Not J*ss' Introductory Issue
I explain what we're doing here and I recap the media I've been consuming. Thrilling stuff, I know!
Hey Upper East Siders, Not J*ss here…. That’s all I have for an introduction, moving on.
FAQ (frequently asked question) : What do you mean “Newsletter”, Not J*ss???
The ponderance of writing a newsletter had been taking up more and more of my psyche over the past few months. It seemed so logical for me to do because, well… I write, do I not? (genuinely debatable, but that’s beside the point!) I just never knew what I could write a newsletter about… or who would read it, but that really doesn’t concern me much.
Really, I still can’t come up with a theme. As I could never. One thing about me, I am woefully inconsistent. Just scroll down my twitter feed. I have no plot to lose at any given moment, as you no doubt are aware since you are reading my… newsletter? Blog post? Whatever you may want to call it. I don’t know what qualifies as a newsletter. There’s surely nothing newsworthy here, nor do I have a common theme to write my issues about.
The google definition of newsletter is “noun
a bulletin issued periodically to the members of a society, business, or organization.”
So, sure. I am the Bulletin and you all are the members of my society, business, or organization. Congratulations! It’s giving cult a little bit, but we’re here now!
(Pictured above : Stock photo of a cult for example purposes.)
With this comes the question… if I don’t have a theme for what this newsletter is going to be about… what could my first issue be, then? Well, as I’m writing this the Oscars are on Sunday! (Author’s note : As I am editing this, it is now Oscar Sunday. Just walk with me, it’s been a busy weekend.) (Author’s note to the Author’s note : It is now Monday.) But I tried - several times, believe me - to write drafts of an Oscars Newsletter. I attempted a Best Picture Tier Rank list, I attempted a draft of my Personal Picks for each category. The more I typed my thoughts on these nominations I realized… The Oscars suck! I do not care about 99.99% of these nominated films! Quite honestly I wasted my time watching almost all of them! I couldn’t force myself to write a full newsletter post about The Oscars this year, but let it be known, plenty of pages were attempted… the more time wasted, the more I realized The Oscars Newsletter was just not happening.
(Pictured above : Licorice Pizza. You expect me to, not only watch this film, but also… discuss it? You’d have to pay me.)
I am turning 22 on Tuesday and, as one does, I contemplated making a “22 things I learned by 22!” list, then quickly realized… I have not learned 22 things. Taylor Swift should’ve prepared me for that.
Instead of doing anything with purpose, I decided to make this an introductory newsletter where I just discuss… things! I will try to make future issues about specific pop culture topics that I can’t get out of my head and I feel the need to greatly expand upon, but for now I will just type and see where I go. Ever the professional, I am.
FAQ : “Hey, not j*ss! What are you currently watching, reading and consuming in terms of media?!” :
Wow, I am so glad you frequently asked this very specific question, hypothetical group of people!
(Pictured above : Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma and Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton on Bridgerton season 2 now streaming on Netflix, aka what is taking up the entire space of my brain.)
(Warning : If you have no interest in Bridgerton or my thoughts on Bridgerton, skip the next 3 paragraphs. You’ve been warned!)
As I am typing this Bridgerton season 2, episode 7 ‘Harmony’ is on my television screen. I know I should be giving it my full undivided attention, but you know how it goes sometimes. I plan to rewatch it regardless. Stop pestering me, hypothetical person, damn. Anyways, Simone Ashley is just so excellent. I do intend on giving a formal review eventually, (if not as part of this newsletter, just on Serializd. I still use Serializd, by the way.) but my basic thoughts I’ve tweeted (and deleted, oops!) about already. I’ve never read the books (my only knowledge of the books come from Julia Cudney’s video, which I have watched several times so I still feel like an expert) I can’t really discuss the subplots… but this season introduced and also expanded on a lot of supporting characters in a way… I just didn’t have any interest in?
