Superstore, Abstract: "Ruth Carter, Costume Design," and Montero
A good sitcom and some great looks, plus Lil Nas X's new song
Hello!
On this week’s episode of Criticism Is Dead, we discuss Superstore, a rare kind of workplace drama, and Abstract’s episode on a legendary costume designer.
Click here to listen to the full episode on the web
Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts, or other podcast apps.
04:02 Superstore, streaming on Hulu and Peacock, combines the fantasy of the warm work family with the reality of the minimum wage-earning working class under modern capitalism.
Farewell to Superstore, an underrated NBC sitcom that I hope more people watch! For a series that was never supposed to be an “issues” show, per showrunner Justin Spitzer, it is one of the rare works of TV to portray the very real issues that people across this country face every day — from healthcare to unionization to racism to immigration — by nature of its focus on this set of characters and their work lives. Superstore even got into COVID, a move that I was wary of, but that ultimately turned out to be so thematically fitting, in light of the simultaneous praise for and abandonment of our “essential workers” in retail, etc. this past year.
But while this series deftly incorporated darker, cynical looks at the issues that plague works, it also excelled at being a sitcom: full of humor, pathos, satisfying character development, and warm relationships (without getting too saccharine, barring some gratuitous moments in the series finale).
Ultimately, what makes Superstore work so well is its balance between fantasy and reality, as Daniel Fienberg writes for the Hollywood Reporter:
[Superstore] captured something tremendously accurate about the way professional families can blur antagonism and affection in a way that, yes, resembles a family
19:30 Abstract, a design docuseries on Netflix, dives deep into the world of Ruth E. Carter, Oscar-winning costume designer for films like Black Panther and Do the Right Thing.
Carter’s decades-spanning career finally gets some shine, following her historic Academy Award win for her work on Black Panther a couple years ago. Just look at this:
Mostly, though, we take this as an opportunity to highlight some of our favorite costume design in film and TV. Costume design is so essential to a work of cinema, revealing so much about the characters and the world the inhabit, but it’s pretty easy to overlook, as are other behind-the-scenes efforts that really make a movie or show.
Here’s one of my favorites, Emi Wada’s work for House of Flying Daggers:
Some of Pelin’s favorites include Romeo + Juliet and the Matrix trilogy (Kym Barrett):
Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges):
Wes Anderson films AND Marie Antoinette (Milena Canonero):
Her (Casey Storm), Grease (Albert Wolsky), Kill Bill (Kumiko Ogawa), Clueless (Mona May), Fifth Element (Jean Paul Gaultier), Devil Wears Prada (Patricia Field), Pretty Woman (Marilyn Vance), A Single Man (Arianne Philips), Basic Instinct (Ellen Mirojnick).
TV: Breaking Bad (using color), Mad Men (Katherine Jane Bryant):
The Americans (Jenny Gering and Katie Irish), Queen’s Gambit (Gabriele Binder), Sex and the City (Patricia Field again), The Nanny (Brenda Cooper).
34:59 Plus, culture notes on Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and overt depictions of queerness and sex as a revolutionary act.
Bonus links
Big boat thoughts:
SUCCESSION LET’S GOOOOOO
Thank you to our friends at Romance Is Dead (name similarity purely coincidental but still MEANINGFUL) for the shout out on their pod!
That’s it for this week. Bye!
— Jenny
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, I promise we only do GOOD posts.
Please rate/review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts, WHEREVER, and maybe tell a friend about us!
Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to criticismisdead@gmail.com.
Some credits:
Music: REEKAH
Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu