In Gos we trust: female superheroes, behind the scenes with Barbie, the memes of the Met – here's what the Dazed team are hyping this week
“In a sharp insight into her/our relationship with music, Lorde recalled a recent moment in the studio when she and some new friends (read: Kanye) discussed what song they’d want to send into space, and that picked Robyn’s firey/vulnerable/indestructable ‘Dancing On My Own’. I’ll let you read her words on it rather than try to paraphrase, but I thought it was cool she picked a song from the last five years rather than some supposed classic from the pop canon. One that was a cult hit, was used on a TV show, went viral, and has bizarrely become the kind of song that queens lip sync to on Drag Race. To be fair, you can’t say that about ‘Perfect Day’.” – Owen Myers, Deputy Editor (@Owen_Myers)
BEHIND THE SCENES OF BARBIE’S INSANELY PAINSTAKINGLY-PRODUCED INSTAGRAM
“I highly recommend you DO NOT look at the @barbiestyle Instagram if you weep freely at filter-perfect lives, OOTD’s, relationships, burgers etc. (ie. me.) BECAUSE THIS BITCH AIN’T EVEN REAL, and she has a THREE-PERSON styling team who TRAVEL THE WORLD to snap that perfect shot. THE BITCH IS PLASTIC. And I can’t even master the Ludwig filter. #currentmood kill me.” – Natasha Slee, Social Media Assistant (@TashaLouiseS)
“Not only is this the best piece of writing I’ve read in a while, but it’s about Britney Spears. Britney Spears and how she landed in Vegas, how she actually works bloody hard, how she became a feminist icon. It’s also about how Celine Dion apparently likes her Vegas dressing room to have rainforest levels of humidity. If you haven’t been to Vegas, it’s a primer for your holiday – bring it on Margaritaville! If you have been to Vegas, relive the weird moments that had to ‘stay’ there, by some archaic unwritten law.” – Trey Taylor, Film Editor (@treytylor)
“Feels like yesterday we were obsessing over shows like Project Runway and America's Next Top Model; now the closest I get to seeing a runway challenge is watching the walk-offs on RuPaul's Drag Race. This great Racked article goes into the decline of fashion TV and how the internet might be leading a turnaround in its fortunes.” – Zing Tsjeng, News Editor (@misszing)
KIM KARDASHIAN’S 445 PAGE MASTERPIECE
“When Selfish landed on my desk this week, word spread around the office like wildfire, members of the Dazed Group eager to see what all the fuss was about. Despite how much everyone loves to loathe Kim Kardashian, what makes Selfish so devastatingly fascinating is how utterly complete its embrace of the superficial is – it's the zeitgeist made touchable, elevated into the arena of an art publication. It’s an emblem of our current culture, and for this reason it’s a remarkable book. “Selfish is an insane project, a document of mind-blowing vanity and deranged perseverance. It’s also riveting. I can’t recommend it enough,” writes Laura Bennett in her brilliant review on Slate, which explores Kardashian’s place in popular culture, her ability to conform to a series of seemingly contradictory identities all at once and how this book is her “masterpiece”. It’s a must read.” – Emma Hope Allwood, Fashion Features Writer (@emmahopeall)
DRONE FOOTAGE OF ANTARTICA
“Swedish filmmaker Kalle Ljung and his crew went all the way down to the Antartica for this – and it is AMAZING. Seriously. I watched it late one night when I was feeling a bit shit, and it managed to make me feel both catatonically relaxed and wildly emotional. It's hard to get to grips with how pretty the natural world is – especially when you live in a city – but this is a really nice reminder. I love whales!” – Dominique Sisley, Editorial Assistant (@dominiquesisley)
LOOKING AT FEMALE SUPERHEROES WITH TEN-YEAR-OLD BOYS
“I'm an avid comic book geek. You know, the type of guy who loves visual dictionaries of the Marvel and DC Universes, and scours eBay to buy his son every Lego superhero just so he can secretly play with them himself. That's me. However, in my never-ending quest to find out everything about all these super folk, I've never managed to find an answer to one of the most obvious questions – why do female superheroes have bodies like porn stars? Practically without exception, the women in comic books have huge, gravity defying breasts, impossibly tiny waists and look like they've all been styled by the owner of Spearmint Rhinos on LSD. I know we're dealing with fantasy here (largely drawn and dreamt up by men, of course), but the over sexualised portrayal of women in a medium largely meant for kids has always made me worry about its wider social implications. If you've ever wondered the same, you're going to enjoy this piece by the New Yorker's Jill Lepore who tried to answer the question by taking a bunch of 10-year-olds to the new Avengers movie and then read the new A-Force comic book with them. She then asked them why they thought women were drawn this way. Brace yourself...” – Tim Noakes, Editor-in-Chief (@TimNoakes)
IT'S CALLED THE MET GALA, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY ANNA WINTOUR'S PARTY
“Did you know the first Met Gala was in 1948? No, me neither. That's because back then it was just a dinner for museum donors and only in recent years, thanks to Anna Wintour, has it become the celeb-heavy, fashion-heavy, meme-heavy, fund-raising event that Twitter has come to know and love. This revealing article tells that story, and, though she doesn't seem to like to talk about it, not only does Anna pick the guest list and seating plan, but (actually now I think about it not that surprising) what certain guests will wear, too.” – Fiona Cook, Social Media Manager (@Fionawcook)
RYAN GOSLING FINALLY EATS HIS CEREAL
“Will Ryan Gosling star in the next Bladerunner? Will his directoral debut, Lost River be amazing? One thing's for sure – Ryan Gosling has finally eaten his cereal. Ryan McHenry's Vine account ‘Ryan Gosling Won't Eat His Cereal’, became a massive meme hit a few years ago. The account would post vids of McHenry trying to feed cereal to a clip of Gosling in a film. But sadly McHenry died this week and as a tribute to the late Vine star, Gosling posted a video of himself eating cereal and it was epic.” – Natalie Turco-Williams, News Intern
“Paper – an independent New York art magazine with a habit of #BreakingTheInternet – published its annual list of beauties this month. Pulling together the greatest and most good from film, music, fashion and thought, it's an amazing cross-section of American youth today. Especially worth checking is the interview with the Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of the most essential voices in our #BlackLivesMatter moment.” – Charlie Robin Jones, Digital Editor (@charliexjones)
THE BEST MEMES OF THE MET GALA
“MPs may not know this, but the world actually continues to spin during the general election. Aside from the political frenzy that has consumed our television screens for the past few weeks, another significant event that managed to capture the hearts of gif and meme creators around the world was the Met Gala. From Rihanna's ginormous omelette gown to Sarah Jessica Parker's flame-shaped crown, the weird and wonderful fashion choices of attendees resulted in the internet immediately turning to Photoshop. Props to the designer of Rihanna's dress, Guo Pei, who responded to the memes with ‘I saw it when I was very hungry. I don't care if people make fun of it as long as they love it.’ Winning.” – Caroline Saramowicz, Editorial Intern (@cazzaay)
