Month: December 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

There are very few things that would make people nostalgic for the 1950s. Sure, they had cool cars and pearl necklaces were a staple, but that time frame had its fair share of problems, even if “Grease” made it look dreamy. Whether you believe your life would’ve been way more interesting if you were Danny Zuko or not, most would agree their technology was…lacking.

All eras are “advanced” for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don’t typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.

Of course, there’s no fancy touch screen that tells you the weather and asks how you’d like your ice cubed. It’s got more important features that are actually practical.

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Like a fruit drawer that not only pulls down so you can quickly check your inventory, but also pulls completely out.

“A big picture window hydrator for fruits and vegetables,” the actress says while demonstrating. “It tilts down to show you your supply at a glance, and it also lifts out, so you can take it over to the sink when there’s a fresh supply to be washed and put away.”

Yeah, that could be helpful and reduce the clutter in your fridge from all those clear storage bins companies designed to essentially do the same thing but maybe in a more cumbersome way. But the cool factor of the vintage refrigerator didn’t stop there. You know how sometimes it’s like playing Jenga removing leftovers? Well, this fridge has shelves that slide out nearly completely. Oh, the amount of reduced stress that would give folks sneaking a late snack after a holiday meal.

Watch the fascinating video below:

u201cThis refrigerator from 1956 has more features than modern day fridgesu201d

— Historic Vids (@Historic Vids)
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​One commenter said, “Can we vote to bring this back?” and I have to agree. Take my money.

For a little extra fun, check out the full commercial below and marvel not only at the refrigerator but at how our attention spans for advertisements have diminished over the decades.

This story originally appeared on 5.3.23

A story that recently went viral on Reddit’s AITA forum asks an important question: What is a parent’s role in taking care of their grandchildren? The story is even further complicated because the woman at the center of the controversy is a stepparent.

The woman, 38, met her husband Sam, 47, ten years ago, when his daughter, Leah, 25, was 15. Five years ago, the couple got married after Leah had moved out to go to college.

Leah’s mom passed away when she was 10.

Last year, Leah became pregnant, and she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend didn’t. After the disagreement, the boyfriend broke up with her. This forced Leah to move back home because she couldn’t afford to be a single parent and live alone on a teacher’s salary.

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Leah’s story is experienced by many young mothers who are facing difficulties. The father isn’t involved in the baby’s life as a caretaker or financially. Sadly, 33% of all children in the U.S. are born without their biological fathers living in the home.

The new mother is a teacher and can’t afford to live on her own with a child. A recent study found that out of the top 50 U.S. cities, Pittsburgh is the only one where a new teacher could afford rent.

The stressors of taking care of the baby made Leah realize she needed help.

“But once she had the baby around 4 months back, Leah seemed to realize having a baby is not the sunshine and rainbows she thought it was,” the woman wrote on Reddit. “She barely got any sleep during the last four months. All the while Sam was helping her with the baby while I did almost all chores myself.”

“Now her leave is ending. She did not want to leave the baby at daycare or with a nanny,” the woman continued. “Sam and I both work as well.”

Leah asked her stepmother if she would stay home with the baby. The stepmother said no because she never wanted to have a baby and she has a job. “I asked why Leah can’t stay home with the baby herself,” the woman wrote. “She said how she was young and had to build a career. I said many people take breaks to raise kids, and she broke down crying about how she was so tired all the time being a mom and needed something else in her life too.”

After the woman told her stepdaughter no, her husband pressured her to stay home with the baby. But she refused to give up her job to raise her stepdaughter’s child. “Leah said yesterday how she wished her mom was alive since she would have had her back. She said I didn’t love her, and my husband is also mad at me,” the woman wrote. The woman asked the Reddit community if she was in the wrong for “refusing to help my stepdaughter with the baby,” and the community responded with rapturous support.

“[The woman] should tell her husband to knock it off and stop trying to pressure her into raising his daughter’s baby. If he wants a family member to look after her baby while she works, then he can do it,” Heavy_Sand5228 wrote.

