This week, Daysia discusses James Charles, Hannah shares her excitement for Zola and a flawless Aaron Sorkin parody, and as a special surprise, our friend Noel has blessed us with a guest fixation: a close reading of Trisha Paytas' "I Love You Moses" music video! Plus, some actual Lorde content (!) and as usual, entertainment stories to get you through the weekend.

<3

Daysia and Hannah

This Week's Fixations

What’s taking up our brain space this week?

Daysia: Oh sister… James Charles posted a video called “holding myself accountable” yesterday addressing recent accusations of “grooming” underage boys. Charles has been accused of sending inappropriate Snapchats to a 16-year-old and 17-year old boy. He compared the recent allegations to the ones he faced during 2019’s Dramageddon 2.0 and claimed that his experience then impacted the way he viewed the present situation. He implied that he was ready to come with receipts from the boys proving they lied, but ultimately realized he was solely responsible for the incidents as the adult. Hmm... a few takeaways I gathered from this video (plus some of my thoughts):

1) He maintains that they lied about their ages, something that at least one victim disputes. It feels like Charles, while trying not to excuse his actions, is still relinquishing a part of his culpability. This inclusion undermines his attempt at taking “full responsibility” for what happened, especially because he mentions this several times in the video. He says that he’s explaining his thought process, but it still implies that the boys were equally at fault for the incidents—which they are not!

2) He says the problem was that he relied too heavily on TikTok and Instagram to find a boyfriend, ignoring red flags out of desperation. What red flags, I wonder, are he talking about? That the boys looked like teens? That his fans, the ones on his For You and Explore pages, are widely young? It’s pretty easy to avoid an inappropriate relationship with a minor. Chalking up this behavior to “ignoring red flags” indicates complete ignorance of his audience and his own status, which brings me to:

3) He says he has a better understanding of the power imbalances between influencers and fans now. I’m still not quite sure he does, but he acknowledged that power imbalances can exist whether they are intended or not. I don’t think he totally grasps that there is no “intention” when it comes to the power of celebrity— it just exists. As Insider’s Lindsay Dodgson wrote, influencer-fan relationships are inherently problematic.

Hannah: I feel like I’m talking about a trailer every other week but there’s so many things coming out that I can’t wait to see. This week the trailer for Zola finally dropped and I have already watched it approximately 15 times. For those who aren’t aware, Zola is Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris’ adaptation of a viral Twitter thread about what happens when Zola, a waitress, encounters Stefani, a sex worker, and they go on a cross-country road trip to Florida to make money dancing and then shit hits the fan. In the same way that Hustlers and The Bling Ring thrive on the so-crazy-it-has-to-be-true factor, Zola promises to be the movie of the summer that helps us all live vicariously through it (even if we’re unable to take our own adventures). Also, the cast includes Nicholas Braun and that’s enough reason for me to be excited.

On a tangent, Daysia sent me this delightful TikTok that perfectly captures my feelings about Aaron Sorkin (pretentious but can’t deny that he’s good). This just makes me wonder if the creator has splurged on Sorkin’s Masterclass which offers iconic advice like, “You can’t start dialogue with ‘dammit’!”

Guest Fixation

Trisha Paytas gives us a lesson in the old testament and true love in I Love You Moses

By Noel Gasca - (@NoelGasca)

While most of the internet has been absorbed with watching Lil Nas X give his best FKA Twigs impression and twerk on the devil, I’ve been spending the last week utterly entranced by the latest work from my favorite Biblical scholar, Trisha Paytas.

I’ve followed Trisha Paytas off and on since I stumbled across her “Shit Fat Girls Who Think They’re Hot Say” video in 2012, and I was a witness to many of the early Trish eras that helped her develop a cult following. I was there for beach house Trish, Hello Kitty Trish, skincare guru Trish.

I unsubscribed at some point between her infamous chicken nugget video and the demise of her relationship with ex-boyfriend Jason Nash. It was clear through her videos that the relationship Trisha had with Nash was unhealthy at best, abusive at worst. I fell in love with Trisha and her channel because of her bubbly personality, but as the relationship dragged on, I started seeing less and less of the Trisha I was once enamored with.

But at the urging of friends, I started watching the Frenemies podcast Trisha co-hosts with fellow YouTuber Ethan Klein. Deep down, there’s always been a lingering part of me that has rooted for Trisha’s success and mental wellbeing. I hoped that she could find a happily ever after.

From the second my eyes laid on the title screen of her latest music video, entitled “I Love You Moses”, I knew the old Trish was back.

For those who don’t have a degree in Trishology, the title of “I Love You Moses” is a double entendre. It refers to the love Paytas not only has for the Old Testament Baddie Moses but also for her fiancé, Moses Hacmon.

“I Love You Moses” represents the first testament of stanning Trisha Paytas: thou shall understand Trisha Paytas is incapable of trying to be anyone but herself. And honestly, I love her for it. When’s the last time you met someone who believed in themself and their vision enough to spend $80,000 on a music video that’s essentially just a horny version of The Prince of Egypt? Exactly.

Everything about the music video has the chaotic, campy energy that sets Trisha apart from just about everyone else on the internet. The camels that look like they were plucked from a neighbor’s front yard nativity scene? Iconic. The custom made technicolor dreamcoat? It has community theatre groups gagged. A seder table that’s comprised of not just one, but two Adam Sandler characters? I’m actually not really too into that considering that neither of them is Howard Ratner from Uncut Gems.

There’s something really healing about watching someone else make a major step towards finding their own peace and happiness. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Trisha dance with her fiancé as she crooned, “I love you Moses/you freed the slaves/and you freed my soul/Moses never let me go.”

“I Love You Moses” isn’t the first time that Trisha has collaborated with a partner on a music video. She released several with Nash, but their chemistry always fell flat to me. Nash seemed reluctant to indulge in the wacky visions Trish dreamed up for her videos. But with Hacmon, Trisha seems to have found a partner that’s excited to support her any way he can and let her shine.

Has Lorde Dropped a new album?

Negative!

But we did get a chance to hear her voice singing something new when she performed a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Tougher than the Rest” at Marlon Williams’ concert. An appropriate reminder for my fellow Lorde fans that we’re tougher than the rest as we wait (im)patiently for Miss Ella to drop L3.

In the meantime, Gen Z’s Lorde/Taylor Swift Olivia Rodrigo has released a new song, “deja vu” which is exciting because we now have two Olivia Rodrigo songs to listen to on repeat (yes, we haven’t stopped listening to “drivers license”). Kevin McHale also approves:

Too Many Tabs

Our fav reads of the week

Gita Jackson unpacked Chet Hanks’ proposed “White Boy Summer” for VICE.

There’s no denying that Lil Nas X knew exactly what he was doing with his latest video. For Vulture, Craig Jenkins explores the implications of this and how musicians use controversy and outrage to bolster sales.

In The Atlantic, Shirley Li discusses the smooth brain film that is Godzilla vs. Kong and how it might be exactly what we need.

Hunter Harris dives into deuxmoi and how it stacks up in the celeb gossip landscape for VICE.

Plus…in the car with Dominic Fike and Diana Silvers, Netflix's knives are OUT, blink and you might have missed this Jordan Fisher casting news, and insight from the divorce lawyer of the rich and famous (yes, it’s Laura Wasser also known as the inspiration for Laura Dern’s character in Marriage Story).