Coulture
The day in question was, of course, none other than Sept. 7, 2021: the release date of Sally Rooney’s third novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You.” (Although, if you are an indie musician or literary Twitter micro-celebrity, you have had it for months, along with a tote bag and, somehow, a promotional bucket hat).
A review of her sophomore album “Sling”.
The point made by the gap between the professed morality of superheroes and the actuality that lies behind Vought’s branding in The Boys is not particularly subtle or pioneering, but I think it is an important one in the world of parasocial relationships. A parasocial relationship is a one-sided relationship experienced by an audience member with a celebrity or some kind of performer in media.
I Care A Lot follows Marla Grayson, Pike, and her lover/business partner Fran, Eiza González, as they systematically, and somehow mostly legally, grift the livelihoods of old people. First they assume guardianship of the elderly with help from one corrupt doctor and an overworked judicial system. Then they promptly put them in nursing homes — cutting them off from their families as they sell their homes and belongings. The plausibility of the grift and its alignment with the morality of productivity culture seems to be the movie’s primary social commentary. It is terrifying to watch.
The idea of living as if there is an ever-present audience and the idea of comparing ourselves to the fictional ideals we grew up with both remind me of a philosophical framework for self-understanding called narrative identity.