Daily Archives: October 3, 2023

Two mid-aughts Slasher Saturdays in a row?! Whod have thunk it? Suppose youve been following my articles or the Slasher Saturdays column. In that case, youll be fully aware of my love for chasing the nostalgia dragon of the feeling of watching AMCs FearFest or SciFis 31 Days of Halloween from when I was younger. Fret not, I will not spend a whole opening paragraph talking about it, as I am one to do. In recent weeks/months I have been going back through some of these mid-aughts films I grew up on and made a surprising and possibly controversial discovery. CouldThe Hills Have Eyes (2006) be an example of a perfect remake (and is it better than the original)? I wager to say yes.

Wes CravensThe Hills Have Eyes was released in July of 1977 and would make around two million dollars by October of that year. By the end of its run, it would make 25 million, on a budget of between 350k and 700k. As well as being critically received fairly well, The Hills Have Eyes was not just a successful feature film, but it would go on to have a deep cult following. Cut to the early 2000s. Wes Craven noticed how successful the remakes ofThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre andThe Amityville Horror were. This led him to consider a remake of his second feature filmThe Hills Have Eyes. Cravens producing partner Marianne Madalena would then introduce him to the New French Extremity filmHigh Tension. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity and Alexandre Aja was incredibly well prepared. With a budget of 15 million, six times bigger than that of High Tension, Aja and cowriter/collaborator Grgory Levasseur would venture deep into a Moroccan desert to start production.

KNB EFX spearheaded the six-month-long process of creating the mutant designs. Starting with elaborate 3D renderings, then onto sculptures, before ending with the incredible practical designs we see in the film. The first big change we should talk about is the antagonists and by proxy the harbinger. In the original Fred (John Steadman) acts as a harbinger and is actively trying to save the family from the group of cannibal savages. The remake brings us Jeb (Tom Bower) who, like Fred, is trying to escape the group of mutated cannibals, but still ultimately sends the protagonists to their doom. Fred does find himself to be more of a tragic character, hes thrust unwillingly into the grips of the cannibal killers and has finally had enough. Jebs character actively helps the mutated cannibals to secure food and in return, they provide Jeb with their riches. When it comes to deaths, Freds is fairly tame, while Jebs shotgun to the head is way more impactful and tragic.

Cannibal savages versus mutated cannibals. Who wins? CravensHills takes an American look at the class divide system. On one hand, we have the 2nd Amendment more wealth than needed suburbanites who are thrust into a world they dont know, while the savages represent the lower class. Its a harsh look at economic inequality, and while sometimes it feels a bit offensive in portrayal I think Craven does a decent job at telling that specific story. AjasHills is a much more unique approach to the story. Rather than an American looking at class structure in America, we have a French filmmaker who is providing a commentary on how he sees the American cultural divide as an outsider. Ajas depiction provides a lot more to the commentary of the idea of rich vs. poor than Cravens does. Beyond that, its incredibly interesting to see how American political issues are viewed by someone who doesnt live here.

There is unique violence in both of the films, and the majority of the kills are either one-to-one or nearly similar to each other. That is up until the stories completely diverge from each other. Both films have Doug (Martin Speer in 77 and Aaron Stanford in 06) portrayed as a bit of a, what a chud would refer to as, beta, but Aja goes a bit harder on that. The turn from beta to savior is one of the most intriguing in horror history, but how the respective films handle it is wildly different. Wes Craven handles the character of Doug pretty haphazardly and I dont think it works. Shortly after the RV crash, Doug journeys off in the opposite direction of Big Bob (Russ Grieve) in hopes of finding a military base thats on the map. From that point, Doug disappears from the film for a fairly decent amount of time before coming back to save the family. Ajas Doug is a bit different.

If you knowHigh Tension then you know what Aja can do. Its an unflinching look at repressed sexuality and mental health. As someone who helped New French Extremity make a name for itself, it would make sense whatever project he took on next would fall into a political horror realm. In Hills 06 we see a different Doug that also gives him top billing since hes really the main character. After the crash, Big Bob (Ted Levine) and Doug decide they will both go separate ways to find help. When its brought up about whether Doug should take a gun, Big Bob makes a quip about how Doug is a Democrat and doesnt like guns, making it clear that Bob is a Republican and Doug is a Democrat. Funnily enough Big Bob goes to the left, the familiar direction where there is a known outcome, while Dough goes to the right, placing Doug into unknown territories. Once Doug is back, his baby is kidnapped, he flips his switchand thats where the commentary really comes in. But we need to back up real quick.

In Cravens script, there are two German Shepards: Beauty and The Beast. Aja and Levasseurs script thankfully removes the from Beasts name, because The Beast was a bit too on the nose. In both films, Beauty dies. Also in both scripts, Beast is there for the bloody denouement, but in each capacity, its handled differently. In Cravens version, The Beast helps defeat Pluto (Michael Berryman). In Ajas Beast does help a bit, but hes more there for the symbolism. By the end of the film, we have seen the death of Beauty, literally and figuratively. These blue-blooded Americans have their eyes opened up to one of the unfortunate truths of life: there are evil people out there who only want to do you harm. Doug marches into the valley to save his daughter, led on a leash by Beast. Then after the action, we see a blood-soaked Doug walking out of the valley with his baby in one arm, and led by Beast with the other. The innocence of left-wing Doug has been ripped away from him and push has now come to shove. I think this really brings the whole ideology of New French Extremity to the forefront and really encapsulates the idea of the movement. When faced with powerful people enacting fascistic regimes, you fight back with what you can. For Aja, its with a camera, and for Doug, it was with the sharp end of a lawn stake with an American flag on it.

While CravensHillsis a fairly decent film with a good story, its AjasHills that really takes the story and runs. The story, violence, practicals, and mood are all amped up by a thousand percent. So what makes this a perfect remake? Saying its because of practicals, mixed with digital enhancement would be cheating, so dont worry about that. But its what Aja did with the source material and how he, and Levasseur, elevated it. Its that Aja and Levasseur added a whole new element of commentary into what some might consider a throwaway mid-aughts slasher flick. The story isnt very complex in either, but what Aja and Levasseur add in commentary makes the film feel fuller and rounded out in a way Craven wasnt able to. It probably helps that Ajas style fits perfectly in that zeitgeist of film. This was Cravens second feature film, and he still hadnt really formed a visual style so his films feel a bit all over the place. (Also I love Wes Craven, dont get me wrong.) Coincidentally this was Ajas second feature film and he had already crafted and understood what his style was, and it really works well in a story like The Hills Have Eyes.

So the question is what makes a remake good? Most of the time when a film is remade its because theres some sort of intrinsic factor to it that audiences connect with. Its fairly clear The Hills Have Eyes was not only financially successful, 25 million in 77 money would be about 126 million in todays money, but it gained a deep cult following. But to be a good remake you have to bring something new to the table, while also appeasing the fans of the original.The Hills Have Eyes06 not only kept incredibly close to the original while still being able to find its footing to stand on its own. The small change with Beast, the over-the-top nature of the violence, and the many minute additions and changes help take the remake from being a good movie to a great movie.

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Slasher Saturdays: The Hills Have Eyes (1977) Vs. The Hills Have ... - Horror Obsessive

If you've read the hundreds of entries in his Drive-In Dust Offs column on Daily Dead or listened to him over the past several years as one of the co-hosts of Corpse Club, then you know that Scott Drebit has an infectious passion for horror movies that graced the silver screen during the golden (and sometimes gory) days of the drive-in, and he's continuing to shine a spotlight on some of his favorite films from that beloved era of cinema in his new book A Cut Below: A Celebration of B Horror Movies, 1950s1980s!

