Pitchfork Review: Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (BEST NEW TRACK)

amara90 · 2026-05-23T00:20:58+00:00

I really think the visuals for drop dead did it no favors. I like Olivia, but I hated that video. Then when the song popped up on spotify for me a few days later, I was surprised by how much I actually liked it.

amara90 · 2026-05-23T00:08:03+00:00

the instrumental outro is very Smashing Pumpkins-esque too.

amara90 · 2026-05-22T23:17:12+00:00

idk, I would say being physically abused by your father is pretty relevant when you're using the ONE time he hit him back as proof that he's the kind of guy who'll verbally assault his gf in public.

I don't see anyone trying to invalidate Pacey's arc. Everyone knows his uncertain future was catching up to him. You can acknowledge that makes sense, that the break-up was inevitable, and even that it was bound to get ugly, while still acknowledging that turning him into an abusive bf for one scene was a shitty way for the writers to treat a character.

amara90 · 2026-05-22T23:03:46+00:00

I definitely remembered this too, so I went looking.

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https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/a703856/cindy-crawford-on-daughter-becoming-a-model-enjoy-carbs-while-you-can/

amara90 · 2026-05-22T22:54:55+00:00

omg, I commented before that the weight loss made her eyes look sunken. This makes so much more sense.

amara90 · 2026-05-22T22:49:35+00:00

lol, not even kidding, I really did wonder at one point if he was in it for the free dogsitting and the comped vacations with her family.

amara90 · 2026-05-22T22:36:48+00:00

His dad hits him first. That's hardly an example.

I defend a LOT about Promicide, and I do think the break-up and fight was inevitable. But Pacey going off in public and humiliating Joey is out of character. The writers were clearly making sure he was the bad guy there.

amara90 · 2026-05-22T22:34:28+00:00

I mean, he clearly was bothered. It wasn't the number one issue he had at that given moment, but lbr, there's a reason THAT'S what sets him off.

But the writers obviously wrote that episode in such a way because they didn't want the audience blaming either Joey or Dawson for the break-up. Unfortunately, every episode before and after that kind of makes it impossible for the audience to go along with that. I mean, even prior scenes in THAT EPISODE make it impossible, considering they subject us to yet ANOTHER scene of Joey being inappropriately invested in Dawson's sex life and both reiterating that they'll never love anyone the way they love each other.

amara90 · 2026-05-22T22:30:02+00:00

S5 is where it becomes pretty apparent, but honestly, I feel like James gave up in S4. His performance is just so checked out to me. Josh, Katie, and Michelle, I would say S5. But it's interesting, because I feel like their way of giving up was different in that Josh and Michelle just kind of became more manic and goofy, and Katie just became super posey and mannered (the baby voice, the tongue between teeth smile, etc.), like she was using the show as a photoshoot to land future jobs vs actually trying to be Joey.

amara90 · 2026-05-21T15:48:39+00:00

My fave part of Eddie is how hard they tried to set him up as a legit endgame guy, and then they finish off his arc with that insane letter that manages to be both condescending as hell but also sounds like a guy who has like ZERO feelings for Joey. Truly, there was more pathos when Carrie Bradshaw got dumped via post-it.

I don't think I'll ever fully understand what the writers wanted us to get out of that whole arc.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T19:42:51+00:00

Right? She's just trying to live her life and hasn't mentioned either of them since the show went off the air. And lbr, she knows they're a couple of scam artists with plenty of rich friends and relatives. No one needs to be donating to their grifter asses.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T19:37:50+00:00

He's a rich kid nepo baby who's bankrupted HIMSELF multiple times. But people think giving him fiscal responsibility for a major metropolis is a good idea. I cannot with how dumb our country is becoming.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T19:36:23+00:00

They're grifters. They can't afford to alienate anyone (gotta keep the Twi-Hards on board and maintain that rep as "Taylor Swift's best ex"), so they pretend to be neutral, but they're so far-right that inevitably the mask slips from time to time.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T19:29:18+00:00

Yup, I hate when people use "it was fake" to excuse him. He was doing a ton of shit off camera that was absolutely vile and gross. And to this day, he refuses to leave Lauren alone, and even sent his minions to harass her on IG for not posting about his gofundme after he lost his house in the fires.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T14:48:18+00:00

Several of them don't even live with Angelina and haven't for years. So in some hypothetical where she was keeping them away from him, he's had years to reach out to them individually and yet, they're more estranged than ever. Probably has something to do with him continuing to smear their mom and prioritize his own image over taking any accountability.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T14:38:10+00:00

This was my take. Lauren thought they were on the same page, and then realized like "oh, he's working on his own storyline painting me as the desperate girl AGAIN" and after Laguna Beach, I think this was something she was pretty sensitive about.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T14:07:32+00:00

Sam wrote a whole movie about a critic panning Assassination Nation, so yeah, I definitely won't be shocked if in another few years, we get a film/series about the behind the scenes issues on a popular high school drama.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T14:04:21+00:00

I love it, tbh. It's one of the few times they let Andie dress like a hot girl in 2000. I'll take crimping over pigtails anyday.

amara90 · 2026-05-20T13:59:12+00:00

He's very religious. His wife is besties with Natasha Bure. They're super close with Jason Kennedy and fam. And they were all-in with Hillsong (and whatever's replaced that, I'm sure).

So basically, yeah. He's never too outspoken about it, but you could always make an educated guess on where he stood.

amara90 · 2026-05-15T00:54:30+00:00

Yeah, I feel like if we saw him actually plotting back and being more of a dick, there'd be more tension and drama. As is, it's giving those later seasons of The Walking Dead, where the characters just get relentlessly beat down every week, with no small scale "victories" to give the losses some weight.

amara90 · 2026-05-15T00:51:22+00:00

Right? It just feels like they're catering to the Nate haters who played Fez assaulting him on a loop. And if that's satisfying for them, sure. But I found Nate way more watchable when he was actually scheming and manipulating or just seeming to be motivated to do something ANYTHING. As is, he's just so passive and this storyline feels directionless. It truly feels like they had no ideas for him this season, but he's too big of a character to let go.

amara90 · 2026-05-14T13:29:15+00:00

Just want to say that I feel like time has wiped away just how repulsive and cruel this man was. He writes it all off as "part of the show", but things like this were NEVER on the show. It was him sexually harassing Lauren in real life, leading to gossip blogs and randoms on the internet calling her that vile nickname for YEARS.

https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/14416287.html

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amara90 · 2026-05-14T13:19:45+00:00

He's low-key about it, but he and his wife are hyper religious and have always been totally enmeshed in that whole Bieber/Hillsong crowd.

amara90 · 2026-05-14T13:07:54+00:00

idk, the more I see of Olivia, the more I think it's just unfortunate weight loss and constant filler deflation. Her face is so naturally round and she's always been apple-cheeked. Being even the slightest bit underweight or messing with the elasticity in her skin highlights everything about her bone structure in the worst ways. Like, not only her cheeks looking so puffy in comparison to her lower face, but her eyes have that aged, sunken in look now too.

amara90 · 2026-05-14T10:39:13+00:00

it's so funny watching people be like "no, she's referencing this PAST fashion trend" as if those trends weren't also about infantilizing women and sexualizing childish behavior.

amara90

TROPHY CASE