108 newyork| october12–25, 2020
THE APPROVAL MATRIX Our deliberately oversimplified guide to who falls where on our taste hierarchies.
brillianthighbrowlowbrowdespicablePHOTOGRAPHS: T
ME (SESSIONS); LARRY COOK, THE VISITING ROOM #4, 2019, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST (MOMA PS1); REALDONALDTRUMP/TWITTER (TRUMP); LAURA HAN
FN (JEM
SN); CL
CK2HOUSTON (ABBOTT); COURTESY OF REENA SPAUL
NGS (K8 HARDY); MUS
KANIMAL/WIKIMEDIA (NEW MUSEUM); ABC NEWS
(WH
TMER
); CHR
STOPHER MCELROEN (STAT
C APNEA); CARL LENDER/WIKIMEDIA (
VAN HALEN); CAMILLE VIVIER FOR HERMÈS (HERMÈS); CBS (LUPONE); AMAZON PRIME (R
HANNA);
LANADELREY/
NST
AGRAM (DEL REY); STEPHAN
E BRANCHU/NETFL
X (EM
LY
N P
AR
S); NIGHTSCREAM/WIKIMEDIA (REGAL); JILL LOTENBERG/
W
KMED
A (GU
LFO
YLE); EZMOS
S/W
KMED
A (
GRAFFITI); DVSROSS/WIKIMEDIA (JEFFREE STAR); SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE/YOUTUBE (SNL)
“We need to take
away children.”
The White House as
disease vector. This is
starting to feel biblical ...
... Or maybe Roman,
as our president
goes full Nero.Theater fund makes it
even harder for actors to
qualify for health
insurance. Which is fine,
because who really
needs that right now?Texas governor leans
hard into voter
suppression,
abruptly limits ballot-
drop-off locations.The surpringly buzzy
veep debate.Federalduck-stamp contest
nowmandatesartists
includehuntingimagery.RIP,shredder.MoMA PS1’s first
post-hiatus show
grapples with mass
incarceration.Bernadette Peters
on an anything-
but-ordinary “Sunday”
in Times Square.160 years after
marching for abolition,
the Wide Awakes take to
the streets again.N. K. Jemisin is
officially a “genius.”K8 Hardy’s latest is
an oversize multicolor
menstrual pad.Hold your breath for
nine minutes and two
seconds through
Christopher McElroen’s
“Static Apnea.”In Paris, Hermès
forges ahead in leather
and poplin.That’s Nobel laureate
Louise Glück to you.Charles Yu’s delicious
Interior Chinatown nabs
spot on National Book
Awards shortlist.Rihanna,
takemymoney.Mary J. Bligeonthe
cover of Garage.
That’s it. That’s the
tweet.Facebookbans
QAnon(though
remainscesspool).Ina Garten’s latest
comforting
cookbook.Store-
boughtis fine.Girlscannowofficially
become EagleScoutsbecause
true gender equality means
a zillion hours of community
service and boring awards
ceremonies for all.The Biebersget
freaky in latex.Thehyperspecific bliss that
is a dudeona skateboard
drinkingcranberry juice
andvibingtoFleetwood
Mac’s “Dreams.”Biscuit Week!Graffiti-wrecking
developer’s $6.75 million
fine. Perhaps its lawyers
should have tried
making better pointz. SNLdumps musical^
guest for quarantine
partying.Scaffoldingcollapse
atManhattan’ssecond-
most-glorifiedmall.Good-bye, 2020
blockbusters.
Good-bye,
movietheaters?
Emilyin Parisis even
moregratingthan
thatfriendwhostudied
abroadinFrance
eightyearsago.LanaDelRey
wearinga mesh
masktoremind
fanstheyreallyare
borntodie.Journalist attacks
and mask fires in
Borough Park.Hush money didn’t
work out so well for
Kimberly Guilfoyle ...
... Though “Hush
Money”would make
a pretty good name for
aneye-shadow
palette,Jeffree Star.As if se
wer
som -
punched Rick Moranis.The snake
rots from the
head at the
New Museum.Have fun finding
an outdoor heat lamp
in this economy.Mysteriouseels
dumpedinPr ospect
Parkpondturnoutto
beaninvasivespecies.Patti LuPone pans
Trump’s Evita revival.
Time for another
suitcase in another hall,
my guy.The plot to kidnap
Gretchen Whitmer.