On this episode of Daily Dead's official podcast, Scott joins fellow co-hosts Bryan Christopher and Derek Anderson to discuss what readers can look forward to in A Cut Below (which will be published by McFarland Books), including insightful discussions on five of the 60 films celebrated within its pages: Burial Ground, My Bloody Valentine, Creepshow, Popcorn, and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness. So, grab your favorite movie snack, find a good parking spot in front of the silver screen (whether it's at your local drive-in or in your own living room), and settle in for an enthralling, informative, and always entertaining ride into horror cinema from the 1950s1980s (and slightly beyond)!

To order A Cut Below for yourself or the horror lover in your life, visit:

A Cut Below: Horror films have been around for more than 100 years, and they continue to make a large impact on popular culture as they reflect their contemporary zeitgeist. Between the mid1950s and mid1980s, drive-in theaters were at their peak of popularity, and each decade brought forward new challenges and themes.

This book explores 60 B horror films, divided into 12 fun and uniquely-themed categories. Chapters discuss how the Atomic Age, the Vietnam War, the womens liberation movement and other current events and social issues affected these films. Films covered include Willard, The Fly, Santa Sangre and many more.

Looking for more scary good Corpse Club content? Be sure to check out our Corpse Club website and memberships. Not only can you view past episodes, but you can also sign up to be an official Corpse Club member to enjoy a wide range of rewards, including a shirt and pin that are to die for, access to bonus content, and the ability to suggest an episode topic!

Missed out on our previous episodes? Don't despair, our entire backlog is waiting for you on our website!

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Listen to Scott Drebit Discuss His New Book A CUT BELOW: A ... - Daily Dead

In the annals of music history, Whitney Houston is an ethereal presence, her voice an unparalleled force that resonates through time. Yet, beyond the stages and recording studios, Houston's impeccable sense of style and her ever-evolving hairstyles have become as iconic as her legendary vocals. She is also known as a style queen for a reason. Each style, a carefully curated masterpiece, reflected not just her evolving image but a mirror to the zeitgeist of their respective eras. From the cascading curls that framed her face in the '80s to the sleek, chic sophistication of the '90s, Whitney Houston's hairstyles remain an integral part of her enduring legacy. Join us on a mesmerizing journey through the strands of Whitney's life, each Whitney's hairstyle an ode to her influence on the world of beauty and fashion and a testament to the timelessness of true elegance.

Whitney Houston was an American music legend born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, who tragically passed away on February 11, 2012. She was a renowned singer and actress, celebrated for her exceptional vocal prowess and immense contributions to the music industry. Houston's career spanned several decades and left an indelible mark on the entertainment world.

Houston's debut album, Whitney Houston, released in 1985, catapulted her to stardom. It became one of the best-selling debut albums by a female artist, featuring iconic hits like Saving All My Love for You and Greatest Love of All. Throughout her career, she continued to release chart-topping albums, including Whitney and the immensely successful The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album, which featured her rendition of I Will Always Love You.

What set Whitney Houston apart was her extraordinary vocal range and the ability to convey deep emotions through her singing. Her voice was characterized by its clarity, power, and versatility, making her one of the greatest vocalists in the history of popular music. Whitney Houston's impact on the music industry and her enduring legacy as an artist continue to be celebrated and remembered by fans worldwide.

To achieve Whitney Houston's curly hair from the 1980s, follow these steps. Achieving this look involves using a curling iron or hot rollers to create those iconic light brown curly hairs. Begin to create this fantastic Whitney Houston hairstyle by applying a heat protectant to your hair, then use a medium-sized curling iron or hot rollers to curl small sections of your hair. Once done, gently fluff and separate the curls with your fingers for added volume. Finish the 80s hair with a flexible hold hairspray to keep the curls in place.

To achieve Whitney Houston's short haircut from the early 1990s, follow these steps. Start by visiting a skilled hairstylist who can expertly cut your hair into a pixie style tailored to your face shape. To maintain the sleek and short look, use a small amount of styling pomade or wax to create definition and hold, ensuring your hair looks polished and elegant, just like Whitney's iconic short hairstyle.

Throughout her Bodyguard era in the early '90s, Whitney favored a straight and sleek look. Achieving this look starts with washing and conditioning your hair, then using a straightening iron to create a smooth and glossy finish. Apply a heat protectant before straightening, and finish with a shine serum to achieve the desired sleekness.

To emulate Whitney Houston's occasional preference for long, flowing locks, modern hair products, and techniques can be your best allies. Incorporating high-quality hair extensions is a strategic choice, especially if your natural hair length falls short of the desired look. Alongside this, maintaining a keen eye for fashion sense is paramount. Complementing this regimen, the judicious application of nourishing hair masks fortified with contemporary formulations can elevate your hair's vitality, bringing it closer to the lustrous elegance that defined Whitney Houston's legendary mane.

To achieve a softer and more romantic look inspired by Whitney Houston's natural hair, begin by sectioning off the top half of your hair and securing it with a hair tie or pins. For a relaxed appearance, leave some loose strands around your face. To add charm to this hairstyle, use a curling iron to curl the loose hair or create soft waves with a flat iron. This will help you capture the same elegance and grace Whitney often showcased with her natural hair.

To sport a bob cut like Whitney, consult a hairstylist who can customize the style to suit your face shape. If desired, incorporate bangs into the look for a youthful touch. Maintenance involves regular trims to keep the bob's shape intact.

Achieving sophisticated updos or top knots often requires the expertise of a hairstylist for special occasions. They can skillfully create intricate styles based on your preferences. To maintain elegance, use hairpins and a strong-hold hairspray.

Side-swept bangs can be achieved by asking your hairstylist to cut longer bangs that can be swept to the side. To style them, use a flat iron or blow dryer and a round brush to guide the bangs to one side gently. Finish with a light-hold hairspray for added hold.

To add depth and movement to your hair, like Whitney, ask your hairstylist for layered cuts that complement your face shape. Use a volumizing mousse to create texture and a natural appearance. Regular trims help maintain the layered effect.

To achieve natural wavy hair or curls like Whitney Houston's, especially in her later years, follow these steps. Start with a curl-enhancing shampoo and conditioner to maintain moisture in your hair. After washing, scrunch your hair with a curl-enhancing product while it's still damp. You can let it air dry or use a diffuser for a natural, relaxed curl look reminiscent of Whitney Houston's hair.

Whitney Houston's life was a stylish symphony, where her ever-changing hairstyles seamlessly intertwined with her remarkable journey, each note resonating in perfect harmony. From the bountiful curls of the '80s to the elegant bob cuts of the '90s and the various captivating chapters in between, Whitney's hairstyles were not just about aesthetics; they were about self-expression, evolution, and the embrace of the moment. Her blonde hair, at times, added another layer of charm and sophistication to her iconic image, reflecting her versatility as an artist and a fashion icon. Just as her music transcended genres, Whitney Houston's hairstyles transcended hair trends, leaving an indelible mark on the world of beauty and fashion. With each hairstyle, she revealed a new facet of her identity, inspiring generations to embrace their uniqueness. Whitney Houston's hairstyles, like her music, remind us that true beauty lies not in conformity but in the courage to be ourselves, unapologetically and authentically.

ALSO READ: American Idol 2023: Fans disapprove of We Ani's elimination, call the show 'rigged'

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Whitney Houston Hairstyles: Tribute to Her Unparalleled Elegance - PINKVILLA

From shimmering shadow to pop culture-inspired cuts, the last quarter centurys looks.

In the same way that fashion fads fall in and out of favour, so do beauty trends.

Yes, history does repeat itself formerly thought to do so every couple of decades according to a process known as the 20-year trend cycle. Pop culture watchdog Vice has since disproved this theory, instead citing that the cyclical nature of trends is today working at breakneck speed repeating itself every five or 10 years thanks to the advent of social media and the uptick in micro-trends.

