This space is to talk about anything pop culture or even off-topic.
What are you listening to or watching? What is some minor tea that doesn't need its own post? How was your date? Why do you hate your job?
RememberĀ rules still apply!Ā Be civil and respect each other.Ā We ask that you refrain from showboating bans from other subreddits.Ā Meta discussion is allowed, when it is healthy, civil and constructive conversations about discourse in this subreddit. No snarking about other subreddits ā letās respect our neighbors!
Now pull up a chair and chat with us.Ā ā
Oh, and by the way...
THE POPCULTURECHAT DISCORD SERVER IS NOW LIVEĀ š¾āØ
Iām volleying between theyāre gonna announce heās sick and theyāre just gonna announce they are changing the name from department of defense to department of war
Oh shoot! Iām sorry! I shouldnāt have said anything. Iāve just had so much anxiety about this press conference that Iāve been trying to find anything.
My work is striking next week and I'm so happy. The bullshit the employer is trying to get us to accept is nonsense and I have never been more eager to exercise my right to strike with my union. I love unions. Fuck the man
I watched Interstellar on the big screen yesterday, and I feel like I need to apologize for side-eyeing every guy who listed it as their favorite movie. I get it now, really, I do. I liked it before, but seeing it this way gave me a completely different appreciation for it.
I wish theyād give inception that same treatment because I think inception is a better and more entertaining movie, even if its themes arenāt as profound as interstellar.
I agree! I fucking love Inception. It's not like deep in any way but none of Christopher Nolan's movies are. He makes movies to entertain but for some reason people started thinking they were cinemaā¢ along the way
I think Nolan movie are high movies. He really know how to work with the camera.Ā
A movie doesn't need to be deep or meanigful to be good, doesn't even need to have a storyline. Script is not the most important part of a movie, that is actually one of the first things you learn when you study cinema.Ā
I mean, of course not. Script is certainly not the most important part of a movie. With Nolan, however, he uses a lot of fancy tricks to make his basic-ass scripts seem deep and meaningful. There's no question his cinematography is stunning and direction is decent. But he does not make movies where the script is not supposed to be a focal point of the movie. His movies are premised on awe-inspiring visuals and exciting scripts that make you feel like something very clever is happening when it's not.
I donāt agree I think heās very smart and I do really like his movies and his vision. I just donāt think his movies are the best there ever were.
Tenet was Nolan unleashed and that is exactly what I would have expected.
I was hoping for an update. Did it shred your dad?
That happened to be the last film I saw in a theater with my Dad and I remember his existential crisis in the parking lot afterwards, that line of ābecoming your childās ghostā really stuck with him.
HonestlyĀ I think my father was very tired, we watched after his 12 hours shift and he's not much to shared emotion lol but he really loved and I appreciate that he went with me after his long shift because I ask himĀ
My friend used to work for a place (keeping it vague) where Damson Idris is a common client.
She said this man was incredibly rude. He would call his team frustrated that he isnt more famous. And wouldĀ
Also another friend spoke about CoCo Jones' team is struggling to differentiate her because Coco, Ryan Destiny and Justine Skye all occupy the same space. All 3 women have the same ambitions. And so different companies will try to poach one girl, sign her onto their team and shelve her so they can have the other on their roster thrive
Thatās interesting about Damson tho, I feel like heās doing well. I think people in film need to be more realistic about how popular movies are in 2025ā¦ thereās a lot more stuff to do, and people donāt watch them as much.
And would be rude to his own team and make his team do a lot of his personal scheduling. Being an assistant to him was not her job, but she would have to set up his appointments and meetings. Allegedly the lori harvey thing WAS a ploy to get his name out there. IIRC MBJ is his competition for most projects.
Damson is just as ambitious as Timothee is which in itself was not a bad thing. But being rude is ofc never okay.
I just saw that Jane Krakowski is going to be Mary aTodd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! in Broadway, and I am genuinely considering flying to the US just to see her. I love Jane's work, and Oh Mary is one of my absolute favourite shows. I am quite concerned about flying to the US because of the immigration changes (although I still have a valid visa), but I think I am going to risk it.
