Pressure, pushing down on me, pushing down on you: This week brought more culture news than we could have asked for, some worth celebrating but much worth lamenting.
The world lost David Bowie, the glam rock icon. Slate remembered Bowie in his many dimensions: as the singer of “Under Pressure” and “Sound and Vision” who never stopped creating, as a transformative and ever-transforming force, as symbol of androgyny, as husband to Iman, as a complicated sexual being, as film star, even as unlikely Internet pioneer. Read all of Slate’s David Bowie appreciations here.
It never rains but it pours, and we also said goodbye to Alan Rickman, who was great as a villain but outstanding in subtler roles too.
But culture marches on, and this week also saw the kickoff of movie awards season with the Golden Globes and the announcement of Oscar nominations. The Globes tried really hard to show everyone just how seriously it doesn’t take itself, according to TV critic Willa Paskin, as Ricky Gervais lobbed off trans jokes and half the ceremony was bleeped. We celebrated Rachel Bloom’s win for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the triumph of Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle and rolled our eyes at Sylvester Stallone’s and Leonardo DiCaprio’s acceptance speeches. Meanwhile, there was some interesting fashion and a few good jokes. In Oscars-land, women’s stories finally got some attention—with a few exceptions—Creed got snubbed, and something called The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared got some love.
Also this week:
- The housewife novel is back.
- 13 Hours is surprisingly astute.
- Why Adam Sandler rules Netflix.
- The manipulations of Making a Murderer.
- Talking to Charlotte Rampling about 45 Years.
- Billions is the quintessential Showtime show.
- In defense of the singular they.
- New York Times food critic Pete Wells is a populist hero.
- How Jane Lynch makes villains likable.
- The one anti-feminist thing about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
- Helen Mirren was the perfect rock star in 1975.
