#14 Culture Fix

The year of brain rot, Gladiator 2: The Musical, Cruel Summer, About a Boy reunion, unlikeable female characters, the healing power of theatre and Switzerland's love for reggeaton.

Dec 19, 2024

The Culture Fix is the place where I share the books, films, music, articles, interviews, plays, exhibitions, places, and even food, I’ve enjoyed recently.

Recommendations may refer to content in either English, Spanish, French or Italian and sometimes not available in English. But since this is a publication called Abroad written by a multilingual foreigner in London, and hopefully appealing to those curious to explore beyond their own borders, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Ok, here we go: last Culture Fix edition of 2024.

I hope you have all been holding space for it in the same way people have done for the lyrics of Defying Gravity because otherwise I’m going to be very disappointed.

Of course you can say yes now and then comment later that you didn’t quite know what I meant by that, which is exactly what Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have said about that viral interview question that had everyone wondering when the Wicked press tour would be coming to an end because it was dangerously one more finger-stroke away from turning into a pink and green iteration of the Willy Wonka experience that traumatised the good people of Glasgow at the beginning of the year.

Mercifully, GenZ have worked their magic and captured the spirit of the Wicked press tour on numerous social media parodies, which have been the true light of the day of this PR tunnel.

I don’t know how you all feel about the end of the year but I’ve reached the finishing line with barely any hope in the future after the over exposition to news about the US elections, the ongoing war conflicts, the unstoppable effects of climate change -in particular the catastrophic floods in Spain-, the increasing indifference of governments towards the importance of prioritising and funding a good public and universal health system -a hot topic both in the US and the UK-, and what for me has been the very unfortunate highlight of the year: l’affaire Pelicot, which has unlocked a whole new set of fears and anxieties that will keep me away from any men for the whole length of 2025, 2026, and most likely 2027. May round that up until 2030.

With so much doom and gloom going on in the world, it is only natural that we crave escapism and dopamine in buckets, which in the era of social media come in the shape of cat videos, buying Paul Mescal’s wardrobe on Vinted (he’s a UK size 10 and it’s all for a good cause), and saving yet another book recommendation that we’ll never get to read because we’re busy scrolling to avoid thinking about our sub-par analogical reality.

No wonder that the Oxford English Dictionary has elected ‘brain rot’ as the word of the year1.

Luckily, here I am to bring you a bit of lightness and hopefully also food for thought (not a feast but I hope substantial enough to see you through until 2025) despite my own frazzled mental state. You don’t have to say it, I will: how very generous of me.

And without further ado, let the cultural(ish) sun shine in.

Short Reads

—How did we get so dumb?
— America’s Vibe Shift, great take on the UnitedHealthcare murder and how the media has failed to highlight the underlying issues of this tragic event.
— How I met my match
— Ted Gioia on the current state of media
— Do you not like sex or do you just not like patriarchal sex?
— What OnlyFans' billions reveal about the market value of male desire
— What the Ancient Greeks Can Teach Us about Innovation
— Smithfield: How it all Began
— I spy another Prince Andrew disaster
— Messy ethics: should we play with the dictator's toys?
— Forbes is cutting ties with freelance writers
— Ben Affleck Says Movies ‘Will Be One of the Last Things Replaced by AI’
— How your (London) stolen phone ends up in China

Books

— A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks
During the summer I read Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan and as soon as I started A Week in December I could see how they were two sides of the same coin. They are in fact companion pieces of sorts as each offers a caleidoscopic overview of London and its complex social fabric pre 2008 financial crash and with religious extremism on the rise (Faulks, 2009) and post Brexit amidst the challenges of the pandemic, a generation obsessed with social status and the breakout of war in Europe (O’Hagan, 2024). After reading both novels, I can’t help but think Faulks paved the way somehow for O’Hagan to continue the story where he left it, bringing us up to speed with who are the equivalent to Faulks’ characters today, after the financial crisis aftermath led us to the economic and social precariousness that have further fractured the social contract. Personally, I’ve found A Week in December slightly more enjoyable as is 1) 200 pages shorter and 2) one of the protagonists is a bitter literary book reviewer who takes great pleasure in bashing every new contemporary novel as ruthlessly as he can. He was by far my favourite.

