Molly & Demi & Chloe .. oh my!

Delightfully familiar (and older) faces on TV; new music, and more

Picture it: a woman sits up in bed, smoking a cigarette, while the man in the room re-ties his tie. She wears a negligee and a garter. This woman, a character in a new TV series, is played by Diane Lane, who is 59 years old. And she looks amazing. But her sexiness isn’t the point here. It’s her very presence onscreen; the fact that despite being an older woman, she’s not a comical side-character grandma. Lane is among a full cast of midlife-or-later actresses currently starring in Capote vs. the Swans, a Gus Van Sant-directed chapter in Ryan Murphy’s “Feud” anthology series based on the book Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era.

I’ve been watching the show week by week since the first episode aired at the end of January. And while I’m not sure how I feel about the series itself just yet — there’s something slightly anticlimactic about starting out with the “swans” already knowing of their betrayal — I look forward to Thursday nights because a new episode gets released for streaming on Hulu. It’s almost like back in the good old days! Must-see TV! (I know… I need a life.)

screenschot from UPI

But no matter how it all turns out from a critical standpoint, it’s already 100 percent worth watching because of the cast, which not only centers around mature women, but, as with Yellowjackets, happens to star actresses who were 80s or 90s icons or starred in headline-making shows and movies in those eras: Calista Flockhart, Chloe Sevigny, and Demi Moore (61). Oh, and perhaps you’ve noticed there’s another name involved that I haven’t mentioned yet? For anyone who grew up in the 80s —and regardless of your gender or sexual orientation— you probably feel your heart leap a little just by knowing that Molly Ringwald will appear onscreen at all, regardless of the role.

The lead “swan,” or at least maybe the most sympathetic one so far, is played beautifully by Naomi Watts. And of course, this is to say nothing of the awesome cameo spots this season by Jessica Lange, who is 74 and captivating in every scene she’s in, here and in the Ryan Murphy universe.

It’s more than just my typical Gen X nostalgia that leads me to love seeing these actresses portray Capote’s coterie of high-society friends. It’s thrilling that the show is providing main-character roles for women who’ve dared to keep on living (and, my God, stay in their profession!) past the age of 30.

As Ringwald noted with candor in a recent Fresh Air interview, the role in Swans, (as well as a recent cameo in the hit series The Bear), have given her a chance to break away from the typical offers that have relegated her to “mom purgatory.”

As she put it:

“I am a mom, and there’s nothing wrong with being a mom. But I want to play somebody who pushes the story along… where I’m not just sort of patting my kid on the head and saying ‘You’ll figure it out, honey.’ And I have played a lot of those, because I’m a working actress and it’s also how I earn my living and help [support] my family. So I take what is offered. But I can’t say that the opportunities have just been coming my way. So I’ve also been creating my own opportunities, and then sort of taking what I could as an actor. … But I feel like that’s changing. So I’m really grateful for that.”

We are, too, Molly, we are too!

On a related matter: you’ve simply got to see Jennifer Jason Leigh in Fargo Season 5. It’s the best season I’ve watched in the series, but even if it hadn’t been, I’d have loved it solely for the way her character talks and her performance overall. (And yes, for those of you who’ve been sticking around and paying attention, I did finally watch the finale when I was not high.)

And finally, speaking one more time of older women: this 70-year-old known as the “Accidental Icon,” who was profiled in the New York Times this week in a series called It’s Never Too Late, had several inspiring things to say about aging (and life in general), including on what she says is the key to life. Mini perk for my paid subscribers: I got you a gift link so you don’t have to pay to access it. Whee! (It’s below the pic.)

Also behind the paywall:

• I reveal the first song to make the cut for my 2024 playlist (kind of like a “best of the year” that I curate all year long), and ironically it fits perfectly with where we are on the “…oh yeah, I did make New Year’s resolutions, didn’t I…” timeline.

• a movie that’s not getting Oscar attention but should, and

• the “special” offer I wish I’d known about on Valentine’s Day.

1. First, as promised: full access to “It’s Never Too Late to Be a Style Influencer.”

2. Recommended track: “Backsliders” by Sarah Shook & the Disarmers. Shook, (formerly known as Sarah and now known as Rivers) is a talented singer-songwriter of the “alt-country” variety who I’ve been following for several years (and got to see perform at the Raccoon Motel, version 1.0, back in.. 2018-ish?). This new track is a great take on that one relationship you know you should end, but… well…. see title. I recommend this artist for their authenticity as well as their deceptively simple, straightforward, dryly funny writing, which is drawn from lived experience. As Shook told American Songwriter magazine:

   

“A lot of artists are in this industry for fame, recognition, and money, but those things don’t mean anything to me. Songwriting is it for me. It’s the only real healthy coping mechanism I’ve ever had. It’s life-saving, and all of my writing is autobiographical.”

3. A movie to think about: Origin by Ava Duvernay, which showed recently at the Last Picture House with an accompanying panel discussion by Black community leaders including a professor and indie filmmaker originally from Rock Island.

   

   panelists after a showing of Origin

   
   The film centers around the real-life writer Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, and her journey as she researches the book and tries to convince others of her thesis, which explores how it’s more than “just” racism at the heart of atrocities ranging from the murder of Trayvon Martin to the Holocaust. As you might guess from the title, this was far from an easy-breezy watch on a Saturday night, but it was well worth it. I’ve found myself thinking about the movie ever since, and still haunted by a number of scenes, as well as by some questions one of the panelists asked about why this film has not received the recognition it deserves.
   

4. And finally: As a single woman, you could say that I “miss out” on Valentine’s Day every year. But this year… dang! You see, a years ago, a guy I was seeing, in my first relationship in the seven or eight years since divorce (or what I was tricked into thinking was a relationship…long story), so in other words a BIG DEAL for me at the time, not only didn’t acknowledge the “holiday” — despite us being in the new/romance-y stage— but even worse, ended up revealing that he’d sent an Instagram message “with something I wrote, kind of like a poem” to an ex-girlfriend. On Valentine’s Day.
   
   That turned out to just be the teensiest of the yucky things he would go on to do, unforch. So I eventually broke it off, with a good portion of 2023 spent learning how to get over the heartbreak— because, again, I had really and truly thought it was going to be a thing. But it turns out that all that time, I could’ve just made a donation that allowed me to name a rat after him, and I’m so pissed that I didn’t know! So instead, I’ll just have to say: happy non-iversary, “Chuck,” ya rat bastard!

   

   broken heart

   

   rat

Thanks for reading and for being among my paid peeps. I promise I’ll never honor rodent in your name!

-Alison

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