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      ‘Indian Matchmaking,’ It’s Time to Break Up

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      The Netflix dating show claims that tradition can find love where modernity has failed. But all it does is reinforce age-old prejudices.“In India we don’t say ‘arranged marriage.’ There is ‘marriage’ and then ‘love marriage.’” Of all the platitudes — and she spouts a lot of them — issued forth by Sima Taparia, the self-anointed top matchmaker of Mumbai and breakout star of Netflix’s “Indian Matchmaking,” none land more true than this one. It’s not as if finding husbands and wives for unpaired offspring hasn’t been a fixation of anxious parents across centuries and civilizations, even if in Europe and the United States, love may have finally entered the chat and stayed long enough to become unexceptional. But for older generations in India, parents’ finding spouses for their children has been the norm for so long that the idea of those same adult children’s marrying for “love” is still alien enough for it to occupy an entirely separate category — now a reality-TV show.“Indian Matchmaking,” whose third season premiered on April 21, follows the immaculately coifed, highlighted and bejeweled Taparia as she steamrolls through the lives of unhappily single men and women of Indian origin mostly living in America. She promises to find them the spouses of their dreams, as long as they don’t dream for too much. The cast varies (with some fan favorites and villains occasionally brought back) but most are seemingly well-off young people, urbane and cosmopolitan, who run their own businesses and attend boutique workout classes. This season’s standouts include an emergency-room doctor named Vikash, whose god complex extends to referring to himself in the third person as Vivacious Vikash and performing solo dances to Hindi songs at his friends’ weddings (and allowing video of himself doing so to be broadcast on the show); he wants a tall Hindi-speaking girl because he’s really attached to Indian “culture.” There’s Bobby, the over-energetic teacher who performs a math-themed rap that ends with him snarling “mathematics, boiii” at the screen. Arti from Miami lists weekly visits to Costco as her hobby.The activities that these aspirant matchees choose for the dates they go on (wine tastings, yoga with baby goats) are straight out of gentrified Williamsburg. Interspersed in between these scenes are cameos from their stony-faced parents, astrologers dispensing sex advice, face readers, tarot-card readers and Taparia’s own peremptory admonishments reminding them that they’re never getting everything they want in a partner, so they better start lowering their expectations now.She promises to find them the spouses of their dreams, as long as they don’t dream for too much.That she has not yet made a single match resulting in marriage over the course of two seasons and 16 episodes has deterred neither Taparia herself nor the makers of the show from continuing this Sisyphean journey into a third. She is not one to suffer from impostor syndrome or even, apparently, introspection, so her matchmaking methodology remains resolutely unchanged. The only big departure this time around is the expansion of her hunting grounds to Britain, where she commences her reign of terror in London by telling a 35-year-old divorcee named Priya that she “should not be so much picky.”To people like me, who grew up in this third-party matchmaking milieu, Sima Taparia or Sima Aunty (a nickname she gives herself) is just that — an aunty, an archetype we’ve known and avoided all our lives: the obnoxious and overbearing relative, neighbor or acquaintance with zero sense of boundaries. But to the global audiences who eagerly lapped up “Indian Matchmaking” during the early months of the pandemic, Taparia was a delightful novelty, in one moment tossing bon mots of conjugal wisdom with the serenity of an all-knowing sibyl (“You will only get 60 to 70 percent of what you want; you will never get 100 percent”) and in the next moment ordering a female client to get rid of her “high standards” with the brusqueness of a guidance counselor breaking it to an overzealous student that they’re not getting into Harvard.In India, the business of parents seeking brides and grooms for their children is a cruel and cutthroat one, having originated as a way to preserve caste endogamy.Throughout history, the coming together of two people in matrimony (holy or otherwise) has never been just about the union itself — it is the broader institution that reveals the deepest anxieties (financial, religious or racial) undergirding a society. “Indian Matchmaking” bills itself as just any other show about the caprices of trying to find love in a hostile world. It is predicated on the idea that seeking the help of someone as quaintly old-fashioned as a matchmaker is superior to the travails of dating online, where one must undergo far worse indignities like being ghosted or breadcrumbed. Here, at least, relationship expectations are mutual, and after all, what is a “biodata” (a curiously-named document Taparia uses in her practice) if not the same exaggerated dating-app profile but in résumé form and with fewer wince-inducing mentions about loving tacos and pizza.But in India, the business of parents seeking brides and grooms for their children is a cruel and cutthroat one, having originated as a way to preserve caste endogamy, and it continues to be fraught with violence from every side, a reality that is at odds with the show’s portrayal of the process as a decorous, civilized exchange that takes place over tea and manners. The most pernicious aspects are hidden behind a flimsy veneer of fabricated gentility, apparent in the many euphemistic phrases in which Taparia, the singles she is matching and their parents communicate. The show’s title itself reads like an awkward, faux-anthropological translation, when in reality, the Indian here in “Indian Matchmaking” is merely a stand-in for outrageously wealthy, landed upper-caste Hindus (with an exception here and there).Caste, one of the most malicious forces still dictating India’s social fabric, is gingerly intimated by low-voiced mumblings of “same community.” Openly declaring that you want to marry someone filthy rich would be uncouth, so the words “good family, good upbringing” are uttered frequently. Women cannot afford to be “picky.” Women have to be “flexible.” They must also learn how to “compromise.” My personal favorite of these, though, is “adjust,” one of the hardest-working euphemisms in Indian English, whose meaning linguistically can range from the squeezed addition of a third backside on a bus seat meant to fit only two, to a man’s parents’ demanding that the girl foredoomed to marry their son give up her professional career to pursue full-time daughter-in-law activities. Curiously enough, the men are spared the brunt of such exhortations.“In marriage, every desire becomes a decision,” remarked Susan Sontag in 1956, a strikingly trenchant line that I recalled when watching the show’s participants being quizzed about their “criteria” for a potential spouse. Initially, they start out reciting millennial-speak straight out of the 2012 twee-internet era: the desire for someone “kind” with a “sense of humor.” But upon further prodding, out come tumbling the real demands, the decisions that display that their modernity hasn’t yet overcome the inherited prejudices that govern this entire phenomenon. Costco-obsessed Arti cannot help mentioning that her father would have really, really, really loved for her to marry someone from her “community.” Vivacious Vikash, meanwhile, for all his insistence on Indian “culture,” forgot to specify that he wanted a Hindi-speaking girl from America (a “same community” of its own) and not the “very Indian” woman with the Indian accent that Sima Aunty found for him.Source photographs: NetflixIva Dixit is a staff editor at the magazine. Her previous articles include an appreciation of eating raw red onions and an exploration into the continued popularity of “Emily in Paris.” More

