Pookie’s Looking Absolutely Fire Today

Crossroads streaming, Girl Scout Cookies™ drama, Gen Z aging, Tia & Tamera 🍪

Jan 25, 2024

First of all, 🚨 Britney Spears’s Crossroads will be available on streaming for the first time! It’s hitting Netflix on 2/15, which happens to be the 22nd anniversary of the movie’s release!!!!!! Don’t worry about me, I already have it on DVD and got to talk about the emotional experience of my mom taking me to see it in theaters. Btw I have also convinced her to come with me to see Mean Girls, pitching it accurately as a movie musical. ICYMI, I went into depth about Mean Girls (2004) as meta-satire and Mean Girls (2024) as meta-IP in last week’s newsletter. Will report back.

In this issue:
🐰 Explaining the psychological appeal behind TikTok’s latest power couple
🛍 Girl Scout Cookies™ deodorant, cookie timeline, diet culture drama
📲 Tia & Tamera, Paris Fashion Week, Kyle MacLachlan as babygirl, Gen Z aging, Pete & Pete Easter egg in new movie
💿 The Kpop music video that made me sob this week

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🐰 Down The Rabbit Hole

Campbell and Jett Puckett are TikTok’s latest power couple. People who love them tell others who think “something’s off” that they’re “just jealous!” How controversial! But from a psychological standpoint, this couple is a perfect example of how people – primarily young women – see their desires and self-discrepancies, especially in relation to men. They obsess over what they want, don’t have, or are striving to be so they can reinforce a narrative they have about themselves. It’s all about money, love, and power, baby!!! The Pucketts act as a mirror, and some are triggered because they don’t like what they see looking back. Here’s the deal.

The meet cute:
Campbell, 31, Pisces, was a flight attendant. (I love that she married someone named Jett lol ✈️) She met Jett, 33, Virgo, a then-grad student, now mergers & acquisitions lawyer, at a wine bar in Philly. Two days later, they were inseparable. 10 months later, they were engaged. Pookie is Campbell’s pet name. I find it amusing that sometimes comments refer to Jett as Mr. Pookie. Jett often compliments Campbell’s outfits and appearance, and these catch phrases, i.e. “Pookie looks absolutely amazing” and “Pookie’s looking absolutely fire today”, have inspired the nascent trend of hyping up your friend’s outfit or asking your bf via text if he too will start calling you Pookie. Brands like Dunkin and Sweetgreen have already gotten in on it (h/t

Casey Lewis

and Danielle Vermeer, whose other tweets I will mention below!!!!) Campbell has been an influencer for a while, but they have gained exposure recently with this date night video.

@campbellhuntpuckett When I don’t know what to wear, I always go with all black🖤 #datenight #couple #outfits #hermes

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Why they are so appealing: MONEY
Oh they’re ~rich~ rich. We – even those with limited to no class mobility – are trained to aspire to wealth, resent people who have wealth before we do, and resent ourselves when we don’t have the money or possessions we want. Boomers had to keep up with the Joneses, now we have to keep up with them AND the Kardashians. Campbell evokes envy (positive) and jealousy (negative) for her material possessions. Her designer OOTDs and acquisitions of Hermès handbags are well-documented. Her wedding ring is gorgeous and I don’t know how she holds her hand up without being in physical pain. Someone said it’s over 11 carats. Not sure if she still works a traditional office job, but even in this economy, it appears as though she doesn’t have to. Envy for this affluent lifestyle fuels some people in an aspirational way and angers others. Regardless, everyone on TikTok is driven by an overstimulating infinite scroll and an endless, mindless consumption cycle.

TikTok is a Chinese-owned app and mimics Chinese online shopping models to inspire similar consumer behavior and consumption patterns. China’s e-commerce sales far outpace every other country by both dollar amount and share of total retail sales. China is also a key segment of the Asian luxury goods market. Conspicuous consumption is HUGE on TikTok and is the basis of dupe/haul/unboxing/GRWM culture and the rampant proliferation of fast fashion. Campbell does LTK, has an Amazon store front, and is able to make affiliate sales from people wanting to dress like her. (I’m not exempt here; I want the dupes of these crystal-embellished $695 AREA jeans when they’re back in stock.)

