SHORT:
Last week, I got an atrocious cold and slept for 24 hours. During those 24 hours, a celebrity gave my friend his phone number. I woke up to all my group chats blowing up about it. Everyone was freaking out.
Why do we love celebrities so much? I am the first person in the world to ask this question.
I wish I could surgically remove the part of me that cares about it all, but I can’t.
This is my first newsletter as a brunette. Can you tell?
MEDIUM:
I finished Sandra Bernhard’s book. It was made up of little passages detailing her young life.
Hers was beautifully written and included tales of traveling, partying, eating, drinking, and loving.
Mine would be about the parmesan pretzel from Jamba Juice, my mother’s fear of high fructose corn syrup, and the distinct horror of a Francesca’s (which we, as a society, must discuss far more often than we currently do).
After I finished Sandra’s book, I had 4 hours of grad school interviews on Zoom. It was a lot of thinking about why/if I matter and explaining to other people why I think I might matter while silently wrestling with my decision to cut off all my blonde hair.
Then it was Valentine’s Day and my girlfriend and I ate vegan chicken & waffles and watched the Hannah Montana movie.
I tweeted about how the movie is written and directed by a man and then got embarrassed about the tweet because I’m applying to all these “important grad schools” and “what if they see that I’m tweeting about Hannah Montana?” and then I got annoyed AT myself for worrying about that and annoyed at SOCIETY for making everyone have to perform fancy adult erudite bullshit to feel big-powerful-and-important, and then I fell asleep.
[I would also like to say that Miley in disguise as Hannah talking to Travis about how he likes Miley is very As You Like It/ Twelfth Night AND there’s a big Coriolanus government vs. the people narrative happening with the town and its money problems AND all the world’s a stage AND Billy Ray Cyrus looks like blonde Richard III with better posture and Rascal Flatts is in the movie playing “God Bless The Broken Road” (world’s most beautiful sonnet) so what I’m saying is the film is rly Shakespearean if you pay attention and ultimately I tweeted about Shakespeare.]
Finally, yesterday I did a packet for a show. I told myself I could only spend 45 minutes on the thing because 1 million people are submitting and I was ill.
Here are the jokes I wrote while on Dayquil (I don’t know if I should be posting them here, but I am).
I like some of them, I hate some of them, and ain’t that life, baby?
This week, Coca Cola trialed it’s first paper bottle, honoring the life long relationship between coke and paper [picture of cocaine line on dollar bill]
This week, S. Prestley Blake, co-founder of Friendly’s died at 106. Meanwhile the founder of “Meanies” is alive and well: [photo of Mitch McConnell]
Maryland has become the first state to tax digital advertising. Big tech has responded by dumping all their banner ads in The Potomac [image of Boston Tea Party but it’s Big Tech dumping HelloFresh banner ads in the water]
Arizona state Rep. John Fillmore introduced a bill that would ban the nonbinary gender marker “X” on state IDs. He is worried because “what if someone gets pulled over for speeding and then the cop draws an O next to the X and they start playing TicTacToe?”
Yuri Tolochko, the Kazakhstani bodybuilder who married his silicone girlfriend, has revealed that he’s got room in his heart for even more artificial wives. Gotta respect the guy for trying to create his own little Silicone Valley.
The Daughter of the Lombardi trophy designer wants Tom Brady to apologize for tossing it across the water. “My father designed that trophy to be drenched in sweat, champagne, vomit,” she said, “not tossed across the water like a wittle baby skipping a stone.”
An ‘unprecedented’ winter storm in Texas causes power outages across the state. Yeah, you heard that right. All your exes are powerless right now.
Claudia Conway auditioned for American Idol and has made it through to the Hollywood Round. “Hollywood Round” is also what her mom calls Trump’s body.
A man in Michigan is going to auto-repair shops and pooping in random cars. He’s found that saying “I’m gonna poop” actually makes the cars run! And fast. [picture of car with legs, running away]
The Indianapolis Museum of Art has apologized for an insensitive job posting seeking a director who would “work to maintain their core, white art audience.” “Sorry, we just really wanted Bon Jovi to apply,” they said.
A North Carolina man has been charged with threatening to kill President Biden. He was planning to just lightly push him over.
Prince Harry and Meghan are expecting their second child………… To be a STAR! They’re dying to be stage parents. [picture of baby tap dancing and Harry/Meg applauding]
LONG:
Last week, a friend sent me a link to a social media thread that captures a lot of the frustration, anxiety, and weirdness I’ve been feeling. I have broken it down and interacted with it below. This is all very first-thought, but I’m curious how other people feel. Let me know.
The influence of social media has created a perspective in artists that they need to produce masterful quality works in a large enough quantity so that they can be shared on an almost daily basis. this is an impossible standard that forces artists to create uninspired work.
Yes, I hate a lot of what I’ve been putting out. But I am addicted to it. I can’t stop posting. Plus “shit-posting” is rewarded and “in” right now or whatever.
issues resulting in lack of depth, emotion, personality, and sincerity in the production of visual works arise. if visual art is not captivating enough on a first glance, a 'like' will not be granted from the audience, and the digital work will die.
Yes, I hate that art online requires an initial, quick-grab frame or word.
this impossible turn around time on production results in a disconnection between the artist and their work, and largely the work from the audience. growth is measured in numbers on a large scale, without likes/retweets/follows, the artist has missed their mark and failed.
Artists and comedians who have mastered the art of quick-posting captivating short-from content are one-stop-shops. They’re one-person production companies. They have to worry about likes and followers and (in before-times) being seen at the “right” influencer events etc. These events and things are linked to money and how to make a living and further your career so it makes sense. That being said, it means their attention is elsewhere. I think about the art and comedy these internet comedians/influencers could and would make if they didn’t have to worry about staying top of mind, producing, editing, going to movie premieres, and staying viral.