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      ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2, Episode 5 Recap: Destructive Secrets

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      This week brought plenty of confessions but little healing.Season 2, Episode 5: ‘Two Truths and a Lie’“Giving voice to our darkest thoughts is how we gain access to our deepest truths,” the true believer Lisa tells Adult Natalie as a prompt during one of Lottie’s workshops. Indeed, Lottie’s methodology is proven right over the course of the fifth episode of “Yellowjackets,” where destructive secrets are wantonly shared. But there is little healing to come from these confessions, only more destruction.Take, for instance, Misty.Teen Misty is feeling especially loose lipped thanks to her friendship with her “bestie” Crystal. Some facts we learn about Misty: The three famous people she would invite to a slumber party are Plato, the “Grind” host Eric Nies and Jack Kevorkian because what he does is “so brave.” She hates deodorant. She once walked in on her parents having sex and wasn’t all that grossed out. And, of course, the one we already know: She destroyed the plane’s emergency transmitter the night after the crash so she could remain the Yellowjackets’ hero in crisis.That last one doesn’t sit well with Crystal, whose name, it turns out, is actually Kristen. That’s the kind of secret that she shared with Misty, explaining that she never corrected her teammates when they mistakenly called her “Crystal the pistol” on the first day of practice. It’s a detail about her life that she revels in sharing with her best friend, something sort of embarrassing but not actually all that shameful. Misty misreads Crystal’s acceptance. Rather than celebrate their shared oddity when Misty utters the story about the transmitter, Crystal’s expression drops. Misty is the reason they are all stranded. Suddenly the game isn’t fun.Misty tries to save face, pretending she’s just kidding, but Crystal knows better. “You’re not that good of an actress,” she says. Misty, facing social isolation once more, resorts to a threat, vowing to kill Crystal if she tells anyone. She doesn’t have to. Crystal stumbles backward and plummets to her death. When Misty returns to the cabin, she tells the group Crystal got lost in the raging storm that just descended on the wilderness knowing full well Crystal’s mangled body is at the foot of a cliff.In the present, Walter Tattersall also knows that Misty isn’t a very good actress. Their dynamic mirrors Misty and Crystal’s, though Misty isn’t as willing a participant in the banter he’s trying to start. She reluctantly plays his game of “two truths and a lie” before getting distracted upon finding the gate to Lottie’s compound. When Natalie emerges, it’s not the reunion for which Misty had hoped: Natalie sends the betrayed and frustrated Misty away.What Misty fails to recognize is she finally has someone sitting across from her who will accept her strangeness wholeheartedly. Walter has figured out she was likely involved in Adam Martin’s death, but he doesn’t really care. “I like you regardless of your extracurricular activities,” he says.He’s had his own odd experience with killers — his grandma murdered his grandfather, apparently — and is bizarrely charmed by Misty’s nefariousness. This isn’t the same situation as Shauna’s daughter, Callie, and the creepy cop who is trying to pry clues out of her through bowling dates. Unless I’m mistaking his earnestness for something else, Walter says what he means.But Misty rejects that. She’s offended that he thinks she’s a murderer and fails to see that she might finally have a weirdo who matches her, a bestie who’s even more sympathetic than Crystal, may she rest in peace. Instead, she leaves Walter behind and marches up to Lottie’s community with a new plan: She’s going to join up.In that enclave, Natalie has been trying to unearth some secrets of her own. She finally manages to dig around Lottie’s office, and discovers boxes of personal documents about Lottie’s followers. To her it looks like a gold mine, but she’s quickly shut down when it turns out everyone relinquished that information willingly.With Natalie despondent, Lottie turns the tables on her, encouraging Natalie to divulge what she’s been hiding — specifically, what she told Travis that led to his death. Using a technique from her “time away” — a euphemistic term for when she was institutionalized — Lottie flashes a light in Natalie’s eyes and coaxes out of her the story of the last time she saw Travis.It’s a seedy tale in which Natalie and Travis went on a bender and Natalie overdosed. In her unconscious state, Natalie saw a vision of the Yellowjackets’ crash site, but none of them had survived. The mysterious figure known as the “antler queen” moves through the vessel among the corpses. When Natalie was revived she told Travis: “I saw it. I felt it. We brought it back. Trav, we brought it back with us.”As she shares this, Lottie, terrified, looks over her shoulder and sees the shadow of that same person or creature. “Yellowjackets” viewers have theorized that Lottie was the “antler queen” because she dons a crown made of antlers at the “Doomcoming.” But now Lottie is the one haunted by that image. Is it her own shadow self that’s scaring her? Or is the “antler queen” even a single being? Is it instead the manifestation of the “darkness” all of the Yellowjackets carry?That darkness has arrived at Adult Van’s apartment-slash-video store in the form of Taissa. Tai is aware she is placing a huge burden on Van by asking for her help. Meanwhile, Van has some hidden habits of her own, squirreling away oxycodone when she thinks Tai is asleep. And Tai is asleep when Van takes the drug. It’s the “other one” — Tai’s alter ego — who emerges in the darkness and kisses Van. “This isn’t where we are supposed to be,” she says.It’s easy to think of the spirits plaguing these women and girls as evil, yet in the final moments of the hour we’re given an example of wilderness mysticism as a force for good. Pregnant Shauna has grown understandably suspicious of Lottie, who whispers to her baby in utero. But when Shauna and Tai are stranded in heavy snowfall they are seemingly guided by Lottie’s mantras about hearing the wind and the trees. They are able to make it back as Shauna goes into labor, her primal scream of pain ending the episode.In an earlier scene, Lottie had told the fetus, “You are going to change everything.” Now the child is here, a new life entering the world replacing Crystal, who has left it. Bye, bestie. Hello, baby.More to chew onAdult Shauna’s Built to Spill T-shirt is a great costuming choice.An interesting fact for those keeping track of where everyone was post-rescue: Tai and Van were still together when Shauna got married. They swapped out the guest book pen for a dirty novelty pen.I think the creepiest character on the show might be Matt Saracusa, the adult detective who pretends to date a teen to solve a case. In addition to its general ickiness, I grew tired of that whole plotline this episode including Shauna’s fake tryst with Randy, the most useless character on the show.The motif of videotape static has been with the show since the beginning thanks to the opening credits, but it’s being deployed more and more in the narrative. What does it mean?Is Misty actually a murderer? Technically, she isn’t as far as we know, and maybe that’s why she’s so angry at Walter’s assumption. She’s definitely an accessory and you could probably charge her with manslaughter. But straight up murder? Not yet.Does Crystal become the next meal? More

