T Lo’s Weekend Pop Culture Reading List

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Darlings, it’s our first weekend reading list of the new year and appropriately enough, it’s a doozy. Go and get yourself zeitgeisted up!

Makeup artist Nicki Ledermann and hairstylist Kay Georgiou reveal what went into crafting Joaquin  Phoenix’s new take on the classic character.

How ‘Joker’s’ Broccoli-Green Hair and Consistently Smeared Makeup Created a “Handmade” DC Villain By Aaron Couch at The Hollywood Reporter

Another notable departure signals the near-end of an era when fashion magazines and their editors wielded dominant power over the industry.

Glenda Bailey, Editor in Chief of Harper’s Bazaar, Steps Down By Engel Bromwich and Katherine Rosman at The New York Times

But reality weighs heavy on the mind of a Weird Dad. Because for him, mortality has become a driving force. He has a child now, which has made him so grateful for the life he enjoys and so conscious that one day, he will no longer be alive to enjoy anything. One day, he will be dead. Another day, his child will also be dead. For reasons not readily apparent, grappling with his own cosmic insignificance makes a Weird Dad more invested in seemingly trivial matters, not less.

Watching My Husband Become a Weird Dad by Jen Gann at The Cut

This “just in time” approach to home goods is great, when you manage it right. But if you manage it wrong, you may end up buying 18 anti-perspirant sticks in a year, as I did in 2016. I forgot that I’d subscribed to a six-pack instead of single sticks, and then I forgot to cancel the subscription. Because of this accidental bulk purchase, I’ve had to devote a whole storage drawer under my sink to deodorant. Marie Kondo would be very displeased. At least I’m finally down to the last couple of sticks.

When Buying in Bulk Is a Mistake by Josh Barro at The Intelligencer

I became acquainted with Tyler Perry’s work like many other Black people: through our Black mothers and aunties whose social calendars are filled with church gatherings and revivals. Perry was a reinforcement of the morality lessons I heard every Sunday morning and at Wednesday night Bible study. Women ought to submit to their husbands. Successful women needed to subsume their ambition and smooth out their assertiveness through the love of a man. Cheaters would always receive their recompense. Abuse and Black womanhood were indelibly linked by design, almost as if you pulled at one thread, the other would unwind and undermine its significance altogether. And we loved Tyler Perry for not only representing Black church folk in a world that often stigmatized and misunderstood us, but also because he made money glorifying the church and God his way.

I Give Up on Tyler Perry by Morgan Jemkins at Zora

Davis, in a statement to Jezebel, protested that Milan didn’t read the whole book and her protagonist wasn’t submissive, but rather “strong and determined.” She continued: “You can understand how publicly, loudly, and abrasively levying accusations of racism based on such details taken out of context would cause me deep pain. As a result of these accusations, I have suffered both financially and personally.” Hence she turned to RWA, she said, and was told that her only option was a formal complaint. In her response to the complaint, Milan fiercely defended her right to criticize Davis’s book in the strongest terms possible: “Negative stereotypes of Chinese women have impacted my life, the life of my mother, my sisters, and my friends. They fuel violence and abuse against women like me,” Milan wrote, adding that such stereotypes dishonor the memory of the women she’s descended from. “I have strong feelings about these stereotypes, and when I speak about them, I use strong language. It is hard not to be upset about something that has done me and my loved ones real harm.”

Inside the Spectacular Implosion at the Romance Writers of America by Kelly Faircloth at Jezebel

But I suspect something else was going on with Lopez and Hustlers, which is that she did everything wrong. She dared to play a character who used her sexuality as a professional survival tool and didn’t regret it; she committed the unforgivable sin of being sympathetic and then not; she took her public image and spectacularly amplified and reworked it to suit a complicated character. That is not what Academy voters want from J. Lo. What they want is for her to scrub off her makeup and play a poor mother dying of something who tries to find someone to take care of her kids. They want a role that says, Look how serious I am. Look how willing I am to punish myself for you. That kind of self-abasement has always been something Academy voters love to see from actresses; even if we set aside the grim social implications of that kind of thinking, what remains is a disappointing limitation of vision.

Oscar Nominations 2020: What Went Wrong—And Did Anything Go Right? by Mark Harris at Vanity Fair

Louis Vuitton has won all 1,758 carats of the Sewelo diamond.

The Second-Biggest Diamond in History Has a New Owner By Vanessa Friedman at The New York Times

The comic and actor discusses “Little America,” his new anthology series on Apple TV Plus, and why “despite all the issues, I personally do feel optimistic about this country.”

Kumail Nanjiani Thinks Immigrant Stories Can Still Be Hopeful By Brandon Yu at The New York Times

Could polish, jewels, and nail stickers be the next male beauty frontier?

The Rise Of The MANicure By Chloe Hall at ELLE

Hiro spent three hours a day applying the pieces that turned Theron into Megyn Kelly.

Charlize Theron’s Unrecognizable Bombshell Transformation Is All Thanks To Prosthetist Kazu Hiro By Rose Minutaglio at ELLE

The Oscars reflect the Academy, but the Academy reflects nothing but its august name; plausible deniability and the shunning of responsibility are built into the current system.

How to Make the Oscars Relevant Again By Richard Brody at The New Yorker

Feeding hungrily on the fruits of memory, the director summoned worlds to comply with his imaginings.

A Hundred Years of Fellini By Anthony Lane at The New Yorker

The fashion reality competition show premieres March 27, with winning clothing designs sold on Amazon.

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn Explain Why They “Jumped Ship” From ‘Project Runway’ to ‘Making the Cut’ By Lindsay Weinberg at The Holywood Reporter

With the Hollywood mogul’s trial underway in New York City, 30 of the women who exposed his predatory behavior speak out about what justice looks like for Weinstein—and for those who enabled him.

“WHAT I WANT IS THAT YOU SAY JEFFREY EPSTEIN, JACK THE RIPPER, AND HARVEY WEINSTEIN ALL IN THE SAME BREATH”: 30 WEINSTEIN ACCUSERS ON WHAT JUSTICE LOOKS LIKE By Rich McHugh at Vanity Fair

[Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.]

• T Lo’s Weekend Homework