Rapper Returns Rock Music to the Charts, Why is Hollywood Ignoring the Success of Romance TV/Movies, Will Smith Stripped of Oscar Today? (The Five for 04/08/22)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
The gun control conversation has shifted pretty dramatically after the riots of 2020, with more first time buyers amoung the political left, women and minorities than ever before.
This week, CNN wrote about “ghost guns” without….ever saying exactly what those are.
What both leaders also highlighted in their calls was the proliferation of ghost guns: the unregulated, easily acquired and untraceable weapons that have been recovered from crime scenes with increasing frequency and has lawmakers and law enforcement officials across the country sounding the alarm.
Huh?
A bit of context here.
Whatever your opinion on firearms in general (and this issue in particular), we should all be on the same page on what we’re talking about.
This is a stripped AR-15 lower, the core part to build an AR style rifle.
To purchase one, you have to undergo an FBI background check. They’re not available as a direct-to-your-door mail-order product.
I own more than one, and I had to pass a background check for each one…a stamped piece of metal.
But a stamped piece of metal that will become the core of a rifle.
Let’s pick back up with CNN:
Speaking on CBS's Face The Nation, Adams said, "We are dealing with the problem with ghost guns. It's imperative we come up with clear messages around ghost guns and the kits that assemble them. And I believe that Washington is going to do that."
Eugene O'Donnell, a former NYPD officer and current lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said the untraceable weapons not only add tension to a climate of political extremism and division while crime continues to rise nationally, but also could raise issues catching and prosecuting shooters.
"It continues to be a problem. You can't trace them," said O'Donnell. "In some cases it could mean not apprehending someone at all or it could raise the doubt about some cases where someone is claiming he's not the shooter."
All of these parts are available for mail order and in-stores without a background check. But without the stripped lower, they can never become a functioning rifle that shoots.
CNN may be referring to the practice of milling a piece of metal down to build your own stripped lower…but that requires professional tradesman skills.
It’s really difficult, and the vast majority of people who try, fail.
Also, this practice isn’t illegal.
So…the question becomes, what is CNN talking about here?
Have we experienced an influx of professional metalworkers breaking bad and BUILDING rifles, using machine shop tools, to sell to street gangs?
If that’s happening, it should be investigated.
But I can’t tell from the article.
CNN has every right to argue that homemade guns, milled out from blocks of metal, should be illegal.
But I can’t even tell if that’s what they’re talking about.
The gun issue can be pretty technical and hard for the general public to understand…and sloppy reporting certainly doesn’t help.
[two]
Rock music went away because we ran out of rock stars, not because the genre stopped producing good music.
Now, there’s somebody who’s fixing that problem. Oddly enough, rock music is being saved by a rapper. Machine Gun Kelly is a former Cleveland based rapper in the vein of Bone Thugs and Harmony. In my opinion, “The Return,” released in 2010, is MGK’s finest moment as a rapper, in which he chronicles the abuse he endured at the hands of his Christian missionary parents, loneliness from bullying, determination and eventual success in music.
MGK doesn’t sing particularly well, present any new musical ideas or write songs that dive very far below the surface. Rolling Stone put it this way:
Kelly, at age 31, hasn’t realized that introspective songwriting doesn’t stop at admitting you’re a narcissistic piece of garbage.
Colson Baker (MGK’s real name) has a 12-year-old daughter, which means his is both the parent of a teenager, and acting like one…playing the role of heart-on-the-sleeve pop-punk star, while attending parent-teacher conferences in the evening (if he’s that involved in parenting).
Last week, MGK released his second consecutive #1 album.
He’s bringing rock and punk back to the mainstream, which I like. This is a major pop-culture shift.
Too bad the ex-rapper couldn’t do it as a real-grown up rather than a fake teenager.
Still, the shift back to rock music dominating the pop charts is a big deal, no matter who got it back over the finish line.
[three]
Romance novels are one of the best-selling genres of lit (which I know nothing about), but are often ignored by mainstream culture.
However, romance novels are fueling big hits on streaming and at the box office at the moment.
Over the last two weeks, two properties with romance novels at their cores have dominated the pop-culture landscape.