We’re sprinting through (and with bad form, I think). All of us. Even people who aren’t getting attention. Because it’s become the new presumed path/ trick/ way to make a living as a writer, performer, funny person, etc.
People are racing to cross an ever-moving finish line linked to money and success that is necessary for survival but often empty in packaging/fulfillment/meaning/reward beyond some tangible compensation or worse but perhaps more powerfully: “clout”.
Clout is such an ugly word and so so stupid and dangerous and almost everything in the art and comedy and writing world is about clout and I hate it.
It only gets worse when clout bleeds into the personal and interpersonal… because that’s what art is about, personal expression and it’s rooted interpersonal communication/ collaborative community…
This community grows fragmented and fucked UP when clout comes into play, even more-so when clout-things start getting rewarded by the big boys (™) with power and goods (way more power and goods, by the way, than they’re offering remember, they like that you already are an influencer, a one-stop-shop, a personal production company. They don’t want to take chances. They don’t want to grow anything from zero. They don’t want to do work, and hey, you’ve demonstrated that you can do it all so here’s some money so you can keep doing it all mostly by yourself maybe with a little help but not much).
art is a visual language that exists only in sincerity of expression - visual art digested by audiences through social media platforms perpetuates the belief that trends are art, and in turn destroying the integrity of sincerity. artistry is lost, propaganda is created.
I feel like I’m creating crappy gay, trans, Jewish, etc. propaganda because that’s what the internet wants and pays attention to and I’m tired of it but also love it and it really makes you question your own voice and who you are beyond (or within) these big personal identifiers.
Who is the critic? In this climate, artist's works are viewed almost exclusively by other artists. when a post is created, its fate is largely decided by a small group of users within the first 10 minutes. fresh artists can not grow without a hand from seasoned artists.
This is the hell of doing open mics. Performing jokes for other people trying to perform better jokes than you. They sit with their arms crossed staring up at you. Unless you recently booked things or have “momentum” going for you. Then they’ll laugh. Cuz they want to be a part of your wave. A rising tide lifts all ships or whatever. You hope. This is at work online now. And everywhere. And it sucks.
this being the case, an artist must play the game or die. influence is taken from larger accounts, silencing fresh voices and keeping aesthetics of visual art on trend with what works in the world of social media. break the trend and risk engagement. a circle is created.
vis art is now broken into subcultures defined by a larger community. an artists on 'photo twitter' must exist in a bubble. if aesthetics are not on par with what is produced by the majority, engagement is lost if there isn't a fresh sense of ingenuity in the field.
cliques are created in the forms of group chats. this is correlated simply by lunch tables in middle school - each subculture existing in their own bubble. artists are granted entry by clout or aesthetics, with there rarely ever being an in between.
this creates a toxic state of being for the mind set of a visual artist on social platforms. to succeed in this culture without creating one's own cult following, an artist must befriend users in their field or risk losing their chance at accumulating 'clout'.
yes. yes. yes. yes. yes.
I attended a panel where an executive talked about finding people through Twitter. They mentioned looking at big comedy accounts and seeing who they retweet. Then asking those people for general meetings. This puts a lot of pressure on current big creators to lift people up. Current creators who are, again, tired. So the people they lift are usually the people who are right in front of them. Their friends. People with similar comedic sensibilities. Whatever’s convenient and on their feed (understandably).
These are often the people who are the loudest and who are “playing the game” well and FAST. People who can afford to be the loudest. Who have the tools and luxury to stay top-of-mind. It’s cliquey and hive-mind-y and full of social bullshit, and when you scale this, it doesn’t lead to great results (imo).
I will say, when you’re included? It feels like you’re the most popular kid in school (for a day).
And that’s a horrifying thing to realize in the aftermath of the re-tweet frenzy.
at what cost would you risk losing an active voice of sincerity in your works? this post exists for no other purpose than to state observations made in my current length of stay on social media.
I’ve lost my own voice. Or, I never got the chance to find it? Both because in-person shows have shut down and the fact that the internet landscape is hell. I also can’t quit the hell landscape because I fear losing the little that I have. I also realize I’m literally 24 and know nothing.
My therapist says I don’t have to do everything by myself. Nobody should have to.
We shouldn’t feel like Sims floating in empty space screaming nonsense and waving at big, unidentified powers in the sky who could maybe come down and swoop us up if we make enough noise, or an interesting noise, or a very loud and “diverse” noise.
We deserve help. A system. To slow down. To not do everything by ourselves or die trying. To have writers rooms and shows that aren’t just staffed or casted by the number of followers someone has.
Social media is powerful in its ability to lift people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to a Hollywood-schmooze party or a New York night out. And that’s good. But it’s also putting so much pressure on people to do things all by themselves. To be everything– a brand, a writer, a producer, a model, actor, singer, marketing exec, etc.
If we keep working and moving at this rate, we’re all going to disintegrate. And those who manage to muscle-through will just be… so tired. And not happy with what they're making… I think? I don’t know.
I realize this is how most industries etc. work – there’s always a nepotism problem, a clout problem, etc. but I think it’s particularly fucked up in the age of content creation, social media stardom, when “everyone’s a comedian on twitter”, etc.
Just because we can do everything ourselves, doesn’t mean we should have to.
Thank you for reading this newsletter!
Reminder that you can still fill out This Survey with your thoughts, questions, prompts, etc! Wanna read the older/probably FUNNIER & better-written ones? Click here for the archive!
-Meg
Social- @megspope@mpopetweets
Venmo- @mpope-venmo-26
Website- meganpopework.com
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As always, to wrap things up, here’s some dumb stuff I’ve tweeted this week:
