Maisel Tov! Workplace Amnesia, a Misunderstood Jeen-Yuhs, and More
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“You only live once, but if you read the Wag, once is enough.”—Mae West
Dear Wags,
Weekly Recs time has arrived —but before we get into all that mishegoss, some housekeeping for the Resplendent Wag Legion! Episode 2 of our 3 Glorious Things, podcast, available via Embershot, has received 10 times the number of listens as the average audio episode on Spotify. You may revel in it here. We’ve also had a spike in Super Duper Premium Wag Subscribers (Thank You). If you are having a spot of trouble subscribing to premium, please shoot us a line at intern@culturewag.com. How lovely to have lovely things to share! No, on to the necessary business of distracting you.
Yours Ever,
Series
Severance (AppleTV+). Remember the office? At some point, the poobahs decided open plan was awesome, just in time for a global pandemic! No wonder everybody is reluctant to back to that unsanitary old place. Mr. Ben Stiller gives us more reasons not to commute in this unsettling fable about a white collar drone (Less Fluffy Haired Adam Scott) who opts to have his mind wiped clean of personal stuff while at the salt mines, and expunged of office woes while at home. Alas, things aren’t going to stay that tidy. Dame Patricia Arquette glowers as management. Lean into this one, colleagues!
Triumphant Return
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video). Wag Emerita Joan Rivers once regaled us with stories of sleeping in her car outside the Bitter End in Greenwich Village—all part of her scrappy ascent to greatness. How can we not think of her as we watch Miriam Maisel (Wag Rachel Brosnahan) triumph over Eisenhower-era stuffiness and lunge for stardom? Genius Amy Sherman-Palladino’s masterpiece returns, tart as ever.
Doc Series
jeen-yuhs: a Kanye Trilogy (Netflix). How are we to take Kanye West? He is maddening, obnoxious, talented, and clearly suffering. Coodie Simmons knew the artist before the antics and tabloid stories. His account will make you root for a bright young striver, and mourn what’s become of him.
With Pippa and Huck
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (Disney+). The beloved animated series about 16-year-old Penny Proud (Kyla Pratt) and her meddlesome relations gets a boost from Disney’s mega platform. —Dee Thomas
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FICTION
What do we really know of our parents? They tuck past selves away, and become different people for us. Before building a life in California, Eleanor Bennett ditched one in the Caribbean, trying to put tragedy behind her. After her death, her grown kids, Benny and Bryon, stitch together the mysteries of that past. What they find changes how they see her, and themselves. Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake is a beguiling tale of American reinvention, and the power of family ties.
NONFICTION
There may be no more marvelous hack than an index—you don’t have to wade through somebody’s boring book to get to the juicy bits (as in: Wag, Total Brilliance of). Delightful nerd Dennis Duncan dives into medieval manuscripts, searches the dankest nooks of university libraries, and explains the perversities of Google in Index, a History of. Turns out the 800-year-old organizational innovation has saved accused heretics from the stake and given revolutionary shape to powerful ideas. Don’t believe us? Look it up!
THE TRIBUTE
Wag Emerita Betty White, who died on December 31 at 99, was adored by millions. She was also our favorite luncheon companion at the departed Pacific Dining Car in Santa Monica. Gregory Bonsignore’s That’s Betty, illustrated by Jennifer M. Potter, is a sparky tribute to a courageous life. Kids and adults ought to know that White was a pioneering broadcaster who stood up for racial and gender equality. Also, she was a stitch. It’s a perfectly Betty tribute. —Bess Lindstrom
In 2003, two emaciated youths wandered into picturesque Vernon, British Columbia, claiming they were raised off the grid with no knowledge of civilization. The so-called Bush Boys captured the hearts of a small community and got international attention. The only hitch was, they weren’t who they said they were. In Chameleon: Wild Boys Yarn Spinner Sam Mullins delves into a fascinating hoax, and our bottomless appetite for legends.—Dina Sanichar
There’s an old movie you haven’t gotten around to, called No Regrets. It stars Steve McQueen and Camilla Sparv, and after they pull off a jewel heist, they escape Monaco by yacht. Then this Joss Stone number plays over the credits. Yes, I’m heading for the skies,” our Joss belts, like this was a forgotten Burt Bacharach tune. “I’m choosing love right now, right now and forever.” Good choice!
I sit here on the stair/while she dries the silverware/the children watch TV with Easter ribbons in their hair. Even guys in rock bands grow up and become worried parents, trying to protect kids in an uncertain world. Multi-instrumentalist wonder Walter Martin is a gifted poet, and Easter is an elegiac tune that will haunt you.— Faith Dunlap
Black History Movie Month continues with Kasi Lemmon’s Eve’s Bayou (1997), a film draped in Southern Gothic mysticism as heavy as Spanish moss. Lemmons began her Hollywood career as an actress, appearing in School Daze and Silence of the Lambs. But she had ambitions as a writer, and in 1992, began working on Bayou, her first screenplay. To convince the suits she could make the movie, she initially shot a short, Dr. Hugo, based on a section of the script. She also found an ally in Samuel L. Jackson, who both starred in her film and was a producer. Set in an affluent Creole community in 1960s Louisiana, the drama follows young Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett) as she discovers that her father (Jackson), the town doctor, isn’t who he seems. Themes of the supernatural are woven into a plot about infidelity, dark secrets, and a girl’s coming of age. Lynn Whitfield is regal as Eve’s mother, while Debbi Morgan and Diahann Carroll are on hand as powerful elders with magical abilities. Three decades later, it remains a startlingly original work of art. —M.C. Laveau
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“When planning an Italian vacation, always take the Wag along to read by the pool, but trust me on this one—leave your elephants at home.”—Hannibal of Carthage
August 18, 2024
