Adele, Kim K, "Maid," & TV on Strike

What I'm Reading, Watching, & Listening To This Week

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The Mouse in My Apartment saga continues! I have resorted to throwing money directly at the mouse and screaming! [JK, I’m throwing money at the exterminator.]

You may recall that a month ago we caught a mouse in our apartment and the *disposal* of the mouse was quite *gory.* But the developing story reached a climax three nights ago when I, a feminist, saw a mouse RUNNING TOWARDS ME in the bathroom and I, as any sane person and feminist would, immediately started screaming and jumping and running for the bed. It was only after Ben rushed in and locked himself in the bathroom to deal with the mouse but could not find the mouse anywhere that I began to ponder an important question: Did I, in actual fact, see a mouse? Or did I [an emphatic feminist], perhaps, imagine the mouse?

Reader, we may never know. But, as I mentioned last week, I blame Squid Game. (Which has only gotten better, it is truly the best. And goriest.)

This story *hopefully* ended last Friday when we caught the mouse on another sticky trap and Ben dutifully put it out of its misery with one swift, incredibly accurate blow to the head with a hammer. A story to which my uncle in Shreveport responded: “Wow, a flyswatter works on our country mice.” Reader, we did not think to try a flyswatter.

Here is my question for you this week: In a mouse/cockroach/etc situation, what’s your go-to move?

Here are some options: A) Instant kill B) Catch and release C) Scream and run D) Staring contest E) All of the above. I am E. Extra points to anyone who tells me a hilarious/terrifying story about the last time they dealt with pests!! It will help me cope!

On to the week’s topics!

In the News - The IATSE Strike

• The IATSE *might* go on strike Monday and if you care about movies and TV and human beings you should care about this!!!

• What the hell is the IATSE? It’s the union that represents the people who make all our little shows and movies and binges possible — the crews, artisans, assistants, etc., who support the productions of movies, TV, live theater, and more.

• And y’all, they ain’t being treated right. They’re asking for reasonable things like being able to eat during their 20-hour work days or not having 20-hour workdays or for streaming giants Netflix and Amazon to be required to pay industry standard wages.

• Yes, Netflix and Amazon, tiny fragile startups that they are, are allowed to pay ABSOLUTE SHIT wages to people because of a “new media” provision. In the beginning they were allowed to do this because it was a financial risk to take on a new form of media—streaming. But uh…Has anyone else noticed that streaming is like…kind of a big deal now? And yet Netflix and Amazon are still acting like they’re baby “new media” who need help cuz they’re poor!??!?!?!? Get bent, NETFLAZON!!!!!!

• Okay, that’s all. Support the IATSE. Thank you to Emma Huntington and Bradley Whitford for opening my eyes to all this.

Saturday Night Live Highlights

This is my new segment where I talk about Saturday Night Live because I will watch it no matter how bad it is!

Kim Kardashian West hosted this week which meant a lot of snobs were like, “Ew, she doesn’t even GO here!” and yet despite their best efforts at being ~*~above it~*~ apparently they and everyone else watched anyways because the ratings bumped up big time.

In general I’m a big ol’ thumbs down on the whole Kardashian brand. Just, y’know, their overall tendency to lie about the amount of money, doctors, and photo alterations it takes to look they way they do so they can turn around and peddle dangerous diet products to young girls. [Oh and why did Kim change her last name???] But I was moderately excited to see Kim host because I like watching celebrities celebrity, and she has just as much “right” to “be there” as “anyone else.”

• Highlights: (1) The Cold Open. Aidy Bryant as Ted Cruz gets me every damn time, also Cecily as Senator Feinstein saying, “America is in a lot of debt right now, should we do a Squid Game?”, (2) the “Ladies Night” sketch was *chef’s kiss*, (3) the “Hard Seltzer” video by comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy who I know from TikTok but apparently are all children of comedy/SNL writers (4) “The Dream Guy” because I love when they skewer The Bachelor (5) Kim’s monologue where she (aka the writers) burned everyone she has ever loved.

