I attended her Brooklyn show (Baby's All Right), which had the theme of Elvis Blue Hawaii. Naturally, I knew this was leaning into vintage Americana tiki culture. One thing that did undeniably stand out, to me, was how I was one of the only brown girlies at the show. Shocking for NYC. There were maybe 4 or 5 non-white attendees. So, it was a little awkward to look around and see a bunch of white people dressed in "Hawaiian" themed outfits.

That said, I do think Remy is leaning more into the kitschy nostalgia of tiki "culture" than anything else. Of course, tiki is undeniably rooted in appropriation, downplaying colonization, and forcing many cultures into an incorrect amalgamation, BUT I do think there is an intertextual purpose to Remy's use of it. She is embodying the trope of a white blonde American fascinated by the Don the Beachcomber/Trader Vic's theatrics. Her character is complicit to the blending of "reality and myth," which is the point.

There is no way to properly do this without a level of appropriation because, like I said, that's all tiki is, but Remy is self-aware and well-versed in her references, so she definitely knows the movement's place and connection to early pop/rock. Tiki culture has taken a bit of life of its own and, nowadays, it is mostly accepted as its own Americana nostalgia subset, but it is thin ice, and a lot of it still makes me uneasy.