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      Late Night Laughs at Elon Musk’s SpaceX Explosion

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      “When people saw the rocket light up and start smoking, they were like, ‘All right, happy 4/20, everybody!’” Jimmy Fallon joked on Thursday.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Light It UpSpaceX and its chief executive, Elon Musk, saw the company’s Starship rocket explode on Thursday, just four minutes after launch.“Yeah at first, when people saw the rocket light up and start smoking, they were like, ‘All right, happy 4/20, everybody!’” Jimmy Fallon joked.“SpaceX is now saying they triggered the explosion, but originally when it happened, they called it a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly.’ That sounds like what celebrities say when they’re getting divorced: ‘Our marriage is going through a rapid unscheduled disassembly — please respect our privacy at this time.’” — JIMMY FALLON“I have to hand it to him — ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ is one hell of a way to describe your rocket blowing up. That’s up there with ‘wardrobe malfunction’ and ‘conscious uncoupling.’” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Right after the giant explosion, Elon was like, ‘Oh, crap, did we launch a Tesla by mistake?’” — JIMMY FALLON“Elon’s defenders were quick to point out that this was only a test and the rocket was actually supposed to explode, which is definitely what I would say if my $3 billion rocket exploded.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Expensive Overcompensation Edition)“And to the haters who said Musk couldn’t possibly destroy something faster than Twitter, joke’s on you.” — JORDAN KLEPPER“They’re calling this the most expensive penis overcompensation in American history.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Yeah, it took off fast, was flying high and then, all of a sudden, it exploded — kind of like Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign.” — JIMMY FALLON“That disassembly cost SpaceX $3 billion, which, you could defame four different voting machine companies for that much money.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Bits Worth WatchingDanny Trejo joined Stephen Colbert to make some recipes from his new cookbook, “Trejo’s Cantina,” on Thursday’s “Late Show.”Also, Check This OutLittle Richard in 1956. The rock ‘n’ roll trailblazer is the subject of the documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything.”Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo/Magnolia PicturesThe new documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything” presents the early rock ’n’ roll performer as a man of many contradictions. More

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      ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Series Finale Recap: Saying Farewell

