Culturally Consumed: Xaden Riorson is my Boyfriend
Fourth Wing, May December, and the movie that made me cry for 2 hours straight.
Greetings, friends! It’s a been a minute! Life has been busy lately - I’ve been settling into a new job, I completed training to be a medical advocate, I’ve watched every season of Will & Grace - but finally I’m back to the important stuff: sharing my out of pocket cultural reviews and recommendations with you all! I’m playing a little bit of catch up with this post, so apologies if you’ve already read my thoughts on these bits elsewhere, but I’m trying to get back in the swing of things and I know you’re all dying to know my thoughts on a Kylie Minogue album from a year ago.
Reading…
Fourth Wing & Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros: I finally took everyone’s advice and read the Fourth Wing series and have mixed feelings to report. I really enjoyed the first book - a fun mix of characters, a steamy romance (fully aboard the Xaden train), accessible world building, a great twist at the end - but struggled to even finish the second one. Iron Flame felt hastily put together with a contrived plot and suffered from some extremely weird pacing in the final act. Ultimately, I finished it just to have an opinion and my opinion is that I’m not sure I’ll continue with this series. It was fun to get back into the fantasy genre for a little bit, but I hope they give poor Rebecca Yarros more time to write the third installment.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: I’m not much of a non-fiction reader or audiobook listener, but I ended up enjoying this book on Native American natural wisdom and biology much more than I thought I would. As someone with a limited knowledge of science, I found it to be very accessible and appreciated that much of it was grounded in stories of her life, which made it feel more like a memoir. While it’s not a quick read at a chunky 17 hours, it was easy to put on while going about my day and I learned a lot about indigenous culture and spirituality - plus, Kimmerer has a lovely narrating voice. Highly recommend, if this is your cup of tea!
Watching…
May December (Netflix): Let me start by saying that this movie is not for everyone. Obviously it’s about a controversial topic (google the plot, if you don’t know what I’m referring to), which is already a turn off for many, but on top of that it has a very odd, satirical tone that I don’t think is to everyone’s taste. With that said, it was to my taste and I really liked it! It read as a clear melodrama to me and with soap opera-alum Julianne Moore and queen of the breathy monologue, Natalie Portman, at the helm I thought it was perfectly done. But the real star of the movie for me was Charles Melton - his ability to show his vulnerable, internal world with such masterful nuance was a completely delightful surprise. If you have a dark, ironic sense of humor and like that sort vibe, then I think you’ll really appreciate what this movie is trying to do. Also, the soundtrack is hilarious and amazing.
All of Us Strangers: Are you looking for your next ‘I need a really good cry’ movie? Are you a queer person with a complicated relationship with your parents? Do you have NSFW feelings about both Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott? Well, have I got a recommendation for you! All of Us Strangers is top tier for both sentimentality and devastation - like I’m talking Call Me By Your Name levels of gay sadness here. And while I do have complicated feelings about the predictable trope of sad queer stories and I think the ending of this movie was particularly clunky in that arena, I did really love it and am adding it my queue of movies to watch next time I need a good sob.
Listening…
Tension by Kyle Minogue: When this album came out last summer, I listened to Padam Padam like every other good bisexual during Pride Month, but I’ve never been a huge Kylie fan so I didn’t bother with the rest of the album. Wow, huge mistake on my part! This is a fabulous, pulsing, dance floor-ready collection of songs that I should have been drinking margaritas to all of 2023. Hold On To Now, Tension, and Vegas High are my current favorites and it’s such a shame this album didn’t get wider play and more love when it was released because it’s truly fantastic.
Blame My Ex by The Beaches: I’d heard a couple of these songs floating around TikTok, but I finally listened to this album in full and it’s the angsty, queer, summer barbecue music of my dreams. With boppy hooks and sardonic lyrics, this album makes me want to never go to therapy again and just marinade in my own problematic self loathing - but in a fun way! I can’t wait to blast this album in my car with the windows down screaming all the words for the rest of the summer.
[Images via @aoustrangers, @evanrosskatz, and @thebeachesband on Instagram. This Substack contains affiliate links - thank you for supporting Omnivore!]