Horrendous Racist & Sexist Insults Thrown at Latest POTUS Candidate, Wall Street Journal Tells Poor People to Eat Less, The Rise of REALLY Long Albums, Marvel Stumbles (The Five for 02/17/23)
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter.
It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
I try not to let this publication slide into “just griping about how stupid the corporate press is,” but there’s no way to ignore a pair of comments that happened this week after former South Carolina Govenor and ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley threw her hat into the ring for the Republican nomination.
Up first was CNN’s Don Lemon…who illuded to the fact that Haley can’t be President due to her…appearance?
Lemon seems to be echoing a talking point of the “manosphere” that claims women become instantly unattractive after hitting a certain age. Can’t say I expected that from a 56-year-old gay leftist TV personality.
Not to be outdone, right wing commentator Ann Coulter (who’s influence faded out around the time of Obama’s first election), threw even more fuel on the fire.
The New York Post reports:
Ann Coulter went on a racist tirade earlier this week in which she suggested that Nikki Haley “go back to [her] own country” where people are “starving” while “worshipping cows and rats.”
Coulter also referred to Haley as a “bimbo” and a “preposterous creature.”
Haley, the Indian-American former governor of South Carolina who declared her candidacy for the GOP nomination for president earlier this week, has not commented on Coulter’s remarks, which she made on “The Mark Simone Show.”
Coulter told Simone she was particularly angered by then-Gov. Haley’s decision to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina’s Statehouse following the 2015 mass shooting at a predominantly black church in Charleston.
“This is my country, lady,” Coulter said. Her comments were cited by NBC News.
Well, Nikki Haley was born here…so it’s also her country, lady.
Sexism or racism…pick your poison, apparently.
Haley has shown herself to be a class act by shrugging off both attacks, outwardly at least.
[two]
Again, this publication isn’t about consistently camping out on the “corporate press is terrible” talking point…but Good Lord, Wall Street Journal. (It’s paywalled, but the first couple of paragraphs do indeed tell you to skip breakfast.
That is the most…Soviet…headline I’ve seen in years.
Was Kim Jong Il brought on as a guest executive editor.
Again, how is there so little pushback on a major corporate outlet telling poor people to…eat less?
Never thought this joke from 30 Rock would be a reality in my lifetime.
[three]
And…down goes Marvel.
For only the second time in the movie studio’s history, a Marvel film has been declared “rotten” on the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator.
Marvel’s best selling point…and it’s biggest drawback…is the interconnected universe.
Overall, the critical consensus is that Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantamania tries to do too much in a single film…setting up future movies, launching a villain that will span multiple films, and drop in a dozen or more Easter eggs.
Sacrificed to all that noise…the plot of this movie, apparently.
Marvel boss Kevin Feige also admitted recently that there are too many Marvel TV shows right now for many fans to watch and keep track of…so it seems like the powerful entertainment force that is Marvel may need to make some adjustments to stay atop the pop culture lexicon.
[four]
If this trend continues, albums are going to wind up being literal days long.
Drake seems to have kicked off the trend with his 2018 release, Scorpion.
Then, Zach Bryan released a 34 song epic American Heartbreak.
And now, according to Rolling Stone, country superstar Morgan Wallen is dropping an album with THIRTY SIX SONGS…SERIOUSLY WHY.
The “why” likely has to do with streaming income…lots of people will put on an album and let it play, so longer albums=more earnings.
But it’s just not good for art. Zach Bryan’s album is one of the best projects I’ve ever heard…but it should have been three separate releases.
[five]
As always, let’s head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup.
Hooooooly cow. The excellent Taron Edgerton (Kingsman, Rocketman) in a movie about smuggling the video game Tetris out of the Soviet Union, and making it a huge global hit?
And it’s a true story.
Game over…I’m signing up for Apple TV+ this weekend.
John Wick 4 gets one more trailer before hitting theaters on 03/24, a date circled on my calendar the way many count down to 12/25.
Will Smith’s I Am Legend is getting a MUUUUCH delayed sequel.
Which is confusing cause Will Smith died in the first one. I think.
He seems to be alive and not a zombie.
And it’s got Michael B. Jordan.
So down for this.
Until the next one,
-sth