Celebrities Are Cool Again
Some say celebrity culture died when they stopped doing drugs and crashing cars and generally misbehaving. That was the last time celebrities were fun. When I say celebrity, I’m of course exclusively referring to actors and musicians.
This has been on my mind for some time and was solidified after this Golden Globe weekend.
We have been lamenting the loss of celebrity idol culture since we revived the famous Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake denim set moment out of desperation to just feel something.
I’m not much of an ‘award season’ girl. I don’t care much for red carpets as a rule and didn’t grow up watching them because my parents had weird TV rules. Or maybe we didn’t have the channel…Don’t remember. DOesn’t matter.
I think people like ‘award season’ so much because it gives them something to talk about. It builds community. The red carpet looks don’t have anything to do with things we’d actually wear so to me, it’s all fantasy. I don’t get what’s so interesting about talking about it. And they don’t even really do anything at the award shows either. They just get their award and give a boring speech.
I, also, generally speaking, don’t really understand the obsession with picking apart the wardrobes of people I don’t know, don’t care about, and who didn’t even pick out their own clothes anyway. But, again, my parents did everything in their power to stifle my fetish for fame so, while I’m fascinated by that world, I’m not actually that moved by it.
My healthy relationship to celebrity lol allows me to observe with interest and identify powerful cultural moments as opposed to insignificant boring ones.
An award show I will never ever forget is the 1999 VMAs. Lil Kim wore a purple one-shoulder unitard? jumpsuit? that only covered one boob. On the other, she wore a seashell-shaped pasty. Completely insane.
Today, this type of outfit would not be that shocking. We’ve seen crazier. And actually, someone like Doja Cat or whatever, wears this type of shit all the time. We don’t think twice about it.
This was kind of scandalous. Today nothing is scandalous. Scandalous was actually a very hot word back then. Today, we might say controversial but, it’s not as fun and sexy as scandalous, because not much today is as fun and sexy as it was.
But, at the time it was. And if memory serves, Lil Kim wore this outfit with a more defiant spirit than the stars of today ever could. She’s a diva. A sassy girl.
The inception of the look came from Lil Kim’s stylist, Misa Hylton, who heard Missy Elliott joke about Lil Kim’s nip slips, saying:
Missy said, “Girl, your nipples pop out so much. One day, you need to just come outside with one nipple out.’”
Misa ran with it. And the purple wig happened because the hair stylist apparently oversaturated a blonde wig with purple toner. As luck would have it, it matched the outfit so, they went with it.
The 1999 VMAs was also the year Pamela Anderson wore this wacky getup:
The following was the year Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton graced the red carpet for her Gone in 60 Seconds premiere, acting like cracked out lunatics:
Celebrity culture was thriving. We lived off the thrill of these moments. We talked about them constantly. They were all over tabloid magazines (the Instagram of yesteryear).
I love nostalgia. But nostalgia can ruin your life. You can’t overvalue the past and undervalue the present, it’s no way to live. When I feel myself slipping into this type of nostalgic-funk, I must consciously remind myself that nostalgia is for losers. When I go through my camera roll and start comparing myself to myself from last week or last year, I tell myself: you can have that again but, better. Right now, those thoughts are easier as I get hotter every year but, it’s still a trap that can be hard to escape. Watch yourself. Anyway, I’m wandering…
No, we put the past on too high a pedestal. It’s nice to appreciate it, I am a firm believer of this. Read my Nonna Chic article. I think honouring what’s come before you is a crucial part of living in a society. But, just because things used to be good and cool ~back in the day~, does not mean they can’t also be good and cool today. The two are not mutually exclusive.
I can see why people felt, though, that the last 15 years of pop culture has been garbage.
There has been nothing influential since Kim and Kanye. They dominated for years. They were the beginning of the end because they took the substance out of the art and commodified it. Kanye even stopped making listenable music to focus on hawking clothes which, in the end, was a huge failure, as we know.
When they fell out of favour, it felt like everyone’s attention was fragmented. Nobody knew where to look.
We were not watching movies or even really listening to music anymore. We were just on Instagram. Looking at influencers, models, nepo babies, fashion icons, and capital B Brandzzz (Balenciaga/Gucci etc.), to lead the taste-making charge. Come to think of it, that is Kanye West’s fault. He is independently responsible for the democratization of fashion that has led to its ongoing downfall. I guess that was kind of his entire modus operandi, so mission accomplished I suppose, for better or worse. Anyway, we’re not talking about that right now, sorry. Tangential.
If you watched movies at this time (2012-2024), they were probably old ones, because the only films that played in theatres were Marvel ones or movies you’ve never heard of it because nobody watched them. They even thought the movie theatre was dead because they were making such bad movies for so long. They bored the hell out of us.
I’ve seen Twitter threads talking about the sad decline of Rom Coms. I love this observation. Rom Coms for so long were low brow cheap shots and cash grabs. They still are. They’re formulaic, designed for the masses and by definition, extremely generic.
When I was in high school it felt like a new Rom Com came out every week. The famous, Friends with Benefits / No Strings Attached year, that was 2011. This was the same period as 27 Dresses, Crazy Stupid Love, Easy A, She’s The Man, and John Tucker Must Die. Absolutely ICOnic time for cinéma.
