Well hello there! It’s been a minute. As some of you may know, in the time since last Poppington I’ve turned 27 (brave), gone to Milan for father/son bonding, found a new and exciting day job, and put in notice at my current job. All of the above contributed to my little break from Poppington. Thank you for indulging my absence and for reading this. I will try my darnedest to get back to posting weekly, but I’ll note that I am starting a new job next week…
This week I want to do a shallow wade into a couple of pop culture items that I have some thoughts on.
That Me Espresso. I know it feels quite silly to talk about “song of the summer” on May 2nd, but it must be done. “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter is an unmitigated pop designed for gay consumption the likes of which we haven’t seen since “Padam Padam.” It is the first song I listen to in the morning and what I listen to at least once a day to pump myself up as I finish out my days at my current job.
Sabrina Carpenter has been making good pop music for some time, but it hasn’t quite clicked. Her association as “that blonde girl” in Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license” didn’t help. Nor did her song skinny dipping, which I love but most hate because of its sing talking. But “Espresso” is silly and nonsensical in a way that makes you think “did Max Martin write this?” The beat is infectious. And the best part of all…this song knows it’s silly and stupid. Self serious pop is over, honey. Let the girls have fun and drink their me espresso.
One large Poppington please. Oh baby I’ve gotta tell you about one movie that made me so happy to be in Paris (Eiffel Tower joke if you couldn’t tell). Yeah baby. I’m talking Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers.” You likely know of Guadagnino for “Call Me By Your Name,” but he has been out here making beautiful films centered around desire, sexuality, and complex relationships for the duration of his career.
The newest installment of the Italian directress’ vision tells the interwoven story of three rising stars in tennis The three meet at the US Open junior division, where longtime doubles partners Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Duncan) fall quickly in love with top junior girl and already established next-big-thing in tennis, Tashi (Zendaya). As time goes on, Art continues to have an illustrious career, eclipsing Patrick, who had always been the better of the two in their youth. Along the way, Art takes on Tashi as his coach after an injury ends her career. Just as Art starts to make a comeback from his own injury, he finds himself across the court from Patrick thirteen years after the three met and their twisted love triangle began.
The film is much more visually dynamic than Guadagnino’s other work, which is always beautiful but much more focused on landscape and character than motion and action. I don’t know what I expected a sports film done by Guadagnino to be, but this certainly exceeded my wildest expectations. The score (a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross joint) is a thumping and racing underpinning to every serve (pun intended) and every moment of tension. This movie is so invested in bodies and movement, desire, and jealousy, and the complexities of aspiration.
This is a much-watch event. I am so glad to have seen it in a theater with people who clapped at queer things and giggled gleefully at sexy moments and lost their shit at the incredible game of tennis.
PS: I feel compelled to disclose that Art, Patrick, and Tashi share a threeway kiss at one point in the movie.
The Darren Criss of it All. Ok I can’t get into this too, too much, but I have some thoughts to get off my chest. Recently Darren Criss has been cropping up on my timeline, which is most unpleasant to me.
First and foremost I am a hater. Specifically, I am a hater of straight men who play gay and then make a whole thing of it. (Yes I acknowledge my boys above have played gay and aren’t out, but they do not talk about jt in the way that Darren does and has).
One of the recent reasons my ire with Darren Criss has been rekindled is because he made comments at a talk that he was raised culturally queer because he grew up in San Francisco. First of all. What does that mean? What elements of queer culture beyond aesthetics does someone who is not queer define as queer culture? Quickly. Secondly, he said he knew he’d get shit for this and he knew people would take it out of context and not understand. And yes I am in fact doing that. But here’s the thing, i have long felt uneasy about the way Darren Criss discusses queerness.
Back when he was playing a little gay boy on Glee, Darren Criss felt the need to come out as straight. At the time said that he “had to do so” because of the way fans interacted with him…Girl, the fans don’t care if you’re gay. They think you’re hot and treat you like a piece of meat because of that, not your sexuality. If it’s so hard for you that gay people think you’re hot, get a different haircut and don’t sing professionally! I understand that fans were inappropriate towards him, but he was not unique in that experience. The Glee fans harassed Ryan Murphy outside of his home for decisions he made with the plot. Unwell people were behaving in unwell manners to everyone, not just because a guy who played gay was actually straight. Maybe you were uncomfortable with the gay attention, Mr. Criss. How culturally queer was your upbringing if you couldn’t recognize insane fan behavior and recognize that it wasn’t unique to you?
Then after Darren Criss got rich off Glee, he said he wouldn’t take any more gay roles so as to not take away opportunities from gay actors. Since then, he hasn’t acted in tv. It feels a little convenient to make such a statement before simply never acting again. You got your bag and ditched the fag (sorry , just go with me).
I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong for him to play gay or for anyone to play gay. But I do think it’s wrong to always make such a big deal out of it. Him coming out, him saying he’d stop playing gay, and him saying he was raised culturally queer are the only times he’s been relevant outside of Glee, his stint on Broadway, and A Very Potter Musical.
If it weren’t a big deal to play gay, if it didn’t matter, if he didn’t care, why would there be a need to make such a big deal out of it? And maybe he doesn’t care at all but he still feels rhe need to disclaim. And to that possibility I say, “get a better publicist.” You can’t be known for “not being gay.” That’s just embarrassing.