Satire

The Matrix isn’t the only classic film secretly about the trans experience

After years of speculation, Lilly Wachowski has finally given us confirmation that The Matrix trilogy is an allegory of the transgender experience. Although it is obvious to anyone who filters popular media through the lens of woke issues that Neo’s struggle to understand and accept his identity represented the conflict every transgender person faces, to have it verified by one of the writers is a significant step forward in the fight for equality. Some might question the reason as to why it’s taken so long for Lilly, who is herself transgender, to speak up about this and why she chose to highlight it now: ‘(In 1999) …the world just wasn’t ready for it’ she explains in a video.

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Are we living in the golden age of political satire?

Stamford, Connecticut My first novel was published 34 years ago under the title The White House Mess, a wordplay on its Navy-run dining rooms. I’d spent two years as vice president George H.W. Bush’s speechwriter and had read a number of White House memoirs, all of which had two themes: 1) it wasn’t my fault, and 2) it would have been much worse if I hadn’t been there. The novel was a satirical — in today’s terminology, a ‘fake’ — White House memoir by a clueless but loyal chief of staff of a future administration that would be sworn in on January 20, 1989.

satire

Rich people are struggling during COVID, too

The New York Times reports on the struggles faced by families who, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been forced to convert their second homes into their primary homes. The Gray Lady observes: ‘These homeowners share many of the same difficulties as anyone dealing with the coronavirus lockdown — working in communal spaces where their children are now present 24/7, discovering items in their home that need updating, and then renovating a home while they are living in it. In addition, these homeowners must adjust to living in relatively unfamiliar towns, often far from friends, family, or creature comforts like a favorite bagel shop or longtime barber.’ Don't I know it. I consider myself a solidly middle-class American, making about $500,000 a year.

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white people, stop capitalizing on your skin color

The Associated Press recently posted an announcement on their website detailing their decision to capitalize the ‘B’ in Black when used in the context of race and culture.'These changes align with long-standing capitalization of other racial and ethnic identifiers such as Latino, Asian American and Native American,' writes AP’s Vice President for Standards, John Daniszewski in a blog post on the AP website.The following day a further announcement was made explaining why they had taken the decision to continue to use a lowercase ‘w’ in ‘white’ when used in the same context.

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Godfrey’s Race to Dinner

Portland, Oregon If you want to know whether you’re a racist, look in the mirror. If you are white, you’re a racist. It really is that simple. No matter how progressive you think you are, having black and brown friends cannot repair the innate racism of your birth. Your vanilla voice is not welcome. Your low-pigment opinions are invalid. The back of the bus is where you need to go when it comes to having a say about race. And don’t give me your white fragility. Thankfully two Women of Color have taken it upon themselves to educate white women on their privilege. The ‘Race to Dinner’ service offers liberal white women and other daughters of the Confederacy the chance to have dinner with proudly black Women of Color.

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Expelliarmus, J.K. Rowling!

Professor Sprout has called out J.K. Rowling’s violently problematic comments regarding trans people in a recent article in the Times of London. ‘If you seriously want to become a woman you should be allowed to. You can’t be fascist about it,’ said the Hogwarts Herbology teacher, as she expertly re-potted a Bubotuber without wasting so much as one drop of its valuable pus. I could not agree more with the professor’s words. Since I transitioned, ‘Biology’ has become as problematic a subject as the Dark Arts. I am beginning to suspect Rowling had intended for us to see Voldemort as the hero in her books all along, seeing as she has far more in common with him than any Gryffindor.

Godfrey’s drag queen story time

This article was originally published in The Spectator’s Picture the scene. It is the middle of the afternoon. The window blinds are closed, the lights dimmed. The eager audience sits cross-legged on a patchwork rug, a frisson of excitement filling the air. Just as enthusiasm gives way to impatience, a captivating vision of womanhood bursts into the room in a glorious blaze of sound and sequins, riding a glittering chariot (a new Pride Ranger 2.0 All-Terrain 8mph Mobility Scooter) to the strains of Miley Cyrus’s ‘Wrecking Ball’. Her hair is a breathtakingly intricate architectural marvel, two-feet high and bedecked with curls. The heels of her knee-high patent-leather boots are an unapologetic six inches long.

story Godfrey Elwick attends his first Drag Queen Story Hour

Conservatives: stop appropriating cancel culture!