Ecommerce Market Size by Country [Apr 2023 Update] | Oberlo

Why they are so appealing: LOVE
Campbell and Jett are in l-o-v-e. Who doesn’t want to be in love????? (Again, myself included.) This is the people’s rom-com!!!! They turn to TikTok to find out what’s “normal”, looking for an example of love that resonates with them, especially if it’s something they don’t already have. Plus, Gen Z, who are in their prime time for meet cutes, want to aestheticize, categorize and put easy labels on everything (stay at home gf, pilates gf, black cat gf, golden retriever bf, etc.) as a shortcut to “manifesting” their desires. Is Jett’s Southern accent is giving young women now what Matthew McConaughey gave us in ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’? Many commenters point out his alleged resemblance to 90s heartthrob Matt Damon.

The curiosity, dare I say unease, with the Pucketts is that people think it’s super weird they’re filming all their interactions like this. Is it weird, like their love is somehow disingenuous or contrived? I could argue either way. Is the act of broadcasting your entire life on the internet for millions of strangers, turning yourself into a Truman Show-like spectacle, weird in and of itself? Absolutely. Has influencer culture reached a point of fatigue, where people see and seek cracks in a “perfect” relationship or overly curated online presence? Yes. Are people going to find a way to get pressed about everything on the internet either way? Also yes.

Gen Z is infamously, allegedly much less sexually active compared to older generations. Maybe it’s because they can’t/don’t socialize because they are on their phones/TikTok all day. Maybe they have higher standards. Either way, they are revolting against the independent Millennial girlboss “those rom-coms were unrealistic” attitude in favor of a ~romanticized~ dating experience, even if they’re #delulu and still settle for situationships. The Pucketts are a great example of love because they are a romantic, sweet, cute, but not sexy, couple. They are stripped of the raw sexuality of Instagram model couples. Gen Z has talked a lot online about how there don’t need to be sex scenes in movies anymore, which left older generations shocked and appalled. It’s also worth noting that with Big Tech social media platforms, the word “sex” is censored and will get your account shadow banned or negatively impacted by the algorithm. This is why TikTok speak exists, i.e. “s*x”, “seggs”, and “secks”. The Pucketts are a wholesome, heartwarming, happy couple in a time of sexual sensitivity.

Why they are so appealing: POWER
This couple is heteronormative AF, with a traditional power structure and gender roles. Campbell is white, very thin, and conventionally attractive. She puts in a LOT of aesthetic labor and is a prototypical influencer – hair done, nails done, dresses to the nines, Influencer Face (heavily smooth and tanned skin, no wrinkles, puffy cloud lips, etc.). Jett, on the other hand, is as conservative-coded as it gets. He works in a traditional white-collar industry, wears super preppy tucked in polo shirts with a belt and khakis, plays golf, goes fishing, and loves football. This is not to diss, pass judgment, or make assumptions about the Pucketts’ social values, religious beliefs, or political views, but rather to exemplify that when they play “by the rules”, they are rewarded by society.

These privileges give them power that provides the status others covet. This is what “goals” and having “made it” look like. For men, this means being highly educated, making a shit ton of money, and having a hot wife. For women, this means being objectively beautiful, stylish, and physically fit. It’s not wrong to be any of these things or to want money, love, beauty, power, or strive for traditional success! These systems are just explicitly based on systemic inequalities and not set up to benefit everyone. The Pucketts show their adoring fans what is possible in [their] life with ease and simplicity. In doing so, they infuriate those caught up in the rat race who either cannot achieve the universally-recognized version of success or those who resent their own participation in pursuit of that success.

Pookie and Mr. Pookie’s relevance comes at an interesting time. It’s an election year, the first in which the majority of Gen Z is old enough to vote. The presidential approval rating is low, and young people feel more patronized than seen or heard. They turn to TikTok looking for answers on how not just to survive, but to thrive, as they navigate young adulthood. Older generations had organized religion as a spiritual guidepost and source of community for knowledge sharing. Is Gen Z turning to religion, even if in a post-ironic way, or perusing tradtok for answers? (We don’t have time to get into Ballerina Farm today lol.) Maybe. But in THIS economy? Young hopeful romantics need hope, even if they are hopeless. Even if they are jaded. Even if they have never known what true love feels like. Whether or not you like the Pucketts solely depends on your institutional faith and belief that the American Dream not only still exists, but is attainable for you.

