There's a moment in Dan Brook's crystal clear essay on Trump-era comedy when John Oliver hits on something about right now."People say it writes itself - the worst kind of comedy," Oliver said. "As a human being and comedian, I can't wait for this to be over."There are only two channels to watch right now. One is Oliver's "this," the news, the thing Oliver wants to be over but has become the most morbidly entertaining nightly program available. The other is whatever we're streaming at the moment, shows that strain to make themselves a mirror-perfect reflection of that same deadly serious news. Oliver admits that flipping between those two channels, from the debates and the pandemic and the Supreme Court to "SNL" and "Lovecraft Country" and "The Good Lord Bird," is exhausting because they're both about now. And now sucks. It's dissatisfying. Going outside is like wearing a "don't talk to me" sign. And staying inside is like being stuffed full of pills made in 4k resolution labelled "vote."The popularity of the psychedelically dumb "Emily in Paris" shows no one wants to hear about now anymore.
"Emily in Paris," which was Number 1 on Netflix last week, is a portrayal of a world so goofily unlike our own that watching it feels like rejecting the social, technological and aesthetic shortcomings of our actual now. The hallucinatory experience of watching it turned "Emily in Paris" into an international incident and a bona fide hit. There are three ways the show created its own anti-now.
Socially
September 11th. The financial crisis. The election of Trump. The pandemic. The creators of "Emily in Paris" thought, "Let's just pretend none of that ever happened!" In the show, clothes, sex and travel are still guilt-free and freely available. Obviously, to a pandemic-burdened audience who never dresses up anymore and can't leave the country, this has no relation to our current reality. It feels like an alien communication, a show made by a civilization desperate to connect with us but so far away in space that they just received our transmissions from the year 2000. It's so surreal that it's completely unlike not only our current reality but also all of our other current entertainment.
Technologically The key to the show's appeal, though, is the way it treats technology and the way its characters are treated by technology in turn. In the universe of "Emily in Paris," social media is effortlessly and eternally rewarding. Simply by using Instagram, Emily is loved. She goes to Paris for a one-year stint at a "marketing agency," begins using Instagram for what seems like the first time and instantly goes viral. If the show's depiction of the travel and clothes we don't have was enchanting, then a different reality where social media makes you feel good is pure fantasy.
AestheticallyBelow is a list of just some of the high-profile shows released in the past month or so:
"The Comey Rule""Fargo""The Boys""Lovecraft Country""Ratched""The Good Lord Bird""I May Destroy You""Raised By Wolves"
The default mode for new TV is self-consciously serious commentary on current events, demanding you to lean in and pay attention rather than have any fun at all. There are so many shows that have something to say about so many dimensions of what's going right now that watching is a chore equal to the news itself. The news is drab. If you can't wait for it to be over, like Oliver, "Emily in Paris" is a world where it never even happened in the first place.
The shorter stuff
The Lincoln Project's social media whiz worked a production job on "Real Housewives" before he got the job. (TNY)
James Murdoch wears a straw hat year-round. (NYT)
If YouTube can pull off shopping it will sell a lot of clothes to a lot of Gen Z'ers. (Bloomberg)
Samantha Bee is asking people to "scream here" on Twitter. But what is the rest of the internet for, then? (Image)
David Fincher's next movie is about the guy who wrote the screenplay for "Citizen Kane." Go off, I guess. (YouTube)
🌀Special "The Anxiety of Vote" Section
Celebrities are deeply uncool at the moment. (Page Six)
This brand using "vote" as a cause with the same cloying voice as every cause is humiliating. (Image)
I feel insane reading positive reviews of "SNL." (VF)
The director of "Wonder Woman 1984" really wants to scare you about the future of movie theaters. (Variety)
Don DeLillo: "Will I be looking at the presidential debate? I may be watching baseball." (NYT)
The founder of MindMed: "'People would say, "Oh, you're just depressed." Well, I'm depressed, but I also can't fall asleep without drinking a bottle of wine. I can't have fun at a party without using cocaine.' Also there was Xanax, for anxiety." (TNY)
These "How I Get It Done" pieces make me feel way less shitty now that they all spend their days on Zoom. (The Cut)
Joe Coscarelli on Anthony Fantano tracks with the last 15 years of my internet music nerd life. (NYT)
Olivia Nuzzi on Trump's Covid black comedy is worth reading for all the bitchy "anonymous sources." (NYM)