For some time now conservatives have been using the tactic of rummaging around in a person’s past, searching for evidence of problematic behavior. They call it ‘cancel culture’. What makes this entire situation worse is that conservatives are not even doing anything original. They are attempting to appropriate a custom which has been practiced by people on the left for years, claiming it as their own. Normally I would see mob-shaming as a perfectly legitimate method of purging society of wrongdoers. The digging up and cataloguing of people’s past micro-aggressions so that we may discredit and ostracize them from the Tribe is something The Woke have been doing for at least a decade now.

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Thank you, Ron Johnson!

You are in your office. Your boss appears. 'Can I have five minutes?' You can hardly refuse. His face is cold and grim, like he has just been diagnosed with COVID-19. He wants to talk to you about your comments. What comments? The comments you made about Jane in accounting. You misgendered her. You called her 'he'. Look, you say, you're sorry. Jane was James when you met her. It wasn’t malicious, it was just force of habit. Maybe so, but 'intent isn't magic'. Well, you'll apologize when you next see her. Maybe so, but we can't let something like this happen again. You're going to have to take some sensitivity training — unpaid, of course, and on your own time. You want to quit. You can't.

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A message from the NYC tourist board: visit Nightmare City!

The New York City Board of Tourism would like to encourage all Americans to consider spending their summer vacation in Ghostly New York, the Nightmare Capital of the World!Come for our world-renowned shuttered restaurants, our extinct nightlife, our empty theaters, and closed museums. Stay because you got murdered by an antifa activist!The Rotting Apple still offers the world's most unique shopping experience. See something in that Macy’s window that catches your eye? Just throw a brick and take it — we’ll even supply pallets of official I ❤️ NY bricks outside your favorite retailers. Take one home as a souvenir!For all you senior citizens out there, Gov.

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identity politics

Jarvis’s guide to identity politics

It seems that recent events, from Black Lives Matter protests to J.K. Rowling’s transphobic Twitter rants, have given the wrong sort of people (Trump supporters) an excuse to inject their ignorant negativity like a poisonous bile into the noble veins of identity politics.But what is identity politics? Identity politics is a beautiful way in which we can bring people of all backgrounds together, before labeling them, allocating each of them demographic privilege points according to their place on the oppression hierarchy pyramid, and finally segregating them. Think of it as scratching a societal OCD itch of needing to organize the books on our shelves into alphabetical order. It’s neat. It’s tidy. It makes sense.

Escape from CHAZ

Portland, OregonWhen I heard about the murder of George Floyd, I was angry. I raged at the sky for seven days and seven nights, demanding it rain down rocks of burning fury upon the Minneapolis Police Department. As I watched the news and saw rioters had set buildings alight, I felt in a roundabout way that my prayers had been answered. But this vigilante vengeance, as justified as it was, was not enough. Nothing could ever be the same again. Things have to change* (*at this point, I would like you to imagine me saying ‘Things have to change’ with a fiercely sincere expression on my face while being filmed in black and white against an emotive soundtrack for extra significance).For this reason, the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone (or CHAZ) in Seattle has been established.

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Harry Potter and the Trans-inclusive Wizarding School

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you will have been exposed to the bloodcurdling realization that the world’s (previously) most beloved author, J.K. Rowling, has outed herself as a transphobe, or ‘TERF’ (trans exclusionary radical feminist). After a shockingly bigoted rant on her Twitter feed, followed by a blog post in which she doubled-down on her hatred (I didn’t read it because the things it said were far too upsetting, but I’ve been told it’s filled with unspeakable hate and as such has been named ‘The Blog That Must Not Be Read’).