🛍 Hit ‘Em Up Style

This week in nostalgia and commerce:
Natural deodorant brand Native has released peanut butter, lemon, coconut caramel, and Trefoils® scented products licensed by Girl Scouts of the USA. (Why aren’t Trefoils® just called vanilla? Trefoil isn’t a scent? The world may never know.) Anyway, for $13 – which you can now get 2 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies™ with; in my day it was 4 boxes!!! – you can smell like Do-si-dos®, Lemon-Ups®, Samoas®, or Trefoils®. I personally find this collab a little bizarre, but at least the have spared my two flavors, Tagalongs® and [frozen] Thin Mints®. That being said, if a skincare brand came out with a Thin Mints®-scented under eye cooling stick or a Tagalongs® lip balm, I would be the first in line for it.

Speaking of Girl Scout Cookies™, internet people are saying that this anti-diet culture Instagrammer was being too dramatic about not making comments about dieting/weight/appearance when approached by girls just trying to sell cookies. The comments by people who don’t understand the absolutely violent stranglehold that diet culture continues to have on our society are ignorant at best. Profit maximization 🤝 body surveillance. The Girl Scouts Trying To Sell Cookies Really Don’t Need To Hear Your Diet Talk dives into this more. For better or for worse, as this 1976 PSA declares, The Cookies Are Here!!!!!

📲 I’m Just a Simple Girl in a High-Tech Digital World

My fav things from the internet rn:
Obsessed with this video of Tamera Mowry ranking songs that mention Tia and Tamera. IMHO she ranked them correctly too.

I can barely put into words how completely and utterly obsessed I am with the retro tech dress from the SS24 Schiaparelli SCHIAPARALIEN (get it 👽) show from Paris Fashion Week. (Italian phonetics lesson: skee-ahp-a-reh-lee.) I was particularly fascinated by another look, featuring a baby ‘made up entirely of defunct motherboards and other bits of electronic waste from a bygone era’. Creative Director Daniel Roseberry was inspired by the dichotomy of AI and creativity. I was also wowed by model turned designer Mamuor Majeng’s debut ready-to-wear collection for ½ Mamuor. The collection also features babies, here as a reference to his experience as a child soldier in South Sudan. His story is absolutely incredible.

Kyle MacLachlan is the internet’s latest babygirl. His Instagram is really a treasure trove of content, including his recreation of this Lorde photo, promoting his new podcast “about drugs, money, and googly eyes”. (I don’t know what that means but I’m here for it?) It’s called Varnamtown, referring to a coastal North Carolina town that became one of Pablo Escobar’s largest cocaine ports in America. One of my Manhattan CSW (coulda shoulda wouldas…btw SATC is also coming to Netflix next year) is not going to his meet and greet at a wine store in the West Village.

Videos like this saying, “This is what a real 31 year old looks like” are always weird to me. Everyone looks differently. Everyone ages differently. No one’s face looks like ‘a 23 year old’ or ‘a 26 year old’. But then again, to me, a 21 year old looks like someone wearing a going out top with a blazer, an American Apparel bandage skirt, and open toe stiletto booties, regardless of the weather, drinking a handle of pink lemonade Burnett’s. The question du jour is, is Gen Z aging like milk???? This article makes good points, but what REALLY is happening here is that, like the rest of us, they’re getting older too. Gen Zers born in 1997 are turning 27 this year. (What!!!!) People born between 1993-1996 – the last of the Millennials – are going through their Saturn return in Pisces right now. Once 2026 rolls around, GZ’s anxiety about turning 30 will be at an all-time high. They will fully experience THE CHASM™ and mourn the loss over their status as fixture generation of youth culture.

The new A24 film ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ premiered at Sundance last week, and I was so excited to see director Jane Schoenbrun talk about The Adventures of Pete & Pete Easter eggs. This cast is stacked with 90s legends, including Danny Tamberelli and Michael Maronna (Little and Big Pete respectively), Fred Durst, and Amber Benson (Justice for Tara!!!). Schoenbrun says that ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ is not just a horror film; it is a profound exploration of identity, fandom, and the power of media. I am a little scared, but I still wanna see it when it comes out.

💿 And We Danced All Night to the Best Song Ever

IU's Love wins all is the song of the week. The acting! The alleged BTS universe ties! The KEY CHANGE! 10/10. The mv, costarring Kim Taehyung (aka. V), is bringing me back to my BTS ethnographer days. (I miss them so much. The band is still on hiatus while they are fulfilling their South Korean military duties.) I was also super intrigued by the usage of retro tech to drive the narrative; you’ll see a vintage camcorder, film, photo booth, cassette tapes, and vinyl. It's officially a Physical Media Renaissance™!