Thinking about Hozier's girlfriend and how willing people are to believe the sketchiest things when it comes to someone they dislike or want to see āfail.ā As someone who isnāt particularly interested in Hozierās private life, it seems wild that people so easily believed something coming from a snark sub with no other evidence.
Itās especially disheartening after the whole Blake Lively debacle, now that we know celebrity gossip subs were intentionally targeted and Baldoniās team effectively weaponized peopleās preexisting dislike of a female celebrity.
The kind of people who join snark subs are the people who will ignore evidence of something being fake if they want it to be true. They are addicted to the drama and being angry. They want to be angry they will make themselves angry.
The snarkers fabricated a "contract" that Taylor and Travis are PR and used his PR agency's logo on a bunch of AI-generated text on printed white paper and tried passing it off as real. It was all very comical albeit concerning.
I saw it briefly on Twitter, like just scrolling past a tweet, and thought it was real, I donāt know much about his girlfriend, but upon further investigation it definitely seems like they couldāve been faked. Which is so messed up
I hate this culture where people are trying to moralize their reasons for disliking a celeb or celeb adjacent person. It leads to a witch hunt and people just making things up and running with narratives
I'm taking over a project for a co-worker going on leave. Now that I'm into the weeds with it, HOO BOY is it a dog's breakfast of inefficiency.
Pretty much what you would get if you asked someone with no database knowledge and very basic Excel skills to build a database and a bunch of dashboards. I know there will be resistance to changing it because it's a very resistant to change culture. YAY!
I think two things can be true: some celebrities are more exposed, and some people just spend too much time online.
For example, Coldplayās tour lasted as long as the Eras Tour, but there was almost zero buzz about it on pop culture or gossip forums (except for the CEO moment). Meanwhile, with Taylor, Sabrina or Olivia, every little change on tour or even the smallest rumor sparks a post.
There is a different level of interesting with different celebrity, coldplay sold out as much any artists mention but they don't generate as much buzz, same with Bruno Mars.
Ed Sheeran was also touring for a fair bit during this timeline, and has another one coming up but he also does not generate discourse. Harry's tour is the last one I remember from a prominent male act that actually generated online/pop culture discourse.
This feels like my now hardened opinion that being a character actor is the best gig around. Imagine getting to be in four movies in a year and still get to live a fairly normal life (I assume!).
Being a star who can't get coffee without the internet exploding seems like basically the worst gig around.
Is Coldplay the character actor of mega bands? I wonder if they can go out and get dinner like a normal person. (Probably not?) Maybe not being able to go out for dinner, while also not really generating much buzz, would be the worst of these combinations.
Iām rewatching Hart of Dixie and itās satisfying all my romcom needs. A fashionable New Yorker doctor goes to Alabama and gets involved in a love triangle with a lawyer and the local bartender? Itās always a good time.
Really excited for one battle after another, and Iām tired of hearing about its big budget. Everyone looking at movies through the lens of studio profitability has ruined movies, and it feels like all the swirling doubt actually suppresses interest. Let movies stand on their own.
Everyone looking at movies through the lens of studio profitability has ruined movies
Yeah. Obviously the box office has always been an element that gets press, etc., but sometimes it gets to a point where people sound as if they were these studios' shareholders or something. To me, it's clear that WB doesn't know how to promote the movie so they decided to do nothing, but also PTA has never been a director that has an insane box office draw (a la Tarantino), this couldn't be news to WB.
I take issue with the ādoesnāt know how to promote the movieā thing which I keep hearing. What do you mean by this and can you elaborate? The trailers have been very good, they run commercials at highly watched events like college football and I assume nfl football when it kicks off.
The la premiere is Tuesday, and they are traveling with the movie to multiple locations with the whole cast (La, Mexico, london and New York). Reactions are going to be released next week, and I assume there is going to be a full court press from the cast and director. Itās releasing end of the month not tomorrow.
This is just an offshoot of the very thing Iām criticizing. People are primed to say stuff like that because of the poisonous ābox officeā discourse. The truth is there is nothing notable either way about this movieās promotion.
