#7 Culture Fix
A farewell to Ken, underdogs, the power of styling the self, a voice to remember and a writer to cherish.
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.
I have a confession to make. The only reading I’ve been doing since the last Culture Fix has been the booklet on Life in the UK as circumstances have made me realise that it’s about time I abandoned any principles in favour of pragmatism and become a British citizen.
Those of you who have gone through the pain of parting with money to feel safe in this country after Brexit will surely understand my conflicting feelings on the matter.
Anyway, as I’ve spent the last week memorising information that I doubt the average British person knows, I’ve realised that whoever came up with the test questions knew exactly where they were doing. I’m sure they had a great time pushing the limits of how much random shit they could get away with before anyone noticed.
The other reading I’ve been doing is Dune Messiah as March was the month in which I lived in Arrakis, at least mentally. In case you’ve gone through a similar self-absorbing obsession triggered by the released of Dune Part II I’d like to take this opportunity to recommend this analysis by
on Dune’s world building, this piece on the names of Dune by and this New Yorker article on the language of Dune.And talking to obsessions that are coming to an end, it’s time to bid farewell to Ryan Gosling’s Ken as the Barbenheimer era is finally a thing of the past and the actor is currently immersed in the press tour of his new film with Emily Blunt, The Fall Guy.
In between interviews he’s found time to send off Ken properly while embracing this new acting chapter. It’s been a pleasure to watch Gosling chanel the Kenergy since July 2023 and all the way to his stellar Oscar performance in February. Ken will be greatly missed but thanks to Ryan Gosling he will live in our hearts forever.
Since the last instalment of The Culture Fix I’ve also shared my thoughts on London’s rental market and housing crisis, which is as unmatched as its cultural scene, and I’ve also resumed my tech newsletter, which has been received with jubilant enthusiasm by my readers. My tech nw subscribers are people I know in real life and I respect professionally, so I’m over the moon with their real life feedback, too.
It’s very easy to forget that whoever is writing what you are reading online is a real person who may be questioning what the point of sharing their thoughts with strangers is. With that in mind, it’s great when the people you know tell you they enjoy reading what you have to say and take the time to subscribe to make sure they keep reading you.
Short Reads
— Two great pieces on the harrowing world of online dating: Death by situasionship and Swiping and Dating Preferences
— And a natural segue: people are getting emotionally attached to chatbots and already falling in love with Dan (ChatGPT voice)
— Clean-living students blamed for nightclub closures
— The great teen babysitter shortage
— Why millennials are quitting the rat race
— The time, life and brain-space-saving power of a uniform
— That's how it works when you're a woman on the internet
— The dawn and demise of retail disruptors: How the last 20 years changed shopping
— College tuition in the USA approaching $100,000 a year
— Who is reading what and why?
And also
— An evening with Percival Everett
Percival Everett was recently in London to present his new novel James and I’m so glad my friend Miguel (I have to mention him as otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to this) convinced me to join him and other friends of his.
I’ve only discovered Everett’s writing recently but he was as funny, witty, articulate and warm in person as he comes across in his writing. It was such a refreshing revelation as most writers I’ve seen at events are usually a bit dull in person compared to their page self.
Out of the many interesting things that were said during the conversation he had with author Guy Gunaratne this sentence stuck with me:
“To make decisions into the world you have to be free and that’s why I decided to move my characters 20 years into the future as it was easier than to move the Civil War”
Listening to him reflect on the creative process behind his latest novel James with those words brought to mind the sentence “You’re not a tree, you can move”, something I heard years ago during a period when I felt stuck in all aspects of life.
While Everett’s words are to be understood in the context of the fictional subversion on the classic Huckleberry Finn they are nonetheless a useful reminder that if we feel imprisoned by the present maybe it’s because our freedom lies ahead of us and we need to move towards it.
After all we are not a tree.
Funnily enough, the next Everett novel that I have lined up is, drum roll, The Trees.
Series
— Monk
The joys of Netflix is that you can reconcile with shows you dismissed or ignored when they were on tv. Monk is definitely one of those. To say that I’m in love with Adrian Monk would be an understatement. This has to be one of the funniest shows created, mixing comedy with detective fiction (a favourite combination), and which also happens to get better with every new season as the characters take a life of their own. I don’t know if the reason I find the show so hilarious is because I share a surprisingly high number of ticks and obsessions with Monk or because at the same time I can relate to the despair of those around him.
However, my favourite thing about this series is Monk’s brutal honesty and lack of filters when it comes to speaking his mind and discomfort.
Captain Stottlemeyer (entering a derelict scene inside Monk’s new house): Holy moly, what happened here?
Monk: I should have never bought this house. I should have waited for something better to come along. Like death.
Films
Matteo Garrone has crafted a beautiful tale of survival and hope led by a brilliant cast that asks uncomfortable questions on the value of a human life, who gets to dream about a better future and who doesn’t, who is worth saving and why compassion and empathy are perhaps the only superpowers that we need in an increasingly dehumanised society that punishes those who try to act with decency and humanity. Garrone’s story, albeit fictional, is anchored in so many stories that are real across the Mediterranean, including the case of the Sea Watch 3 rescue in 2019, when captain Carola Rackete defied Matteo Salvini and proceded to rescue 53 immigrants at sea.
