Month: March 2023

If we looked 60 years into the past, there are a lot of things that were accepted as “normal” that today most people find abhorrent. For example, people used to smoke cigarettes everywhere. They’d light up in hospitals, schools and even churches.

People also used to litter like crazy. It’s socially unacceptable now, but if you lived in the ’70s and finished your meal at McDonald’s, you’d chuck your empty styrofoam container (remember those?) and soda cup right out of the window of your car and onto the street.

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It’s hard to imagine that just 60 years ago spousal abuse was considered family business and wasn’t the concern of law enforcement.

It makes me wonder when people in the future look back on the year 2022, which things will they see as barbaric? Almost certainly, the way we treat the animals we use for food will be seen as cruel. The racial divides in the criminal justice system will be seen as a moral abomination. And I’m sure that people will also look at our continued reliance on fossil fuels as a major mistake.

A Reddit user by the name u/MEMELORD_JESUS asked the AskReddit subforum “What’s the weirdest thing society accepts as normal?” and the responses exposed a lot of today’s practices that are worth questioning.

A lot of the responses revolved around American work ethic and how we are taught to live to work and not to work to live. We seem to always be chasing some magical reward that’s just around the corner instead of enjoying our everyday lives. “I’ll get to that when I retire,” we say and then don’t have the energy or the inclination to do so when the time comes.

There are also a lot of people who think that our healthcare system will be looked at with utter confusion by people in the future.

Here are 17 of the best responses to the question, “What’s the weirdest thing society accepts as normal?”

1. Work-life balance

“Working until you’re old, greying, and broken then using whatever time you have left for all the things you wish you could have done when you were younger.” — Excited_Avocado_8492

2. Rest in comfort

“That dead people need pillows in caskets.” — Qfn4g02016

3. I.R.S. mystery

“Guessing how much you owe the IRS in taxes.” — SheWentThruMyPhone

4. You get the leaders you deserve

“Politicians blatantly lying to the people. We accept it so readily, it’s as though it’s supposed to be that way.” — BlackLetyterLies

5. The booze-drugs separation

“Alcohol is so normalized but drugs are not. It’s so weird. I say this as an alcohol loving Belgian, beer is half of our culture and I’m proud of it too but like… that’s fucking weird man.” — onions_cutting_ninja

6. Stage-parent syndrome

“People having kids and trying to live their lives again through them, vicariously, forcing the kids to do things that the parents never got to do, even when the kids show no inclination, and even have an active dislike, for those things.” — macaronsforeveryone

7. Priorities

“Living to work vs working to live.” — Food-at-last

8. ‘The Man’ is everywhere

“Being on camera or recorded any time you are in public.” — Existing-barely

9. Tragic positivity 

“‘Feel-good’ news stories about how a kid makes a lemonade stand or something to pay for her mom’s cancer treatment because no one can afford healthcare in America.” — GotaLuvit35

10. Credit score

“As a non-American, I am amazed at their credit score system. As a third-world citizen, credit cards are usually for rich (and slightly less rich) people who have more disposable money than the rest of us and could pay off their debt.

The way I see people on Reddit talk about it is strange and somewhat scary. Everyone should have a card of his own as soon as he becomes an adult, you should always buy things with it and pay back to actively build your score. You’re basically doomed if you don’t have a good score, and living your life peacefully without a card is not an option, and lastly, you’ll be seen as an idiot if you know nothing about it.” — BizarroCullen

11. The retirement trap

“Spending 5/7ths of your life waiting for 2/7ths of it to come. We hate like 70% of our life, how is that considered fine?” — Deltext3rity

12. Yes, yes and yes

“Child beauty pageants.” — throwa_way682

13. That’s not justice

“The rape of male prisoners. It’s almost considered a part of the sentence. People love to joke about it all the time.” — visicircle

14. Customers aren’t employers

“Tipping culture in the US. Everyone thinks that it’s totally OK for employers not to pay the employees, and the customers are expected to pay extra to pay the employees wages. I don’t understand it.” — Lysdexiic

15. Staring at your phone

“Having smartphones in our faces all day. This shit isn’t normal…imma do it anyway…but it is not normal.” — Off_Brand_Barbie_OBB

16. Homework on weekends

“Students being assigned homework over weekends and only having a two-day weekend. The whole point of a weekend is to take a break from life, and then you have one day to recover from sleep deprivation then one day to relax which you can’t because of thinking about the next day being Monday. And the two days still having work to do anyways.” — MrPers0n3O

17. Kids on social media

“Children/young teens posting on social media sites. I’m not necessarily talking about posting on a private Instagram followed by friends, I’m talking about when kids post on tiktok publicly without parental consent.” — thottxy

This article originally appeared on 03.11.22

Fire up your keyboards, Citizen Detectives, because the second season of Yellowjackets is upon us. We’ve been treated to a full-length trailer and some major casting announcements teasing where things might be going when we return to the woods but let’s be honest: It’s been a year since the season one finale and our sleuthing skills are, understandably, rusty.

