You are reveling in CultureWag, the best newsletter in the universe, edited by JD Heyman and written by The Avengers of Talent. We lead the conversation about culture: high, medium and deliciously low. Drop us a line about about any old thing, but especially what you want more of, at jdheyman@culturewag.com “If you aren’t reading the Wag, you’ll never get anywhere when it comes to quantum electrodynamics.” —Richard Feynman Hello Genius, It's Your Weekly Wag!Life After Harvey, Anne Hathaway, Ncuti Gatwa, Will Forte, Eurovision, and More ...Dear Wags, Harvey Weinstein once muscled me out of his way. This was in the bathroom at Michael’s, that beloved hive of old New York media. He was hosting a luncheon in honor of the 2008 movie The Reader, for which Kate Winslet won the Best Actress Oscar (let the record show that she refused to thank her producer). Anyway, both Harvey and I had to go. There’s not a lot of space in Michael’s restroom. As I recall, a pair of urinals were in a tight corner, by a single stall. I got into position first, and then Harvey shoved in beside me with bracing force. He squared himself before the target, spreading his legs as wide as he could while grunting like a warthog at a watering hole. The man gave no quarter, seizing half of my territory in a pissoir Anschluss. You may have heard that Harvey liked to throw his weight around. This was impressed upon me most emphatically. The mogul leaned hard against my shoulder, daring me to push back. I found myself squashed to the margins, against the bathroom cubicle. After marking his territory, Weinstein shrugged me off as if I were a fly on his hide. No words were exchanged. In a lifetime of peeing next to others while assiduously keeping my distance, I’d never experienced such a bizarre and pointless display of aggression. It left me, of all people, speechless. I’m not saying this is a crime, but it was disgusting. Also, par for the course. It was hard to come away from encounters with Weinstein and not be awed by his brutishness. In the most image-obsessed business on earth, he hung a lantern on his appalling behavior. Bullying was part of the brand. It worked for him until, most spectacularly, it did not. Long before actual felony charges were filed, this individual shouted who he was to the world, with spittle. On April 25, New York’s highest court tossed Weinstein’s 2020 sex crimes conviction. The panel narrowly found that the presiding judge at his Manhattan trial improperly allowed witnesses to testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. This has been met with considerable outrage, but plenty of smart attorneys saw it coming. Confronted with a tantalizing volume of stories, prosecutors strayed from the brief. It isn’t a case of a powerful defendant bending the process to his will so much as an unforced error. Weinstein isn’t hopping a private jet to Cannes; he’s been remanded to Bellevue. The ogre of Hollywood legend is 72 , hunched over like Quasimodo, and in catastrophic health. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is prepping for a retrial, which will begin after Labor Day. The do-over will be hard on witnesses, not to mention the defendant, who was sentenced to 23 years on the first go. He still faces a 16-year sentence in California. It’s been said the ruling is a setback for the Me Too movement, which has its own problems. Maybe, but in this instance there’s no coming back. Weinstein’s name is synonymous with abuse. He’ll be in a cell, or fighting to stay out of one, for the rest of his days. He’s lost the fortune, friends, and the status he craved. Procedural reversals won’t change that. Big picture, there are some troubling fundamentals. People do have a nasty habit of deferring to power. In show business, a handful of titans hoard opportunity that masses of aspirants will do anything to grasp. Weinstein was created by the yawning hunger for fame and a bottomless capacity to exploit it. No matter how many speeches are given or buttons are worn, these miseries are eternal. It’s a bit too convenient, having a cartoon monster to drag off to the stocks. If you were even a small part of the awards machinery of Hollywood before 2017, Weinstein was unavoidable. He went to all the good parties and threw a lot of them himself. Crucially, he delivered for important people in entertainment, media, and politics. Let it be said that he had good taste in movies and a brilliance for promotion. He remained, most inescapably, himself. Everybody else hanging around the red carpet bears some responsibility for ignoring that. Sure, Weinstein was smart and had some capacity to charm. He got away with being lousy because he was believed to be a rainmaker. Nowadays, any number of brave hearts will take a shot at him. Back then, the famous flocked to his company. They couldn’t know what he’d ultimately be accused of, but they hadn’t lost all reason. What explains that Olympian blind spot? Only the power to make dreams come true. In an industry where it’s impossible to get things done, Weinstein would not take No for an answer. It transformed an unlovely kid from Queens into a tycoon. That quality was both the secret of his success and a basis for criminal prosecution. While Weinstein was feted at Harvard, raising money for the Democratic Party, and bringing home truckloads of Oscars, horror stories burbled up on two coasts. For a long time, these tales were ignored because they came from lowly cogs in the Hollywood