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Imagine no police force

Portland, OregonThe one resounding call from Black Lives Matter protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s death has been ‘defund the police’. This is a rallying cry I am 100 percent on board with. In an unprecedented move, Minneapolis City Council has chosen to see sense and formally announced plans to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and committed to establishing a new community-led system. This is exciting news, and sets a precedent for this model to be repeated around the world. However, many people (racists) are criticizing this bold strategy of tearing down the fascist state, because they simply cannot imagine their lives without the comforting restrictions living under an oppressive authoritarian regime brings them.

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Why I support Greta Thunberg in her fight against COVID-19

My name is Matilda Olofsson and I am Greta Thunberg’s arch-nemesis. For every positive action her climate activism encourages, I have taken it upon myself to cause an equally negative reaction. For example, when Greta challenged world leaders to address the issue of reducing carbon emissions with her famous ‘HOW DARE YOU?’ speech, I marched straight down to my local park and chastised a bunch of kids for riding around on push bikes when limousines exist. So naturally, when I heard of Greta's inclusion on a CNN coronavirus 'facts and fears' panel I was livid.

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The ‘new normal’ in a time of coronavirus

Most of us have known about coronavirus for around four months, but already it has revolutionized everything that came before it. Age-old institutions and customs are dead, and the world will never look the same. There is precedent for this, of course. Before the so-called ‘Spanish Flu’, which emerged in 1918, young men had had a curious coming of age ritual in which they sat together in holes in the ground and fired guns at groups of young men from other countries. Soon, these men preferred to ‘socially distance’ themselves in armored vehicles. Normal life had been disrupted.Normal life is being disrupted again. Nothing will ever look the same. But how will it look? What will the ‘new normal’ involve in the coronavirus age?

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An exclusive excerpt from the forthcoming Meghan Markle biography

What’s the next logical step for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after promising never to work with four of Britain’s biggest tabloids after incursions into their privacy? Collaborating with friendlier journalists for a tell-all biography, of course! Yes, Meghan and Harry are supposedly giving their side of the story for Thoroughly Modern Royals: The Real World Of Harry And Meghan, a new book by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. Intrepid investigator Lisa Graves has uncovered the account of her life that the Duchess of Sussex provided to the two reporters... Every little girl dreams of meeting her Prince Charming. I was no different. We are taught from an early age that meeting the perfect man should be the most important goal in our lives.

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A tale of three dogs

Florida Hullo, readers. I’m down Florida way for a bit of warm weather. The Bermuda Race Organizing Committee has been commandeered by a coterie of crapulous ingrates, leaving your correspondent on the outs. Nothing a little R&R can’t cure, but I’m sour. I hate trekking up to Newport for nothing. I’m in no mood for correspondence, but an interested reader inquired some days ago how I fell into journalism. I shall endeavor to answer. Stick me on a psychiatrist’s sofa and I’ll happily discuss my lifelong love of loquacity. It maddened Mother, who labeled me an ‘ecstatic’ child. She would be equal parts unsurprised and appalled by this hobby. Fortunately she doesn’t read this magazine.

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A writer’s coronavirus diary

March 26, 2020‘New York is always hopeful,’ wrote Dorothy Parker, ‘Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it.’ That is the New York I know and the New York I love. Now the city is ravaged by coronavirus, but that hope lives on. A little of it lives in me as well — even if I have left for my dad's place in the Hamptons.March 27, 2020‘What’s true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well,’ wrote Camus in La Peste, ‘It helps men to rise above themselves.’ Why men, I wondered? Perhaps because women do not need to rise above themselves. They are transcendent already.March 28, 2020Am I suffering from coronavirus or aloneavirus?

coronavirus diary

Forget doctors and nurses, Madonna is the true hero of this pandemic

As soon as the lockdown guidelines were announced across the UK last week, I made the decision to move back in with my parents. As you can imagine after three years at university, this has been a somewhat challenging situation to adjust to! It has been made even more testing due to the fact father has had to lay off many of the staff due to them calling in sick. We are down to one cook and a mere handful of cleaners. It’s a nightmare! Thankfully we have a solid internet connection and I have been able to occupy myself on social media the past few days. I say ‘occupy’, but that’s more of an understatement. It’s been more of an essential lifeline to me.

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