With season two launching later this month, now’s the perfect time to ditch your neighborhood book club and instead, read up on all of the plot twists and unanswered questions the show’s finale left us with.

How Did Yellowjackets Season 1 End?

The dual timelines at the center of this show both delivered some shocking twists that asked more questions than they answered. In the past, the girls are left reeling from their “Doomscoming” party in the woods — remember, they got high off Misty’s shrooms and had a hormone-fueled, blood-thirsty bacchanalia that left one hell of a hangover. Lottie fully embraced her mystic cult leader aura, taming and killing a wild bear before cutting out the beat’s heart and using it in some sort of ritual sacrifice. (Maybe she saw The Craft in theaters before jumping on that plane?)

All of the occult extracurriculars were beginning to drive a wedge between Taissa — who definitely doesn’t believe in this spiritual nonsense — and Van, who has become radicalized after her near-death experience. Meanwhile, Shauna and Jackie finally came to blows, spewing every terrible thing they’ve ever thought about the other while the team watches on. (Well, most of the team. Natalie and Travis went looking for Javi who disappeared after the night’s Lord of the Flies orgy had run its course.)

In the present, Misty, Natalie, Shauna, and Taissa teamed up to take on their dreaded high school reunion and dispose of a dead body. (R.I.P. Adam, we never really knew ye.) Turns out Shauna’s extramarital hook-up wasn’t a long-lost Javi, he was just a guy whose obsession ended up costing him his life. She’s not the only one who committed homicide in the finale though because Misty had a freed hostage she needed to silence once and for all. Smoking really does kill, kids.

But perhaps the most unexpected revelation came in the episode’s final minute when Taissa, who won her run for state senate but lost her family in the process, was outed as a still-sacrificing member of Lottie’s cult. Whether Taissa is working with Lottie, who is alive and off kidnapping Natalie by the end of the episode, is still up for debate, but she most definitely is practicing the rituals Lottie introduced the girls to in the woods. She’s got an altar where the family dog’s head has been resting in her basement and she’s been munching on dirt at night while unknowingly traumatizing her own child.

Who Died In The Yellowjackets Season 1 Finale?

Plenty of people (and a couple of animals) took a dirt nap — though not the kind Taissa favors — by the end of the show’s first season. Shauna’s sidepiece, Adam, Misty’s captive, Jessica, poor Biscuit, and a bear just minding its business all breathed their last in the season finale but one death surpassed them all in terms of shock value.

We finally learned that Jackie, the team captain and all-around Queen Bee of this team, never made it out of the wilderness. Instead, she froze to death after her argument with Shauna ended with the girl demanding she leave the safety of the cabin as the rest of the group watched on. Jackie struggled to make a fire, eventually succumbing to the elements but the show first gave us an alternate ending to her death scene — a dreamlike “what if” that saw Shauna welcoming her friend back inside, apologizing for hurting her, and the team rallying around their former leader. The reality was much grimmer — Jackie froze to death and Shauna had an emotional breakdown when she discovered her body just a few feet from the cabin the next morning.

What Will Happen In Yellowjackets Season 2?

With the casting announcements of Lauren Ambrose as adult Van and Simone Kessel as adult Lottie, expect to see more about the mysterious cult that might be behind the recent blackmail scheme terrorizing the remaining group members. Lottie obviously believes the girls should’ve stayed in the woods and it’s likely she has a plan for them all to return to the wilderness, one way or the other. Elijah Wood is also joining the cast this season, playing another Citizen Detective that may pose some problems for Misty. And while Taissa juggles her political campaign and her crumbling home life, Shauna’s got a murder investigation to dodge and a nosy teenager living at home that should keep her busy.

Yellowjackets returns for its second season on March 26th at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.

Fans thought Nick Cannon was going to announce a new baby. Instead, they’re getting a game show with Kevin Hart about making babies.

Let me back up.

Yesterday, the rapper-turned-TV-host — who has a reputation for being kind of a baby-making machine, fathering 12 kids with six different women — teased an upcoming announcement with wording that had fans nervous for lucky number 13. Instead, the announcement turned out to be so much weirder than anyone could have thought.