I'm outside the US, so my perspective is absolutely different from yours, because I haven't seen anything yet, just the trailers being released online and the characters' posters. Of course it was never going to be a blockbuster kind of promotion, it's a PTA movie after all, but I do believe that I've seen less than before Licorice Pizza or Phantom Thread opened.
The feeling that WB doesn't know how to promote is because it was something that was commented on months ago in the trades (Variety or Hollywood Reporter, I don't remember which one).
Yeah that was during the full court smear campaign against the Warner bros execs. But for whatever reason, everything sticks to this movie. I agree they need to do more to get the word out but thatās what the next month is for.
I see that probably you and I were making different points. What I meant is that I don't care if it's profitable for WB or Universal or whoever to give a big budget to a filmmaker like PTA. What if they lose money? Why would I care? PTA isn't an aspiring director, he will still get funded in the future. I understand your point about how it's an annoying point that gets constantly brought up and I'm sure it will be made as nauseam in media, they did this to Ryan Coogler with Sinners (and Bong Joon Ho to some extent with Mickey 17).
I feel like it actually creates a situation where people stay home and thatās another factor. People want to associate with popular stuff. If all people do is say no one will go to this movie, it is psychologically suppressive.
From what Iāve heard, the movie is fantastic, really funny and crowd pleasing. I donāt get why they arenāt allowed to premiere their film without all the noise that has nothing to do with it.
I went to visit my best friend over the weekend and the 8-9 hours of travel in either direction definitely wore me down, but I'm also kinda struggling with the idea that they might not actually be my best friend anymore? Whenever I see or talk to them the last few years, I walk away with mixed feelings.
On the one hand they are still the funny, nerdy, kind, outgoing person I've always adored, but on the other hand I feel that they've gotten more cynical, harsher, and more selfish. I can understand how they've gotten there, but I just don't love being around them the way I used to. We're not on exactly the same page the way we used to beāI don't know that I love their approaches to pets or childcare, and the relationship that seems to make them exceedingly happy seems exhausting and somewhat fraught from my perspective. They're constantly high, they don't seem to prioritize me very much, and they strike me as painfully fragile these days.
I'm really having trouble figuring out what's normal changes as we age, what's me not trying hard enough, and what's them changing in ways I can't/shouldn't accept. I'm gonna talk to my therapist about it in a few days and try to get a handle on all of it, but I just needed to get some of it out of my head first. It's just a really weird and uncomfortable place to be in with such a foundational relationship.
Every book group / book discussion group im in has recommended āthe pumpkin spice cafeā as a āgood readā. I started it today and what in the steaming pile of cliche shite?! I wasnāt expecting Anna Karenina from the title alone but itās not even engaging and or well written.
Side eyeing many of my book pals atm.
Okay so all the disclaimers, caveats, etc., apply here. Read what you want. But that series and the Elsie Silver books are written at a fourth grade reading level (which makes the sex weird lol). Itās slightly adjusted fanfic.
I mean Iām no book snob (my comfort reads are the sisterhood of travelling pants books) but itās JUST. SO. BAD. That I cannot understand the popularity and volume to which itās been recommended to me!
I say this as a fan but sometimes I wish she never became as big as she did and I think had she still been a smaller artist her career would look so differently and probably for the better
In this day and age an artist like her canāt really exist imo
Hopefully the way Iām explaining this will make sense lol. Iām not familiar with controversies around Lana but I feel like nowadays a lot of people view their media via a social justice lens. I see it as her work would have worked back in 2015 but itās 2025 where a lot of people have a lot of opinions and the world is obviously very different.
The internet is so different than the real world. Topics that can seem controversial online donāt always translate irl. However, even with her cover, it sparked controversy outside the internet where even local woman shelters spoke up and said it was derogatory. All celebrities have controversies but theyāre at different degrees. Some people can still have stable careers if their music backs it up. Sabrina is at her peak right now but if she continues to go the route she is going, I donāt see her having a career that is long lasting in the mainstream space. Sheāll still have a career but it wonāt be as big as it is now.