Rom Coms are not necessarily culturally influential, but they are, in my opinion, culturally crucial.
The Nancy Meyers revival on TikTok and Pinterest for example, fascinated and perPLeXed me.
It’s famously hard to assign nomenclature to the moments you’re living in. But, with distance comes clarity.
At the height of Nancy Meyer’s career, I would not even have considered her to have a unique style. To me, it was just the dominant style. The right way of doing movie sets.
Nancy basically trademarked coziness. But, as viewers, we weren’t especially fixated on the interiors. It wasn’t really something distinguishable at that time. It was just a part of the story. The point was for it to look like a regular, real home. I guess regular homes today don’t look like that anymore. Certainly regular homes in movies today look nothing like that anymore. There is no cozy frenetic mess. It’s just clean girl vibes.
We weren’t picking movie sets apart like the Nancy Meyer-crazed girls are. We just watched the movie. We were probably more interested in Cameron Diaz, than we were in where she got her bed frame or how many piles of books she had on her nightstand.
And all this just goes to show how dead celebrities were.
Because every decade prior to this one had a set list of Rom Com actors. They were important because they weren’t necessarily great actors but, they were household names. The people’s people. Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Mila Kunis, Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson, Hugh Grant, Ryan Gosling, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey. These types.
Over the last 10 or so years, if they even made a Rom Com, they would use the same actors from the last 10 years. There were no new heads. Where were the hunks of the next generation?
I know people kind of talked about it. The Zendaya, Tom Hollands. The Jacob Elordis. The … Anya Taylor Joy? Like literally who else? I mean Jennifer Lawrence is too old for this category now. Florence Pugh?? Sydney Sweeney? So just the cast of Euphoria, I guess.
I really thought that we were done for. No more Rom Coms. No more celebrities. Just influencers.
UnTIL. Two things happened.
I had a blossom of a thought when I saw Timothée Chalamet do a Quotidien interview. I can’t remember which one and I’ve seen a few and love him in all of them but, something about this specific one that I can’t remember, was significant.
I watched it around the time I watched Lily-Rose Depp do her press junket for Nosferatu. The two of them, famously former lovers, are both acting nerds. Which is the coolest thing about them. In her interview, she is just gushing about the preparation she did for her role and it’s overwhelmingly apparent that she is a ciné-freak.
I thought it was extremely cool of her to give genuine thorough answers to the interview questions when she really didn’t have to. She could have just sat there looking pretty without saying much. Haughty, even. When you see Jennifer Lawrence do a press tour for example, that’s basically what she does. Or gives the interviewer attitude. You don’t see her talk about movies in a way that shows she has any kind of passion for them. That she was part of the conception. She follows a sort of unwritten script. Very drab. Those types of Rom Coms actors always complain that they’re asked stupid questions but, I’ve never seen one talk about their movie the way LRD did. The only people I’ve seen do that actually, are directors or crew.
And Timothée Chalamet.
He is also a certified cinephile but, what stood out most in his interview was how much of a freaking CHARMER he is. I was sat there the entire time like:
It all made sense. That’s why women adore him. He’s flirty. He flirts with e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. Which naturally brought to mind Ryan Gosling.
There is a 15 year age gap between Timothée and Ryan Gosling. You would think that’s kind of a lot. So there should be at least a few charming hunks in between them but, there isn’t. I guess the Hemsworth brothers but, not really. They don’t do sexy interviews. And they don’t do cool movies either. The Last Song is the coolest movie one of them has ever done.
Sure, maybe, that type of charm is only a once in a few generations kind of thing but, it just seemed to me like there were a ton and now there are two. Robert Downey Jr., Matthew McConaughey, Cillian Murphy (if he counts, he does to me), Jamie Dornan? Hot. Not sure he counts though, but he should, George Clooney, Idris Elba, Oscar Isaacs, Adrien Brody, Tom Hardy. Ok now I’m just naming my crushes.
Anyway, so I thought, wow Chalamet is a real star.
We don’t give him enough credit. He is a real life star. We just do not see that anymore. We don’t see interviews where someone has that cheeky old Hollywood charm and charisma. Marlon Brando. James Dean.
And you know who else does? Jacob effing Elordi. I thought I would fall for him in Priscilla, and I did a little bit but, not the way I was expecting to. I already enjoyed him as a hunk in Euphoria but, I did not grasp his aura. I did not understand his personality.
He is ALSO a movie nerd. Which I love.
And he’s hilarious and sexy and charming.
I am not going to lie, I thought he was a himbo. I think honestly, down to the fact that he dated Olivia Jade for so long. And Kaia Gerber right before who, I think kind of looks like Olivia Jade? Same type of girl. So I was like…ok snoozE? If you date basic girls then I will automatically assume you are kind of fried.
Like this was the coolest thing they did together and…it’s actually pretty stupid and lame. They must have had very vanilla sex, they seem SO boring together.
No, single Jacob Elordi is the people’s princess.
