like most youths in this country, i have become completely (and almost inexplicably) obsessed with a certain group of ultra-tanned, super-conceded, mega-hedonistic beach dwellers who have turned the once-tacky jersey shore into a bonafide cool playground. it's easy for one to detest such fodder though after five years of californian blonde rich bitches spilling drinks in $1000 shoes on the hills, it's even easier to see why the mtv-watching crowd has found refuge in the modestly-styled, immensely egotistical east coast world of shore. slightly akin to the "valley girl" trend of the early 1980s, the world of poofs and GTL has become a kitschy guilty pleasure for our confused times, spawning off themed campus parties and almost satirical merchandise. in many ways, their invincible, young-american narcissism evokes a prominent trait within our generation, allowing them to be a strange, subcultural voice for the rest of us non-fist pumpers or gorilla juiceheads.
greek tragedy meets brazilian realist thriller, where love is the drug, marriage is something disposable, costumes are second skins, and dreams are infinite. set during the carnival season and juxtaposed between sun-bleached days and ominous nights, black orpheus is a magical dream of a film that seduces with one glance and never lets go.
catching up on the third season finale of the landmark 60's-era manet-imbued social opera mad men becuz my memory is fuzzy and the fourth season premieres sunday. i've never seen a more immaculate program about the american family and the american workplace, so tailored to beauty and designed to style that it seems like it was carved out by some postmodern renaissance man. how deep and existential it shows that our country has finally gotten and how consistent the creation of amazing cable television not exclusively inside of the hbo/showtime hemisphere is. i cannot wait to see what's happened to don draper and the rest of the sterling-cooper gang. may their martinis never cease.
