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If you don’t want to read about Beyonce, scroll to the bottom for this week’s recommendations.
Over the weekend, I had the chance to see Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce, and it was amazing.
Amazing is a word my dad hates because it’s not descriptive and it’s a filler word, but in this instance, that’s all I can really come up with without putting tons of words. I would say that this is the perfect film for those in the Beehive and those who just want to see a genius in pure form. I would also say too that if you missed the concert this summer, this gives a lot of concert footage, almost like you were there.
In the words of Wesley Morris,
[Renaissance] It widens the guardrails from alleyway to thoroughfare. It’s busy; and, in its business, casually revealing. The woman who’s made it has found a rich balance between the taciturn and TMI. We can see freckles. She includes flubs and flaws. We witness a parent in an assortment of resonant parenting moods.
That’s a pretty clear and on-point summation; it was just beautiful. In the film, Beyonce does a deeper dive into the legacy of her Uncle Johnny, who inspired both the album and the tour. We also get an inside look into Beyonce as a mother, which I thought was beautiful. I saw a conversation happening on the internet about how Beyonce talked with Blue in the film was a form of gentle parenting, which seemed to spark an interesting conversation. I will say for me, the conversation around what is gentle parenting makes me raise an eyebrow, but that’s anything conversation for another time, I suppose. But this was a sweet element, and I also loved her talking to her mom about how she learned all the things about being a good mother from having a great mother.
I also cried a lot watching the movie because Beyonce feels like your cool cousin. I cried when she realized that Diana Ross was there for her birthday. I cried seeing how fans were taking in the performance. Honestly, if you were a fan of Destiny’s Child growing up like I was, we’ve been rocking with Beyonce for 25 years - more than half my life. Seeing how she’s evolved from that time to the icon she is now is inspiring. She never gets complacent and is always doing something different to show her creativity and dedication. It’s just beautiful, man.
I keep saying beautiful, which means I may be running into the rambling world pretty soon - but I will leave you with two quotes that Beyonce said in the film that I wrote down if you can, be sure to see it before it leaves theaters.
"It’s more than a concert, it’s a culture… It’s a fantasy come true.”
“I’m a human, not a machine, and balance is my biggest obstacle."
Also, if you’re on Lapse, add me @ bellametaphor, of course.
QUESTION/FAVOR:
With the year coming to an end, tell me one thing:
THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
How are we feeling about Beyonce’s new single, “MY HOUSE.” Carmelo Anthony & The Kid Mero launched a new podcast starting today, and I think it will be a good listen, although I miss the Bodega Boys. Almost got suckered into T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach’s podcast against my better judgment. Really enjoyed Angie Martinez’s interview with Filmmaker Ryan Coogler for her “IRL Podcast”. I finished watching Black Cake on Hulu and have many thoughts about the end - let’s discuss if you watched it.
I just finished reading Sheila Johnson’s Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph, and I had many thoughts - she lived both an interesting and sad life in parts. I’m glad her second wind is better, but the tea around Debra Lee and her husband at the time, Bob Johnson, honey. Two great conversations on the “Maverick with Mav Carter show”: Kim Kardashian and Jeezy.
Two things about motherhood and parenting: the effort to make pregnancy less deadly in Brooklyn and how millennials learned to dread motherhood. There are pros and cons of AI, but this is something I’m on the fence about - how will GenAI shift design jobs? Love: A year in photos from The New Yorker. Inside Selena Gomez’s beauty juggernaut. Also, on the Selena train, her show, one of my favorites, “Selena + Chef,” is back and now on the Food Network.
That’s it for this week. I’ll catch you next week.
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Notes from Erin is a biweekly newsletter covering music, culture, and literature, with a few other things mixed in there.
Yes, let’s PLEASE discuss the end of the Black Cake series! And thank you for the heads up on the return/network change of Selena + Chef! 👩🏾🍳