— The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
Debut novels are always tricky, but what drew me to The Centre -besides its striking cover- was the premise of a story about language learning in a private and highly guarded exclusive centre where people can only get access by recommendation of a former learner. Upon condition of not revealing anything about the centre, learners will walk out in 10 days with complete fluency in any language of their choice. I was expecting the story would invariably lead to AI but I was pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong and I actually prefer the macabre turn the plot takes, which has given me a lot of food for thought. The novel’s climax wasn’t the big bang I was expecting after how the story successfully builds momentum, but it’s perhaps the most plausible conclusion on this dark take about language learning.

— No. 91/92: notes on a Parisian Commute by Lauren Elkin
This is a vignette style account of daily observations during the bus commute to the university where Elkin taught literature. She decided to do a little experiment and use her phone to capture what she observed around her instead of to isolate herself from her fellow commuters. This slim volume is the result and while brief, it manages to evoke that certain je ne sais quoi that immediately places us in Paris and offers us a glimpse into mundane activities against the backdrop of big events, such as the terrorist attacks at Charlie Hebdo and later at Bataclan.

— Unlikeable Female Character: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate by Anna Bogutskaya
I have less than 50 pages left of this fantastic book and I’m sad it’s not another 100 longer. This is a really comprehensive but also clear analysis of how actresses playing the role of the bitch, the trainwreck, the crazy woman or the psycho have opened the door to the liberation of women on screen. Unlikeable Female Character is an exploration of the film and tv narratives, as well as the actresses that decided to embrace less conventional roles (from Bette Davis and Mae West in the 30s and 40s to Kathy Bates in Misery, Rosemund Pike in Gone Girl or Jodi Comer in Killing Eve), that have contributed to real, multidimensional and oh so satisfyingly unlikeable female characters that have the same right as men to indulge in being their complicated selves without the moral burden of being first and foremost likeable for fear of disappointing audiences’ and society’s expectations about them.

Series

— Black Doves
In the movie of my life I’ve always imagined that I’d be played either by Keira Knightley or Rachel Weisz. Which means I’ve greatly enjoyed seeing the former kicking ass in style alongside Ben Whishaw in this highly watchable, fun and festive neo-noir spy thriller.

The premise is simple: a secret organisation has infiltrated the highest echelons of British power through the seemingly inoffensive Helen Webb (Knightley), who is married to the Defense Secretary. However, when someone close to her is murdered, her handler (a chilling Sarah Lancashire) worries that she might have compromised the organisation’s anonimity. While Black Doves doesn’t reinvent the genre, the cast and performances are top notch (Golden Globe nomination for my girl Keira) and it is very refreshing on two fronts.

First, because it reverts the role of the gay best friend and gives Sam, the hitman played by Ben Whishaw, extra depth by adding humour, existential doubt and everyday shenanigans in juxtaposition to his precision as deadly killer. Besides, his relationship with fellow female lesbian killers Williams and Eleanor is one of the best bits of the show. And second because this is a heavily female-led show where the characters, from the seemingly perfect wife portrayed by Knightley to the mob bosses, beat to dust the unlikeable female character stereotype. Season 2 has been confirmed already so counting the days already.

— The Madness
The charismatic Colman Domingo portrays a man on the run wrongly accused of a crime he hasn’t committed in his first foray into streaming shows. So far so formulaic. The Madness diverts from the usual script in that the man he’s killed is the very white leader of a very far-right organisation with secret ties to US politicians for whom he can use his platform to pass on their agenda and influence voting intention. The series captures the tension and fragmentation across North American society, with every episode revealing a bit more into a wider conspiracy where profit, technology and politics are closely intertwined and ready to take no prisoners. A very timely release, I’d say. Watch it if you want to root for Colman Domingo while all odds slowly stack against him as he is in a race against time to clear his name.

