Pop Culture Fix: Ruth Negga and Natalie Portman Almost Make Out On The Cover Of “W” For Some Reason

Hollywood and the websites and blogs and magazines that keep their little antenna whirring around Hollywood have mostly been on vacation for the last two weeks but I’m still here to bring you your weekly Pop Culture Fix because a couple of ladies stood very close to each other with their faces almost touching on the cover of a major magazine just two days ago and if I don’t bring that news to you WHO WILL.

Teevee

+ The trailer for HBO’s Bright Lights is here if you weren’t already at peak sadness about Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

+ Reagan’s back on New Girl in an episode titled “Raisin’s Back.”

Movies

+ What’s going on here? I literally do not know. I think Ruth Negga and Natalie Portman are about to make out, though. #ContextClues

+ Did inadequate women’s healthcare destroy the Star Wars Old Republic?

+ 2016 So White: The Year in Onscreen Diversity and the Same Old Bullshit

What’s disheartening is that the celebration of these projects has to be met with caution, partly because this was a year in which America chose to elect a man who stands in direct opposition to progress. In Hollywood, too, it’s clear that white mediocrity still dominates conversations and capital—see: Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, Nocturnal Animals, etc—and that inclusion across the board remains rare. In our discussion of film and TV in 2016, among other topics, we talked about the fraudulence of The Birth of a Nation, the evolution of the Oscars So White debate, tokenism, minority and LGBT representation, and the challenges of diversity in film vs. television.

+ Did you know that Ben Affleck’s first production was a short film he directed called I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three Picture Deal at Disney? HILARIOUS. I have an idea for a movie called I Grabbed Women By The Pussy, Became Russia’s Obvious Puppet, and Now I’m The President!

Queer Humans, Out and About

+ Ruby Tandoh Just Wants You to Eat What You Love

+ The Cut and Jezebel have taken a page (or, well, several chapters actually) out of Stef’s book and begun to try to decode Kristen Stewart’s whole gay deal.

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

26 Comments

  1. good luck to any major media outlet that attempts to even come close to the journalistic genius that is ‘Vapid Fluff’

  2. I’m currently in love with Ruby Tandoh’s new book! I’ve only made one recipe so far, but I just love the way she writes about food…

    (I live in the UK, so I got it for Christmas, but ya’ll should go buy it!)

  3. *Sigh* I still have a thing for Queen Amid…Natalie Portman.
    If someone could write Carol Part II:Caroling, and make that into an HBO miniseries, you know, I could, maybe, forgive the Americans for Trump.
    Almost.

    • Make that into an HBO miniseries starring these two, I meant. Also, I need to go to sleep, like, yesterday.Have a good night, everyone.

  5. Ahhh! I just got so excited that Flavour was out in the U.S. Alas, we have to wait to February. But Ruby Tandoh is the best and I appreciated that article!

    • THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!! there is a VERY COMPLETE version scribbled on a piece of notebook paper currently happening in my room.

      • Someone more design-literate may know an easier way to digitise than manually adjusting the layout of powerpoint or visio boxes every time there’s a change.

  7. First film I saw starring Ben Affleck was Chasing Amy. I remember going all excited to the theater because I knew the title character was lesbian and back then (late 90s) that was like finding a needle in that big haystack of white male entertainment. But then… Ben Affleck came in and managed to get the lesbian character in love with him (blame on Kevin Smith also, director and screenwriter). Anyway, since then whenever I see Ben Affleck those disappointing feelings rush back. So the news of him starting his producer career with a short film named I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three Picture Deal at Disney makes perfect sense to me.

  8. Tyler Perry’s Madea presents…”I Grabbed Women By The Pussy, Became Russia’s Obvious Puppet, and Now I’m The President!”… based on the novel Push by Saffire.
    If you really want to get it seen that is.

  9. Oh my god someone needs to make that Ruth Negga/Natalie Portman movie NOW. I don’t even know what that movie would be, but they would be in love and it would be too beautiful for me to handle and I had no idea this was a thing I wanted until now but damn.

  10. – I don’t think I will be emotionally ready to watch Bright Lights for at least 15 years.

    – Ruby Tandoh’s book is fantastic. Her philosophy with food has really helped me overcome an eating disorder and allow myself to enjoy food again. 11/10 would recommend.

    – Thanks for the Star Wars healthcare link as well, I live for this kind of discourse. One of my favourite recent articles was discussing all the different memory formats in the Star Wars universe (contains Rogue One spoilers): http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-disk-formats-of-star-wars-rogue-one-spoilers

  14. “It’s about how we sometimes forgive the lunatic behavior of artists and call it ‘eccentricity,'” Affleck recalled, an indication he was taking his work just as seriously then as he has been doing through his second, post-Gigli act, which has netted him numerous accolades, including an Oscar.”

    How can a reporter listen to him say this and not ask him about his brother committing sexual assault with impunity because he’s an eccentric artist?

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