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      In the end, the final season of “Picard” was a worthy send-off for the “Next Generation” crew.Season 3, Episode 10: ‘The Last Generation’“What began over 35 years ago ends tonight,” Jean-Luc Picard says, standing on his favorite bridge and glaring at his most distasteful enemy. It recalled his “The line must be drawn here!” from “First Contact.”This was ostensibly a reference to the Federation’s longstanding battle with the Borg, but it also might as well been about “The Next Generation” franchise. (The show began airing in 1987 and 35 years ago would be 1988.) And if this is the last time we see of these characters, then that’s OK. Not because this season of “Picard” wasn’t a strong one. Quite the opposite, in fact: It was quite good and recaptured everything that made “Next Generation” what it was.The characters all used special skills to work together and save humankind. Some of the dialogue was campy. There were plot holes. And there were the classic “Star Trek” tropes, like Jean-Luc nonsensically going to the Borg cube, when he was likely the least physically capable of the old crew in fighting off the Borg.But overall, this season was a worthy send-off for the crew. It wasn’t perfect, but neither was the show or any of the movies. But it was worth doing. The story justified its existence. It advanced each of the main characters, and filled in some gaps.And it confirmed one last time that “The Next Generation” was greater than the sum of its parts. That might have been why the first two seasons of “Picard” didn’t work well. Jean-Luc wasn’t the best character he could be without his old friends to bounce off. The chemistry wasn’t as fluid. The story wasn’t as deep.In the finale, we learn a bit about what the Borg have been up to, though I remain baffled that no one brings up Jurati or the whole Good Borg thing from last season. (Maybe it was for the best.) There was no collective left — only the Borg Queen remained, she claimed, though we know from last season’s events that this isn’t exactly true.It was Jack who found the Borg Queen, at least from her telling. She speaks in a way contrary to what we’ve known about the Borg: She says she was lonely and that the Borg were left to starve. (This kind of undercuts the Borg’s whole message of being the perfect beings.) But now, the Borg want to evolve rather than assimilate, and Jack is the perfect partner to do that. In order to survive, the Borg Queen, I think, resorted to Borg cannibalism. Yikes! Hope those drones won Employee of the Month or something.The Borg and the changelings came to an agreement in which the changelings would be the Borg’s vehicle to carry out some villainous plan to help them procreate. Aside from an ill-fated revenge that they didn’t really need the Borg for, I don’t know what else the changelings really got out of this alliance.Elsewhere, classic Star Trekking happens. Worf and Riker fight off some baddies on the cube. Beverly uses her now finely honed combat skills to fire weapons. (It’s somewhat amusing that Geordi refurbished the Enterprise D for display at the fleet museum and also included a loaded torpedo system. Thank goodness he went above and beyond!) Data shows off his lightning fast piloting skills, assisted by his newly acquired gut instinct.Beverly is faced with an impossible decision: Blow up her son and save the galaxy, or, uh, don’t. I loved that Geordi is the one who asks her permission, because he now understands a parent’s love for a child. And when it comes time to fire on the beacon, Geordi really, really doesn’t want to do it.Jean-Luc finds another solution. He assimilates himself so he can get in contact with Jack in the Borg collective. Jean-Luc isn’t human, of course. He is an android — apparently, he can just plug himself in to the network like a flash drive. Jean-Luc tells Jack that he is the missing part of Jean-Luc’s life. (Patrick Stewart plays this perfectly.)Jean-Luc is finally able to admit to himself how lonely he was outside of Starfleet, and that Starfleet merely covered up that loneliness rather than filling it entirely. Jean-Luc gives his son something he’s craved his whole life: approval and unconditional love. And Jean-Luc also won’t let his son go. He offers to stay in the hole with him so they can climb out together. Jean-Luc gets to be the father he never knew he wanted to be.Eventually, Jean-Luc’s pushes Jack to unassimilate himself and turn against the Queen. And that’s that: The universe is saved again. Our thanks to the crew of the Enterprise for the umpteenth time.The episode ends in the only appropriate way for the “Next Generation” crew: They sit around and toast each other. Jean-Luc quotes Shakespeare. And then they whoop and play cards, just like at