Of course, when a trend resurfaces its often with a twist to make it more appealing to the current zeitgeist.

Through the lens of beauty, the last 25 years have seen a fair share of makeup mishaps and wacky hairdos. Ranging from over-plucked eyebrows to frosted lipstick, the trailblazers of days gone by were willing to try any trend but for every questionable beauty look, there are numerous iconic ones.

Below, we chart the era-defining beauty trends as featured in Viva over the last 25 years.

A complete 180-degree turn from the glamour and gaudiness of the 80s, the 90s ushered in an aesthetic characterised by semi-sheer foundation and undone eyes.

Call it a resurgence of the no-makeup makeup of the 70s a la Kate Moss, who embodied the attitude at the time. Fresh-faced beauty took priority over an overly made-up face, which extended to a light feathering of mascara, neutral-toned eyeshadow and subtle blush.

Lipstick shades followed suit, in nude or brown shades but bold, grungy lips in bursts of burgundy or maroon werent uncommon either, lending a striking contrast to an otherwise bare face. The most memorable part, however, was the unblended lip liner, which saw everyone from Aaliyah to Naomi Campbell line their lips three to four shades darker than their lipstick. This look was one of many recreated by makeup artist Kiekie Stanners and captured by Mara Sommer for Vivas exclusive Aaliyah x M.A.C Cosmetics beauty shoot in 2018, in which model Charlee Passi of Unique Models was transformed into the 90s pop icon complete with poker-straight hair and glossy maroon lips.

Rich burgundies were echoed in pop culture with Chanels Vamp nail lacquer, a reddish-black hue donned by Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. The now-legendary shade was said to have been created from scratch at the French fashion maisons 1994 autumn/winter runway show.

In contrast to the clean complexions of the supermodel wunderkind came full-spectrum glitter with touches of silver or gold adorning hair, eyes and lips to disco effect. Metallic eyeshadow was out in full force think glittering purple eyelids or chrome-finish eye paints. This level of shimmer extended to lips, too, with frosted lipstick skyrocketing in popularity later in the decade. Few shots epitomise the grunge and glitter of the 90s like this shot captured by Mark Smith in Vivas October 13 issue in 1999, complete with smoked-out silver eyeshadow and aforementioned skinny brows.

Undeniably grungy, and pioneered by iconic makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin, were pencil-thin eyebrows. Its a trend wed rather forget (and are still recovering from) the overplucked, low-arch brow iconised by Gwen Stefani, Drew Barrymore and Angelina Jolie. Locally, ultra-thin brows were sported by two of the countrys most famous actors, Shortland Streets Minnie Crozier and New Zealand icon Suzy Cato of Suzys World.

For hair, the Rachel haircut defined much of the decade, with Friends fans taking pictures of Jennifer Anistons layered, face-framing haircut to their stylist in droves. Slightly edgier was the shag haircut, epitomised by Meg Ryan in Youve Got Mail. While it didnt hit cult status quite like the Rachel did, variations on the trend have stood the test of time and the style continues to be reimagined today.

Skinny brows continued their reign during the turn of the millennium, later morphing into a more sculpted, arched look towards the end of the decade.

Eyeshadow trends borrowed the same level of shimmer from the late 90s (think frosted eyelids) in baby blue, blush pink, lavender or mint green but later gave way to a smoky eye in every hue, from rusted reds and burnt oranges to nightclub-ready smoke in black, silver and white.

Another trademark of this era was a highly glossed lip bubblegum pink and glittery hues dominated. Formulas at the time were thick and promised to cast a sheen over lips when worn solo or layered on top of lipstick for extra shine. A fusion of both frost and gloss, makeup artist Steph Lai liberally applied frosted lipstick to model Marcellie Viezzers lips for a shoot that featured in Vivas Winter Fashion special in March 2006, as photographed by Carolyn Robertson.

Spurred on by the emo music movement, inky black eyeliner defined the eyes of musicians and models alike, on stage or on the runway. Tightlining was the best application method, with the upper and lower lash line coated in thick, ultra-dark formula for a sultry, mysterious finish. Kiwi singer Gin Wigmore made the look her own, and was very seldom spotted without her signature smudged-out liner and glossy nude lip.

Poker-straight hair was paired with the pouf (aka the bump or the quiff), a style that called for the top section of hair to be sectioned off, then pulled back over the top of the head, pushing the hair slightly forward to create a speedbump at the front. It also did an excellent job of disguising an unruly fringe or showing off two-toned, chunky highlights typical of the time.

Considerably more time-consuming than straightening hair was crimping often coupled with sections of straight or curled hair, something that was oddly popular at the time.

Fringes came in two formats, either ultra wispy (think French girl beauty) or of the thick, chunky and cover-your-entire-face variety. Personally, my preference was for the latter, and my left eye went on hiatus for five years from 2004-2009. Slightly less dramatic was the side-swept fringe, worn by model Sarah from Clyne Models in the March 2005 edition of Viva, photographed by Carolyn Robertson.

If the commitment of chopping a fringe felt too daunting, then free-flowing front strands were a great way to dip your toe in the trend where two thin pieces of hair were left to hang free from the rest of the hair (that was often slicked back into a high ponytail or bun).

The advent of social media birthed countless beauty trends, largely thanks to the rising obsession with selfies, which quickly became synonymous with celebrity and influencer culture.

Makeup had a major moment, especially where perfected, heavily filtered finishes were concerned. Think airbrushed foundation, false lashes, overlined lips, bold brows and a heavy focus on facial contouring.

Such glamorous beauty trends were excellent social media fodder for platforms like Instagram and YouTube, which experienced a surge in tutorials by makeup artists-slash-influencers like Jaclyn Hill and James Charles.

Elsewhere, reality TV shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians set off a global fascination with extreme highlighting, face baking, full-face contouring and overlined lips.

As one of the prevailing makeup trends of the 2010s, contouring was intended to enhance bone structure by using cream, powder and liquid contouring products to add shadows or highlights to the face.

Famed for his ability to chisel cheekbones and refine noses, Kim Kardashians makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic, shared tips on Instagram, YouTube and via live masterclasses, before launching his eponymous makeup line, which included a now-viral contouring kit.

The face-framing powers of eyebrows never rang truer in the 2010s, when brows went from being a second thought to top priority. Brow makeup boomed and treatments like threading, waxing, microblading and laminating soared in popularity.

In 2017, K-beauty rose to fame with its 10-step skincare routines and obsession with niche ingredients like snail mucin and bee propolis to achieve a glass skin finish. The collective adoption of K-beauty saw people smoothing on all manner of essences, jellies and single-use sheet masks geared towards specific areas of the face and body. The trickle-down effect saw K-beauty brands like Hikoco and La La Beauty open doors to Auckland boutiques dotted around the CBD.

A complete 180-degree shift from the pile-it-on approach elsewhere this decade, K-beauty made a strong case for barely there, your-skin-but-better makeup using BB or CC creams. Perfected but not overly made-up was the brief for Vivas Accessories issue in May 2016, in which we highlighted Clyne model Paige Honeycutts glowing complexion while keeping the overlook look light and natural.

Developments in hair colouring techniques meant experimental hair hues were made possible, resulting in dramatic transformations in either rainbow brights or muted pastels. Originally developed in the 1970s, the French painterly highlighting technique of balayage allowed colourists to create a more natural finish with blended roots and sunkissed ends.

Hair stylist Katie Melody Rogers transformed Clyne model Seon Hwangs hair into the brightest shade of pink for Vivas beach-ready shoot photographed by Guy Coombes in December 2015. Flyaway, hot pink strands appeared all the more striking when set against coloured backgrounds in shades of blue, yellow and orange.