• Lowlights: Weekend Update is still struggling and I’m mad about it because it’s my favorite part. Time for new blood? Time for women? Time for something!

Watching - Maid on Netflix

I really wasn’t sure about this one. Like, hm, do I really want to watch a show about Andie MacDowell’s gorgeous blue-eyed daughter Margaret Qualley being sad, desperate, and alone for ten hours?

But I decided yes. Because the subject matter of the show [and the book it’s based on] is very near and dear to my heart—homelessness and the logistics of poverty. And I am SO GLAD I did.

Qualley—known by me as the girl from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood who tries to get Brad Pitt to commit statutory—plays a young mother who leaves an abusive boyfriend and is cast out upon the frigid waters of our deeply imperfect “social safety net.”

While that feels incredibly heavy, and it is, it’s written so well that it also manages to be riveting, make you laugh, build suspense and exciting plot points, and all those things that make a show bingeable. I cried in every episode, but I also laughed in every episode. Margaret Qualley is an incredibly talented “new” actress who is a delight to watch, as well as Anika Noni Rose, who has an interesting role to play.

In one scene with her social worker, Qualley says: “I would really hate to take a bed from someone who’s been abused for real.” Her social workers says, “What does fake abuse look like?” Making us question our own preconceptions of what constitutes abuse and our prejudgements about “why women stay.” In another scene, we find out that she can’t get housing without a job, but also she can’t get a job without housing — a real-life Catch 22 that I saw happen time and again while working at The Bowery Mission.

You can know intellectually about how much we need to fix, but nothing will make it click like watching it told in story form. WE. NEED. MORE. SHOWS. LIKE. THIS.

(Sidenote: The cynical side of me felt like they cast a straight, white, beautiful, able-bodied woman because that’s how you get audiences to care. [Although it’s also accurate to the true story it’s based on.] But as I watched I realized it shows that even if you have a whole checklist of privileges that can help protect you, you can still get completely crushed by the system. They also clearly chose to think carefully about representation, positioning people of all different races, genders, and backgrounds in various positions of power and status.)

Listening - Adele “Easy on Me”

Sorry to those of you who thought I was cool and edgy! [Why would you think that?] It’s definitely Adele for me today!

Our Sad Autumn Queen released a single last night ahead of her full album release in November and even though I’m not exactly a major Adele-head, I realized just how much I HAVE MISSED HER. Where Kacey Musgraves gave me beige background music on her divorce album, Adele is giving absolute balls to the wall sadness and melodrama!!!! She is giving peak fall vibes in her brick-red turtleneck and leather trench! She is giving nostalgic references to her old music videos! She is doing nails, hair, lashes! She is doing it all! Yes, I am a basic bitch and this is the sad tragic heartbreak song I wanted.

Also while we’re on the subject of Adele, this excellent profile in Vogue revealed that she has a pair of boxing gloves where one says “FUCK” and the other says “ORF” and that’s absolute Cockney perfection.

Also she is BFFs with Harry Styles. I rest my case.

Reading

• Lena Dunham on Joy Sorman and Unnameable Female Pain - The New York Times

  My friend Alison helps run the publishing company Restless Books and she told me about their translation of the amazing French book LIFE SCIENCES. Now Lena Dunham is reviewing LIFE SCIENCES in The New York Times!!! Highly recommend this review, and highly recommend this book, which is about female pain and how the medical community has not historically taken it seriously. Also, Alison is a BOSS.

• A Man With a Badge Nearly Killed Her. So She Got Her Own Badge - The New York Times

  I’ll just say this story is INSANE and this woman is REMARKABLE. Content Warning: domestic violence and abuse.

• Slackers of the World, Unite! - The Atlantic

  This article is about Slack — how it enables work and enables/empowers workers — and it’s fascinating!! Shout out to Heidi who brought Slack to our workplace before anyone else was using it!!

That’s all, folks! Drop a comment and let me know what you’re reading, watching, and listening to—or what you think about what I think!