Bridgerton's second season, which debuted March 25 on Netflix, proved the immense success of its first season wasn't a fluke, while The Lost City stood as a firm reminder that original, studio-driven rom-coms still hold box office power.
Many speculated that Bridgerton's record-setting debut was born from a quarantine-driven need for lush, sexy escapism (with an added boost from the power of the Shondaland brand). Few seemed to credit its source material, Julia Quinn's bestselling romance novels.
Would season 2 — released in a world creeping back to some version of normalcy — possibly draw as much interest? Particularly without its breakout cast member, Regé-Jean Page, now making a bid at movie stardom? It could, and it did: Bridgerton's second season set a record for the most-watched Netflix English-language TV title during its premiere weekend, and then broke the record for most viewed English-language title in a week.
While Bridgeton is dominating streaming The Lost City, a romance movie starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, is cleaning up at the box office.
But according to Entertainment Weekly, the recent success doesn’t equal open doors for fiction authors hoping for book-to-screen deals:
Romance authors like Rebekah Weatherspoon pointed to an enduring "disconnect" between Hollywood executives and romance readers. (One such disconnect: thinking Nicholas Sparks writes romance, when his books might better be called tragic romantic fiction, breaking romance's only hard-and-fast rule of a happy ending.) But there was a new hope that the genre would finally find its place in Hollywood boardrooms. "They're willing to take you more seriously, and 'romance novel' doesn't result in an immediate door slam the way it once did," said Leah Koch, co-owner of The Ripped Bodice bookstore, who has a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television. "It is easier to get meetings, and they are more interested in what we're selling."
On one hand, I don’t care and I’ll never watch most of this stuff (exception: The Lost City).
On the other, it’s a shame Hollywood produces so much dumb crap and ignores what people actually want.
[four]
After working for a lifetime to win the Best Actor Oscar, Will Smith may be stripped of the award in the coming days.
The Sun reports:
There have been at least two different Zoom and conference calls with various members, and specific governors over the past ten days.
The decision was made earlier this week to expedite the hearing in the wake of Will’s resignation, and during that call it was clear that the decision would go to the wire.
The members — of which there are over 9,000, with hundreds of WhatsApp groups flying about — are completely split.
[five]
As always, let's head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup.
If you’ve ever watched Yellowstone and thought “this really could use a good dose of The X-Files,” then you should probably watch Outer Range. First Trailer here.
I’m quite excited…but I’m not sure how big the audience will be for a sci-fi/western mashup.
The much of the core cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation will reunite for season 3 of Picard, the Paramount+ show that follows the continued journey of a retired admiral/space explorer Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
From EW:Paramount+ is re-assembling the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew for Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Announced Tuesday, LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Worf), Jonathan Frakes (William Riker), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), and Brent Spiner (Data) — who all featured opposite Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard on the popular Trek series — are returning to join Stewart in what will now be the third and final season of Picard.
If you’re keeping score at home, Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Ben Affleck (Zack Snyder’s Justice League) and Michael Keaton (The Flash—2023) are all playing version of Batman.
If you think that’s too many, they you’ll hate the news that Winston Duke (Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame) will play yet another version of the Caped Crusader—in audio format. DC and Spotify have year agreement to produce audio content around DC’s iconic roster of characters.
But ummm…maybe don’t let your kids listen to this one?
From the official synopsis:When audiences meet Bruce Wayne he is a forensic pathologist, working in the bowels of Gotham Hospital and tasked with examining the victims of The Harvester, a gruesome serial killer preying on Gotham’s citizens. Not only will Wayne be forced to face his own mental demons, but he will also have to overcome them to save the citizens of Gotham as his alter-ego Batman.
MUSIC NEWS: Americana solo artist (and vocalist for the metal band Caned by Nod) Cody Jinks covered Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly” as a tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins, who died on tour with FF in South America recently.
Elsewhere, somebody probably won a Grammy or something at another stupid awards show. I refuse to look but feel free to check the-internet-dot-com or whatever.
MUSIC/MY PICK: I wouldn't consider myself much of a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan…but dang, I’m feeling their new album.
If you like even a handful of RCHP songs, this one is worth a spin. The band has been dormant since 2016 before making a return with Unlimited Love and it seems the time off did them good.
Until the next one,
-sth