I have tweeted about how I believe that since several major cast members were either not in this season anymore or just made guest appearances, their screen time was given to other supporting/side characters rather than the main storyline of Kate and Anthony, which I think goes to its detriment. Not that I think Kate and Anthony needed every scene ever (though I sure wouldn’t have been mad if they had gotten every scene ever, that’s just not my point!) but a lot of these subplots were just not framed in a very interesting way! To the point I just wanted the show to go back to Kate and/or Anthony (or Edwina!) whenever they were not on my screen. I understand well enough that most of these subplots are more so for character building and hopefully some things will become more important once these characters are actually the leads of their own future seasons, but they’re framed and developed in such boring ways that just feel like they’re trying to fill airtime, unfortunately. Benedict was a huge victim of this, but I do trust that once he’s the main plot and not the subplot, I will be much more interested. I will be a contrarian (to myself and others) right now by saying I did enjoy Colin very much this season, especially when he went to see Marina again (#JusticeForMarina). Though I will agree with some people on Twitter saying he doesn’t have much chemistry with Penelope. To be fair, it’s not like their writing is supposed to be filled with chemistry right now! Hopefully by the time it’s their season they will deliver something. I still have faith in them, you just have to wait!
Speaking of which, I also did like Penelope’s subplot this season. However, I could be so off-base by saying this, I do think they especially upgraded her part in the wake of those few main character leaving, and she was already a pretty big character in season 1… it did feel like, at times, she was equal parts lead as Kate and Anthony which also impacts how developed Anthony and Kate feel in comparison to Daphne (and to a lesser extent Simon) in season 1… but I need to rewatch season 2 before getting ahead of myself. It’s a working criticism.
Some people probably read all three (3!) of those paragraphs critiquing Bridgerton and are saying to themselves, “You are just typing words right now. I do not know what you are talking about.” Anyways… I am currently reading My Year Of Rest And Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, but I have not had a day where I could just sit down and read all week so I am only on Chapter Two, but can I just say the back cover specifically is so pretty like yassss hot pink color tones!!!
(Pictured above : The back cover of My Year Of Rest And Relaxation. The color scheme is simply wonderful, isn’t it?!)
I went to the movie theater and saw X (2022) the other day and it was such fun! I wish I could say I loved it as much as the real horror girls did but I guess I’m just a fake horror girl. I thought it was fun, I liked the beat, but I guess I just am physically incapable of seeing a Sam Levinson production in 2022 and being truly wow’ed. I blame him somehow, at least. I have to put the blame on somebody and it’s never going to be Jenna Ortega, that’s for sure.
(Pictured above : Public Enemy #1)
Speaking of Sam Levinson productions… Deep Water was a movie that happened! And Euphoria season 2 was a season of television that happened… Sam Levinson, sit with me for a second. Put the pen down. Put the typewriter away. Close the document. Take a walk outside, feel the breeze. Take the day off. Retire even. We need to regroup! We need to come up with something new! I’ve seen people enjoying Deep Water in a memey camp type way, but honestly I went in expecting a bad but fun movie, and… I was just bored for most of it. That’s the worst part of it all, I WANTED to laugh! I wanted some campy fun, but it just was too dry for even that. The best I can give it is that pretty people were on screen for most of the runtime (not you, Ben).
Most recently I saw the play Dear Evan Hansen. I had already seen the movie which I famously very much did NOT enjoy. The movie… was bad. I had also seen video essays comparing the movie to the play, and the consensus had been relatively… lukewarm to negative, so I did go in with low expectations… but I didn’t consider the fact that it was still a greatly well received, beloved even, Tony winning production, and I did end up actually greatly enjoying it. If you get one takeaway from this issue, let it be : Lower your expectations, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Now that I have reached a theme in my directionless writing, I shall wrap it up. As I continue this newsletter I plan to start committing to a singular topic per each and every future issue. For this one, a little highlight of media I consumed in the past week or so seems to fit as an appropriate introductory issue, no? Maybe not, but I still felt obligated to get a start on this little Newsletter thing and I couldn’t very much come up with anything else. Anyways, I have Oscar red carpet fashion to judge. Thank you for your time!
xoxo, not j*ss
no because this you basically tweeting in larger paragraphs😭 i love this so much lol
oh this is excellent!!