Hello hello I’ve missed you. Grateful for deciding to take a break from Offcuts last Monday. It was an act of kindness to myself for some time I needed to take away. It was probably one of the first times I haven’t chastised myself for failing and I’m glad. I don’t ever want writing to feel like a chore but equally, I’ve learnt when to prioritise myself. With that, we’re back in business and I’ve been very excited to share another weekly round-up with you all. The summer has finally arrived in London and it is blissful. I’ve mostly spent my week basking in the sun as much as I possibly can. Long may it continue.
I got round to reading Beautiful World, Where Are You. I loved it and I don’t know why so many people didn’t. I can’t believe I’d put off reading it for so long through fear of not enjoying it. Thinking it would be shit and not being able to bring myself to endure it. Well, please forgive me dear book. It is so distinctly and depressingly Sally Rooney. Another story of voyeurism into the banal lives of others. Chef’s kiss.
The Little Mermaid landed in theatres just over a week ago and I’m going to watch it with my sister in a couple of days. It wasn’t ever one of my “core” Disney films as a child, I don’t even think I watched it the whole way through until I was much older and in my teens at least. I also haven’t been all that fussed about the live action remakes Disney has been hellbent on over the past decade or so. There’s something different about this film though. I’m ready for a bit of magic and to watch a proper ‘movie movie’ at the cinema.
I found Georgina Prichett’s piece in The Guardian about her experience behind the scenes of being a screenwriter on Succession really interesting. She details in the article a couple of scenes that had to be rewritten after “HBO appointed super-rich consultants” guided her on what the lives of uber rich billionaires would actually entail.
One of Bioré recent ad campaigns with a TikTok creator was pulled less than 24 hours after being posted because of its insensitivity. The video that was meant to be prompting the brand’s blackhead-removing pore strips was spliced with “a day in the life of” clips, including the influencer hinting towards her experience with anxiety after a shooting at her college 3 months prior. And just when you think beauty marketing can’t get any worse…
In Brené Brown’s 2010 TED Talk on The Power of Vulnerability, she says “we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen” and I think that’s a perfect statement for exactly what I’m trying to embody here on this platform myself.
