Welcome to the first issue of the Jacob's Letter newsletter!
A pop culture newsletter with dog photos and punny titles
Hi y’all! I’m Jake, and this is a weekly newsletter where I’ll be looking at pop culture news every Friday, for free, straight into your inbox.
(Yes, the title is a take on “Jacob’s Ladder.” Those of you who know me already know this is not the worst pun I’ve ever come up with.)
Each issue will give you my take on the big pop culture news of the week, as well as my thoughts the movies, books, comics and music I’ve experienced from week to week. I’ll also link to some other cool stories I saw online throughout the week.
Plus, each issue will also feature photos of my dogs!
This newsletter is free, and when and if I choose to start charging a subscription fee, I promise I’ll be transparent with that process and promise to make that price affordable.
With that, let’s get into the news of the week.
‘And be careful of what you do/'Cause the lie becomes the truth’
This week saw the release of “Leaving Neverland,” an HBO documentary focusing on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege Michael Jackson sexually and emotionally abused them while they were children in the late 80s and early 90s.
The two-part, four-hour documentary is harrowing and heartbreaking to watch (both men describe the alleged abuse in graphic detail). It ignited a social media firestorm over the weekend, with the trending Twitter hashtag #MJInnocent being levied by Jackson’s supporters. The Jackson estate and family is suing HBO for $100 million, claiming the company violated a non-disparagement agreement that was struck back in 1992, and even offered up some counter-programming over the weekend in the form of never-before-seen concert footage of Jackson.
On top of all that, Variety reports that the documentary might endanger the Jackson estate’s deal with Sony Music Entertainment, which just bought Jackson’s entire catalog in 2017 for $250 million.
Regardless of all of this, the main question that’s being fiercely debated (again, after a separate trial in 2005 and a separate lawsuit in 1993) is: Did Michael Jackson do it? As an older millennial whose first memories of Jackson are of that 2005 trial and not the “Thriller” music video, I’ve never had to wrestle with feeling like his legacy was tarnished because of his child molestation accusations. To me, and many in my generation, his legacy is those child molestation accusations.
This documentary makes a very strong case for Jackson’s guilt. It only strengthened my opinion that Jackson was guilty, and those who keep imploring the media to “let the man rest in peace” have been blinded by celebrity (which is a helluva drug, as this documentary proves)
“Finding Neverland” joins the likes of “Lorena,” “I, Tonya” and “OJ: Made in America” as a piece of filmmaking that interrogates our collective nostalgia about American celebrities. It’s long overdue, and while it’s rough to watch, I recommend it.
Wake me up before you HBO GO
HBO CEO Richard Plepler has resigned, AT&T now owns HBO and Time warner Inc. and the streaming game is about to be changed.
The communications giant is hoping the launch of Warner Media LLC’s new, as-yet-untitled streaming device later this year will drag HBO into the spotlight to fight it out with rivals Netflix and Hulu. Not much is known about what a new HBO/Warner streaming platform would look like, but this Bloomberg article details a lot of behind-the-scenes drama between the company’s boardroom and its technology department.
Since HBO was founded on original content and not by licensing other shows (the opposite of Amazon, Netflix and Hulu), I’ll be interested to see which shows get ported over to the new Time Warner platform and yanked off of Netflix or Hulu. Watch those favorite TBS shows while you can, I guess.
I’m just waiting for the day when some middle man (it’ll probably be Sling) comes around and offers a streaming bundle where you can get your Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/HBO/Mubi/Shudder all in one place…and then we’ll be right back where we started with cable subscriptions.
Smells Like Kree Spirit
This week’s movie review is for “Captain Marvel.” Brie Larson stars as U.S. Air Force pilot-turned-alien supersoldier Carol Danvers, who is trying to recover her memory of her time on Earth while also trying to stop an interspecies war.
This is simultaneously Marvel flexing its weird sensibilities (a lot of this reminded me of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, which makes sense, because Danvers’ adopted race, the Kree, factor big into that story) and patented in-house-style at the same time. It worked for me, mostly because I am a big fan of Larson, weird space stuff and 90s music. Also, a cat named for one of the best fictional U.S. pilots of all time? I’m there.
Larson plays the character with a sarcastic, devil-may-care attitude, and she’s clearly having a blast playing a superhero.
(This is also the part of the newsletter where I proclaim the Gospel of “Short Term 12,” Larson’s acting breakthrough. Go check it out and thank me later.)
“Captain Marvel” will inevitably be too feminist for some and not feminist enough for others. A stupid boycott by some incel dudebros who took Larson’s nearly year-old comments about wanting a more diverse pool of critics sparked some Twitter outrage and cause Rotten tomatoes to change its review writing rules (you have to actually have seen the movie before you write a review now, which seems like a logical first step that was overlooked). Doesn’t seem to have hurt the film, though. It took in $20.7 million alone on Thursday night. Looking forward to her return in “Avengers: Endgame” already. Higher, further, faster.
Three of my favorite reviews of this film so far: This one from my colleague Doug Boehner; this one from my former colleague Joe Gross; this one from Wired’s Angela Watercutter.
My rating: 3.5 NERF guns out of 5.
Other movie reviews:
I rented “Brigsby Bear” from my local library the other day and was charmed by how fun, kind and unique it was. A joyful film about how creating something with friends can help ease trauma.
“Fighting With My Family” is also a fun crowd-pleaser that’ll make you cry and cheer, at one point at the same time.
Friday News Dump
A list of stuff I read and really liked this week:
Remember when we had to wait until Disney released its films from the vault every few years to buy them? With the new Disney+ streaming service, not anymore…(via Vulture)
This explainer on a throwaway joke in “Aquaman” that has some sinister undertones in New Zealand (via Birth.Movies.Death)
On how Facebook has become a new space to process grief (via Vox)
This obit on Dan Jenkins, a legendary Texas sportswriter who died Thursday night at the age of 89. (via Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
That’s all, folks. If you liked what you saw here, click that subscribe button (promise I won’t send any annoying emails) and tell all your friends!
See you next week,
Jake