In today’s post:

QTNA Beauty & Pop Culture Questions

The Full Beat The Last Showgirl and The Unbearable Weight of Aging: Rapid fire thoughts on beauty culture in the film

1. Is braiding hair dangerous? Apparently 90% of the hair samples that were tested had carcinogenic properties, and were made more damaging when dipped in hot water. Two brands contested the findings, but are we really surprised if they are proven accurate with additional tests?

   Read part three of my series on the great relaxer debate.

2. Are ya’ll using dusting powder? I know you’re thinking “girl, what in the great-grandma?” But it’s quite the trend on the clock app, and I want in. It brings to mind vintage glamour, and the leisurely application of one’s cosmetics in front of a large vanity. I may be overselling it a bit, but the truth is I’ve been influenced. I’m going to place an order for a sample pack, and report back.

3. Did I soft launch a new beauty and wellness social club? Yes! I’ve been so tired of the beauty industry ignoring the South, that I’ve decided to do something about it and create beautyIRL. I’m hosting beautyIRL’s first event this year, and bridging Black women and our favorite brands here in Florida. Perhaps I’ll add a section to the newsletter to share a bit about my journey along the way. In the meantime, send positive vibes, and follow beautyIRL on IG.

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The Last Showgirl and The Unbearable Weight of Aging

The Last Showgirl, stars Pamela Anderson as Shelley, a Las Vegas showgirl who struggles to plan for her future when her show closes after a 30-year run.

We were able to catch the film in theaters recently, and I was so happy because it’s been on my radar since I saw the trailer last year. In a post from last September I shared that “It is exceptionally cool that Anderson, a longtime symbol of beauty, is working on a film that mirrors the issues an aging actress in Hollywood might face.”

In short, the film did not disappoint. What we saw onscreen was a fascinating meta portrait of what it must be like to be an aging woman whose career is founded on her beauty and youth. Some areas in the film should have been fleshed out a bit more, like Shelley’s inability to be both ambitious and maternal, and Brenda Song’s motivations for doing this work, beyond a paycheck. Overall, Anderson does an excellent job of showing us the emotional turmoil of a woman who hasn’t accepted that the rest of the world wants to move on without her.

🚨Spoilers Ahead 🚨

• Shelley sees herself as a performance artist, but the rest of the world does not. She sees a kindred spirit in Hannah when she mentions wanting to be a photographer, but Hannah does not. If Shelley were a more respectable artist, say a photographer, would Hannah be more interested in her? I can’t imagine it would undo those feelings of abandonment, but I wonder if it would hurt less if Shelley’s art were “better.”

• Shelley is oscillating between (1) were the last 30 years worth it, and (2) I have no regrets. That both are true for her at any given moment, is a great reflection of the complexity of humanity onscreen.

• In NPR’s Happy Hour discussion, they note that Shelley seems delusional about the reality of her circumstances and her art. If that is true, once she gets to the audition scene and faces much younger and more talented people, that bubble is popped honey. See her tearing up the dressing room in a fit of realization as proof.

• Shelley seems to have a particular aversion to being maternal, which is honestly quite refreshing. It reinforces her refusal to mother Hannah, and gives her character a bit more dimension than if she were wholly likeable and sympathetic. Her callous dismissal of Jodie, when she stands on her porch reminded me of the rainfall scene in Baby Boy. I know, I know. In both scenes, Jodie and Yvette are at their most vulnerable, practically begging the person on the other side of the door to let them in and tell them they matter. Instead of care, they both have the door shut on them, by people who are too emotionally stunted to give them what they need.

• I wish we had learned more about Brenda Song’s character Mary-Anne. While this story is refreshing, and somewhat universal, I don’t want to just see/hear about white women’s relationship to beauty culture. No shade, but I had 0 expectations of seeing a Black woman onscreen because at the end of the day, this is a Coppola production.

  “I was taught to consider a work of art in relation to the pieces that surround it, and myself. But what happens when there is no piece to consider?” - What About The South?

• Jamie Lee Curtis as Annette, does an amazing job of being Shelley’s parallel. One of the more moving moments in the film is Annette’s private dance scene where she seems to lose herself in the moment, and dances “like no one is watching.” But this seems a hollow feeling when the music ends, because she is someone who people enjoyed watching dance once. While Shelley takes this slow moving freefall towards the reality of her life, Annette careens toward it, smashing everything she can on her way down.