A Guide to Childhood Culture for Adults: Who the Hell Is Emma Chamberlain?
This week is all about forbidden lore, so read on for a peek into the hidden worlds of YouTube celebrities, superhero sexuality, fast food fries and the White House itself.
Celebrities You’ve Never Heard Of: Emma Chamberlain.
You’ve probably never heard of Emma Chamberlain , but the 20-year-old has around 20 million subscribers to her popular YouTube and Insta podcast, as well as millions of dollars, and she did it all while being authentic.
While most internet influencers spend a ton of time and money portraying themselves in the perfect light, carefully monitoring every aspect of their personal brand, Chamberlain allows it all to evolve. She doesn’t wear makeup, her hair is disheveled, she doesn’t censor her strangest thoughts, and her videos are wobbly iPhone-based real documents instead of sleekly crafted ads of her own. Children identify with her.
Chamberlain’s latest video,Change , is a 20-minute snippet of life in Emma’s world where she tells the camera, “I love avocados the worst of all” and “in most pants it looks like a saggy city in my ass” and “I love to wear hat, but my forehead is sweating to the next level. “
I have to admit, if I ignore the fact that her “authenticity” is just as fabricated as anything else, Emma’s video really does feel like partying and chatting with a 20-year-old girl; mostly because they make me scream, “Lord, who cares ?” Then I remind myself that other 20-year-olds clearly care, and that the narcissism of the young is a necessary step towards forming an identity and realizing how little you mean.
This week in the memes: Delta is right for your fall plans
A hot meme on the net this week sheds light on the growing spread of COVID-19 in the form of a delta. Here’s how it works: You caption an image of a hopeful thing — say, a movie character or a historical figure — with the words “My Fall Plans,” then label the second image “Delta Variant,” showing what brings the tragedy. Thus, the southern plantation could be called “My plans for the fall”, and the Sherman going to the sea – “Delta variant”. (It’s funnier in practice than the description, trust me.) Anyway, there are some of my favorites here .
This Week In Comics: Robin Loves Men
It’s not exactly a surprise – I mean, they call him “Boy Wonder” – but it turns out that Batman’s buddy Robin loves other men. In particular, the third “Robin”, Tim Drake, is bisexual. Drake, who has supported Batman since 1989, is featured in the comic anthology Batman: Urban Legends, and in issue # 6, Drake goes on a date with another boy and confesses his feelings – his feelings as a gay. Drake joins Deadpool, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and Loki among superheroes who love same-sex relationships. I don’t want to spread any rumors, but I’m pretty sure Aquaman is also playing on both sides of the fence.
This Week’s TikTok Trends: Sorority Invasion
I love using TikTok to explore strange subcultures that I’ve been avoiding all my life, such as college students rushing to sororities at the University of Alabama. The almighty TikTok algorithm (praise his name) this week began serving a boatload of people wanting to be Greek from Bama, and PNMs (potential new members) were uploading videos of themselves showing off their OOTD (clothes of the day) detailing the brands they wear , go to parties. but otherwise very … blondes. They are so blondes.
As you might expect, non-Greeks on TikTok were the first to answer the question, “Why are all these stupid freaks in my timeline?” then “What the hell is a” Trouser Store ? “then filmed hilarious parody videos. Check out the madness of #BamaRush and #AlabamaRush on TikTok anyway.
Eating This Week: How Five Guys Cook Potatoes
Continuing our look at forbidden lore, we move on to @ Maezthegreat TikTok, who has filmed a couple of videos revealing the secret of Five Guys fries. Most shocking discovery: French fries are cooked the right way.
The five guys don’t thaw a corporation-approved starch slurry or stick to a 2-day-old grease. They take real potatoes, chop them up, put them in a vat of water to remove dirt and starch, and then dip them in a deep fryer for two minutes.
You might think that this is where they put them in a paper bag and I eat them, but no. This is where they are waiting. Then, when someone orders, they are fried again. After frying twice, the chef shakes the basket exactly 15 times to remove excess fat, adding a little salt. Then I eat them. Then regret.
Viral Video of the Week: Benny Drama Encourages Gen-Z Vaccinations
In its ongoing effort to get young people to get this wacky vaccine, the federal government has teamed up with Generation Z influencer Benny Drama. In his role as “Trainee Cooper,” Drama visited the White House this week, caused havoc and shot a hilarious video . In it, Copper works for press secretary Jen Psaki. Among other manifestations of incompetence, Cooper asks if Olivia Rodrigo is still there, and the stone-faced Psaki calmly replies, “No.” (Our spokesperson is a great straight girl.) As you might expect, it all ends with the message “get vaccinated, damn kids.”
Plus, as you’d expect, Drama’s flamboyant personality is read as “gay” to our country’s conservatives, who widely criticized the video, even believing it would prevent some people from getting vaccinated so they wouldn’t supposedly bump into gays. I think it’s best to inject yourself with bleach like the last guy suggested.