There was a tweet, which I won’t go fishing for, showing a video of him in some pool on vacation before he was famous. I don’t even remember the story, it had to do with some girl, but needless to say it really sweet. He’s just a sweet guy.
Then a tweet about him being so stoked to work with Oscar Isaac and telling him that he used to reblog posts about him on his Tumblr.
Then a tweet showing him at the Golden Globes this year, kissing his parents on their foreheads.
My favourite of them all:
So, yesterday or whatever day it was, when I woke up and saw all this on my Instagram feed, I concurred. Celebrities are finally cool again.
I was actually stunned. I asked myself, WHO on earth, took these photos? Because everyone seems so relaxed. Everyone is having fun. Everyone is smiling laughing and goofing off. Nobody seems worried about the cameras. They’re not paranoid about having an unflattering photo of them taken or something that’s going to get them in trouble. They’re just at a party, having a great time. Celebrating altogether. The energy is palpable.
AND, there is a LOT of PDA. Not PDA among lovers (though, that also) but, PDA among FRIENDS. So much hugging, so much tenderness. Call back to Jacob Elordi kissing his parents forehead. That type of contact. It’s so heartwarming. Actually…this is all starting to remind me of the Entourage era.
Because, ANOTHeR thing, is that all those pics, which are Getty Images, btw, are very 2004. Anyone who hasn’t, should listen to Simon Rex’s episode on How Long Gone. It paints a picture of this era that is what I’m thinking of.
Basically this:
The Golden Globes made me want to be at that party in a way celebrities haven’t made me feel in a long time. They seem fun and they seem funNY.
And then this morning I came across these photos:
They’re clearly AI-generated or photoshopped or whatever, but that’s not the point. Just the idea that this is entertaining to us today. That we care enough about these people to imagine what they’re doing at a party is indicative enough of my point.
It feels like maybe this is finally punctuating woke-culture. We are not judging them anymore. We are allowing them to live like regular people. We are not criticizing every single move they make because maybe, we’ve finally understood that they’re people too. They’re just like us.
I watched One Battle After Another the other day and while I didn’t love it, I LOVED Leonardo Di Caprio. He was so funny and I had no idea he was funny. And it was a very fun revelation. All I knew about Leonardo Di Caprio was that he dated young models and apparently smelled atrocious because he doesn’t wear deodorant so, I kind of just thought he was one of those weird Hollywood freaks. Like eventually gonna go crazy type of thing.
Then I saw these and I have just been howling laughing since:
Sean Penn also smoking inside the room is hilarious. The idgafness of it.
And I wasn’t even going to mention smoking but, everyone is talking about how smoking is back. Dua Lipa publicly smoking is again, illustrative of my point:
And I also loved the way watching all this footage felt like being at a wedding or something. Like I was at my parents table (Kylie and Timothée’s table) who were the belles of the ball and everyone was coming around to say hi and chat with them. I didn’t see them get up at all. I didn’t see them swirl around the room. I saw everyone swirling around them. And in my pretend mind as a kid, you’re just observing it all and it’s all just so interesting. The dynamics. They’re real people having real conversations about their lives, their kids and their girlfriends. It didn’t feel like everyone was putting on some sort of…idk clean front. They were being themselves. Which is kind of in the same vein as Angelina and Billy Bob but, this all felt more wholesome than that.
And then Jacob Elordi just having the sweetest interactions all night:
And Kylie just, being an admiring gf taking pictures of her man:
And then you have the real fabulous Hollywood shit like this that feels Chateau Marmont glam.
This killllled me. She’s hilarious.
And I also love that the source for a lot of this is Deux Moi. Deux Moi brought back paparazzi pics. And for that, we must give thanks.
I recently started following Just Jared on Instagram also and that also supported my idea that celebrities are cool again. Because paparazzi photos are in again. Because they finally have a place to put them. They finally let the tabloids die and moved them to where they are SUPPOSED to be. Instagram! That should have been obvious, but apparently it wasn’t.
I have been desperately awaiting the day that paparazzi pics would come back into fashion. Because paparazzi do not always need to be looking to capture a scandal. They could just be nice and take nice pictures if they wanted. That’s what we got at the Globes.
I think watching Timothée and Kylie canoodling was also very impactful for me. Maybe we are suddenly all paying attention because it’s the only time we get to see them together interacting…actually, maybe I am onto something with this? It’s kind of old Hollywood actually…Where the only time you saw celebs was at these exact types of events. We want to know what’s going on there SO badly. Unpacking all their micro-gestures is a treat in its own right.
I think we can also all agree that whatever we think of their relationship (I don’t know and have resigned not to care because, it’s not my life), it’s very nice to see her like this. It almost seems like she can’t help but be vulnerable since she’s met him. There’s something about the look in her eyes that feels deep and human. More than ever before. When you see photos of them together, you feel that she’s looking at you. With feeling, softness.
I mean, come on, that’s a smile you just can’t fake. She’s glowing. Her eyes are watery. It seems like when they’re together she has the pupils dilated. Very relaxed. Happy. I love it for her.
And just for comparisons sake:
So all this to say, celebrities are back. And I’m loving every moment. Shout out to Timothée, the king that you are, for reviving what we long thought to be lost.
