Liars and Saints

I can't even call him my frenemy anymore; he is now merely someone I used to know. However, the digital world means that I continue to get new information. My frenemy really loves Britney Spears's memoir, "The Woman in Me." He posted a photo with the hardcover, and a caption: "REQUIRED SUMMER READING." (Might I actually like this person?) My frenemy boldly advocates for the "Wonder Truck," a controversial local business. This is a large truck that will park outside your house for an hour, cook you a "truckbound" meal (the truck has a small kitchen), then deliver the cardboard container to your front door. Many residents are furious about the gas emissions, the unsightly exterior of the truck, the surly strangers wandering around with "fresh dinner deliveries." But my frenemy--a brave contrarian--believes that the service is "great." (I appreciate someone who will swim "upstream.") Sometimes, I feel envy, as i...

Britney Spears's "Toxic" counts as the gold standard among "ambivalence" pop songs; I think that a great deal of the Taylor Swift catalogue ("I Knew You Were Trouble," "Treacherous," "I Almost Do," "Wildest Dreams," "Blank Space," "22," "Don't Blame Me," "Gorgeous") is simply an effort to re-write "Toxic." In Spears's ur-text, a young woman is drawn to a ne'er-do-well, though she can recognize her own insanity: With the taste of your lips, I'm on a ride. You're toxic; I'm slipping under... With a taste of a poison paradise-- I'm addicted to you. Don't you know that you're toxic? Sex appeal as a drug. We see this, also, in Swift's "Clean," "Cruel Summer."  I'm not sure that Broadway needed to give us an extremely literal reading of Spears's lyrics--but if it provides Jennifer Simard with an opportunity to be...

This past weekend, we were all given a treat, which was not one but two classic Chloe Fineman bits. Fineman is the young genius on SNL who made waves months ago with her Laura Dern impression. Fineman, an NYU grad, once dreaded life as a "serious actress," before realizing the thing she loved most in the world was impersonating actual crazy people who live in the actual world. She began with skits about her loony acting teacher; soon enough, she was also Drew Barrymore, Ivanka Trump, and Meryl Streep. And the list grows and grows. This past Saturday night, SNL spoofed the "Master Class" series; you know, that thing that advertises itself to you whenever you use YouTube. You can pay money and see James Patterson self-seriously murmuring: "Some advice for you....Feel free to SUCK in your first draft...." Chloe Fineman became Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Saturday, and she was pitching a Master Class in "journaling." Several areas became targe...