On the Menu
That Barbie “Snub”
Despite receiving 8 Academy Award nominations last week, Barbie was left out in the Lead Actress and Best Director categories, leading to fan outrage and cries of sexism. The energy online has been…a lot! And honestly, I’m not sure that Margot Robbie’s all that mad at it–as a Saltburn producer, she knows all too well the value of a good controversy. But if Hillary Clinton defends you by invoking the 2016 election and the GirlBoss wonder years, it might be time to pack it in.
I feel like I hallucinated the majority of my life when it was commonly understood that Barbie was not a feminist icon, because suddenly the collective disassociation back into girlhood has flipped that sentiment entirely on its head. The overcorrection is such that now anything overtly feminine must seemingly be protected at all costs, including from critique:
The billion-dollar overcorrection into identifying with Barbie is particularly interesting given how little she represents onscreen. She has no inner monologue, no interiority, and very little autonomy in driving the action of the film, unlike her supporting counterparts.
Contrast Barbie with Julianne Moore’s portrayal of Gracie (sorry, Grathie) in May December, a woman so deep in her own self-infantilization that she lives each day wiped free of guilt and regret from the abuse she inflicts on others. Despite being one of the most compelling dissections of white womanhood I’ve seen onscreen this year, May December went largely unacknowledged by the Academy, only receiving a screenplay nom.
Ultimately, Margot Robbie will be fine, but I hope the other contenders who lost out this year start to receive the same energy as well. Greta Lee, you’ll always be the winner in my heart.
Why ArticleTok Is the New BookTok
Sharing article recommendations online isn’t new, but the proliferation of curated, aesthetic article round-ups has led to a new cottage industry known as ArticleTok. Offering a bite-sized way to quickly engage with new viewers, ArticleTok allows creators to signal both aesthetic and curatorial taste. It’s the TikTok equivalent of posting a Joan Didion cover on your Instagram stories, but does sharing the selfie negate the positive effect of reading the book?
ArticleTok videos aren’t easy to make–take it from me. Reading and vetting each piece before compiling it aesthetically is its own Sisyphian task, but I also believe that longform essay writing is valuable in itself and deserves recognition.
And sure, legacy media is a dumpster fire right now, and TikTok and Substack cannot (and should not!) replace the role of quality journalism. But they can contribute new readership. With our rapidly deteriorating cultural attention spans, should we not be cautiously optimistic that the TikTok generation could save the longform article, even if it’s only so they can post a headline from The Cut on their stories like my generation used to wear New Yorker totes to class?
In fact, I’m staking my claim right now: ArticleTok is the new BookTok. Give it a year or two, and soon The Cut will be paying influencers to share their newest trend piece first in their slideshow. One can only dream! The Cut editors, you know where to find me…