Instead of a new child, Cannon shared a trailer for a new game show on E! Network with Kevin Hart playing off of his reputation by having women compete with each other for a strange (and borderline gross, let’s be honest) grand prize: The honor of becoming Nick’s seventh baby mama. It’s like The Bachelor, I guess, except skipping the love/romance/marriage part and getting straight to the child support. No wonder he has so many jobs.

Joining Nick in this … ahem … endeavor is fellow comic Kevin Hart, who was among the many voices teasing his good buddy about his
prolificity last year, trolling him with a billboard giving away his phone number for “fatherhood advice” and sending him a vending machine full of condoms. Judging from the trailer, the competition will be quite zany and extend the comedic pairs’ long prank war. Check it out below.

Knowing what we know, in the year 2023, it is extremely unlikely that somebody will be slapped at this year’s Academy Awards, considering what happened last year. A “violence-free” award show might seem like a no-brainer, but at this point, we simply cannot take any more chances. The industry cannot handle it. But….let’s say it does happen (again, it probably won’t). What would really go down?

According to this year’s host Jimmy Kimmel, he is willing to defend the honor and integrity of the award ceremony by beating up anyone who tries to slap him. This all makes sense when you think about it. The Oscars are so fragile, you see, that even a threat to the stage could send the production into a frenzy. But Kimmel is prepared to take one for the team.

It was recently reported that the Academy is enlisting a “crisis response team” in order to make sure things go smoothly on the big night. But Kimmel knows nothing about that. “I’ve not been involved in that. I guess I’m the last thing they’re worried about,” the host told Variety in a new interview. “I feel like I should at least know what was discussed so I know what I should fear when I walk onstage. But, really, I suspect it mostly has to do with UFOs.”

So let’s say it’s not UFOs, and some unoriginal prankster tries to storm the stage and slap Kimmel. What would he do? “You mean, if somebody comes up on the stage and slaps me? Well, I size them up, and, if I’m bigger than they are, I beat the sh*t out of them on television,” Kimmel recently told the mag, adding, “And if it’s the Rock, I run.” The Rock does love to sneak up on people during award shows, in addition to being a historically good fighter.

Even though Kimmel will be safe from any physical threats, he is still disappointed about his last slip-up, the infamous La La Land/Moonlight debacle of 2017. But he’s not mad that it happened, he’s mad that it was overshadowed by The Slap. “We got knocked down the list. It’s disappointing in a lot of ways,” Kimmel confessed. “If you’re gonna be part of a f*ckup, it might as well be the biggest fuckup ever. Being part of the second-biggest f*ckup doesn’t carry as much cachet.”

Here’s to hoping there is a bloodbath on stage for no reason other than pure entertainment. Movies are back, baby!

(Via Variety)

Star Wars shows no signs of slowing down when it comes to delivering Disney+ hit television series like The Mandalorian and its ever-growing number of spinoffs, but the franchise has not had the best of luck when it comes to getting a feature film off the ground. The last Star Wars movie to hit theaters was 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, which was financially successful but universally derided by both fans and critics. It also didn’t help that Game of Thrones‘ creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were tapped for a new Star Wars film project right as they were being lambasted for that show’s ill-fated series finale. (Benioff and Weiss would ultimately part ways to focus on their Netflix development deal.)

Since Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has put all its weight behind its TV offerings, but there have been efforts to get a new film going. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was reportedly getting to live a lifelong dream of making a Star Wars movie and Patty Jenkins was tapped to direct Rogue Squadron, which for a brief moment, was on the fast track to becoming the first new film out of the gate. Both of those are now reportedly dead.

According to Variety, Feige’s movie is no longer in active development (a major surprise given his strong ties with Disney) and Rogue Squadron is remaining shelved despite Jenkins’ schedule opening after she exited Wonder Woman 3. However, Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie is still looking like the strongest contender to break the theatrical curse. Damon Lindelof’s mystery project is also in the works.

Via Variety:

Sources say “Thor: Love and Thunder” filmmaker Taika Waititi continues to work on his possible “Star Wars” feature, and he would most likely have a part in it as well, similar in prominence to his standout role as an imaginary Adolf Hitler in his Oscar-winning 2019 feature “Jojo Rabbit.” And although Lucasfilm has yet to officially confirm it, sources say the studio is committed to a “Star Wars” movie from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

One of those films could snatch the December 2025 release date that Lucasfilm is hoping to fill. Considering Waititi has already re-entered the Star Wars universe with The Mandalorian Season 3 premiere, his movie being the first out of the gate is a strong bet for being announced at the upcoming Star Wars Celebration in London next month.