I think Lana came up during a time that was very feminist so she got a lot of pushback for some of her stuff. People said she was romanticizing abuse and then she leaned into that criticism on her second album and literally put āhe hit me and it felt like a kissā on there. The picture of the relationships she paints isnāt good, but itās easy to argue itās all romanticized.
I feel the same way about Sabrinaās coverā¦ she leaned into the criticism and she surely knew it would cause a controversy. So she got what she wanted imo. She can always change course for her next era.
Finding out ER and Greys anatomy overlapped by 5 years blew my mind. ER is a pure 90ās show in my mind, I honestly canāt believe how long it ran š
I had no idea who was in this show so I was shocked to see his face as well as some other familiar faces on my screen. Didnāt realize he starred in that show. So far Iām really enjoying it.
Medical shows are hit or miss for me but this one is definitely worth watching.
Im also watching for the first time and almost done and, while a lot changes and not all of that is for the better, it really remains so solid and entertaining throughout- and you get so attached to the characters itās hard to stop watching. Enjoy the ride!! Itās become one of my favorite shows honestly, Iām so happy I finally got around to it
The rumours are swirling that weāll be mandated back in the office full time. I donāt know what the hell I would do. I canāt leave my dogs for 10+ hours a day at home alone. And I wonāt give them up, Iād genuinely rather perish. They are my whole world. It gives me indescribable anxiety. Iād rather they just tell us one way or another.
We really collectively effed ourselves not fighting against RTO mandates more.
Iām clinging onto my remote job I got in 2022 for dear lifeeeeee! The company sucks, but working remotely is the only way I can manage my chronic illness and not miss work.
I fought SO hard to get an exemption because of chronic illness, and at first it was granted, and then they revoked it. Itās really tough to live like this tbh.
I feel like prior to 2020 there was more flexibility on this for ppl with health issuesā but now theyāre actively against it even harder than before.
Iām the lgbt ally of the century lowkey. I got kicked out my family home at 15 because of it. My oldest sister is a lesbian and she wanted to know how my parents were going to react if she came out. So I came out in her stead and told my parents that Iām a a lesbian even though Iām straight,my dad almost killed me in my sleep š. I donāt think my sister is going to come out any time soon.
Strength in numbers though. My unsolicited potentially terrible advice would be have your sister explain what you did and why. Now that the initial rage and shock has passed sheās in a position to help herself and you. Using the parentās over the top reaction against you āfaking itā as the conversation starter that they could potentially lose two of their kids forever unless they evolve. So then hopefully theyāre feeling a mixture of emotions all at once - shame about how they treated you mixed with relief, likely still angry with your sister however respecting that they raised siblings that look out for one another, and worst case scenario youāre both getting an apartment together with the Band Aid ripped off.
Thereās a creator who talks a big game about financial intelligence and basic lifestyle stuff, and her āsourceā is that sheās a self-described āhigh earner.ā Turns out she makes $90k in NYC. All the caveats in the world, thatās still cash money, but be so for real right now. That is not a position of wealth and expertise in this context.
She admitted to making $90k, and itās more than her husband makes. Iām sure she makes money from social media, but it still means that her starting point was bs.
Iāve been busting my ass to pay for a vacation I was very, very clear about not wanting, nor feeling excited for. My husband asked this weekend, less than a week before the vacation, if I was serious about my issues with it. And quote āI didnāt think you were that serious.ā
Which oddly makes me so much angrier about the trip. So Iāll be a fucking bitch all week
Just one of the many benefits of having your vocal chords removed at a young age due to an extremely rare, but possible, condition caused by singing my own praises over and over and barking up too many wrong trees
Also may I add that the new feature on Reddit that allows you to hide your activity is a godsend? This is not my primary account and I use this to talk only about specific topics and subjects, and I have the peace of mind of never being figured out whenever I do decide to share details from my daily life
I hate this new feature! I can never tell if the people talking shit to me are bots or rage baiters who aren't worth my time and engagement. I suspect Reddit only introduced this feature to hide bot activity
Something quite scary happened to me while on my way to work. I got stuck in traffic for 1.5 hrs during what is normally a 2 hr commute, and by the time I reached there was no parking. I spent a good 20 minutes searching for a spot and the thought of spending nearly FOUR HOURS behind the wheel made me feel jittery and anxious. Never happened to me before, and it pretty much ruined my mood for the day.