It was long overdue, but Fenty Beauty spearheaded the need for the diversification of complexion shade ranges. While M.A.C made excellent headway with its extensive shade range in the years prior, Fenty Beauty launched with 40 shades (now 50). More significantly, the brand fostered an important conversation around inclusivity connecting to people who felt previously ignored by the industry in both the shades offered and the representation in campaigns.

Were only three years into the 2020s, but so far, weve witnessed an eclectic co-mingle of beauty trends this decade, dewy, skin-finish makeup peacefully coexists with boundary-pushing graphic neon eyeshadow and bold siren liner.

A little bit of both were featured in this summer-ready beauty shoot creative directed and photographed by Carolyn Haslett for Viva Magazine Volume Two. The makeup artist/photographer worked with canary-yellow eyeliner to draw attention to 62 Managements model Portia Princes eyes, keeping the rest of her complexion fairly pared-back.

Glowing skin will always be in, and the emphasis on using skincare that promotes a healthy skin barrier continues. The concept of makeup-as-skincare has seen the rise in hybrid formulas like serum-based foundations, concealers and highlighters coming to the fore.

Makeup artist Sam Hart put skin in the spotlight on models Izzi Zigan and Denver Gray of Super Mgmt, creating a lit-from-within glow for the main beauty shoot featured inside Viva Magazine Volume Seven, photographed by Carolyn Haslett.

Grappling with a pandemic for two years heavily influenced routines, with being housebound meaning people had more time to perform lengthy skincare rituals. Makeup was tailored to mask-wearers, with the absence of day-to-day lipstick-wearing in favour of playing up what was visible instead eyes, brows and cheeks.

The rise of conscious consumerism has seen brands respond with greater transparency around their ingredient sourcing and manufacturing processes. Sustainability, ethics, ingredient provenance and traceability, representation and inclusivity are just the tip of the proverbial when it comes to consumers using their purchasing powers to align with brands that reflect their own values. Its brands like Aleph Beauty, Emma Lewisham, Ecostore, Ethique, Kester Black and Sans Ceuticals (among others) that are pioneering the charge locally; combatting the beauty industrys waste problem by introducing recycling initiatives, having open conversations about ingredient sourcing and aiming to de-clutter bathrooms with multipurpose products.

Healthy, wealthy-looking blow-outs continue their reign, typically styled with a round brush to achieve loose, bouncy curls with ample volume. The swishy style has long been the Duchess of Cambridges signature, but the uptick in popularity of hot tools like the Dyson Airwrap and Ghd Glide have made it even easier to achieve salon-worthy blow-outs from home.

Many iconic nail moments have been had over the past 25 years, more so after the turn of the millennium when social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram helped showcase nail art designs. These mini canvasses were utilised as the ultimate form of self-expression a medium on which to make a literal statement. Today, its a rolling roster of trends like strawberry milk nails, mismatched manicures, artistic accents, micro-French and aura nails. Nail technician Tanya Barlow captured this perfectly with this fat-positive nail set she created for Viva Magazine Volume Two, sported by Katherine Lowe of Super Mgmt and shot by Babiche Martens.

So, whats next in beauty? The evolution of makeup, hair, skincare and nail trends over the last 25 years reflects the culture and mood of the moment, each one leaving a significant mark on the beauty world. Moving forward, beauty standards will continue to evolve and adapt, driven by the constant innovation within the category and the ongoing celebration of self-expression.

Products, pro-tips and the business of beauty.

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Frosted Lipstick, Chunky Highlights & Thick Eyeliner: Every Beauty ... - New Zealand Herald

You cant have your cake and eat it too. Liberal women are taking to social media, like TikTok user Petra, known as @Ms_Petch, to air their grievances about how all the men they feel attracted to just so happen to be conservative.

As a liberal woman, it is really hard to find a man who is willing to play the more traditional masculine role in the relationship in todays day and age who is not a conservative, Petra said. A man who wants to pay on the first date; who wants to open your door; who has that want and desire to take care of you and provide who is not a conservative.

What women like Petra likely desire is a man who can tap into actual alpha energy, but frankly, they probably surround themselves with beta males who check their privilege and have been whipped into self-flagellation by an overbearing henhouse.

Some may say that masculine and progressive values are mutually exclusive, but in all honesty, theres much more nuance at play here. Masculinity, like the sexual orientations of the progressive men these liberal women probably come across in the dating sphere, exists on a spectrum and researchers believe they can diagnose three specific types on this range.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada released results from a recent research study led by their mens health expert John Oliffe. He recruited 92 heterosexual men between the ages of 19 and 43 from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds to see the different ways in which men harness their masculinity to navigate intimate relationships.

After in-depth interviews, Dr. Oliffe came to the conclusion that there are three types of masculine styles: neo-traditionalists, egalitarians, and progressives.

Of those 92 participants, half of the men were categorized as egalitarians, while 26% were progressives, and only 24% were neo-traditionalists. Heres a little look into what each of these masculinity styles reportedly look like, as explained by UBC:

Egalitarians, the researchers largest cohort of men, seek a more equal partnership with their woman. They purposefully distance themselves from several traditionally masculine gender norms, idealizing reciprocity and 50-50 contributions.

Progressives, which were second in frequency, focused on social justice and fairness, checking their own privilege in order to operate justly within their relationship.

Neo-traditionalists, the smallest cohort of men participating in the study, were reliant on traditionally masculine gender norms, preferring breadwinner and protector roles for themselves while assigning domestic roles as feminine.

Lets be real though, 92 participants is hardly a wide sample size, despite the researchers' caveat that they selected participants to fit a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. So, I thought it would be worthwhile to run my own poll on X and see which type of masculinity the gents self-identified with.

Granted, I knew ahead of time that the circles I run in online would tend to skew neo-traditionalist. After all, one of my X mutuals Jonathan Wong, the lead producer at Lotus Eaters, responded to my tweet introducing the concept of these three distinct types of masculinity by saying, That's like saying there are three types of swimming, and the other two do not feature water. And I had accounts that leaned slightly right-of-center sharing the poll, as well as those that skewed farther right, and those that are more libertarian leaning.

My own polling of 642 men resulted in 83.3% of respondents saying they are neo-traditionalist, 15% saying theyre egalitarian, and 1.7% saying they are progressive.

Now, theres no way to know if the people who voted were actually men and if they actually do fit into the categories, so my own data should be taken with a grain of salt. But heres why my arguably unscientific research is still important: Mainstream media controls all narratives. They have a stranglehold over them. But, as alternative media and social media have grown, the end-all-be-all narratives were typically spoonfed are now challenged and, in some cases, disproven.

One New York Post writer who analyzed UBCs research explained that the reason less than one-quarter of the test subjects were considered neo-trad is likely because younger generations of men are actively trying to move away from any association with toxic masculinity, which includes the suppression of emotion, the assertion of dominance and the reluctance to partake in household chores, such as cooking and cleaning.

Perhaps this is the case for single Redditors or men whipped by fourth-wave feminist type women who believe that being a divorce by age 30 is chic, but theres a significant group of men who are being overlooked.

What caused such a stark, sudden rise in the interest for a manosphere? Why are polemical voices like Andrew Tate or even the voices of those who are arguably tamer in tone and teaching like Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Chris Williamson, or Andrew Huberman booming in popularity? Id wager that more men are jaded by the shift in gender roles than theyd like to admit and even if they did, the mainstream media doesnt want to appear accommodating to traditional masculine values.

Does it ever feel like the predominant narrative surrounding masculinity is mostly negative? The cultural zeitgeist that is toxic masculinity began to rise long before the #MeToo movement picked up steam and has now casually expanded in its definition to not just include genuinely problematic behaviors, but normal, masculine traits as well.