machine. If anything, they only burnished his reputation as a macher. When celebrities began speaking up, the winds finally shifted. Good for them, but we might ask ourselves why terrible scandal must be packaged as another star vehicle. There’s a false comfort that comes from reducing an intractable problem to a morality play with a memorable bad guy. Whatever happens to Harvey Weinstein, our capacity to look the other way is firmly in place—and a much bigger tragedy. Yours Ever, S. Tobias Bad FriendEileen (Hulu). Wag Luke Goebel’s adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh's debut novel found a home at Hulu, where it can be streamed by all those who missed it on the festival circuit. Eileen (Magnificent Thomasin McKenzie), is a lonely outcast who spends her days working at a juvenile corrections facility. Life changes with the arrival of the new staff psychologist (Dame Anne Hathaway), who turns out to be a charismatic and dangerous woman. It’s an atmospheric little chiller. — Christine Hargensen Pod is in the DetailsBodkin (Netflix). Yeah, there are too many true crime podcasts, and too many shows about making true crime podcasts. But who wouldn’t want to rove around a peaty corner of Ireland with Our Friend Will Forte? He’s a U.S. podcaster dropped into a bucolic village with his researcher (Robyn Cara) and a flinty Dublin reporter (Siobhán Cullen). The trio are there to solve a dark local mystery, but the inhabitants can’t be bothered and don’t see the appeal of their surroundings—all I see is shit, fields and fields of shit, says one. Take this fish-out-of-water comedy/thriller with several pints of Guinness. — Felix Happer Time After Time!Doctor Who (Disney+). That Charmer, Ncuti Gatwa is having the time of his life as the Fifteenth Doctor in the latest installment of the beloved sci-fi series. Off we go in the TARDIS, visiting Regency England, the Beatles in the ’60s, and a most ominous dystopia. Obviously we’re going to have to save the world! Millie Gibson is delightful as the Doc’s plucky compadre, Ruby Sunday, while Jonathan Groff, Indira Varma, George Caple and Chris Mason are along for the ride. Jolly. — Dodo Chaplet Fuschia ApocalypseThe Eurovision Song Contest (Peacock). Will Americans continue a 68-year tradition of ignoring this bad music spectacular? Certainly! Still, if you’re looking for escapism, there’s nothing like pigtailed pop princess Tati from Luxembourg going up against face-painted goth weirdo act Megara from San Marino. This year’s installment comes to you from Malmö, Sweden, which has been rocked by pro-Palestinian protests and the booting of the Dutch contestant for bad behavior. Ha så kul! — Ludwik L. Zamenhof Do Be Afraid of the DarkDark Matter (Apple TV+). Wag Blake Crouch adapts his bestseller for Apple, galactic hub of the lavish sci-fi series. Jason (Joel Edgerton), a Chicago physicist and doting husband and father, is abducted into an alternate dimension. In his new existence, he puts his career before his family (think of it as It’s a Miserable Life). Meanwhile, a more menacing version of Joel swaps places with him in his former world, where his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) suspects something is very wrong. Can Good Jason fight his way back across time and space to save those he loves? With these production values, he better. — Helen Kimble
Lee Hawkins had a happy childhood in Minnesota, but something percolated beneath the surface of his placid suburban life. His minister father suffered from disturbing nightmares, which were revealed to be linked to a painful, buried history. What Happened in Alabama? is the award-wining journalist’s sensitive exploration of intergenerational trauma. To explain what plagues his loved ones in the present, he taps both renowned historians and his relatives for insights into the legacy of racism and its effects on ordinary American families. — Cory Maxson
Life is, it's never what you think it's for. Jessica Pratt’s Life Is has the dreamy, dappled, hollow sound of a 1967 chart topper. We imagine her singing it in a paisley print maxi dress on a variety show hosted by Dusty Springfield. Luckily, she somehow found her way into our fractious present. As she puts it, Time is time and time and time again. Groovy. — Anne Welles
Jazz genius Kamasi Washington puts us under his spell in Dream State. We might as well be floating in an isolation tank, listening to him construct meandering sax phrases as André 3000 swirls around him like a butterfly on the flute. What a loopy and hypnotic sound! Bring your own wind chimes, soul daddy. — John Slade CultureWag is the brainchild of JD Heyman, former top editor at People and Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Weekly (among other things) and staffed by the Avengers of Talent. Our goal is to cover interesting topics with wit and integrity. We serve smart, funny recommendations to the most hooked-in audience in the galaxy. Questions? Drop us a line at intern@culturewag.com. If somebody forwarded you this issue, consider it a coveted invitation and RSVP “Subscribe.” You’ll be part of the smartest set in Hollywood, Gstaad, Biarritz, and and Baroo Restaurant in L.A.’s Arts District, where Wags Kwang Uh and Mina Park are revolutionizing Korean cuisine. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the Wagging of others.” —Mahatma Gandhi You're currently a free subscriber to CultureWag. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |