Happy Friday, Gentle Readers,
I hope this missive finds you well. I have only one political thought this week. Joe Biden is being soundly roasted over the fact that his uncle was not roasted (and consumed) by cannibals during World War II. I think the point everyone missed, including we here at PJ Media, is that Biden assumed that the people of New Guinea are cannibals. That is mis-menuing a people group. It is EXACTLY the kind of patriarchal, colonizing, white cis-gendered male attitude we do NOT need in the White House.
Who the Hell Asked for a “Breakfast Club” Virtue Signal Reboot?
I have seen exactly four John Hughes movies in my life, and three of those were under duress. My girlfriend dragged me to see “St. Elmo’s Fire” and “Some Kind of Wonderful” at the theaters. It was the kind of thing boyfriends do if they don’t want to get dumped. I also dutifully sat through “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” at her behest. And everyone in my demographic carried on about “The Breakfast Club.” IMHO, “The Breakfast Club” was okay, but to be honest, I don’t remember anyone in my high school having those kinds of conversations during the ’80s. Nobody talked like the kids in “The Breakfast Club.” The only good thing about it was the Simple Minds song “Don’t You Forget About Me.” I used to play that when I was the designated DJ at frat parties. That gave me the chance to watch a basement full of drunks thrust their hands in the air and yell, “Hey, hey, hey!” while trying not to spill their plastic cups of backwash.
I could achieve the same effect with Billy Idol’s version of “Mony Mony” and the Animal House rendition of “Shout.”
With that nostalgic moment in mind, I was amused to see that Molly Ringwald has decided we all need to know that if her John Hughes movies were to be made today, they would need a diversity makeover. According to Breitbart, Ringwald was at the Miami Film Festival this past Saturday to receive Variety’s Creative Vanguard Award. At some point, and for some reason, she told the audience:
Those movies, the movies that I am so well known for, they were very much of the time. And if you were to remake that now I think it would have to be much more diverse. And it would have to be, you know, you couldn’t make a movie that white. Those movies are really, really, very white. And they don’t really represent what it is to be a teenager in a school in America today, I don’t think.
Has anyone asked for a reboot of any John Hughes movies? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I didn’t think so. Those were ’80s movies, for the love of all things MTV. They were set in the ’80s, not in the 2020s, in cities, towns, and schools full of white kids. Those movies are fine just the way they are.
Let me say, and on this I cannot be clear enough: NO ONE WANTS ANY REBOOTS OF ANY KIND. FULL STOP.
This attitude that everything has to be dissected and reimagined is part of the reason that the creative wasteland known as Hollywood has further degenerated into a radioactive hellscape populated by movies with all the appeal of a broken spork.
Molly, you were lovely. Your movies give people of my generation (well, most of us) a warm feeling of nostalgia. Look back on your body of work and be happy. There is no need for retro-virtue-signaling just because you got an award. And if you and your colleagues decide to make more movies, film some crabgrass. Film a pigeon. Hell, film a broken spork. But for the love of God, don’t give us any more reboots.
Let us not speak of this again.
Make College Fun Again
A cursory glance at the news would have you believe that college campuses are filled with wild-eyed, violent, social justice sociopaths. But they aren’t. You only hear about the wild-eyed, violent, social justice sociopaths because that’s who makes the news. There are still some college students who want to learn and even do the stupid, fun, pointless, and joyful things that make college almost worth the tuition.
For example, there is the Mizzou Squirrel Observation Society. This group of vigilant young college students is dedicated to monitoring the potentially deadly squirrel situation at the University of Missouri. Their goal is to end “squirrel tyranny.” The student newspaper, The Maneater, reported that the founder, Henderick “Mort” Morton, drummed up new members by walking around campus wearing a giant sign that read, “Not a cult, I promise.” And it worked. The first meeting was at capacity as Morton showed slides of squirrels superimposed on pictures of dinosaurs and even the painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” New members were initiated by kneeling on the floor and taking an oath of loyalty with their hand on a copy of Oprah Winfrey’s memoir, “What I Know For Sure.” The College Fix noted that one of the society’s Instagram posts read:
Look around you … Faculty leave, deans retire, (and) students graduate, but one thing always stays: a permanent, undying brigade of squirrels always here and forever silently watching. Why are they here? Who leads them? What are their goals? These are all questions we aim to answer in the Squirrel Observation Society.
Not everyone at college walks around looking and acting like they want to break windows and then go to the bar and order a double-strychnine on the rocks. Some students still enjoy life. Godspeed, Mizzou Squirrel Observation Society, and good hunting.
Wine Recommendation
If the president is going to try to convince us that cannibals ate his uncle, someone should at least suggest a pairing.
Last week, a reader asked about Chablis. In all honesty, I cannot remember the last time I saw Chablis, either on a wine list or in the racks. If you are in a position to have wine shipped to your locale, it is still out there, and you can order it online. If you have a store that specializes in wine, you might be able to find it there. If, by some chance, there is none in stock, have a staff member order it for you. But, challenge: accepted. I shall try to triangulate the position of a bottle of Chablis and review it.
As Lent continues, I am still writing about wines I purchased and tried before the season started. I was going to call it my “private reserve,” but even I’m not that pretentious. May I present the 2021 Vino San Estaben Private Selection Malbec?
Most of the “hip” Malbecs these days come from Argentina and are made with high-altitude grapes. A fair number of them come from Chile. This wine, however, is a French Malbec from the foot of the Pyrenees mountain range.
This wine was nice and had just the right amount of smoke in the flavor. Some people have found it to be a little tame, but I thought that it was the perfect combination of smoothness and boldness. It skews just enough to the dry side and goes easy on the tannins. You can expect healthy dashes of cherry and blackberry, with some chocolate, a dash of vanilla, and a little tobacco and leather.
This will work well with a steak, a roast, or even beef stew. You might want to match it up with pasta and a strong marinara sauce.
The best part? You can probably pick up a bottle for between $9 and $12.
That’s it for me. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next time.