In a similar vein to Garrone’s film, The Teachers’ Lounge puts uncomfortable questions on the table this time centred around the unresolved thetfs that take place at a progressive school. The movie casts a look at prejudice and explores the fine line that divides right from wrong and the irreversible domino effect of the consequences that will follow upon crossing it. Personally, the end was a big anticlimax, but the unfolding of the story will have you question your ideas about fairness and justice several times over.
You know when you read incredible reviews of a film and it gets recommended to you over and over and you finally watch it and it meets all expectations and then some? Well, that’s Lady Bird for you. This wonderful coming-of-age tale directed by Greta Gerwig had me feeling all the feelings and for a moment I had to pinch myself to check I hadn’t reverted to my teenage self as I watched Saorsie Ronan go through the motions of that liminal phase in life when we’re in the verge of adulthood but can’t quite touch it yet as we yearn to trade the boredom of familiar settings and dynamics for the excitement of the unfamiliar ones.
Dev Patel’s directorial debut is a true labor of love given all the challenges he had to face - from Covid forcing him to relocate production from India to Indonesia to him breaking his hand on day 1 on set in a movie that is action-packed and where he’s the leading man.
I don’t know which words I could use to do justice to this tale of revenge where the underdog fights the establishment. While there are glimpses of Slumdog Millionaire, Monkey Man ventures into much darker territory. Its in media res narrative took a while to get into, but once I did I was on board with everything that was happening and couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, not even in the most violent sequences.
I’m really impressed with the many layers the story has and how it brings together the myth of Hanuman (which I learned about years ago in Bali and symbolises karma and devotion), the festival of Diwali which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, and a classic revenge story but told in a fascinating way, also visually - so many beautiful frames and scenes. My favourite was Dev Patel against a red background exiting the elevator towards the end of the film.
For those who think of Patel as a strong candidate to replace Daniel Craig in the Bond franchise after watching this, sorry to disappoint you but Patel is interested in telling his own stories and committing to Bond will get in the way. Besides, he had already stated he didn’t want to be a tokenistic hire. And he is right to prioritise his own filmmaking as Monkey Man has been such a treat. Looking forward to what he comes up with next.
— Frank and Back to Black
I’ve seen Back to Black, the Amy Winehouse biopic, and was wondering whether I should include it under the previous section but I’ve decided against it. And the reason why is because the film has taken me back to her music, which is a great way to remember her. In fact, the first thing I did after leaving the cinema was to play You Know I’m No Good as I headed towards Camden Market, where a mural with her face had appeared overnight to promote the film.
The first time I listened to her I was in Naples waiting for a train and Rehab was playing through the speakers at the station. I didn’t know who she was, but I was immediatly captured by her voice and her music. When I moved to Camden a few years ago I would walk down the streets listening to Tears Dry Own Their Own full blast as the song put me in a very good mood. I couldn’t have wished for a better soundtrack or neighbourhood to begin a new chapter of my life in London.
Go an see the movie if you must, but go back to her music by all means. Amy’s voice can do no wrong.
One of the many joys of living in North London is the access to green spaces at your doorstep such as Hampstead Heath, a leafy lung from which it’s possible to contemplate the smog of the city of London from atop the pure air of Parliament Hill. As my sister was here for Easter I took her for a muddy walk in the heath that led us all the way to Kenwood House, which is free to visit. Probably the only house in London where you can step in without having to donate a kidney first.
I had been here previously, but I’m always impressed by the extensive art collection (which includes works by Rembrant, John Signet Sargent, Vermeer, Frans Hals and Thomas Gainsborough among others) and its dreamy library. I could live there and maybe one day I will.
The house sits on an enviable position on Hampstead Heath, overlooking a pond and sourranded by a lovely garden and being on the grounds feels like stepping into a different era. In fact Kenwood House’s timeless beauty has been used for films on several occasions, including this one with my favourite Englishman of all time.
— Sargent and Fashion Exhibiton | Tate Britain (until 7th July)
If you like art, fashion, people watching and spending a couple of hours in a great setting, this is your exhibition. While I was familiar with John Singer Sargent’s paintings I didn’t know to what extent he was a Mario Testino of sorts of the late XIX and early XX centuries.
This exhibition focuses mostly on portraits that depict prominent individuals, both in the US and Europe, that sat for Singer and whose personality comes alive in the paintings through their clothes and the way they are styled, something Sargent was very particular and meticulous about.
I learned that Sargent loved styling his sitters and he encouraged female models to dress in black as he thought it a sign of utmost elegance and refinement at a time when black was linked to mourning. I found that very interesting and considering he spent a lot of time in Paris I wonder if Sargent’s work might have influenced Coco Chanel in some way through his portraits of elegant society women in clothes and poses that sometimes were a bit too adventurous for the time.
Like the portrait of Virginie Gautier, which caused a stir when Sargent revealed it at the Salon of 1884 in Paris as the original showed Madam Gautier posing with the right strap of her dress slipping off her shoulder, which was deemed highly indecent and led Sargent to repaint the strap and keep the painting in the dark until 1915, when he sold it to the Museum of Art in New York.
Abroad is an independent publication about identity and belonging, living in between cultures and languages, the love of books, music, films, creativity, life in London, and being human in the age of artificial intelligence.
I went to see Back to Black as well and then listened to her first album when I left. The woman who played Amy was amazing, I think the film didn’t live up to Winehouse’s legacy though. Still appreciated going back to her music, like you say :)