the end of “All Good Things…,” the series finale of the original “Next Generation.”The end wasn’t perfect, but it was proper. And that’s all about all you can ask for from a season like this. I don’t need any more — I want the Enterprise D crew to Costanza it and leave on a high note. They’ve earned it.LeVar Burton in “Star Trek: Picard.”Trae Patton/Paramount+Odds and endsSomewhat amusingly, Jean-Luc does not express any concern or mention Laris throughout any of this season, another example of the team behind “Picard” trying to erase the first two seasons of the show from existence. But Laris, for her part, actually appeared in the season premiere and, one could argue, help put the events of the reunion in motion.I keep thinking about that scene early this season with Riker and Jean-Luc at the bar, when Riker has to defend the honor of the Enterprise D. We didn’t know it then, but that foreshadowed the whole season.I would have liked to hear a bit more about what Worf has been up to since the events of “Nemesis.” At the end of “Deep Space Nine,” Worf was named an ambassador to Qo’noS. In “Nemesis,” Worf somehow just becomes a member of the Enterprise crew again with little explanation as to why. In this season, it’s implied that Worf helped destroy the Enterprise E. A bit more detail would have been nice. The “Worf as comic relief” thing also grew thin on me, like when he fell asleep on the bridge immediately after he is part of saving civilization again. But there is a fun callback in the last scene of the episode: Beverly saying Worf should have another glass of prune juice. A warrior’s drink!Pavel Chekov’s son, Anton, being president of the Federation was a nice touch. Anton is likely a reference to Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the rebooted feature films beginning in 2009. He died in 2016 as a result of a car accident.When Seven and Raffi figure out a way to transport assimilated crew members off the bridge using phaser rifles, it’s quite the deus ex machina. That technology would’ve been helpful all season!That was a funny moment when the cook is ordered to pilot the Titan. He didn’t even finish flight training, why is Seven making him take the wheel? Have Raffi do it! (Within minutes, the cook executes complicated evasive maneuvers, so that must have been some training.)At first, I found New Data to be quite jarring but after a couple episodes, this version grew on me. When he says he hates the Borg, you can see the Lore side of him burst through. It’s a fresh take on Data and Brent Spiner pulls it off nicely.That was a nice bit of wordless acting from Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis when Riker heads down to the cube for yet another mission with Jean-Luc. The swashbuckling Riker gives the slightest of smiles, as if to say, “You know who you married. You know why I have to do this.” And Troi reluctantly agrees. Later, when Troi tells Riker he will only have a minute or so to save Jean-Luc once the Enterprise fires on the Cube, he responds again with cool confidence in a near death situation.There will certainly be some disappointment among fans that Kate Mulgrew did not reprise her role as Admiral Janeway this season. The events in “Voyager” presumably are the reason the Borg cube was in such terrible shape when Jean-Luc beams aboard. Given the multiple references to Janeway and what was happening on Earth, it would have been nice to have gotten a glimpse of her. (And man, how gnarly does the Borg Queen look now?)Ah, there’s Tuvok, offering Seven her own ship. As Vulcan as ever.In the grand scheme of things, this is still only the second most successful attack by the Borg on Earth. Sure, they get to Earth, bring down the planetary defense systems and attack cities directly — all while using Starfleet ships. But in “First Contact,” they actually went back in time and assimilated all of Earth before the pesky Enterprise crew initiated a do-over. And honestly, if Jean-Luc and his merry band couldn’t rescue Earth from Evil Jack, they could just do what they did last season or in “First Contact”: Go back in time. It’s easy!Troi gets to drive the Enterprise D again. It went better than it did last time, when she crashed it.Beverly is an admiral now? What a promotion, considering the decades she spent out of Starfleet running a rogue operation. I wonder if Riker, Geordi or any of the others were like, “Hey, what about us?”Ed Speleers did an admirable job as Jack Crusher. It’s not easy to go toe-to-toe with Patrick Stewart, but Speleers fits in seamlessly as Beverly and Jean-Luc’s son. (While we’re here, what’s up with Jack’s brother, Wesley?)I hope all of you stuck around for the post-credits scene. Q is still alive! Of course he is. We don’t acknowledge last season around these parts. More

