However this nostalgia of ours depends on cherry-picked reminiscences of the previous, stubbornly seen by way of rose-colored glasses. The celeb tradition we’re craving for is now not seen as moral. Actuality wasn’t so cool; on the peak of their fame within the 2000s, the Olsen twins had just about no privateness, have been the butt of numerous inappropriately sexual jokes (don’t watch the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, I urge you), and have been a tabloid goal for body-shaming. Although they haven’t spoken a lot about their selection to depart the leisure business, their staunch avoidance of the general public right now speaks volumes.
Typically talking, again then weight loss program tradition was rampant, mirrored by the ubiquity of weight-loss commercials, broad size-exclusion in vogue, and a media obsession with well-known ladies’s our bodies. Consumerism amongst younger folks was itself an odd, aggressive pastime whereby we roamed aimlessly round malls, praying we may at some point afford (or match into) a pair of Hollister denims. Racism, xenophobia, sexism, fatphobia, and ableism have been all default punchlines for mainstream comedians, who have been promoting out stadiums on world excursions.
A lot of these good and unhealthy vibes from the 2000s have been unquestionably tied to political turmoil, terrorism, and battle, and the identical factor is occurring in our widespread tradition now. It simply seems to be completely different as a result of expertise has superior a lot. Issues transfer sooner, certain, however the underlying reality stays: When politics fail to progress, so does our tradition. We simply have Ozempic as an alternative of Orlistat, Stanley cups as an alternative of the George Foreman Grill, and TikTok as an alternative of MySpace. These all function handy methods to distract us from the political injustices inside our authorities we see or hear about each single day.
For those who assume that sounds somewhat tin-foil-hat, I can’t blame you. To be clear, I don’t assume the NSA is planting Ashley Olsen make-up tutorials on-line to brainwash society into complacency (however that will make an exhilarating sequel to my favourite film, 2001’s live-action Josie and the Pussycats). I simply assume that, as the following Trump administration approaches, now could be a greater time than ever to judge simply how a lot our nation’s politics inform our aesthetic traits—and simply how a lot energy these traits have to harm folks, whether or not they’re celebrities or on a regular basis folks. I’m not saying you may’t put on smudgy, Olsen-twin-inspired eye make-up in any respect (you very properly may even see me doing it a couple of times), however simply to do not forget that whereas the 2000s make-up is value romanticizing, the 2000s tradition very a lot shouldn’t be.