Media and scholars alike deliberately promote negative elements of masculinity while ignoring all of the amazing things that men have contributed in crafting our modern world. This ideology then trickles down to the masses, who spread misconceptions from friend to friend.

Since were treading new, increasingly egalitarian waters, theres very little research done on non-traditional frameworks of masculinity and how they could affect men over time. Whereas the feminist movement served to house non-traditional women, theres not exactly a one-for-one movement for non-traditional men to develop a collective, progressive male identity. Instead, progressive masculinity is less of a movement and more of a learned reaction to being treated as the enemy.

A study published by the Journal of Gender and Power, titled The elusiveness of progressive masculinity, sought to better understand the nature of this new concept. Researchers asked men to recount times in their lives when they had acted progressively in regard to their sex. They found that most men who self-identify as progressive instead recounted experiences that reflected traditional understandings of masculinity. Interestingly, only 17% of men interviewed who fit into the progressive masculinity camp actually had experiences to share that reflected progressive values. Because of this, the researchers felt that theres not a solid understanding of progressive masculinity. They even pointed out how some may be more likely to act progressively due to peer pressure, whether thats in the presence of a progressive woman or another man.

Again, feminist theory has been budding since suffragettes started social action in the mid-19th century. That laid the foundation for female-focused psychological research to take off part way through the 20th century, but any sort of male equivalent was mostly ignored until the late 1990s.

One paper discussing the taboos of masculinity asserted that successful progressive men share a love of learning, connection to the community, critical thinking skills, love for the people, and creative courage to say and do the right things as often as members of movements, teams, or groups. Maybe Im missing something here, but I dont see how these same values couldnt just as easily be assigned to a neo-traditionalist man.

If I were to conjure up poster children for progressive masculinity, Id look to men like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or California Governor Gavin Newsom. They both shill for an increasingly burdensome, oppressive nanny state and prioritize failing social credit scoring systems like DEI and ESG over actually governing in a manner that increases the freedom and well-being of their constituents.

These men epitomize the male cohort of the progressive left, and time after time, their behavior signals submission and subservience to special interests and globalist ideological dogma. Politicians aside, weve also witnessed a rise in soft boys like Harry Styles or Timothe Chalamet, who appear to reject their masculinity while embracing feminine traits to deconstruct our notion of gender in all respects.

But what about men who believe in genuine egalitarianism? Egalitarianism is supposed to encompass the philosophy that all humans are equal in the eyes of God and the law. Americans instinctually prefer equality of opportunity instead of institutionally mandated equality of outcomes, but its a slippery slope that can easily lead right back to progressive gender equity.

In Americas Judeo-Christian tradition, men and women have complementary roles to one another since our brains and bodies fundamentally operate in different ways. Sure, we share a lot of similarities in day-to-day function, and were still the same species (hence why were afforded equality, not outright equity), but there are specific things were naturally inclined to excel at. This lays the groundwork for traditional gender roles.

Women have been found to feel happier when their man takes a leadership role in terms of power dynamics and when they themselves embrace marriage and motherhood. Its built into womens DNA to desire men who are good providers and protectors even progressive women typically prefer men who exhibit more trad dating and courtship behaviors. Whats more, the General Social Survey recently published research showing that women married with kids have been linked to the biggest happiness dividends. In that same study, they found that married men report being twice as happy as their unmarried male peers.

Allowing men to have a bit more breathing space where they can embrace positive, productive aspects of masculinity and encouraging women to consider a more nurturing, maternal path in life could indeed contribute to better mental health outcomes. Though there are a lot of factors at play with deteriorating mental health in the West, its fascinating that soundness of mind appears to be on a downward trajectory while enforced equity is trending up and up.

Based on research and observations, its my opinion that we best thrive under the egalitarian-to-neo-traditional side of the masculinity spectrum. Once we hit the progressive end of the spectrum, we begin to socially castrate men. In order to better understand the trad-adjacent masculinities, I spoke with some of the men who voted in my poll and reported identifying mostly as egalitarian but with several neo-traditionalist traits.

Phil Labonte, lead singer of the metalcore band All That Remains and contributor at Timcast, calls himself an anti-communist and counter-revolutionary. Hes certainly not a right-wing extremist, but online users slander him as such and misconstrue the freedom-focused principles he espouses on Tim Pools shows and on social media, where he is quite outspoken on current events.

Labonte, 48, a proponent of reviving rock musics formerly anti-authoritarian messaging, leans libertarian in his personal politics. When presented with the UBC types of masculinity, he said that his gut instinct was to self-identify as egalitarian. Despite running in alternative crowds, Labonte shared with me in an interview that he actively seeks out more traditional gender roles.

Most of the people I associate with think traditional values are vital to a functioning society, Labonte said. In his view, the system humans created by making distinctions between masculinity and femininity go beyond one society, and the resulting power dynamic became so ubiquitous because of their utility to create functional families capable of producing children and making for more meaningful lives.

Theres not a future with men or women in it if the progressives get their way, Labonte continued. Eventually, the gender abolitionists will attempt to do away with any distinction at all. Which, in my opinion, wont happen because society will fall entirely apart on the way, long before gender could be abolished.

Next, I spoke with a 32-year-old Eastern European male immigrant from the former Soviet Bloc who wished to remain anonymous. He shared his perspective on how his cultural heritage and immigration status greatly inform his masculine identity. According to him, men in Eastern Europe would typically fit in the neo-traditional camp while the progressive masculine identity is more American.

But, in this mans opinion, America is at risk of great instability because of how off-balance our gender roles and expectations have become. Having lived in a post-Communist country where his own bloodline experienced Communism firsthand, the man warned about efforts to chip away at traditional gender roles.

Women were effectively second-class citizens but also expected to work. So, the idea of starting a family was very much frowned upon by the government while being a good worker was very much promoted," he said.

He explained that his own views regularly feel conflicted because old-school Eastern European tendencies were disturbed by a totalitarian regime where family was heavily criticized, but now that his family lives in America, he observes growing instability from us reversing our own gender roles.

It makes me feel like a boomer or a geriatric Gen Alpha because the more conservative friends I have feel a bit too trad, he noted, referencing one friend of his who leans so heavily into trad culture that this friend would consider a woman wearing a dress above her knees to be promiscuous. But on the other side, I have friends that are a lot more liberal, like theyre into polyamory, and thats where I feel like an out-of-touch boomer.

Another impactful perspective this man emphasized was that men and women in America may feel so miserable about their interpersonal relationships with one another because they insist they dont know the cause of their misery, when in fact they do. Theres a misalignment of gender roles through the proliferation of progressive masculinity and femininity. This misalignment acts in direct conflict to how were biologically built and how we instinctively act after thousands of years of evolution.

Im actually a bit optimistic about the future being more temperate and nuanced, he said. This man doesnt see an outright return to trad, but feels hopeful that there may have to be some sort of compromise. He concluded, There are some aspects of the liberal way which are good, and we should adopt them. But, there are also certain aspects of our instincts that are our bedrock. Both are okay, but there needs to be this compromise. I dont know if that will be in the next five years or 10 years, but its inevitable because you cannot cheat how you were built and you cannot breed that out of people or nurture it out of them quickly.

Its no secret that women, by and large, find more traditional elements of masculinity to be sexier. Many progressive masculine traits demonstrate inherent weakness or a lack of ability to protect and provide. But our understanding of old-fashioned gender roles is unfortunately colored by a static image of the 1950s nuclear family that simply cannot be reproduced today. Traditional families existed for centuries upon centuries before that, where women did in fact work to feed and clothe their families while also embracing their nature and raising children. Even staunch feminists cant resist their instinctual love for chivalrous mates, so if the science says there are three types of masculinity, we should encourage the behavior that promotes positive and not progressive masculine virtue.