Or zero movies will be announced and Lucasfilm will continue to print money by slapping Baby Yoda on everything. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

(Via Variety)

The New York Giants were one of the teams to watch in the lead-up to Tuesday afternoon’s franchise tag deadline, as the team needed to figure out what to do with both members of its starting backfield. Instead of needing to make a decision on whether starting quarterback Daniel Jones or starting running back Saquon Barkley would get tagged, reports indicate that a long-term deal with the former made it so that franchise tag could be applied to the latter.

According to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Giants and Jones were able to get a deal in just under the wire. Rapoport brought the financial terms of the deal, which is a 4-year contract that can make Jones up to $195 million.

As for Barkley, he’s in line to make a hair over $10 million this season on the franchise tag.

While both players had up-and-down starts to their respective NFL careers, they each managed to have a productive 2023 season as the Giants made it to the postseason for the first time since 2016. New York finished 9-7-1, with Jones completing 67.2 percent of his passes for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns, with an additional seven scores coming on the ground. Barkley, meanwhile, carried the ball 295 times for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also tied for the most receptions on the team with 57.

Margot Robbie is one of the few stars of Bombshell to play a fictionalized character. The majority of the cast for the 2019 film, about the harassment that female Fox News employees faced, is made up of performers portraying real people, including Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, John Lithgow as Roger Ailes, and Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly.

The real Megyn Kelly, the one who thinks a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. looks like a “giant penis being held by two hands,” recently ran into Robbie while in Utah.

“Bombshell encounter in Deer Valley Utah. She was gracious & friendly. Kind of weird for both of us since she spent months with the ‘fake me’ for a movie. Many thanks, Margot Robbie,” Kelly wrote on Instagram.

The “fake me” was played by Theron, who called portraying the Fox News host “pretty overwhelming.” It took the Mad Max: Fury Road star “awhile to wrap my head around playing her for many reasons,” she said. “But I think the biggest one is that she’s so well known. And it’s contemporary, it’s of this moment, and whether you like her or not, you know her face, you know what she sounds like, and there was really no getting around that.”

Kelly’s photo must have been taken moments before she went on a rant about “snot nose kids” today and Robbie walked away.

(Via People)

Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams might be in the business of misery as she sings in the band’s breakout song, but Williams doesn’t wish that upon others. Williams, along with fellow musicians Jason Isbell and Maren Morris, plan to use their award-winning voices to bring awareness to a cause they care for deeply.

Following the passing of two anti-LGBTQIA+ bills (Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 9) in Tennessee that ban all drag performances from taking place on any public property in the state, these musicians are set to perform for a benefit concert, Love Rising: Let Freedom Sing, on March 20 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Williams, Isbell, and Morris have all been vocal in their support of varying LGBTQIA+ causes. Morris has pushed back against the country music community as well as actors’ homophobic and transphobic comments.

Isbell issued a statement regarding his participation in the concert, saying, “Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 9 are clearly targeted attacks on Tennesseans who haven’t done anything wrong. These bills add up to an attempt to eradicate a valuable part of our community and force good people to live in fear. We can’t in good conscience just stand by and let that happen.”

Additional performers include Allison Russell, Amanda Shires, Brittany Howard, Brothers Osborne, Hozier, Jake Wesley Rogers, Joy Oladokun, Julien Baker, Mya Byrne, Sheryl Crow, the Rainbow Coalition Band, and Yola. More guests are slated to be announced later this week.

Russell shared a statement about the upcoming concert, saying, “As a queer, intersectional artist and mother, raising my child in Nashville, it’s important to me to support these wonderful Tennessee LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations, working so hard to build bridges, reduce harm and promote equality for all Tennesseans. LGBTQIA+ contributions and creativity are foundational to every genre of modern song and arts performance. I think it speaks volumes that so many in our community are feeling the same call to support, celebrate and uplift!”

Tickets for Love Rising go on sale tomorrow (March 8). Net proceeds will benefit the Tennessee Equality Project, Inclusion Tennessee, OUTMemphis, and the Tennessee Pride Chamber. For more information here.

Welcome to the first best new pop roundup of March! Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like this year is already flying by. There is lots in store from artists — including new albums from Lana Del Rey and Miley Cyrus arriving later this month, along with some ones from the pop stars on this week’s list.

Check out Uproxx’s Best New Pop picks from this week below.