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      How Naomi Watts and Elle Fanning Stay Hungry

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      Naomi Watts: Elle impressed me the first time we met [while making the 2015 film “3 Generations,” in which Watts plays the mother of Fanning’s character]. She was 16, but with such emotional intelligence. When I was trying to get my start in my late 20s, I was already being told I was too late. They said, “You’d better get going. You’ve got only seconds left!” I think that’s changed — for the better, obviously. We’re now seeing women in their 50s carry films. There even seems to be a bit more movement in the opposite direction, like aging is suddenly trending.On the CoverWatts wears a Bottega Veneta dress, $6,600, and boots, price on request, bottegaveneta.com; and Ana Khouri earrings, price on request, anakhouri.com. Fanning wears a Bottega Veneta dress, $20,000.Hart Lëshkina. Styled by Tess HerbertWith women, but never with men, “ambition” always gets labeled an ugly word. I’ve always been hungry, and that’s what got me here. I spent many years under the radar, not getting jobs — just tiny bits here and there — until David Lynch gave me an incredible role [in 2001’s “Mulholland Dr.”]. Had I not maintained that level of determination or ambition, whatever you want to call it, I would have packed it in and just tried to find something else. Knowing why you love what you do is important. What’s feeding you that makes you keep coming back for more?Watts wears a Bottega Veneta dress. Fanning wears a Bottega Veneta dress.Hart Lëshkina. Styled by Tess HerbertWatts wears a Bottega Veneta dress; and Ana Khouri earrings.Hart Lëshkina. Styled by Tess Herbertculture banner More

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      What Salt-N-Pepa and Issa Rae See in One Another

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      Cheryl “Salt” James: I remember Issa creating a Kickstarter account in 2011 to raise money so she could finish the first season of her YouTube series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” (2011-13). That always struck me as savvy and bold. I had the privilege of watching her build her audience, then take them with her to HBO for “Insecure.”When you’re an artist, people are always questioning your vision. Ideas can get stretched and pulled in different directions, and they can become diluted. Issa has always, from what I can see, followed her gut.On the CoverCheryl “Salt” James wears a Vince dress; Zana Bayne belt; Christian Louboutin boots; David Webb earrings, necklace and cuff; and Tabayer ring. Rae wears a Proenza Schouler dress; Stuart Weitzman sandals; Lisa Eisner earrings; Bulgari cuffs; and her own ring. Sandra “Pepa” Denton wears a Versace dress; Bottega Veneta shoes; Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and bracelet; and David Webb ring.Photograph by Renee Cox. Styled by Ian BradleySandra “Pepa” Denton: In her memoir [2015’s “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”], Issa mentions struggling with not feeling Black enough. I can relate to that. When Salt-N-Pepa was selling millions of records, they called us “crossover,” which meant that we weren’t Black or hip enough. Now everyone wants to be pop. It means you’ve gone global. Like us, Issa stayed strong and was smart about her struggle, turning it into comedy. She kept it real, too.Issa Rae: I grew up on Salt-N-Pepa. I’ve always admired their collaboration as partners and the way they complement each other. It’s so hard for a group to last in this business, but they continue to be unapologetic about who they are and what they’re about. So much of my inspiration as a writer comes from female rappers. I write to rap music. When I was in middle school, I even tried to start rap groups because of Salt-N-Pepa. I had no business doing that, but they made me think I could.Photograph by Renee Cox. Styled by Ian BradleyPhotograph by Renee Cox. Styled by Ian Bradleyculture banner More

