What Whitney Wants To Say No. 28

Don’t you just love an impromptu hiatus? I sure do. I love starting multiple articles just to abandon them at the first sign of mediocrity. Nuts considering I do half-baked, hot girl film reviews. But it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t set standards for myself that I have no chance of achieving. Keeps things spicy. But on a serious note the end of this summer has felt so somber. There’s a thick “stop laughing ain’t shit funny” smell in the air. It’s hard to find where I slot in. So I’m here to talk it out until it makes sense. Don’t you just love a brain dump?

There are some performers you just imagine always being there. You may not hear from them for a while but you know that they’re out there working on a new project or taking a much needed break. Especially when they’re young with a full life ahead of them. Especially when you grew up watching them grow up, too. Yesterday we lost a true icon in Hayden Panettiere. Her presence was always a welcome addition to every project she starred in. There was a silent confidence and gravitas to her work that is hardly duplicated. And she knew how to book roles that cemented her place as one of our millennial icons.

While there are so many other projects I could talk about, I want to discuss her presence in a movie near and dear to my heart: 2004’s Tiger Cruise. This film is one of the better DCOMs and it tells the story of Maddie Dolan, a plucky teen who is invited by her dad to participate in a “tiger cruise” i.e. a week-long stay on the naval aircraft carrier he is stationed on. What starts as a fun, trouble-making romp on a massive vessel turns horrific as the events of 9/11 unfold as they are onboard the ship. In truth, this film was created to endear children to the military and highlight the bravery associated with service. By 2004, opinion on the war had soured and there was concern that recruitment would stall out as our generation came of age. So Disney had a plan. Let’s hobble together a kid story about 9/11 that is serious but not too scary. In reality they could have thrown just about anything together and accomplished their goal. But Hayden was too excellent and she completely elevated the material. All of a sudden, a dubious film was made deeply heartfelt and impactful by her presence. I have always respected her ability to go toe to toe with way more seasoned actors despite her age and she doesn’t disappoint here. She had Bill Pullman by the wig for the whole movie and idk who at Disney at the time could’ve done the same.

Hayden, you will be missed.

I haven’t seen a web of extreme weather just sit over one state like this in years. Indiana has been hit with once in a century storm after once in a century storm and as of today, many places across the state are still under water. What’s really messing me up is seeing the kind of weather events that we would discuss as unlikely hypotheticals in class just unfold through my phone. Part of me wants to scream at them to drop the phones and run but a) obviously they can’t hear me 2) how would I know this is happening otherwise? Not like we get Hoosier news all the way down here in MD. But I’m thinking of you all and I’m hoping they can get the power on soon. Sick of watching people be failed.

With so much going on, it feels weird to brag or boast. Like any acknowledgement of the positive feels absolute gauche right now. That being said, I’m clawing back my creativity bit by bit. I spent a large chunk of this weekend just writing, something that has felt impossible for months. I have a play I really love that I’m chipping away at and plans for another draft of my full-length. I can feel myself growing. I always think of it as climbing a mountain and I’ve just reached a new peak. I can see for miles up here. See how corny and beautiful that was? That’s what I’m on right now. Oh and I wasn’t alone all weekend. That definitely helped. No matter how much I try and force it I am not a solitary person. I can do like 2 weeks by myself before I’m crawling on all fours yellow wallpaper style.

I don’t know if it’s the long work hours, the loss of affordable student loan repayment options, the maniacal laughter inducing cost of everything, or the mind-numbing smear campaigns that clog up social media but your girl is lowkey in agony. I turned to some philosophers to cope but not even Epictetus could’ve foreseen a world in which the average person is forced to pay $37 for deodorant, toilet paper, and lotion. I think if he did he would have been a little less stoic.

See my latest below:

How TikTok Makes You Luxuriate in Your Own Suffering

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Aug 3

I am on TikTok far more than I am proud to admit. I have several “collections” that include original TikTok music, Things to Try in DC, and one labeled “Ahhh” that’s just fan-edits of my favorite performers. These bring me great joy, making my time on that app almost worth it. However, I’ve started to notice something. I’ll go through periods where I’m …