Kali Uchis – “Blue”

“I’m not broken yet, but sometimes it still feels like it / When you treat me like a stranger / How do you get cold so fast?” Kali Uchis sings in the opening lines of “Blue,” from her new album, Red Moon In Venus. The emotional track finds her toeing the line between whether to stay or leave someone who continuously has her hurting. Still, despite the tone, it manages to have touches of positivity.

J-Hope – “On The Street”

J-Hope‘s new song, “On The Street,” finds him teaming up with his longtime inspiration, J. Cole. “Every time I walk / Every time I run / Every time I move / It’s always for us,” J-Hope sings on the track, seemingly to reassure fans amid his solo era — as BTS is on a hiatus. The duo also appear alongside each other in the fun music video that finds them exploring NYC.

Mimi Webb – “Freezing”

Mimi Webb has made herself a significant rising presence on the pop scene over the past few months, and her latest, “Freezing,” further proves her expected reign. Featured on her new debut album, it comes complete with a soaring chorus that hooks listeners almost instantly.

Demi Lovato – “Still Alive”

“Still Alive” is Demi Lovato’s rock-inspired contribution to the Scream 6 soundtrack, which was co-written with Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. “I’m a huge fan of the films, so it’s an honor to contribute to such an iconic horror franchise,” Lovato noted in a statement via NME.

Suki Waterhouse – “To Love”

Between dropping a full album, an EP, and appearing in Amazon Prime’s new series, Daisy Jones & The Six, saying that Suki Waterhouse has had a massive past year is an understatement. Now, she’s back again with a new one-off song, “To Love,” that showcases her romantic side. “Is there a universe / Where our paths never crossed? / Where I caught your eye / But then someone arrived and we both forgot,” she notes about her current relationship.

Emeline – “Feelings”

Emeline’s “Feelings” packs a punch with some powerful synths and biting words. On the heels of her previously viral singles, it appears she’s gearing up for a larger project — which just might include this too.

Gus Dapperton – “Horizons”

Gus Dapperton‘s “Horizons” is the first view of his new album, which is expected later this year. As he described about the song, it “is about a stranger who is lost and trying to find a way out. Forces around him try to stop his quest, but he finally prevails.”

Sigala – “Feels This Good” (feat. Mae Muller, Caity Baser, & Stefflon Don)

Sigala shows off his DJ skills from the first notes of the lush new “Feels This Good,” a track that could very well be a strong summer contender for the EDM and dance scene. The beat never once falters from bringing the upbeat energy — and the three collaborators that provide vocal features further push that forward.

Shygirl, Tinashe – “Heaven”

Another electronic drop on this list, Shygirl and Tinashe‘s partnership on “Heaven” brings a chiller, calmer energy to the genre. Their vocals are extremely complimentary, serving as the perfect breezy background harmonies on the chorus.

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers (Demo)”

Cyrus’ lead single from her upcoming album, Endless Summer Vacation, “Flowers” has found massive success. It’s since become her longest-running No.1 hit on the Billboard charts. Because of this, she treated fans to the demo version — which is a slower, somber take that emphasizes the hurt behind the empowering original.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Concerts: they sure do happen late! Unless you’re at a music festival, seeing a live music performance means, generally speaking, that you’re leaving the house around dinner time and you’ll want to just go home and crawl into a warm bed well before the encore. Count Jamie Lee Curtis among that crowd, as she just passionately called on some of the biggest names in live music to put on an afternoon concert.

In a red carpet interview at this past weekend’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, Curtis said, “I am gonna just say this now as a taunt and as a suggestion. U2: do a matinee. Coldplay: do a matinee. What about a 12 noon concert, Coldplay? What about it? Bruce Springsteen: do a f*cking matinee! You’re old! Why wouldn’t you let me come see you, Bruce Springsteen, in your glory days — pun intended — and do it at noon or 1 o’clock? 2 o’clock! 2 o’clock matinee! Theater in New York, 2 o’clock! I will come and hear your five-hour concert, Bruce, at 2 o’clock, and I’m gonna be home and in bed by 7:30.”

Curtis is on an early-to-bed kick lately: Also on the Independent Spirit red carpet, Curtis said of skipping the upcoming Oscar nominees dinner, “Why? Because mommy goes to bed early. ‘Cause 7:30 is gonna be 9 before we get food, and you know what? There’s nothing good happening with me after 9 o’clock. Nothing. Zero!”

Meanwhile, at the awards, Curtis was nominated for Best Supporting Performance for her work in Everything Everywhere All At Once, but the award went to co-star Ke Huy Quan. Everything Everywhere All At Once crushed it overall, taking home seven awards.

Read our review of Springsteen’s current tour here.