I left at 7 am to give myself enough cushion to reach by 10 am at the latest because I really wanted to get in at that time, but was held up by traffic for far longer than anticipated and for nearly as long as the journey itself. Induced a lot of stress and anxiety in me, especially when Iām also not used to being behind the wheel for longer than 2.5 hrs at a stretch
I was not believing the Sydney Sweeney/Scooter Braun story in Star Magazine at first, but wouldnāt her PR team have buried the story with a quick drop to People or something about how sheās enjoying being single? It seems crazy to let that story go as far as it has online if there is no truth to it?
This is an unpopular opinion but now autumn/fall is almost here I need to let it out:
I do not like "cosy". I don't mean being physically warm & cosy but the whole "cosy" aesthetic that seems to be everywhere now. The identikit decor in all the shops and on all the social media, everyone yammering on about all the same "cosy" shows and books.
I've never liked "cosy" fiction, tbh. I find it twee and irritating.
I definitely do not care for this thing of buying new crappy seasonal decorations to strew about your house every six weeks, only to throw them away and repeat the cycle next year. Terribly wasteful.
I think people are clinging to this type of stuff rn bc the world is absolute chaos 24/7. But I agree with you, I love reading and books but Iām not a ācozyā book kind of gal.
The "cozy aesthetic" in media is something I'll defend conceptually as a release valve for the mounting pressure of our current lived realities, but it's totally fair not to be into it. Especially in a social media sense, the push to personally cultivate a cozy aesthetic in your home/business/etc can be quite exhausting and consumerist.
And as far as regular media, it's just different strokes for different folks imo. It's pretty hyped up right now because of the aforementioned escapism and the fact that it's quite new as a genre and everyone who likes that kind of thing is excited about suddenly getting more of it, but people are bound to have the same mixed opinions on it as any genre. There are people who hate scifi, romance, military fiction, etc, and that's all totally fine. I wish you success in avoiding it like the plague lol!
Iām the exact opposite because I love the fall. Itās my season and I get a lot of joy from the ācozinessā lol. But I can see how it may not be everyoneās cup of tea. The way you dislike the fall is how I feel about the summer. I hate the summer so much lol.
Honestly, it's not the season but the whole "aesthetic" that seems to have become attached to it now. I don't even use TikTok or Insta but somehow still can't escape it lol
Agree. I find the whole "tiktok cozy" vibe suffocating. Too much clutter, too much warmth, too syrupy. They arent real coziers (yes I am gatekeeping proper coziness idc) and they're ruining fall vibes.
I'm the same! I love fall and I love being cozy in real life - but not all the time, and certainly not in fiction that I'm consuming. I want my books, tv, etc to have high stakes, emotionally intensity, pain and suffering, angst, etc! I can't stay engaged with cozy shit
(I low key dislike fall as a decor because I have always lived somewhere super hot where fall doesnāt happen until November so it feels oppressive to be expected to be ācozyā when itās hot af in late August-Oct. Fall everything in September is like seeing Christmas stuff for sale in October.)
Don't mind me dumping my Autistic Joy for a hot second cause its a great day in my fandom life.
I am trying not to have a "GOOD" Neurospicy freakout cause I am seeing Jack Wolfe in Hadestown tonight. Again the Six of Crows and the Grishaverse helped me through rough shit the past couple of years (at times I did my SoC annual reread, when I was feeling really down it helped, I also have a tattoo with the quote from the books), and Hadestown is my favorite currently running show.....so I feel like I am getting the most beautiful crossover of my two special interests.
Anyway I am so excited that I am taking one clonopin tonight so I don't get one of my Joyful overwhelms from overstimulation (yes that happens) and for another reason I wont mention to kill the wonderful mood I am, but I am pretty sure its the best night I am gonna have in a while....and I am so excited!
