blackness is debated on social media, says #MeToo when it comes to misogynoir.”
Billie Holiday deserves better // @SorayaMcDonald
“The film itself is a scattershot mess of trauma-sploitation, revealing the greatest weak spots in the biopic genre: the compulsion to tick through the chronology of a person’s Wikipedia entry without much regard for the larger intricacies of their personality and personhood. The biggest flaw of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, besides its commitment to substituting shocking violence for character development, is that it cannot decide how its leading lady sees herself. Instead, it relies on the perspective of Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes), the Black FBI agent who tailed her for many years, a made-up journalist named Reginald Lord Devine (Leslie Jordan) and the many men who abuse Holiday over the course of her 44 years.”
How the 'WandaVision' finale failed Monica Rambeau // @Steph_I_Will
“The misogynoir Monica has had to deal with has been prominent throughout WandaVision. The presence of it is one of the many things that make Monica is so relatable, because she deals with what Black women deal with every single day. Still, unlike the rest of us, because she is a fictional character, that means she can address it in ways we can’t. There was a moment for her to dole out some retribution to Hayward at the very least. Not even necessarily using her powers to harm him, but to make it known that she isn’t the one to be trifled with and his time doing that was over. What Michelle Obama said about going higher when they go lower was in this reality, and even still, that was something a lot of us don't choose to abide by. So, if that's the case in the real world — there was no need to hold this powerful character to that. Monica owed a moment with Hayward. He did not deserve to be walked away in handcuffs. That was art imitating life in the most unimaginative way possible.”
THE ESSENTIALS: DELROY LINDO BREAKS DOWN HIS FRESHEST AND DEFINING ROLES // @812filmreviews
“After a stellar 55-year career during which he’s brought solemnity to stage, television, and film, an Oscar nomination has eluded Lindo. It’s a gap in his biography that could change after his searing turn as Paul, a Vietnam War vet devastatingly gripped by his past ghosts, in Lee’s 2020 epic Da 5 Bloods. Concerning four Black war veterans returning to Vietnam to recover the remains of Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman), their fallen commander, and the C.I.A. gold they left buried, Da 5 Bloods not only plays host to arguably the best performance of Lindo’s career, but once more highlights the veteran actor’s distinct ability to bring pathos to complicated, tough-seeming men.”
Bands Aren't Dead, They Just Look a Little Different // @neonandnoise
“Though there is still a long way to go, as we push further into the 2020s, unique viewpoints and experiences are finally being represented and reflected across all genres — especially in rock, where women, POC, queer, and nonbinary musicians are beginning to take up more space and make their voices (and stories) heard.”
My Pandemic Year Behind the Checkout Counter // Ann Larson
“My point in all of this is that while everyone needs access to grocery stores, especially during a pandemic, some people have to work in them, and some people don’t; some can afford the goods inside, and those who can’t sometimes rely on stores having accessible restrooms. Grappling with this fact may be key to building a more equal world, one in which solidarity doesn’t end at the grocery store door or with Vox advice columns. Creating such a world would mean not just acknowledging that such differences exist but ending them.”
This Week In Culture is a free newsletter by freelance culture writer Quinci LeGardye. If you’d like to support the research for this project, or buy me a coffee, my Venmo/CashApp/PayPal handle is quinciwho. If you want to be friends, follow me on Twitter at @quinciwho.