Films/Documentaries

— Wham!
In the Anglosphere there are two names forever entangled with Christmas: one is Mariah Carey, the other is Wham! This Netflix documentary tells the origin story and the meteoric rise to fame of George Michael and Andrew Ridgley as the iconic pop duo Wham! through archival interviews and footage from the 70s and 80s. It is mostly an ode to their relationship behind the scenes and how influential they were to each other and how Ridgley’s personality inspired George Michael to become the artist the world has come to know and love. Extremely feel-good vibes and will make you want to revisit the Wham! catalog and dance around to it.

Join me in preventing brain rot from also being the word of the year in 2025 by sharing this post

— The Apprentice
Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong and Maria Bakalova (who plays a clever and fierce young Ivana Trump) are the endgame power trio of this villain origin story about the make and ascend to power of the US President. There was much talk about whether the film would ever be released in the US as it includes a rape scene and earlier in the year film distributors were very hesitant to approach it fearing consequences should Trump be re-elected in the upcoming US elections.

Further testament to how controversial the film has been for some despite the standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival back in May, Sebastian Stan (who plays a young and hapless Trump) was left without a match who wanted to discuss the film and his performance for the latest Variety Actors on Actors series. We can only especulate on the reasons -which can be many and varied- but what stands is that he and Jeremy Strong (truly excellent as NY fixer trailblazer lawyer and Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn) excell on this and put their craft to good use as they let us into the backstage of the social ascend of Trump in the 80s and the values (or lack thereof) that inspired his ruthless pursuit of power. Both Stan and Strong have received Golden Globes nominations for their roles and the only thing I can add is that you should judged this film by yourself. Personally, it was highly satisfying to watch.

— A Different Man
This dark comedy with Sebastian Stan (also nominated to a Golden Globe for this performance), Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson, who is affected by neurofribomatosis -a genetic condition which causes the formation of small tumours and facial disfigurement- is a timely reflection that explores and challenges ideas and perceptions around conventional beauty in the age of filters and how an attractive external appearance is not always the key to solve one’s problems.

For further context, around the time film was released in the UK, Oliver Bromley, a man affected by the same condition as Pearson, was asked to leave a restaurant in South London because he was scaring costumers. Instead of naming and shaming the restaurant, which he had all the right to do, he used the opportunity to talk about his condition and educate the public on what life is like for people affected by neurofibromatosis.

A Different Man is by no means a fluffy kind of movie where everyone is happy in the end and accepts who they are, but rather a satirical look at our collective obsession with looks and a great, less gory companion to The Substance.

— Joy
Based on the true story of the birth of IVF and the first human to have been born thanks to it, Joy follows the work and lives of the team behind this medical achievement: nurse and embryologist Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie), visionary scientist Dr Robert Edwards (James Norton) and surgeon Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy). It would be easy to think of Joy as an easy-viewing film where everyone is happy in the end because our heros eventually succeed. However, this is one of those movies that shows why cinema is a powerful medium to make us reflect on our past history and how shouldn’t take for granted any progress we’ve achieved, medical or otherwise. Confronted with hostility since the beginning of their research, and with personal challenges of their own, the indefatigable perseverance of Purdy, Edwards and Steptoe eventually paid off and made the impossible possible.

— Sing, Sing
Can art redeem us? That’s the question Sing, Sing asks and sets out to answer. Based on a true story and the work of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) programme, we follow Divine G (Colman Domingo) a man who finds himself in jail for a crime he hasn’t committed (seriously, give this poor man a break) and who joins the theatre group at his prison as a way to find purpose during his incarceration. Domingo is joined by a cast of former alumni of the RTA programme in this intimate and poignant account on the therapeutic effect of the arts and how they can bring joy even in the direst circumstances as the group rehearses for the production of an eclectic time-travelling musical comedy titled Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code.

Award Season Special

Because I haven’t done a regular Culture Fix in months, film recommendations have piled up a bit. To spare you reading 50 reviews on films currently competing in the awards circuit I’ve greatly enjoyed Anora, Conclave, Small Things Like These, Blitz, The Room Next Door and The Substance.

