#33: Should art always be good? 🎨
This week, I'm reviewing a Broadway show and exploring why it's okay for art to be bad. Also, my 2023 spring playlist, some new WFH essentials, and canopy beds!!
Last week, I finished off my spring break trip to New York by attending a performance of Bad Cinderella. And the name is pretty fitting; the musical itself wasn’t great. I couldn’t turn off that creative writing side of my brain that had be analyzing the enormous plot holes and poor character development.
HOWEVER: I really enjoyed the show. The cast was phenomenal and so immensely talented. There were great comedic moments and characters that I didn’t fully understand, but still found myself rooting for. And the costumes!!!!! So cool. Eli Rallo’s review of Bad Cinderella summed it up nicely: The show was poorly written, but was an overall enjoyable experience because it was so beautiful to look at.
I’ve been thinking about this idea of enjoying “bad” art with the recent books I’ve read. The past two months, I’ve devoured trope-filled Kindle Unlimited monstrosities. They are Not Good Books, but the simplicity and escapism makes me reach for them. My brain gets to numb out when I read an enemies-to-lovers single-dad romance set in a picturesque Rocky Mountain town.
When we’re consuming art, we can separate judgment from enjoyment. Good and fun are, rightfully so, two different things.
“Required” reading:
Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette was definitely the best, and this article made me love her even more (Bustle)
What TikTok’s GRWM videos say about oversharing (Dazed)
What’s the long-term impact of child influencers? (Teen Vogue)
Dreaming of this adventure in the Chilean desert (CN Traveler)
How gorgeous are these canopy beds! (House & Garden)
This week’s aesthetic: the city in spring
Tote bag:
Products I’m eyeing and buying this week
👔 Some cute and stylish WFH essentials
🎨 These special edition classics feature the most darling artwork
🪴 My favorite eco-friendly laundry pods
Background music:
Currently reading:
The Bandit Queens* by Parini Shroff: Geeta didn’t kill her husband, but everyone thinks she did. Now, other women are coming to her in search of creative ways to get rid of their spouses.
One Last Stop* by Casey McQuiston: College student August falls in love with a girl stuck in time from the 1970s and can’t leave the Q train.
The archive:
HH newsletter from 2022, Not-so-guilty pleasures
HH podcast from 2022, My interview with Sasha Sloan, CEO of Archive Sunday