The influencers are misbehaving again

Lend your eyes and ears to this list of the best stuff to read, watch and listen to right now

Hey! As someone who doesn’t have a hobby outside of media consumption, I’m constantly coming across great articles, podcasts, essays, and videos that I’m going to make you endure (lovingly).

Sustainable fashion influencer has always seemed an oxymoron. If we accept that a social media influencer’s role is to shill product, then that’s pretty much the opposite of conscious, mindful consumption encouraged in sustainability. However, if you can change people’s opinions and behaviour, that is influence (or a great skill to have for any of my fellow aspiring benevolent dictators). I bring this up because TikTok’s latest trend is “de-influencing” - creators are encouraging their audiences not to purchase viral products or trendy items.

I remember when strobing was the latest beauty trend, after highlighting and contouring, even though it was the same. Or how the millennials are throwing tantrums because low-rise jeans and peplum tops are returning even though they still have the option to just not???

I’m so serious, no one is holding a gun to your head, but it does feel like that when your entire feed is full of people better than you threatening to banish you to cheugy island.

De-influencing makes sense as a natural reaction to our supposedly social media being nothing more than a shopping mall, but we can never leave good enough alone, can we? Those same de-influencers are shilling alternative products now or attempting to pivot their image away from wasteful/materialistic/etc, so they can make you like them again to buy their ebooks or whatever. You can read all about it in this article on Dazed.

READ

• Is the end nigh for beauty influencers? - Maria Poggi for Dazed, 13 February 2023

• Everyone Is Beautiful and No One Is Horny - RS Benedict for Blood Knife, 14 February 2021
  An old take on a current issue: Gen-Z’s sexlessness in film and TV. Benedict’s piece is an excellent read on how artificially beautiful everyone is on screen, but the sex scenes have lost all sex.

• We should have never let nerds into fashion - Khensani Mohlatlole for Bubblegum Club, 13 February 2023
  And I’m being so serious. I wrote about how technology has crept into fashion, intending to remove human taste, increase revenue and destroy us all on the inside.

Contemporary gym ads focus on rigidly isolated self-improvement: be your best self. Create a new you. We don’t exercise, we don’t work out: we train, and we train in fitness programs with names like Booty Bootcamp, as if we’re getting our booties battle-ready to fight in the Great Booty War. There is no promise of intimacy. Like our heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like Rico and Dizzy and all the other infantry in Starship Troopers, we are horny only for annihilation. - RS Benedict

LISTEN

• Humanity in the Era of the Rise of the Machine - The Business of Fashion, 27 January 2023
  Idk this just made me a little less sad/paranoid about artificial intelligence and robot overlords.

• EP 138 - Khensani Mohlatlole - The Almost Perfect Podcast, 10 February 2023
  Shameless self-insert! Bob publishes weekly interviews with creative South Africans about how they’ve fucked up, made a mess, and burned bridges so that we can laugh and learn. We had a great chat about fashion archiving in South Africa, people calling vintage Black women slaves, and my sustainability tips. I’d also recommend Waylene Beukes, Desire Marea, and Khanya Mtshali’s episodes.

WATCH

• Stranger Things & The Meaning of Life - CJ The X, 31 January 2023

• Why South African Fashion is So Good - The Fashion Roadman, 14 February 2023

• Making A Valentines Dress While Heartbroken - Micarah Tewers, 14 February 2023
  As someone recently single, I found a lot of comfort in watching real-life Barbie make a cute dress while trying to cheer herself up with pet bird shenanigans and pouring honey on her friends and family.

BURN

• Velma (2023)
  I’m gonna be honest: I actually like this show. Is it cringey? Mean to its source material? Clearly not understand its desired audience? Yes, yes, and definitely yes. But I’m so dedicated to the Scooby-Doo universe that I still somewhat like to see my favourite characters - even when they’ve been stripped for parts, misused, misunderstood, and regurgitated back to me.

• Gossip Girl (2021)
  This show was actually starting to find its groove, and it’s been cancelled forever now. Yes, the acting was wooden, the dialogue was pathetic, and not letting teenagers just be mean and ruthless was a mistake, but, damn, was the set design fantastic. I didn’t mind the teachers being Gossip Girl, or even that it was revealed early (watching Georgina Sparks roofie and kidnap Kate Keller was a delight). Still, I wish this show had made up its mind about what it was trying to say about influencers and surveillance culture, removed Obie, and spent more time on Monet and Luna, especially. Also, Max, Luna, and Monet’s endings felt like spit in the face.

Let me know what your eyes and ears are on right now. Also, if you’ve watched Gossip Girl 2.0, I want to talk—seriously. We can start with Luna’s hot mom, Monet’s mom’s Kerry Washington impression, or why a billionaire would like to buy an Instagram gossip page.

You know you love me xoxo.

Khensani