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From Alphas To Betas: Science Says There Are Three Types Of ... - Evie Magazine

A few days after the Sunday Times and Channel 4 published rape and sexual abuse accusations against Russell Brand (allegations Brand strongly denies) a meme began circulating on social media. It showed a still from the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, with three of the films starsBrand, Jonah Hill and Mila Kunisstanding together at a beach bar. The caption read: This photo hasnt aged well in 2023.

Thats perhaps an understatement. Earlier this summer, Hill was accused of sending a series of controlling and emotionally abusive messages to his then-girlfriend, the surfer and model Sarah Brady, forbidding her from posting pictures of herself in swimwear, maintaining friendships with men, surfing with men and modelling in general. Two weeks ago, Kunis and her husband Ashton Kutcher apologised after sending a supportive letter to Danny Masterson, their former co-star in That 70s Show, prior to his rape trial. Masterson was subsequently sent to jail for at least 30 years. Then, last week, Brand was accused of having allegedly assaulted four women between 2006 and 2013.

Whenever historic allegations of abuse make the newsand they are almost always historic, if they do make the newspeople immediately raise two cautions in defence of the person accused. The first is that of nuance: what are the details of the story? Who are the accusers in question and what might be their motivations? Were they paid? Do they want to be famous? The second is whether the alleged behaviour may or not be of its time. Often that suggestion is intended to shut down the conversationit was a different timerather than offering nuance or even contextualising behaviour. (As in 2017, when Harvey Weinstein offered the defence: That was the culture then.) To be clear: breaching someones bodily boundary against their consent has always been wrong. But there are certain cultural conditions which help to deem what may be abusive behaviour publicly acceptable. Brandlike Kutcher, Kunis and Hillis a product of his time in every sense of the word. And the allegations against him reveal something about the unique ugliness of the 2000s.

Lets consider the 2000s for a moment. It was the war on terror, the financial crisis, the birth of social media, and arguably the period which paved the way for the current wave of populism. Culturally, it was chaotic. On screens, we saw gross-out comedies (like Superbad, starring Hill); forgettable romcoms (like Friends with Benefits, starring Kunis): early reality shows (like Punkd, hosted by Kutcher; or Big Brothers Little Brother, hosted by Brand), and Disney blockbusters (like Pirates of the Caribbean, starring Johnny Depp). Fashion-wise, we went from normcore and Y2K to boho and landed at indie sleaze. An eclectic mixbut if theres one thing that the era should be universally remembered for, its that it was arguably the most misogynistic period in recent history.

Russell Brands heydaythe mid-noughtieswas a particular low point. At every turn, men were encouraged to play into a caricature of debonair, clueless man-children downing pints and quipping insults, with women staged as their nagging housewives (see: Family Guy; The Hangover) or manic pixie dream accessories (see: New Girl, 500 Days of Summer.) Women, meanwhile, were subjected to endless scrutiny and encouraged to do the same to themselves: no-make up paparazzi pictures, upskirting shots, the size 0 trend, endless magazine articles about How to Please Your Man, busting cellulite or buying flattering clothes to fit the parameters of a patriarchal lens. This was the time of UniLad and LadBible, which have since rebranded as anodyne meme platforms, but launched themselves as intentionally sexist 2000s blogs. (LadBible came with a list of tragic commandments, including thou shall covet thy neighbours breasts, and thou shall bash and dash if thy woman refuses to make thee a sandwich in the morning. The mainstream press wasnt better either: in 2007, Christopher Hitchens published an article in Vanity Fair, without his usual crutch of irony, entitled Why Women Arent Funny. It provoked a flurry of public head-scratching from male journalists. Was this clueless patriarchy a prison in itself? Yes. Does that excuse it? No. And whether you were a rugby #unilad, an indie twee crooner, a ghoulish Camden lush or a bookish nice guyyou werent calling yourself a feminist.

Brand reached fame in the mid 2000s, when indie sleaze was in full drip. Everything about himfrom his aesthetic, to his sense of humour, to his sexual proclivities, and lofty, performative use of languagefed into the cultural template of that period. His much-romanticised hangout of Camden crawled with vomit-flecked male singers who sang lyrics like shes a slut and you never fucking liked her and were hailed as artistic geniuses. Their female counterparts were seen as volatile messes. Amy Winehouseher surnames beginning to sound like a description of her liver, Brand joked in 2007. Brands originality and charm were fostered by an environment that lacked those things. Surfing the wave of the zeitgeist, he gladly fashioned a persona of a louche, high-minded truth-teller who was at once above establishment prudishness, but also very much embodied the laddish ideals of the mainstream. His rise from comedian to public intellectualwhile still reviled by some at the timeisnt surprising in retrospect. In 2015, he was voted the worlds fourth most influential thinker by this magazine.

Through the grainy footage of hindsight, its tempting to look at the 2000s and feel that it is a distant time. (Since then, weve had the MeToo movement, among other social and political upheavals, and identifying as a feminist is now not only valid but popular.) But its also becoming fashionable to say that the 2000s are coming back. From the return of Y2K and indie sleaze aesthetic, to the popularity of misogynistic figures such as Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate who has, incidentally, rushed to Brands defence in recent daysfor many, 2023 doesnt look or feel a million miles away from 2003. The truth is that the 2000s have never really gone away. For a brief periodduring the MeToo Erathey felt stifled. But one glance at the internet is enough to see how much repressed misogyny was waiting to resurface.

Today, the evidence of our desire to rehabilitate overpowering men is everywhere. Whether its the baffling career comeback of Johnny Deppa domestic abuser who is now starring in upcoming film Jeanne du Barry, and has amassed a cult Gen Z fanbase following his defamation cases (he fought two, winning one and losing one)or the comments underneath videos about the Brand allegations railing against the establishment, people are always scrambling to find ways to defend men for alleged wrongdoing against women. Its not just an alt-right problem either. The number of Andrew Tate videos that slip through the algorithm and recommend themselves to me is some indication of the prevalence of this kind of thinking.

As I write this article, Channel 4 has cut ties with Brand, the BBC has removed some of his content, YouTube has suspended his channel from making money and the police are investigating a report relating to the allegations. Brand may be de-platformed; and he could face the weight of our legal system. But, sooner or later, theres a solid chance hell be rehabilitated, whatever the outcome of the current allegations. Until the effects of the deeply ingrained sexism of the 2000s are fully confronted and shattered, people will continue to prop doors open for misogynists, and quietly or publicly support them. Thats a problem, not only because it validates and perpetuates abusive behaviour, but because ultimately it deters brave women from speaking out. To quote Forgetting Sarah Marshall: If you get bitten by a shark, youre not going to stop surfing, are you? The answer: Probably, yeah.

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Russell Brand is a product of the horrifically misogynistic noughties - Prospect Magazine

10 years ago today, pop music history was made. On September 27, 2013the alt-pop Barbenheimer, one could sayNew Zealand teen Lorde and L.A. sister trio HAIM released their studio debuts Pure Heroine and Days Are Gone. The former was a polished, gothic album detailing the boredom and loneliness of growing up in the age of the Internet, while the latter was a warm, 70s-inspired indie pop-rock record brimming with soulful, incredibly catchy tunes about unrequited love and failed relationships.

Coming off two promising EPs, Pure Heroine and Days Are Gone were immediate game-changers. They boasted two successful lead singlesthe moody, capitalism-critiquing Royals and the sparkling breakup anthem The Wire. They gained attention and adoration on Tumblr right at the websites peak. Even their album covers oozed cool, with Pure Heroines monochromatic simplicity and Days Are Gones laid-back, retro aesthetic reflecting the alternative fashion trends that dominated the mid-2010s and re-materialized in todays sartorial style.