I’ve also written extensively about Gladiator II and whether Paul Mescal is convincing as a sad and sexy arena warrior, why Denzel Washington deserves all the awards and more (for the time being he’s been nominated for a Golden Globe), and how much I’ve loved Hugh Grant in Heretic (delighted to see he has secured a Golden Globe nomination for his role as a debonair psycopath fixed with religion)

How often do I think about the Roman Empire? Not often enough

Cristina Carmona Aliaga

November 20, 2024

Read full story

I’ve also seen Wicked and I belong to the category of people who raised an eyebrow at a 3 hour-long film on the first part of a musical -which was the first one I saw in London years ago- but who made a full 180 turn when Defying Gravity ended. Despite what the opening of this newsletter may have you believe, I cried happy tears during that last musical act and can’t believe I have to wait a year for Wicked part 2.

On a side note, respect for Ariana Grande for calling Cynthia Erivo and going over their contracts together to make sure they were financially aligned.

fredasquith

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Of the films in the awards race that have already been released in the UK, I have yet to see Emilia Pérez and Queer (something for the holidays) and of those coming out in early 2025, I look forward to The Brutalist, We Live in Time, Maria, Nosferatu and A Complet Unknown, which has got my attention after Bob Dylan himself gave a nod of approval to Thimotée Chalamet. Who knew the Lisan al-Gaib was into songwriting when not fighting for the freedom of Arrakis and that critics would love him for it.

And also…

— Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult reunion 20 years after About a Boy is the unexpected Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

This is one of Grant’s best movies but also for some reason almost never mentioned in retrospectives of his work. Given that

Nick Hornby

subscribes to this newsletter, and he is the mind behind About a Boy and therefore can make things happen, I’m going to shoot my shot and say that many of us would welcome a sequel, both in book form and film. It could be called About a Man, and this time is Marcus the one who helps Will navigate a new chapter of life as he’s recently lost a loved one. Just an idea. I’m happy to give away any creative rights to see it made. Or read it. Please.

— Denis Villeneuve and Luca Guadagnino in conversation. Little scoop: Call Me By Your Name was instrumental for Villeneuve to cast Thimotée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Dune. Was that peach scene?

— Really enjoyed listening to Cynthia Erivo at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation on preparing vocally and physically to play Elphaba.

— Wicked has also given us the chaotic duo we didn’t know we needed: Jonathan Bailey and Jeff Goldbum.

— I’m catching up with Variety latest Actors on Actors season, which is out now and there are some fantastic pairings. So far I’ve watched Ariana Grande and Paul Mescal sharing their love for musical theatre and Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig talking about their common link to JW Anderson and Luca Guadagnino and their upcoming Knives Out film, where the two clearly bonded over the pain of getting in shape for their roles in Challengers and Bond.

— The Hollywood Reporter Actor’s roundtable, which thankfully includes Sebastian Stan, is giving serious leading man energy.

— Paul Mescal hosted his first Saturday Night Live and has given us the best crossover ever imaginable: Gladiator II: The musical. This is the true Glicked experience musical theatre kids and fervent Mescalites alike have been praying for.

I would pay good money to see Paul Mescal being a happy-go-lucky, campy arena fighter that can slay enemies and high notes with equal panache.

If you add Ryan Gosling as a seasoned Kendiator (there are rumours of a Ken sequel), a perfect killing machine who dreams of playing the lyre and riding his chariot -an inner conflict expressed in his main musical number I Just Kill-, we might be on the brink of breaking any record ever witnessed in cinema history this century or the next. Again, very willing to release any creative rights just to see it made. And maybe be allowed on set a few times to see this gleeful madness first hand.

Interviews/Podcasts

— Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop date with Andrew Garfield is 11-minutes of pure “will they, won’t they” joy.

— Paul Mescal finally answers why his shorts are so short and meets the winner of his lookalike contest

— Sally Rooney in conversation with the NYT on writing and her very healthy approach to detaching herself from reactions to her work

— Bernardine Evaristo talking literature, Audre Lorde, feminism, race and all things identity on this episode of The Book of My Life

— The history and restoration of Notre Dame, and the cohabitation of past and present, is the main topic of this special edition of La Grande Librairie

— Daniel Elk, CEO of Spotify, discusses the future of podcasts and guess what? It’s video!

