From dystopia to Elvis, it has been a week
And that's not accounting for load shedding and Kate Bush either. Ready for a quick reprieve?
Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret (Atwood)… How do we describe the week that was and not feel like we’re living in some dystopian telenovela? Roe V Wade overturned. Ghislaine Maxwell off to jail for 20 years – fair enough – but taking the fall for all the power men who enjoyed Epstein’s, erm, generosity. Conspiracy theories start here …
Her sudden suicide watch this week; the fact that Bill Clinton is hardly ever mentioned despite him being a key part of their circle; the Maxwell family dynamics (cue Succession theme song); the mysterious death of her father; Bill Clinton (did I say that already?!)
One last note before we move onto somewhat sunnier conversational climes: it is insane – horrifying, unimaginable, insert adjective here – to think that we now live in a world where a woman’s right to bodily autonomy is a ‘no’, but incest is still a ‘yes, well, okay’ … Because in most of the hardline American states even rape and incest are not enough of a reason to terminate a pregnancy. And the comments on social media are wild! I read one from a woman no less, stating that “women should have some self- control”… Yes, love, because lack of womanly self-control was defs top of the Why We’re Getting An Abortion leaderboard. I think my eyeballs melted right then and there. I did as any reasonable person would and shut down Twitter before my phone burst into flames.
Okay, enough serious stuff! Let’s find some cheer this week – starting here!
Polka dots are trending
A few weeks ago I posted Kate’s glorious polka dot dress at Ascot – a flashback to Princess Diana’s dress from the same event; a flashback to Julia Robert’s in Pretty Woman; a flashback to all good things that transpired in the 90s really. Turns out Kate was onto something… Polka dots are the print du jour. Why am I telling you this in the dead heart of of the southern hemisphere winter? Because grab them now if you, ahem, spot them… There’s a Zara dress going viral over on TikTok that is soon to land locally. And it is a winner! Even though you are deeply unlikely to wear it for another two months. Or if you’re in Cape Town 73 months! When does winter end already?!
… So is this book
Reese’s Book Club flagged this book and it has finally landed locally… The Club by Ellery Lloyd. It’s a joy to read – especially if you’re like me and enjoy a bit of celebrity as much as a bit of crime! Tricky combo, usually, but not for Ellery. Home is a super-exclusive member’s only club frequented by the uppermost echelons of the international jet-set / A-list / Hollywood royalty. When it flings opens the doors of its most outrageous global property to date, Island Home, it plans a weekend of excess with just 150 guests. The island is only accessible to the mainland at certain times of the day and the staff and guests check in their phones before they even get to their cabins. Of course, there’s drama… A body, a missing person, loads of celebrities, blackmail, revenge, secrets, and all contained to one remote and tiny island. It feels like reading a Vanity Fair scoop and it is certainly written from this point of view… Unputdownable and deeeeeeply enjoyable! Find it! Reviews here
So are old ideas…
I loved this one – UK’s The Telegraph wrote this week that modern culture is dying and original ideas have fallen out of fashion. Why did I love it? Because I was probably caught reading it as my two punks sang along to Kate Bush in the background… Running Up That Hill is a TikTok sensation thanks to Stranger Things Season 4, giving Kate – Miss Bush, I mean – a number one hit decades after it was first released in 1985. In the UK, in fact, it set a record for the slowest-ever rise from release date to No. 1 on the Official Singles Charts: 37 years. Plus, as The Atlantic says, ‘Bush’s track isn’t the only decades-old gem getting major shine in recent years. Nirvana’s Something in the Way charted because of The Batman. Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams did so thanks to a skateboarder drinking cranberry juice.’
This revival is not new though, Billboard wrote a great piece about turning golden oldies into fresh hits thanks to TV and movies… ‘The period starts in 1987, when use in two hit film comedies (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Back to School) the year before brought The Beatles’ Twist and Shout back to the Hot 100 for the first time in 23 years. Then, over the next half-decade, five more golden oldies — Ben E. King’s Stand by Me (Stand by Me), Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World (Good Morning, Vietnam), The Contours’ Do You Love Me (Dirty Dancing), The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody (Ghost) and Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody (Wayne’s World) — all hit the top 40 thanks to a new movie placement.’ I remember all of these, and now that Billboard mentions it, I seem to remember my parents rolling their eyes at my “new discoveries”. That’s me as I twirl around the lounge doing my interpretative Kate Bush dance. No wonder the punks stopped sharing their playlist with me.
And so is Elvis!
Yep, Elvis. The film released last week to rapturous reviews – difficult considering an all-but-unknown Austin Butler in the title role had to take on one of the most beloved, larger-than-life characters in pop culture history. He nailed it. Plus there’s Baz Luhrmann, a maximalist director for an OTT subject. Elvis’s life and death was the stuff of tabloid legend so the film, in all its rhinestone-studded glory, delivers camp and pomp in spades.
That’s it! Enjoy the weekend ahead and please comment, share and spread the love! Dan xx