Lorde and HAIMs first major-label albums not only launched the then-rising artists into superstardom, but marked an exciting inflection point for pop music in general. In addition to the sharp, confident quality of their songwriting and production, Pure Heroine and Days Are Gone expanded what pop could sound like: exploratory, genre-fluid and defiant of categorization and formula. Just as the hyper-positivity that animated recession-era pop music began to decline, these records became massively influential both for their challenging emotional landscapes and ambitious artistic visions.

Lorde especially felt like nothing anyone had heard before, crafting songs about being young while still experiencing her youth in real time at 16 years old. Other fellow emerging artistslike Lana Del Rey, Florence Welch, Grimes and Sky Ferreiraalso made angsty pop music that catered to a relatively young audience, but Lorde in particular spoke so exactly to a generation dealing with increasing social isolation, rapidly accelerating technology, and constant messaging about staying optimistic amid all the cultural chaos. Im kinda over getting told to put my hands up in the air, Lorde declared on Team, effectively closing the door on the previous decade of party rocking. Celebrating was out; brooding was in.

Throughout Pure Heroine, Lorde nimbly and impressively drew from a wellspring of themes pertinent to millennials/Gen-Z cuspers. Against a backdrop of elemental yet vivid electronic instrumentation, she cut through the bullshit of materialism on Royals, chronicled her social anxiety on downtempo opener Tennis Court and, most prominently, expressed the whiplash of adolescence on the romantic 400 Lux, the spectral Buzzcut Season, and the soul-piercing Ribs.

Were it any other musician, these interpretations of youth culture would read as glib and pandering, but Lorde immediately stood out for her gifted, singular songwriting, texturizing the musical spareness of Pure Heroine with sprawling, poetic imagery. Empty suburban roads, explosions on TV, Cola with the burnt-out taste, several metaphors about teeththese visuals created a fascinating, immersive portal into Lordes imagination, so much so that practically any disaffected high schooler could feel like she was pulling directly from their experiences. Her smoky vocals and minimalist aesthetic also coated her music with a certain maturity and allure, a stark contrast to the colorful glitz and glam of her pop progenitors.

But perhaps the biggest reason why Pure Heroine resonated so strongly with teens at the time was because Lorde was talking not just to her audience, but also on their behalffrequently employing we and our in her lyrics. The best use of this play with perspective was on Ribs, where Lorde channeled her fear of aging into a melancholic anecdote about hosting a party while her parents are gone. Over ghostly reverb, droning synths and quiet drum loops, Lorde uses the anecdote to bittersweetly lament the passage of time, addressing the listener via intimate, conversational verses as if they were a close childhood buddy. She repeats these anxieties before building to a thrilling and devastating crescendo, grasping at her memories of sleepovers and hysterical laughing fits with friends before they fade away into a somber echo.

With this stunning sonic and lyrical juxtaposition, Ribs perfectly articulated how disorienting coming of age can be, which in a way makes it the definitive Lorde song. Its this sophistication that also led Lorde to become a musical sage of sorts for young adults following Pure Heroines success. In 2014, she executive-produced the soundtrack for the third installment of the Hunger Games franchise, a series all about the youth leading a movement of political and social change. Pure Heroine and its barn-burning 2017 follow-up Melodrama have gone on to inform the work of other young female pop artists like Clairo, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, the latter of whom explicitly credited Pure Heroine as an influence on her breakout single drivers license.

Though each of them has their own distinctive artistic signature, Clairos hushed presentation, Eilishs husky, lilting voice and dark-pop undertones, and Rodrigos deeply personal balladry can all be tied back to Lorde. What unifies them all, too, is what made Lorde so special in the first place: her ability to make people take the feelings and experiences of teenage girls seriously. While Lorde made waves for her staggering originality and relatability, HAIM felt like something familiar made anew, filtering the spiky stylings of female-fronted rock bands like Fleetwood Mac and Pat Benatar through a contemporary lens, made for a contemporary audience. Eldest Este, middle child Danielle and youngest Alana were at a unique advantage in 2013not just for already being sisters, but for having fine-tuned their sound, image and work ethic over the course of many years.

They had been playing instruments since they were young, famously forming a group as kids with their parents and calling themselves Rockinhaim. After Danielle and Este briefly joined another girl group in 2005 (the aptly titled Valli Girls) and Danielle later finished touring as a guitarist with Jenny Lewis and Julian Casablancas, the Haim sisters came back together, truncated their original name and began what would be a lucrative journey with Days Are Gone.

In contrast to Pure Heroines steeliness, Days Are Gone offered a lighter substitute for indie pop listeners, still dealing with heavy themes but at a much more amiable register. Their earliest singles Falling, Forever and Dont Save Me defined their Californian sound to a T: crisp percussion, lovely vocal harmonies, thick bass licks, the ha! yelp. Honey & I and the title track conveyed the elasticity of their rangethe former a pleasant, relaxed ditty about finding new love and the latter a weightier, sadder (but still very catchy) reflection of a relationship on its last legs. The woozy, hip hop-inflected My Song 5 flirted with the bands interest in experimentation that theyd later practice in 2017s Something to Tell You and 2020s Women in Music Part III.

Similar to how Lorde was so adept at capturing the highs and lows of teenhood, Haim found their thematic groove in talking about the myriad difficulties of maintaining a relationship and the messiness that comes with ending one. No more is that apparent on The Wire, which HAIM reportedly recorded seven times before nailing the final versionan interesting factoid, considering the song itself contends with how hard it is to get it right.

Accompanied by an infectious guitar riff and snappy handclaps, each Haim member got a chance on the mic to justify their romantic rejections while owning up their own shortcomings. Danielle blamed herself for bad communication, Alana offered a gentle warning to her ex to not rationalize why the relationship ended and Este explained her exhaustion in trying to do what her ex wanted. Ultimately, though, all three of them come to the same note that every guy whos ever been thrown off by a breakup should hear: Youre gonna be okay anyway.

Although the ideas and sounds found in The Wire would recur throughout the rest of HAIMs discography, the band has continued to broaden their musical and professional horizons. Since Days Are Gone, theyve worked with Rostam Batmanglij, Dev Hynes, Taylor Swift and Paul Thomas Anderson, the latter of whom has helped highlight their talents by directing many of their innovative music videos and casting them in his 2021 film Licorice Pizza. The band has even maintained a sense of humor in promoting themselves online, poking fun at their sisterly dynamic in a Funny or Die clip with Brie Larson as the fourth HAIM sister and making endearingly cringey posts on Instagram and Tik Tok. Their exuberant hooks and emotional synchronicity have also gone on to impact other non-male indie pop-rock trios like MUNA and boygenius.

Though seemingly disparate on the surface, Lorde and HAIM have overlapped numerous times since they came onto the music scene. Theyve covered Alanis Morisette together, collaborated on the incredibly underrated Hunger Games: Mockingjay song Meltdown and been parodied on SNL. But most importantly, they each gave us two fantastic, inimitable debut records whose endurance in the zeitgeist can never truly be replicated.

Sam Rosenberg is a filmmaker and freelance entertainment writer from Los Angeles with bylines in The Daily Beast, Consequence, AltPress and Metacritic. You can find him on Twitter @samiamrosenberg.

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The Enduring Magic of Lorde's Pure Heroine and HAIM's Days Are ... - Paste Magazine

Climate activists play a similar role to that of journalists: informing the public, shaping discourse, and wrestling the narrative back from the powerful. While journalists wear the chainmail of press freedom, activists dont have the armour of a similar social compact.

Terry Kaelber woke to find himself alone in bed on a Saturday morning in April 2018. He thought his husband David Buckel had simply slipped out of their Brooklyn apartment for a bit, and that hed be back soon for their usual visit to the local market. Nothing in Davids recent behaviour had given any clue as to what would come next.