Spotify Wrapped

Come December I already know that Spotify will come up with some crazy ~~shit~~ stats that will reveal my most listened to song is one I only paid tangential attention for a few weeks in the middle of February when no one living in the greyness of the UK and not able to afford a mid-winter sun holiday is thinking straight. This is to say that I’ve been proved right one more year, which shows what a scam this whole thing is.

While The Struts were my top 2024 artist (I wrote about why you should listen to them for a reason), Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift was not only my most listened to song of 2024, but also I’ve listened to it so many times that I can give the most fervent Swifties a run for their Eras Tour money for indeed I was on the 0.001% of global listeners. Considering that Cruel Summer has made it to the Top 10 most-streamed songs globally that stat suddenly looks a lot less niche as hundreds of millions are now part of that tiny 0.001%. As I said, a total scam.

In my defence, and as duly reported a while back, it was impossible to escape this tune over the summer as it became the unofficial soundtrack of the city while London hosted the Eras Tour in July and August. I also remember the weather was particularly miserable around that time and it rained non stop. Cruel summer indeed.

Taylor made it to the top 5 with one song.

What Spotify Wrapped failed to capture is that I not only listened to Taylor’s original version, but also to this brilliant cover by Teddy Swims. It gives the song an extra layer of melancholy and that breakup vibe that takes an otherwise upbeat pop song into darker territory. Why be playful when you can suffer is the leading principle behind my life and musical choices.

Spotify Wrapped has also revealed some other interesting insights about global tastes.

For instance, Riptide by Vance Joy - a song from 2013- was Australia’s most listened to song in 2024. I’ve been singing the words wrong to this song (he he) since the first time I heard it so I’m glad to see that ukulele sound is still killing it.

Across Europe, I was a bit disappointed at seeing that reggeaton seems to be the only music genre my fellow countrymen are interested in as it is a bit reductive. More interesting, however, it is to see a musical style that is responsible for increasing the global birth rate making a dent into the playlists of the Swiss and Luxembourgers, especially heading towards end of spring and over the summer. Dale duro papi knows no borders.

Apparently this is how they roll in Switzerland and Luxembourg

The UK on the other hand shows an interesting mix of alternative/indie, with pop and a bit of rock thrown into the mix, which is very reflective of the British artists I’ve come to love over the years.

Pop and hip hop/rap are the norm across most of Europe, but Slovakia and Austria break a bit the mold with rock featuring a bit more prominently, particularly in the former. I’d be curious to know which artists they listen to so if any of you has inside information, please share in the comments.

One artist that I’d like to highlight from the above charts is Mahmood, one of the most original and successful young Italian acts in the past few years as well as a solid Sanremo bet. In fact, Mahmood won the festival in 2019 with Soldi and in 2022 with Brividi, a duet with Blanco, becoming the Italian representative at Eurovision on both years as a result.

While Tuta Gold didn’t give him his third Sanremo victory, it went on to number 1 in Italy and entered the Spotify global charts as it was the most streamed song for week 7 in Italy as a direct result of the track being his entry for the contest.

I can’t talk about Tuta Gold without mentioning the absolutely hilarious cover by the comedy ensemble Contenuti Zero which features Tutankhamun trying to explain how his tomb isn’t really cursed. If you speak Italian, do check Contenuti Zero out because everything they create is pure gold. Their Dante and Virgilio sketches are fantastic.

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Last but not least, I feel a traitor for not having embraced Brat summer and remained mostly oblivious to Chappell Roan’s music until now. To make up for both sins, here’s Franz Ferdinand (they’re one of my top 5 2024 artists so it makes sense they make an appearance) covering Good Luck, Babe!

2024 has been the year of embracing theatre so the last bit of cultural recommendations is about upcoming plays plus a couple of exhibitions that I have in mind to kickstart 2025 on the right cultural note.

There is something very cathartic about theatre and I feel lucky to live in a city where there’s an embarrasment of choice when it comes to stage productions. Two of the plays that captivated my attention particularly, Giant at The Royal Court and The Years at Almeida Theatre, are transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2025 and in both you can see Romola Garai on top acting form.

In case you’d like a sneak preview, I wrote about her performance in The Years during a key moment in the play that provoked a small commotion in the audience.