Copy
Hi everyone, this is Matthew Gardner and I write Stupefy, a shortcut through media chaos.

I took some time off, but I'm back. Thanks for having me in your inbox again.

My plan now is to make Stupefy the source for cultural insights in the creative and media industries. This requires me to write more frequently! Maybe even daily. Unless you don't want that.


Anyway. Let's talk about the "Queen's Gambit," Ivanka's shopping prospects and terrible HBO Max ads. 

View this in your browser. | Subscribe to Stupefy. 

Why "Queen's Gambit?"


The funniest thing I’ve seen in a while is this Google doc

Professional Patreon-haver Dan Allegretto remembered some things that happened since the pandemic started for us. 

Since the Biden election win? Nothing. 

But! Something did happen. It’s a fucking a Netflix show, of course. 

Right when the pandemic started, I predicted the arrival of a cultural moment called the Great Corniness

A socially starved public, my thinking went, would supply and demand content about how important it is to touch each other. 

“The Queen’s Gambit” is the opening move of the post-pandemic/Biden era’s shift from the Trump era's sullen seriousness (think "Handmaid's Tale" or those SoHo murals) to vaccine-fueled cuddliness. 

Sean Fennessy and Amanda Dobbins couldn’t put their fingers on why "The Queen's Gambit" is the only thing resembling zeitgeisty at the moment. 

It’s zeitgeisty because it’s saccharine. 

This would be a spoiler if it weren't so stupid: Beth Harmon gets high on her friends.

She ditches drugs and booze and the show gets worse and worse as it brings characters back like hangovers. Forget drugs. You just need the touch of a good friend. Even the art direction is sugary. 


If the series had ended when she stuffed her face full of benzos, it would have been the defining cultural artifact of the pandemic. Wouldn't that be nice!

But, no, it kept going, because everyone needs a hug right now. 

Prepare for more hug content. 

The shorter stuff


🌀
  • Cat Marnell: "Rich people are having maskless, indoor parties." (The Cut)
  • From Ginia Bellafante's column: “No one is going to lend Ivanka clothing — she’ll have to buy it covertly at retail.” (NYT)
  • Speaking of rich ladies acquiring clothes in strange, special ways the rest of us can't ("lend" her clothing!?), my old neighbor Lauren Santo Domingo has one of those companies, Moda Operandi, that spends hundreds of millions of dollars instead of making it. I'm happy for her! (Air Mail)
  • This is the single dumbest and most unnecessary thing I've ever read about. Who is Charli D'Amelio? I still don't know. (Insider)
  • It's going to be really funny when "Hillbilly Elegy" comes out and no one cares about Trump-era politics anymore. (THR)
  • Lil Nas X had a Roblox concert that was about as big as Travis Scott's Fortnite one. (The Verge)

🌀
  • A while back I wrote about the Twitch Crossover Artist. Looks like I was right. (Vice)
  • There are going to be a lot more video game TV adaptations. (Variety)
  • YouTube, still that pesky music streaming service that you always forget about. (Protocol)
 
🌀
  • The campaign for "The Flight Attendant" on HBO Max completely ripped off "Mad Men." (Video)
  • And HBO Max is advertising itself as a place to watch reruns? (Image)

🌀
  • Must-read essay by Jeremy Gordon on the holes in the viral "burnout" essay and the author's capitalizing on it since. (The Nation)
  • The best thing I've read during my hiatus was this piece on collapse by Ben Ehrenreich. (NYT Magazine)
  • Foster Kamer's column here is the only Substack post I’ve ever read from beginning to end. (Fostertalk)
Stupefy makes sense of the dizzying media and content landscape for busy people. Subscribers receive one issue of the newsletter every Tuesday morning. If someone forwarded you this email, click here to subscribe and join our fast-growing community. Thanks and see you in your inbox soon! 

Copyright © 2020, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
matthew.gardner@stupefy.com

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.