Saturn Returns
Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian, Paul Newman and more
Doing some shorter (…we’ll see lol) reviews this time around
Sad
You know how when someone bigs something up too much (book, film, album, etc.) and then you like can’t be arsed with the expectation that you’ll love it, so you avoid it instead? That’s how I’ve always been with Louis Theroux, just too much hype and ecstatic praise for him, and it’s like, I’m good. Well, anyway. I was at Waterstones one day and saw a book in the memoir section called The Year of the End and thought it sounded interesting, so I picked it up. I realised when looking up the author after I read it that she is Louis Theroux mom and now I know a lot of detailed info on his childhood and his parents infidelity. You got me in the end, Louis!
Anne Theroux is not a writer and this book is not written in a writerly way. It is basically her reflections while reviewing her calendar from the year she and her first husband, the writer Paul Theroux, split up. After being written about in a number of fictional works by Paul and also in a memoir by Louis, she felt at age 79, that she wanted to have her own say about herself. One of the short stories Paul wrote about her was so nasty (and I believe used her real name in a proto-autofiction way) she felt the need to write a letter into The New Yorker protesting her depiction. These calendar reflections are often meandering and boring, truly like looking at someone’s daily diary and the minutia of their life—their thoughts on hedge clippings and who they met on a walking vacation to Greece and their boring job drama and so on, but in a way I liked that. It made it feel strangely more voyeuristic, like finding an old diary in an Airbnb or something.
Paul was chronically unfaithful. And while Anne says with a note of grim pride that she was able to outlast all these women, eventually the relationship collapsed under the weight of his deceptions. Anne herself cheated on Paul a couple of times, which she seemed to have done as a coping mechanism to deal with his long absences (to research his books, which also usually involved an affair) and non-stop infidelity. And while she was expected to take his affairs on the chin, when Paul learned of her unfaithfulness he was endlessly outraged, going so far as to write a novel about it and even saying to her at the end of their marriage—darkly hilarious as he was lying about living with a woman in Honolulu at the time—that he was never able to get over her cheating. He also seemed unable to let Anne move on, despairing over changes she made to the house long after he moved out, writing secret messages for her under the kitchen table, seemingly afraid she might not have him in the forefront of her mind at all times.
It is a very Boomer look at marriage. Anne still to this day deriding herself for being a nag because she wanted more help with the kids or was sad when her husband left for months at a time or worrying she didn’t look physically perfect for him. Anne giving up much desired opportunities and dreams so she could be Paul’s companion and champion while not really being too critical of his demands on her, instead, being hard on herself for not being “stronger”. Interestingly, she went on to become a relationship therapist after their divorce. I took it as somewhat heartening that she felt the need to publish this memoir. She can’t directly say that she’s angry, but she obviously is, and her desire to present her side of the story feels like an attempt to validate herself. Though the book would have been more powerful if she wasn’t trying to straddle not hurting anyone with having her say (similar to Maggie Smith).
I really enjoyed Such Brave Girls (BBC/Hulu). It is a very black comedy with no sacred cows. It’s also kind of gross, which I normally do not like at all, but I thought the rest of it was so great, I just closed my eyes when things were icky. It’s about two sisters, Josie and Billie (played by real life sisters who have loosely based this show on their lives), who are extremely damaged young women, being raised by their extremely damaged mother, none of whom have any particular desire to do anything about it and lean into their dysfunction for all it’s worth. There’s a lot of taking the piss out of mental health problems and journeys of self discovery, which I enjoyed in the sense that like yeah it’s not going to be a path out of the darkness for everyone and some people like the darkness! At one point one Josie says to Billie, “we’ve got to remember most people aren’t wet for trauma like we are,” to which Billie earnestly replies, “but trauma’s all we’ve got!” Here’s a scene where a co-worker encourages Josie to open up to her and really gets an earful.
Famous
I like the new Ariana Grande album, Eternal Sunshine. Ariana hasn’t had a great year in the public eye, with her divorce and claims she is not a girl’s girl. And I was wondering why I have such affection for her despite all her relationship drama, donut licking, cultural appropriationness. I got onboard the Ariana train after watching her One Love Manchester benefit concert in 2017, following the bombing of her previous show. She just seemed so open and vulnerable. Then her post-Pete Davidson break-up album Thank U, Next went on to become one of my favourite albums of the last decade. I think her appeal for me is that she’s really messy, she’s figuring it out, and despite having a quite cultivated and even iconic image, manages to be at her best artistically when expressing pain. The fact that she’s a pop artist just makes the pain more listenable.
Eternal Sunshine is very much a post-divorce record (and I’m here for a post-divorce anything) which interfaces with a more cosmic sense of unknowingness about one’s self and one’s life, the idea that things will only get more complex as you age. Like Kacey Musgrave’s recent album Deeper Well, Eternal Sunshine name checks the return of Saturn and the havoc that often accompanies closing out your twenties. Ariana’s first release off the album, “Yes, And?” at first didn’t do much for me but I’ve enjoyed it more and more on subsequent listens, it’s a dancey 90s dis track and the remix with Mariah Carey is pretty fun. However, “We Can’t Be Friends” has become my go to song—upbeat, sad, Robyn-esque, pretty much perfect. Other faves are the title track, “Imperfect for You” and “Bye”. I like the whole album tho, really the first album I’ve enjoyed listening to in totality since Lana Del Rey’s There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard last spring.