David, a former human rights lawyer and prominent New York LGBT+ activist, had walked to a nearby park, where he texted local media outlets to say what he was about to do. He sat on the grass, doused himself in petrol he chose, deliberately, a fossil fuel and set himself alight.

The sun was barely up when Terry learned that his partner of more than 30 years was dead.

This was not a death of despair, Terry explains a few years later on the podcast Death, Sex & Money. It wasnt suicide. David was drawing on the Buddhist tradition of self-immolation, an act of offering up ones body in sacrifice, in this case as a political protest to shake the world out of a coma of climate complacency.

My early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves, wrote the 60-year-old in a note explaining his actions.

Only it didnt do what hed hoped. The media barely paid attention beyond a few ghoulish moments, and then, predictably, moved on to the next story.

If only hed chosen to direct his activism into writing, Terry reflects.

He was such a great writer.

Is this kind of protest too much? Is it a step too far?

Judging by the reception of the rising wave of climate demonstrations around the world, it is.

But then so is the tomato soup splattered across the protective glass pane covering a Van Gogh by Just Stop Oil activists in 2022, even though the action was intended to leave the painting undamaged. Too radical. Greta Thunbergs address at the United Nations Climate Summit in 2019. Too angry. Extinction Rebellions disruption of city traffic now and then. Too inconvenient.

What comes next, after all normal channels have failed? When society continues to deafen itself to letter writing and public appeals and street march sing-alongs, is it time to break the law, asks Chris Packham, the British television presenter and David Attenborough protg in a recent Channel 4 broadcast.

Civil disobedience is already here, where activists are breaking the law peacefully in the interests of the common good, like the Extinction Rebellion sit-in at Standard Banks Johannesburg head offices this month to draw public attention to the financiers support of fossil fuel development on the continent. The protesters transgression was trespassing. Their punishment was to be manhandled from the property by security and bullied outside on the pavement by police.

This road to justice has a long history. Martin Luther King was all for peaceful law-breaking in the struggle for civil rights in 1950s America. If the law is unjust, he said, we have a moral duty to break that law.

South Africas liberation movement upped the ante against the apartheid state when it chose to meet violence with violence. The early 1960 Sabotage Campaign deliberately targeted infrastructure though, including places like pass offices which stood for state oppression. The mandate: dont hurt people. Nelson Mandela got locked up for 27 years for his part in this, although he was willing to die for it too.

Suffragette Emily Davison did die for the cause. After years of fighting for women to be regarded before the law as actual flesh-and-blood human beings, rather than objects through marches, clashes with police, arson, prison time, and hunger strikes in June 1913 she made her final protest at the Epsom Derby, a horse race that was a theatre for the rich and powerful. She stepped in the path of galloping steeds and was trampled under the kings horse. She died of her injuries. Some histories remember her as a militant.

These people werent popular at the time. Thats the nature of activism, its trying to lurch the zeitgeist out of inertia, and those benefitting from the status quo dont want disruption. But the Kings, Mandelas and Davisons of the world arent doing it to one day be on the right side of history. Theyre doing what is right, at that moment in time, so that we can have a world less cruel and exploitative.

And since were trying to avert societal annihilation, the stakes are a little higher this time.

Veteran war photographer James Nachtwey argues that reporting from the heart of violence is a way of negotiating peace. Wars are far removed from the lives of those in stable societies, so by showing us the murderous bloody maelstrom, journalists can shake us out of a fog of complacency and indifference. This is how we nudge society to demand more of itself, he says, in the hope of avoiding future wars. The roll of honour is replete with journalists whove died in the line of fire.

Environmental activists are dying, too, in a fight for a similar cause. Global Witness reckons that nearly 2,000 were murdered or killed on the job from 2012 to 2022 in the David-vs-Goliath battle to protect the land, forests, rivers, wildlife, culture and the global common good of a stable climate from predatory exploitation by corporations and complicit governments.

But journalists step into battle with the chainmail of press freedom, which gives a margin of protection, in and outside of war zones. Environmental activists dont.

Journalists are celebrated for putting their lives on the line. Climate activists are spat on, insulted, dragged from the road by irate drivers, vilified by right-wing media, and even charged with terrorism.

The binge-able BBC podcast Burn Wild tells the story of environmental activists in 1990s USA who had used up all peaceful means to stop clear-felling old-growth forests, and then turned to arson, using home-made fire-bombs to torch buildings and equipment. The states response was to charge them not just with arson, but with terrorism. The criminal implications were huge, in terms of adding years to their sentences. But the message to the public was as severe: by putting their mugshots on the FBIs most-wanted terrorist list, environmental activists were now on a par with extremists who fly passenger planes into tower blocks.

Standard Bank issued a mea culpa after its handling of the climate protests, but it only apologised for roughing up a journalist who got caught up in the fray, and for the banks transgression against a free press. How could it not respond cap-in-hand to Daily Maverick editor-in-chief Branko Brkics excoriating rebuke, and the heft of the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) hovering in the wings?

The financiers curt, three-paragraph statement clearly regards the protesters as out of order and needing to be held accountable. The bank doesnt apologise for its excessive use of force in evicting them. The only damage the trespassers were doing was to the banks reputation, and even thats easily laundered when a corporation has a huge PR machine on standby.

Theres a mind-blowing disconnect between the push-back against these small inconvenient protesters voices, and the almost willful blindness towards those who actually control the narrative. Fossil fuel companies have been exposed again and again for deliberately misleading the public and stoking climate denial, even as theyve known for 30 years that carbon pollution will destabilise the climate. They have used calculated, well-funded communications campaigns to keep us on a path towards unimaginable suffering, so that they can keep pocketing their profits. Al Gore calls this the moral equivalent of a war crime.

Rightwing media stables like those in the Murdoch empire Fox News, et al have been complicit in climate disinformation and denial, and deliberately demonised climate activists by calling them extremists and eco-terrorists. You only need to look at video footage of irate European drivers dragging peaceful protesters from road sit-ins, or beating them up, to see how this media narrative emboldens people against vilified protesters. Drivers feel it is their right to physically assault protesters, an act of harmful criminality, in response to a non-violent act of civil disobedience.

I wonder what the people of Derna have to say about all of this bluff and bluster around soup and famous paintings and a few hours of traffic bottlenecks?

What Packham calls, kindly, a childish act of vandalism, is a soft way for a London student activist to say what journalists are reporting from the frontline of disaster zones: that the climate is already becoming dangerously unstable.

The suffering in Derna, where a third of the Libyan city was razed after a rain bomb collided with the problem of failing infrastructure and incompetent governance, is unimaginable. Over 11,300 people crushed under collapsing buildings, lungs filled with suffocating water in a raging torrent, swept out to sea.

Rebuilding the Mozambican city of Beira after Cyclone Idai levelled most of it in 2019 is more than a little inconvenient. Likewise, the full toll of that years cyclone season on Cabo Delgado province in the north of the country is only now being tallied. The Red Cross/Red Crescent joins the dots between Cyclone Kenneth, which arrived a few weeks after Idai, with the existing political instability at the time, and escalating conflict in the years following this record-breaking storm season.

How inconvenient were the floods in Durban in April 2019 and again in 2022, which killed hundreds, destroyed buildings, disrupted water, electricity and sewerage services, and left thousands homeless?

This is only just the start.

The activists who try to draw these largely invisible stories into the noisy, distracted, entertainment-craving global media-scape will never be popular. The problem isnt the messenger, its the message: its too fucking frightening to look the truth square in the eye.

Its easier to shoot the messenger, be it with bile or bullets. DM

Excerpt from:

Climate activists: How far is too far in raising the climate alarm? - Daily Maverick