Category: Blog

The most iconic shot from The X-Files‘ 25 year run is also the funniest one: the image of a somber grey alien gazing away unto loftier things while holding a bat and dressed in a baseball cap and a little alien baseball uniform. You see, the alien in question is the true form of Josh Exley, the rootinest-tootinest bad-ball batter in the bush leagues who came to earth and stole the identity of a disappeared child from Macon, Georgia because he loved baseball so, so much. Season six’s The X-Files episode “The Unnatural” was David Duchovny’s writing and directing debut, and it shows. The episode is a bunch of tropes loosely strung together by the mythology of the X-Files that had already been years in the making, the foremost of which being that American identity has the power to unite all people in its embrace, regardless of the historical wealth of systemic obstructions marginalized people face to claim that identity.

The time has come to hold a referendum on the state of music; specifically, the presence of sex noises in music. This is a distinct and unusual trend in music production that has thrived uncurtailed for decades, multiplying like a cancer. From Naughty by Nature and Joan Jett to Tove Lo and Nelly, singers have been employing recordings of their own moaning, grunting, and squelching in their tracks for far too long. And somehow, whether it’s because sex noises can be ignored with strong willpower or because there’s a statistically significant group of people for whom this feature is actually a draw, the use of sex sounds has blossomed without consequence.

Since 1987, the Beit T’Shuvah thrift store in Culver City has been “a high-end, charity-run resale store that supports Beit T’shuvah, a drug/alcohol rehab in Los Angeles,” as described on their Google profile. The store places emphasis on the value of charity, hiring primarily recovering addicts in its storefront. Over Thanksgiving, I visited the store only to find that it was involved in a confusing partnership with the Church of Scientology.

Sixteen years ago, Anji Fipps posted a personal ad on shoe.org, “The Online Lesbian Community.” “Hi all,” she wrote. “This is my first time posting to the list although I have responded to a few posts. I just wanted to do alittle intro. [sic] I live in wonderful South Carolina. I am 29 but try not to act it.. lol.. I have kids and I just got out of an 8 yrs lesbian relationship. I am looking for friends to chat with, email, maybe even visit one day.. I live in a small town so meeting new people isn’t easy.”

On Oct. 6, 2018, the Senate voted to confirm Justice Kavanaugh in the midst of sexual assault claims by Christine Blasey Ford. There have been new accusations that emerged on Sept. 15, 2019 by Deborah Ramirez, a student at Yale at the same time as the Supreme Court justice. These assaults took place in the 1980s through the late ’90s, a signature feature of this era being the influx of romantic comedies full of mistaken identities, wacky hijinks and the gleeful normalization of rape.

The 2019 Emmy Awards were a spectacle to behold; the ceremony was collateral damage of a culture war, straddling the expectations of both Old Hollywood and the growing movement advocating for more diversity in the media.