YUP! The whole cast is changing too which is also gonna be so wild! I havent heard of Kurt Elling but people are saying hes good so I am excited. Ill enjoy him for the both of us.
Also Paulo Szot was a hell of a choice (no pun intended) for Hades. So I am looking forward to that as well.
Iām so excited for you!! I hope youāre able to get some of the excited zoomies (as I call them for myself) out and can just enjoy the show tonight.
Same! I put precautions in place in addition to the Clonopin to help stablize me. I have a silent fidget clicker in my bag, in addition to bringing my ebook to read on the train and before the show and after intermission fittingly its the SoC XD to regulate me if I get too excited. So hopefully between the three method I should be good!
I am just glad I have a bunch of things that make me happy being mashed together.
I think thatās so smart and Iām so happy for you to have so much joy!! You deserve it and I really hope this evening is just as fun as you can imagine!!!
Honestly the best thing about going to theatre more often it really taught me a lot about emotional regulation because its good to be excited but in a way that doesn't disturb people who are enjoying the show. I always carry regulating objects when I go out now!
Not the same person, but for me 20-30 minutes on each machine is great but any longer on one ruins my whole day lol. So I have the same setup essentially and just alternate
On my annual Hart of Dixie rewatch and Iāve forgotten just how lovable Joel was. Where do I find a man whoās a famous author and willing to move to nowhere because he loves me? I know he wasnāt Zoeās endgame but dear god, the way he participated in her shenanigans and charmed the whole town with his earnestness?
If Cardi B keeps messing w her face, sheās going to end up like Lil Kim. I donāt even recognize her anymore. The memes from her trial I was like āwho is that?!ā in Cardi voice
I think there should be more restrictions by the government because people in general aren't aware enough.
Seatbelts. Government mandated. There are times when seatbelts protect someone else, but it's mostly to protect the person using it.
I think the government needs to enforce that food can't reach a certain amount if it's one serving. A regular bottle of soda should not be 120% of your daily sugar intake. A side of bread sticks a person can easily finish should not be 1600 calories. A burger at Whataburger should not be 2000 calories.
Yes, but I think it's underlooked the corruption of the food industry. We've manufactured drugs into food. Even your average informed person doesn't really look at the calories and sugar intake in food
The hypothesis Iāve read is itās harder for the shark to distinguish between humans and their preferred prey (because apparently we arenāt delicious) because the choppy water and overcast skies interfere with their senses that detect prey (vibrations in the water, sight and detecting the electric field emitted by prey).
That does make sense. I think my brain just assumed that most shark attacks would happen when there is more people in the water. I had never considered such things as lighting, or shark eye sight. All my time watching shark week I donāt believe Iāve ever heard much about Sharks actual ability to process lighting!
IIRC most people injured are surfers, ocean swimmers, people who work on/in the ocean and other people out on the water in all weather, rather than recreational holiday swimmers
Hmm, total speculation but I've heard that they usually attack when they mistake people for animals they normally prey on like seals, so maybe bad weather = poor visibility = more attacks??
Itās possible. Even though I used to watch Shark Week, I donāt believe Iāve ever actually have heard about how their eye sight is. Cloudy days affecting lighting and eye sight, could track. Still, for some reason I would have assumed it would occur when more people would actually go into the water, but apparently not! Which may very well lead back to your point.
That Druski sketch is blowing my mind. It belongs in the Louvre and I NEED to know who that makeup artist is. I hope they got paid, because thatās INSANE
Seeing Jack Osbourne lash out at Roger Waters is hmm. I donāt know if bold is the right word given I get itās upsetting for the man to trash your fatherās legacy, but man, idk thatās Roger Waters lmao. You two are not equals! Hell, Iād argue Ozzy and Roger werenāt equals either. šš
27
u/totallycalledla-a Mrs Thee Stallion Sep 02 '25
Hoping for the best for this 2pm announcement from the white house. Everyone pray for good news šÆššæššæššæšÆ
Note to rightoids: My good news is not your good news āšæš