“This is Leah’s baby that she alone chose to have. That doesn’t obligate you to change YOUR life to suit her desires. The whole business of saying you don’t love her because you won’t quit your job to watch her baby is manipulative and messed up, and I’m shocked your husband is siding with her,” SupremeCourtJust-a** added.

Leah and many women like her are in this situation because, in many places, teachers are underpaid, rent is high, and not all dads pay child support, even those required by law.

Another commenter noted that the baby is much more the father’s responsibility than the stepmother’s. “To add, Leah should consider seeking child support from her ex. Her kid should be getting that money,” Obiterdicta wrote.

This article originally appeared on 10.3.23

For the final two seasons of The Crown, The Wire star Dominic West took over the role of Prince Charles as the Netflix series tackled his tumultuous, scandal-ridden divorce from Princess Diana and the infamous car crash that took her life in the 1990s.

Portraying the Royal Family is always a fraught proposition for British actors, and West recently revealed in a new interview that he actually used to be close to Prince Harry before the two had a falling out.

“We sort of [lost touch because] I said too much in a press conference, and so, we didn’t speak after that,” West told Times Radio via Deadline. “I think I was asked what we did… [and] what we did to celebrate when we got there and probably said something too much.

According to Deadline, West is most likely talking about a 2014 expedition to Antartica that the actor and Prince Harry took with a group of injured military veterans. Following the trip, West revealed during a press conference that the Duke of Sussex is pretty freaking handy at making toilets.

“He seemed to specialize in building latrines,” West said. “He built this incredible castellated structure with blocks to keep out the wind and it even had a loo roll holder.”

Not particularly embarrassing, but then West went right for a dad joke as he described the latrine that Harry built: “Sitting there, looking at the beautiful view thinking, ‘This is a royal flush, in every way.’”

Yup, that’ll end a friendship right there. Prince Harry did what any of us would’ve done.

(Via Deadline)

The first installment in Zack Snyder‘s new sci-fi series, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, only hit Netflix a few days ago, but already the streamer is pumping up fans for the next installment, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver.

Netflix dropped the first teaser trailer for The Scargiver on Christmas morning, and it promises an epic conclusion to the ultra-violent galactic showdown that Snyder unleashed in Part One.

Here’s the official synopsis:

REBEL MOON – PART TWO: THE SCARGIVER continues the epic saga of Kora and the surviving warriors as they prepare to sacrifice everything, fighting alongside the brave people of Veldt, to defend a once peaceful village, a newfound homeland for those who have lost their own in the fight against the Motherworld. On the eve of their battle the warriors must face the truths of their own pasts, each revealing why they fight. As the full force of the Realm bears down on the burgeoning rebellion, unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge, and legends are made.

However, before the grand finale arrives in April, Rebel Moon fans will be treated to a director’s cut of the first film. While neither Snyder nor Netflix has announced a release date for the director’s cut of Rebel Moon – Part One, Snyder has teased that it will drop some time before the release of Part Two.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver hits Netflix on April 19, 2024.

It’s tough finding a new movie the whole family can watch together during the holidays. Or, at least it usually is. The Holdovers is literally a Christmas movie, in that it’s set during the holidays, but it’s also a good movie to watch on Christmas. For starters, it’s got Paul Giamatti, and everyone loves Paul Giamatti (even in action figure form). Also, The Holdovers is salty but sweet, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa give terrific performances.

Unfortunately, a lot of people did not watch The Holdovers with the family this Christmas. Or Barbie, or The Color Purple, or Godzilla Minus One, or any movie that doesn’t feature a scene where Barry Keoghan enjoys “boy dinner.”

Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn was a popular watch this Christmas. Makes sense: it’s streaming on Amazon Prime Video and there’s been enough year-end excitement surrounding the film that a lot of people were wondering what the buzz was about. But based on reactions on social media, that curiosity about Saltburn quickly turned into regret over its “strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, and drug use.” But mostly, the first two.

