Here at Flavorwire, we pride ourselves on not only writing some of the best content on the Internet, but keeping an eye on all of the great writing that other folks on the ‘Net are doing, too. Today, we bring you a piece examining the ways in which TV sitcoms have shifted to accommodate millennials, a look at the situations that lead to Vampire Weekend performing at a “stoner frat” in support of Bernie Sanders, an op-ed about the unique pressures faced by today’s young fashion designers, and an explanation for the resurgence of the O.J. Simpson obsession.
Vulture’s Jenny Jaffe examines the ways in which today’s “millennial sitcoms” change the television format’s entire framework.
Given that millennials are the center of the universe, both in our own heads and in terms of our capitalistic purchasing power, it’s no surprise that TV shows have adapted their approach in order to appeal to our interests. Many of these changes have dealt specifically with our relationships to love vs. sex, and to work vs. leisure. Sitcoms particularly, with their focus on these dichotomies, have felt it perhaps the hardest and this article explains why.
While each of these shows is distinct in tone and humor, they share similar concerns: They star 20- or early-30-somethings in major cities and feature characters who are educated, have relative financial stability, the dubious luxury of being able to date around instead of settling down, the choice between passion and money, infinite time to wander the streets talking about life, and a more complicated relationship with sex.
Pitchfork’s Arielle Gordon explains how Vampire Weekend ended up playing a Bernie Sanders rally campaign concert on the lawn of a stoner frat.
Bernie Sanders has gone on record as a supporter for the legalization of medical marijuana and the decriminalization of recreational marijuana at the federal level, so maybe it isn’t such a complete shocker that a “stoner frat” would be open to hosting a rally for the presidential hopeful. Unfortunately though, the rally was less of a “rally” in its efforts to draw support for candidate by selling him to a crowd, and more of an oddly last-minute outing for some guys in a popular rock band to go on record saying that they intended to vote for him.
When the crowd realized that would be the event’s sole performance, I shared in their disappointment — but not simply because we had heard just one song. I had hoped for more enthusiasm, a concrete reason from the musicians to be sold on Sanders. It was hard not to contrast Vampire Weekend’s nondescript Bernie support that morning with Killer Mike’s highly specific and repeated discussions of Sanders’ support for causes like Black Lives Matter.
Designer Edward Meadham (of the now-defunct brand Meadham Kirchoff) pens an op-ed for i-D about the new pressures that await today’s crop of young fashion designers.
For over a half-decade, Edward Meadham and his brand partner for the London-based Meadham Kirchoff experienced continuous critical praise, opening them up to win numerous awards. Now, after essentially being forced to call it quits for the brand in December 2014 — reportedly due to the ending of various sponsorships and a large amount of debt — the brilliant designer reflects on his own brand’s demise and relates it to the issues faced by a variety of up and coming designers in today’s fashion climate.
Designers are now expected to be superstars flying all over the world to hang out with their celebrity friends, and appear to be crumbling under the pressure to keep up with the creative demands of producing four to eight collections a year, with stores demanding to have exclusive items, styles and color-ways. The fashion press seems equally exhausted and bored by the relentless schedule of presentations and meaningless, uninspired clothes. And all for what? The stores don’t seem to be able to sell all of this product that nobody seems to be able to keep up with, or afford, or care about.
Vogue‘s Michelle Ruiz discusses why FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story is igniting a cultural resurgence of O.J. Simpson-mania.
The latest offering from TV producer-writer extraordinaire Ryan Murphy, the excellently reviewed The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, is opening up an entirely new crowd of TV watchers to the media spectacle that was O.J. Simpson’s 1994 court trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. As interest is renewed for those who had forgotten about it two decades removed and as interest is ignited for those who weren’t old enough to indulge at the time, The People v. O.J. proves that nothing is ever really too old to revisit.
Delayed O.J. Trial Obsession isn’t just about watching American Crime Story for cheeky Kardashian references, entertaining as they may be. As kids of the ’90s are reviving and ostensibly re-covering the Simpson case in the media, they’re also forcing history to remember it differently. For one, the #BlackLivesMatter movement is giving today’s adults deeper context for understanding the racial tension and fractured relations between the L.A.P.D. and the African-American community at the time of the O.J. trial.