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      How Two ‘Yellowjackets’ Actresses Created the Same Character, Decades Apart

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      In sharing a role on the Showtime series, Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher took cues from each other about never going for the obvious choice.Juliette Lewis: I first met Sophie in a big office building in Burbank before we shot the pilot [for the TV series “Yellowjackets”]. We were both like, “Oh, it’s you!” She plays a younger version of our character, Natalie, so she studied what I was doing, picking up my heaviness on set. The character is like a loaded weapon — there’s the possibility of danger at any time. Not every actor her age can make you feel that. I had that quality early on — one thing I was recognized for because of “Natural Born Killers” [the 1994 film in which Lewis played a violent fugitive] was that I could scare you. Similarly, Sophie carries herself as a rare bird because she can’t help it.culture banner More

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      Jimmy Kimmel Chides Fox News for Not Covering Its Lawsuit Settlement

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      Kimmel joked the lack of coverage had to be an oversight: “Man, oh, man, is Rupert Murdoch going to be mad when he finds out about this!”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Willful IgnoranceFox News and Dominion’s settlement continued to dominate the news cycle on Wednesday — everywhere except on Fox News.Jimmy Kimmel joked the omission was surely an “oversight,” saying he was curious “how Fox News was going to cover the story about themselves” and was unable to find anything about it on their home page.“Nothing about the huge payment for lying to their viewers.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Man, oh, man, is Rupert Murdoch going to be mad when he finds out about this!” — JIMMY KIMMEL“This massive settlement was the number one story on every single cable news network except one. Take a guess.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Dominion also has a defamation case against Rudy Giuliani, also for $1.3 billion. That’s a lot, man. They are suing Rudy for everything he’s got, which at this point, I believe, is a stolen CVS shopping cart full of empty merlot bottles and a jar full of spare teeth.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Look, I’m happy for Dominion, but Dominion was not the only injured party here. What about, you know, our faith in democracy? There are people who will not trust elections for the rest of their lives, and I have to talk to those people! I’m going to be arguing with them at Trump rallies every four years for the rest of my life. And you know what? I’m not naïve. I didn’t expect this lawsuit to restore this country’s faith in elections or even for me to get a little cashola, no. But I was at least hoping to get a couple of weeks of joy out of seeing Sean Hannity up there on the stand, sweating through his shirt like a beached manatee. Would that have saved democracy? I don’t know. But it would have been nice to see.” — JORDAN KLEPPER, guest host of “The Daily Show”The Punchiest Punchlines (Lie-ability Edition)“This is a huge hit to Fox’s bottom line, although it’s not clear if insurance will cover some of Fox’s liability. Of course, Fox has to have liability insurance to insure their ability to lie.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Although, I don’t know who would insure them. Maybe Frauders: [singing] ‘We are Frauders, insuring Fox was dumb, dumb, dumb!’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Two hours after the settlement was announced he can’t confirm how much Fox News paid? If only this Fox News anchor had some source at Fox News!” — STEPHEN COLBERT, referring to Fox News host Howie Kurtz saying he couldn’t confirm the settlement amountThe Bits Worth WatchingMichelle Obama surprised patrons of a Midtown bookstore with Jimmy Fallon’s help on Wednesday’s “Tonight Show.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightIndie rock trio boygenius will perform on Thursday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Also, Check This OutFrank Ocean performing at The Parklife Festival in 2017. Ocean has backed out of his second Coachella performance this weekend.Visionhaus#GP/Corbis via Getty ImagesFrank Ocean pulled out of Coachella this weekend, citing a leg injury that led to a disappointing headlining performance last Sunday. More