Margot Robbie tried to warn us.

But y’all didn’t listen.

If you want to get really weird, show your folks Poor Things.

Beyoncé’s childhood home in Houston caught fire on Christmas Day morning, with the flames reaching the second story at about 2 a.m., according to ABC 13.

“They did a great job,” the Fire District Chief Justin Barnes told the outlet. “I’m going to say in less than 10 minutes, we had a really good grip on this fire.”

Although Beyoncé’s family hasn’t been living in the house anymore, as they moved out years ago, it still is a sentimental part for her. The fire’s cause is still being investigated, but the family who was living there was able to get out safely.

Over the past few years, the pop star has routinely given back to her home state and city. When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas back in 2017, she helped those affected and handed out food at her local church. In her recent Renaissance Tour movie, Beyoncé also went on a tour of her childhood spots while she was performing in Houston — where she brought out Megan Thee Stallion.

“This today is a celebration of survival,” she said in 2017, according to Rolling Stone. “Y’all are my family. Houston is my home. I thank God that y’all are safe, that your children are safe. The things that really matter are your health and your children, and your family and your life.”

Jeffrey Wright has been receiving acclaim for his latest film American Fiction, based on the 2001 novel Erasure. The movie follows Wright as an English professor who is fed up with racial stereotypes in American novels and decides to angrily write his own book using those same outlandish stereotypes… and it ends up becoming a best seller. And that’s why it’s called American Fiction!

The movie also stars Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Erika Alexander. Wright has been called an “absolute triumph” in the role, so it’s a must-watch for anyone who has been anxiously following Wright’s acting career since 2000’s Shaft remake.

While American Fiction is not yet streaming, it will eventually be available on Prime since it’s an Amazon MGM film. Past Amazon MGM films have historically shown up on the streamer within two weeks of the initial release, but American Fiction did get a wide release last week, so it seems to be doing pretty well in theaters and might stay there for a while.

However, you can add the movie to your watchlist on Amazon Prime so it will show up there when it lands on the streamer. It’ll be a fun little surprise whenever it happens! Until then, you’ll have to check out the movie in theaters.

In recent years, the representation of marginalized communities on-screen has allowed for more diverse storytelling. On nearly every channel or streaming platform, viewers can enjoy films and shows featuring strong LGBTQ+ characters within the realms of romantic comedies, corporate dramas, and hedonistic erotica. LGBTQ+ media has certainly come a long way from being almost exclusively focused on traumatic stories about rejection by families, death by governmental negligence, or domestic abuse. But while we have cozier, happier stories now, tales of the in-between are necessary.

Positive representation of LGBTQ+ characters has proven transformative within the landscape of film and television, but at any age, navigating queer life can be messy, and at times, soul-crushing. And with messy characters on-screen, viewers find themselves empathizing and relating with these characters and their journeys. Flawed representation is equally as important as idealized representation.

The 2020s, so far, have been the era of the messy queer, as many recent films remind us that at any age, LGBTQ+ life doesn’t get any easier. In Bottoms, which had its wide release this past summer, queer best friends Josie (Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (Rachel Sennott) create a fight club at their high school to help them meet hot girls and eventually lose their virginity. While the way they go about it wasn’t exactly ideal, the plotline provides a queer mirror to the movie’s straight coming-of-age counterparts, like American Pie or Fast Times At Ridgemont High — both of which also feature storylines about losing one’s virginity.

High school, in general, is an awkward time for most — but these stories of queer youth can provide a glimmer of painfully relatable comfort. And even into adulthood, the internal battles one faces with their sexuality and identity may often manifest into less-than-favorable qualities.

This year saw Max’s The Other Two come to an end after three seasons. When we first meet the show’s Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver), he is an aspiring actor, who struggles to land long-term gigs. Over the course of the series, Cary books commercials, hosting slots on gossip shows, and, by the end of the second season, a role in a feature film (which sees numerous delays during COVID).