I watched the three part documentary House of Kardashian (Sky Atlantic/Peacock) and thought it had some interesting perspectives to share. It’s funny to me as a cultural critic (and someone who has watched many seasons of Keeping Up with the Kardashians) that I have so little to say about them. I think it’s because we’re at a point where we’re too saturated in them as figures of adoration or derision, and it’s like, what really can I add to that convo and do I even want to? I used to be, about ten years ago, a Kim Kardashian defender. I thought then (and still do now) how she was treated during her first pregnancy was disgusting. I also couldn’t comprehend how anyone could believe she leaked her own sex tape, I thought it was misogynistic, and believed her when she said when the sex tape came out it was the one and only time she was glad her father was dead. And I mean, I guess there’s more than one way to interpret that comment, tho I didn’t consider it at the time.
Now I take Kim with a heavy dose of skepticism. While I do think that Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson were victims of crimes, I am not sure about Kim. Part of what the documentary goes into is the Kardashian’s long standing relationship with and loyalty to close family friend Joe Francis, one of the world’s more disgusting people, the pioneer of Girls Gone Wild (so glad Gen Z was spared this). He used to date Kourtney. He is interviewed from his home in Mexico where he fled after being charged with sexual assault (and other crimes). When they ask Joe if he feels he’s had a positive or negative impact on the world, he cheerfully says, “well, girls don’t have pubic hair anymore, do they?” Anyway. He and others in the documentary say Kim and Ray J were inspired by the fame and notoriety a leaked sex tape garnered Paris Hilton, who Kim was working for at the time. Joe says he was the one who brokered deals for it to be “leaked” and they had to present it like a leak or else it wouldn’t be titillating. The evidence for this is fairly compelling and even Caitlyn Jenner seems to confirm it (“whenever that subject came up, I’d stay out of it. I’d just go golfing.”). Perhaps the family doesn’t care if Joe lets the cat out of the bag at this point— what would it really matter?
Caitlyn Jenner is interviewed pretty extensively here as the representative of the family and it was interesting to hear her reflections on transitioning in the public eye. Trans journalist Zoey Tur comments on how incredible it was for her to see Caitlyn, once known as the world’s greatest athlete, transition so publicly but how disappointing it has been in the years since, Caitlyn having done nothing to really help other people in her community. One of the questions the documentary keeps returning to is what does this powerful family stand for? And the answer is— nothing, nothing but themselves. And it’s true there isn’t a cause or a meaningful affiliation one can connect any Kardashian with except purchasing power.
This documentary did make me wonder tho what random person from high school I barely had a relationship with would be a talking head in my documentary if I ever got super famous lol.
The Last Movie Stars (Sky Atlantic/HBO) is a moving six part documentary about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s relationship and careers. Ethan Hawke is the director and the series features a lot of convos between him and actor/industry friends he is either interviewing or getting to read letters and things for the documentary. I love Ethan Hawke and his creative enthusiasm, but the first episode was a bit like, actors on actors, all getting a little too worked up about “the craft” and it was like, calm down guys. I was worried it was going to be pretentious. But it finds it’s feet and becomes an interesting look at how marriage survives over time. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are often touted as having ideal lives and experiencing an ideal love, but as with every celebrity I learn about, once you scratch the surface a bit, you see no fame or success hides you from death, addiction, divorce, loss, infidelity, breakdowns, illness, disillusionment, broken relationships, crippling pain. Life comes for us all, even if you are beautiful and rich with an Oscar.
I found Paul Newman’s work after the death of his son Scott particularly affecting. Not only in how he channeled a lot of his grief and anger at himself into charity work for drug addiction and sick children, but also in his personal life. His youngest daughter Clea describes how when she went through many years of serious mental health issues, after Scott’s death, her dad attended every therapy session with her regardless of his film schedules, eventually deciding to go see a therapist himself—unusual for a man of that era. I thought it was interesting as well that Newman was not considered an innately gifted actor but one who had to work incredibly hard to get there, coasting a lot on luck (no one was very interested in him until after James Dean died and he started getting all his parts) and finding his way to success playing characters who were grifters and losers—something he thought of himself.
Like Richard Burton, Joanne Woodward has been largely forgotten though she was considered one of the greatest actresses alive. She differed from Newman in that she was immensely naturally talented, and at the beginning of their relationship was considered the big star. The tables turned after Newman’s acclaimed performance in The Hustler and Woodward began having children—after which Newman eclipsed her. I appreciated Woodward’s honesty about having children (three of her own with Newman and helping raise three from his previous marriage) that she’s not sure she’d make that choice again, as she felt she missed out on her real passion, her career.
I Like This
The Caudalie Vinosource-Hydra Overnight Recovery Oil. It’s very gentle with no perfume—it’s jojoba, grape seed and rose essential oils, and not too spendy. I’ve been using it for a couple years now, it lasts a long time and I find it helpful to prevent dry patches I get on my face, especially if windy. If you have dry skin, the best way to apply oil is to clean your face, don’t dry it off with a towel, but put your moisturiser directly on to the wet skin and then let that soak in for a few minutes and apply the oil straight on top. You might feel a little goopy for ten minutes or so but it really does help! This advice does not come from me personally but from the many dermatologists I’ve worked with.