Cary balances his career with a competitive friendship with fellow aspiring actor Curtis (Brandon Scott Hays), as well as a monogamous relationship with Jess (Gideon Glick), the latter of which, he ends in season 2, in favor of exploring his sexuality. By season 3, we see Cary become the villain, expressing jealousy toward Curtis after he books a series role, and berating his agent when she is unable to secure him a coveted role. Having lost his best friend and made an ass of himself in front of his agent, Cary is forced to humble himself.

In an interview with Men’s Health, Tarver opened up about Cary’s journey, explaining that he felt Cary had lost his way.
“Season 3 is kind of an exercise,” said Tarver. “Can you choose yourself too much? Can you lose sight of why you started doing the thing you wanted to do at first in the hustle of it? I think he’s lost sight of what he wanted to do in the first place.”

Without spoiling the end of the series, Cary learns the age-old lesson which all queer creatives learn at some point in their lives; it’s not worth doing if it won’t make you happy.

While there’s no shortage of queer representation for millennials and Gen-Z, it’s equally necessary to showcase the journeys of individuals who come out later in life.

In HBO’s Sex And The City, Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes is an ambitious lawyer, who, despite being successful in her career, struggles to find an ideal man in New York City’s bustling dating scene. By the end of the original series, she is married to bar owner Steve Brady (David Eigenberg), with whom she shares a son.

When we’re reintroduced to Miranda in the series’ spin-off And Just Like That, she is struggling with alcoholism, dissatisfied with her marriage and family life, and finds herself entangled with non-binary comedian Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez). In season 2, which premiered this summer, we see Miranda and Che navigate a rocky summer together, as Miranda joins Che in Los Angeles to film a pilot. By the time they return to New York, Miranda is left to navigate her broken marriage to Steve, and the non-traditional dynamics that come with Miranda leaving her straight relationship and entering a queer one.

Meanwhile, Che must grapple with returning to a 9-to-5 job after their pilot tanks with a focus group. Though Miranda and Che remain fairly amicable following their eventual split, things come to a boil when Che alludes to their past relationship in one of their stand-up sets.

Since the premiere of And Just Like That, Ramirez’s character has proven polarizing among critics. The Daily Beast called Che “the worst character on TV” and “a hyperbolized, hypercringe representation of nonbinary identity.”

Ramirez has continuously defended Che and their portrayal of the character. In a New York Times interview, Ramirez expressed their gratitude toward Che, saying “We have built a character who is a human being, who is imperfect, who’s complex, who’s not here to be liked.”

As we grow older, we find that there’s no magical age in which our queer journeys become smoother. But through relatable storytelling of flawed, imperfect characters, viewers find comfort in knowing they don’t have to be aspirational or highly accomplished. They also learn that not having a traumatic backstory doesn’t make their queer journey any less valid, nor do they need such a backstory to justify the pains that come with navigating LGBTQ+ life. Through these messy characters, we learn that simply being human is enough.

A new post is going viral online after the woman who appears on the cover of Childish Gambino‘s Awaken, My Love album claimed that she and her team never received the residuals they were promised. Here’s what to know about who she is, and the situation that reportedly happened.

Who Is On Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love Album Cover?

The model who appears on the album cover is Giannina Otero, who reportedly recently made a Facebook post about Gambino’s handling of the situation.

“We received low pay but were promised residuals but never received anything,” she said. “The only person who received residuals was a white woman who created the headpiece even though she was not on set to work on this (but she also deserves it).”

“After years of lies and silence then finding out statute of limitation complications… it’s been an exhausting, emotional, and overall sad thing to deal with,” Otero added. “So it took so much from me especially the fact that we all worked on it with so much love and being proud to represent black artists. All of my lawyers’ communications have been ignored by the artist and his team.”

The post also included a photo of Otero posing with a copy of the record. She made note that while she is proud of being on the cover, she also had a lot of complicated feelings and trouble celebrating the album.

Check out a copy of her post below.